We are excited to welcome Jon Anderson as a new member of the ARC. Jon serves as pastor for Church of the Living Word in Hampton, Iowa. He and his wife, Chris, have been married for 23 years. They have three children, Joshua, 19; Rebekah, 17 and Noah, 13. Jon writes, “I am choosing to join the ARC because they are unashamed at their desperate reliance on the Holy Spirit, they put their money where their mouth is in regard to living out the gospel in practical matters of mission and ministry and I just plain like many of the guys that are already a part of the ARC.”

Church of the Living Word began on January 1, 2006 meeting in the local movie theater and enjoying the generosity of another local body of believers, using their facilities on Wednesday nights. In October of 2009, they purchased a 22K square foot facility on approximately 5 acres of land for $1 from the local school district. Since then God has been filling up the space with Bridge of Hope (a mission to single moms), a Christian pre-school that found itself homeless this fall and the alternative high school classroom for the public school. They have tried to focus on missions from the get-go, sending folks to Cambodia, Seirra Leone, Mississippi, Mexico, Botswanna, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Togo.

Jon will be attending the Midwest ARC Gathering in October. Look to meet him there and get to know him. Welcome to the ARC, Jon!

We are excited to welcome Ivan Sagal into the ARC. Ivan and his wife, Sandy, have three married daughters and four grandchildren, ages two through seven. They have shared an adventure following the Lord, which has included a variety of ministry opportunities.

They lived in a Christian community, Daystar Ministries, the first ten years of their marriage where they discipled new believers, helped the needy, which included people off the street and those in the occult. They also founded a non-denominational church in St Paul, MN, Lamb of God. Ivan and Sandy were part of Youth With a Mission, YWAM, staff two separate times. The first was in the middle to the late 1980's near Chetek, Wisconsin where they helped develop a 10-week Summer of Service outreach to Israel. The second time was from 1997 to 2008. They staffed a Leadership Training School in Trinidad, Colorado under Floyd McClung, and both taught and led YWAM Schools of Intercession, Worship, and Spiritual Warfare in the USA, Canada, and Norway. Both Sandy and Ivan have been on the International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, board and Bridges for Peace board. In the late 1980's they planted a church in Hilliard, Ohio under Pastor Bob Swanger, Sr and also served on staff of the International Leadership Training Institute founded by Dr. Bob Heil.

Ivan writes, “I have been in approximately twenty-five nations helping build churches, teaching seminars for pastors, leading conferences on intercession, serving in prophetic ministry, and specific prayer assignments.
I am looking forward to fellowship with other members of the ARC as well as returning to my roots. It will be a joy for me to use my past experiences to serve in whatever capacity God leads in spreading the gospel. Sandy and I look forward to getting to know you and being part of this expression of the body of Christ.”

Welcome to the ARC, Ivan!