GOD AT WORK – OVER TWELVE YEARS…

Rockford Renewal Ministries – Fall 2009

        The downpour of rain that came as a result of Elijah’s prayers began with a cloud as small as a man’s hand (I Kg 18:44 NIV). Here are some small   clouds, God at work.  Look toward the horizon with us for more:

v    The Rockford School District was convicted for inequitable treatment of minorities on the city’s West Side and came under Federal control. Negative rhetoric filled the local paper month after month.  Taxes increased.  People began to move out of the city limits.  Housing values declined.  The school board was polarized.  Today the board is more unified than it has been for many years.  The district is out from under Federal control. Test scores are improving. Charter schools are being organized. In 2010, a new racially and gender diverse group organized Rockford Partners for Excellence to address area needs and to find peaceful and community based creative solutions.

v    When the prayer movement began, there were thirty-six homicides in the county, more per capita than in Chicago, Illinois.  In 2004 they were down to eleven.  In July 2005, the newspaper reported that in the last ten years, the violent crime rate dropped 34.6 percent.  The crime rate has dropped 3 years in a row – 6.6 in 2005 in Rockford, 11% regionally. Crime in 2008 was down 18.5%. At the end of the decade, in 2009, crime was at it’s lowest level since 2000.

v    The Evangelical Minister’s and the Rockford Minister’s Fellowships nearly disbanded but have been re-birthed and are strong. In 2005, Youth With a Mission’s Impact World Tour came to the city.  Forty congregations and over 2000 volunteers united together for the IWT. The budget was  met and 1,957 people made public decisions. A diverse fellowship of Women In Ministry has been birthed and is meeting monthly.

v    Area-wide prayer gatherings have been sustained since 1994, now meeting monthly, called GRIPP – Greater Rockford in Prayer and Praise. On the National Day of Prayer, May 3, 2007, 2000 gathered for prayer and worship, the largest prayer gathering in the city’s history. In 2008, 1500 gathered. A new team was established in 2008 to lead three annual major prayer gatherings, Concerts of Prayer.

v    Redemptive city and international ministries have been birthed in the area like Kids Around the World, Carpenter’s Place, and the Life Center. Others have grown, like the Pregnancy Care Center, doubled and strategically re-located, and the Reachout Jail Ministry, tripled in staff. Carpenter’s Place is seeing 300 homeless people come off the street annually, 200 getting jobs. A School of Discipleship has been opened and is producing graduates.  The Gideons of the area were once some of the smallest chapters, now they are some of the largest. A Healing Room opened in Rockford in 2007. Reformers Unanimous, an addictions recovery and discipleship ministry, began in Rockford in 1996. Today there are 685 centers nationally and 45 internationally.

v    There is a growing passion and activity for redevelopment in the city and efforts to re-build her economy. The regional economy is growing. The Coronado Theater has been restored; the Metro Center renovated, the home of a new hockey franchise. New semi-pro teams have come to town like the Raptors and the RiverHawks. A new Federal Court building began construction in 2008. The new Correctional Center is state-of-the-art with many more rooms for teaching and “correction.” Soon a rapid-rail system will be extended from Chicago to Rockford and beyond, bringing new business and providing commuter services. The local airport has expanded to a regional/international facility, the Chicago Rockford International Airport. A local UPS hub has located in the city and has grown to be a regional hub. A large trucking hub has been established South of the city. A large Lowe’s distribution hub has been built. A new tax referendum in 2007 allowed major road and infrastructure improvements. Since 2005, there has been a net gain of 47 businesses opened downtown. Forty-five have been expanded. In April 2007, the Chicago Tribune wrote, Rockford might not be on everyone’s map of must-see places, but it has just made it onto the must-count industrial property chart of Colliers Bennet & Kahnweiler, Inc., a full service real estate firm…. Developers are acquiring land in Rockford as the last western frontier. Rockford has become a regional medical center with three large hospital networks. She is recognized as one of the best cities in America for heart care.

v     Judson College, a strong Christian school, has opened a branch in Rockford. . Rasmussen and Benedictine Colleges have come to Rockford. Rockford Business College was reorganized, renamed Rockford Career College, moved into new attractive facility and is growing. In late 2009, Kindred College was birthed, a new Christian college with a passion to help educate the Church in a racially diverse community of faith.

v    Sports Illustrated magazine named Rockford the 50^th Anniversary Sports town for the State of Illinois. Rockford is a sports center and has one of the finest park districts in the state, and it is known Nationally for its golf courses. The Aldeen course is rated the # 1 public course in the state. A new baseball stadium was built in 2007, the home of the Rockford Riverhawks baseball team. A beautiful new Arboretum is under construction along the Rock River, adding to the beauty and recreational development of the river. Rockford has one of the top children’s museums in the USA. Anderson Japanese Gardens has been rated #1 among public Japanese Gardens in the Nation.

v    Love, INC. (Love in the Name of Christ), has grown from a struggling ministry, to over 70 congregations networked to meet special needs.

v    As the city prepared for the construction of a new jail, God prepared strategic ministry in the vicinity:  the Rescue Mission—Hope Place, an additional Pregnancy Care Center, the Life Center, and Reformers Unanimous. Victory Outreach has been reorganized and is growing.

v    The Chairman of the County Board is a Christian.  In April of 2009 the city re-elected a Christian Mayor. The Sheriff and Chief of Police affirm Christian faith as do our two State Representatives, our State Senator, and our local US Congressman.

v    In August 2005 and 2007, Rockford won the National City-In-Bloom contest, as efforts to bring gambling to the area were turned away.

v    Heartland Community Church began in 1998 with a passion to reach the culture creatively, a different way to do Church. Today, their attendance in four weekend services averages 7,200. In 2009, attendance at their Christmas services was 15,000. They have been baptizing over 500 new Christ followers each year. They have moved to a shopping center to make room for more people. The church aggressively reaches out to serve the city in her areas of need—rehabbing schools, social agency facilities, stocking food pantries, helping many recover from addictions, etc. Following the earthquake in Haiti, they coordinated efforts to send one million meals to victims. In early 2010 they launched Monvee, a discipleship program, in over 100 churches nationally and internationally. One weekend early in 2010, 300 professed faith in Christ publicly. This is a historic move of God, unprecedented in the city’s history. They are increasing the number of baptism services to handle the number of those coming to faith in Christ.