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Celebrating Our First Anniversary of the AGTrust

I was in a meeting recently with some of the fine lay men and women who are Charter Members of the AGTrust. One man, a lifelong member of our Fellowship, said, "I've never seen anything come so far so quickly in the Assemblies of God as the AGTrust."

We are thankful for the blessings of God! On August 12, 2008, we established the Assemblies of God Trust. Now one year later, more than 2,700 Charter Members represent a growing group of believers who want to help insure a strong, healthy Assemblies of God for future generations. More importantly, together we want to reach and disciple men and women, boys and girls for Christ

In our first year of existence, the AGTrust has taken some significant steps toward our goal of empowering future generations. They pertain to our three major initiatives: planting churches, training young leaders and developing new training materials. I want to share some of these accomplishments with you as testimony of God's blessing upon our efforts to this point:

AGTrust partnered with the Church Multiplication Network to help plant new, vibrant Assemblies across America. Some 63 church plants have received a $30,000 perpetual matching grant already. Through these 63 churches, 2,126 persons have given their lives to Christ, and over $314,000 has been given to missions. Our goal is to plant 500 churches each year.

AGTrust provided $135,000 for the development of a new, updated course to teach the 16 Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God. Faith Case: Investigating the Truth includes videos, games, object lessons and Bible stories. The previous course teaching our fundamentals had not been updated since 1968. Our doctrine has not changed, but training methods have. It's vital that our kids grow up with a sound faith in Jesus Christ, and we must use every tool possible to help plant their feet on solid ground.

AGTrust partnered with National Youth Ministries to produce and distribute free of charge the third edition of TheFiftyTwo.com to youth pastors and volunteer youth leaders. This online resource is a great tool for evangelizing, training and ministering to students.

AGTrust partnered to develop MinistryDirect.com which offers live texting, e-mail and Twitter. This will be a tremendous resource to ministers and laity alike.

AGTrust developed a Network and Web site for Pastors' Kids with an initial target audience of high school and college students.

AGTrust helped produce "Secrets: Transforming Your Life and Marriage," a women's Bible study, featuring Dr. Gary Smalley and Kerry Clarensau.

AGTrust awarded the first 10 Riggs Scholarships to deserving high school graduates.

AGTrust awarded 23 Next Generation grants to help recent college graduates with their college debt so they can enter ministry more quickly.

AGTrust created Making THE Difference scholarships to help students attend Assemblies of God institutions of higher learning.

Don't you agree we've come a long way in a short time? I hope you will join us in this effort. The Assemblies of God has a bright future if we give focus to evangelism and discipleship, and rely on the Holy Spirit to build the Lord's Church. We are making the choice to do everything we can to make sure our Fellowship is strong and healthy for future generations. It is our choice. But it is their future.

George O. Wood
CHAIRMAN - Assemblies of God Trust
GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT - Assemblies of God