Community drawn to new Las Vegas mission
Filed Under: Home Missions, Nevada
First worship services were held May 10 at Shepherd of the Hills, Las Vegas—one of six new congregations established last year with the assistance of Home Missions. More than 120 people attended; Rev. Aaron Strong says he was expecting between 50 and 70.
"It was amazing; I just couldn't believe it and I still can't believe it," says Strong. Of the 100 first-time visitors, he says about one-third were existing prospects; the rest were new faces who had seen flyers, mailings, and newspaper ads. "It's amazing to see how God answers prayers," he says.
Since Strong arrived last July, he has been canvassing communities in northwest Las Vegas. He says this growing region has many young families; about half are unchurched. "One of the big things we picked up on is this area needs a church—we are one of the few Christian churches in the five-mile vicinity," he says. "There are also a lot of families looking for family activities and programs, so that's going to be a big part of our ministry."
Shepherd of the Hills currently offers a family Bible hour on Sundays and monthly family fellowship activities; in the future Strong says he hopes to add a program for parents and young children, vacation Bible school, and Easter and Christmas for Kids.
"I pray that God continue to keep us faithful to the work we're doing," he says. "It's always kind of easy to look back at all the work we put in to get to this point and then think, 'Okay, now we can just sit back and enjoy.' But there are still a lot of people out there who need to hear the Word, and we want to continue to reach out to and feed them with the Word each week."
