Thank you. Whether you're praying, giving, or showing up with your hands and feet, you are part of what God is doing in Mount Pleasant. Thank you for believing in us! This month I've got a lot to share, and I mean a lot. We've "slowed down" to develop leaders, improve our campus, and launch new ministries and somehow we've never been busier.

Stepping In

At the start of 2026, our ministry team leaders made a collective commitment: this is a year of stepping in. Stepping up to serve is a beautiful and needed thing, and we have 8 people (most of them volunteers) who have stepped up to lead Kids, Prayer, Spanish, Women's, Praise Team, Administration, Men's, and more. But stepping up is just the door. This year, we're walking through it with ownership, with training, and with growing leadership.

Every ministry team leader has committed to some form of education or training in 2026. In a church plant or replant, the second most important job of a senior pastor  (preaching and prayer being first) is developing leaders (Ephesians 4:12). In 18 months, we've gone from one guy trying to do everything to a plurality of elders, two ordained deacons, one deacon in training, and a team of ministry leaders. The early church modeled this spread-out leadership, and we're following suit.

One of our newest ministry leaders put it perfectly: "I found a home at the Vine because I was looking for a church active in the community — but I've done more ministry in the last few months than I had in years. Is there going to be a break any time soon?" That's encouraging and convicting all at once. We hear you. We're building for the long haul.

What God Is Doing with Our Facilities

You may have met Bill Benton, our 95 (now 96!) year old deacon. Bill served at a local food pantry every single Monday for over 30 years, including through COVID, feeding tens of thousands of families. He moved to Nacogdoches last fall, but his legacy? It's still very much alive at the Vine.

For years we've had an unfinished building on our campus. Built in 2005, never completed, sitting there collecting utility bills and insurance payments with nothing to show for it. We prayed about it. We waited. And a few weeks ago, in a matter of two days, God answered all our prayers: a local ministry called We Are Mount Pleasant, partnering with Outpost Church (one of our monthly partners!), asked about the space. A generous donor came forward to fund the renovation. The church approved. Construction began. The unused building is becoming a food pantry, opening this March. A facility burden became a Kingdom asset. Just like that.

We're also getting HVAC installed in our gym (same building). If you've ever been in there in July, you understand why this is a miracle. This opens the door for our sports ministry launch through a partnership with Upward Sports, something we're really excited about. And this building will be dedicated and named the "Bill Benton Community Center" to honor Brother Bill's legacy. 

Not to mention, thanks to the incredible generosity of FBC Springtown, who provided both the materials and the labor, our old fellowship hall is being transformed into a community space. It is now an apartment, a large living and dining area, a game area, and a meeting space. It's 95% complete and it's beautiful. We're praying for furniture funding to finish it out, because right now it's a lovely, empty room, but it's coming. This space will host men's Bible study, small groups, student ministry, parenting classes, and more.

Going All In on Orphan Ministry

After nearly a year of prayer, the Vine is going all in on one local ministry focus: orphan care. More than 60% of children in DFPS care in our region are placed outside of the area and moved to Houston, San Antonio, or Dallas. Away from everything familiar, traveling hours for visits and court dates. That breaks our hearts.

We want to partner with God to end orphanism in Titus County. And in order to do so, we'll continue to recruit foster parents, because that is inevitably part of it. But we also want to address the root: what if we kept more families together in the first place?

That's where Families Count comes in. The Lord connected us with this ministry, and within two weeks, thanks to Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Heather and I attended the Families Count licensing course. We are now licensed and launching our court ordered parenting class in 2026 with 8 mentor parents from our church and 2 from the community, with more coming. For a church our size, that kind of involvement is unheard of. Our people have caught the vision and they are running.

A Personal Word

Thank you for praying for our foster care journey. At the end of February, we received our first placement. For the sake of privacy, you can call him "K". He's three years old, and he is the cutest, smartest little guy. He loves to sing and dance and he has genuinely been a gift of God's grace to our family.

Please pray for his mom that she would encounter Christ. Pray for K. to one day be reunified with her. He lost his 3-month-old brother just a few days ago, and our hearts are heavy for him. Easton is stepping into big brother life, and we are leaning hard on God's grace through all of it.

Pray With Us

• Six Vine members heading on a mission trip in March
• The We Are MP Food Pantry opening this month
• Families Count launching in 2026
• Open doors to share the gospel every single day as we reach Mount Pleasant and beyond

We are so grateful for you. Truly.

Gracias a Dios,

TW

3John2