September 4th, 2001

Hey friends, prayer partners, supporters, & everybody who's interested in
keeping up-to-date with Our Place - Your Christian Church!

What a great weekend!

------  After a long day at work Friday, I got to go bowling with Renee,
Zechariah & Noah - and can you believe it - Zechariah got a better score
than Noah & Dad!  But that's alright by me because the boys (Z, N and Dad!)
were able to unite against Mom in air hockey and win by one point!  (She
says we cheated?)  We love to have fun together as a family!

------  Kevin & Barbara Zuecher were able to go and represent Our Place this
whole weekend at Camp Wi-ne-ma on the Oregon Coast where Wi-Ne-Ma had their
awesome Family Camp and were able to meet up with Tom Brown of NWCEA and
talk with so many people & churches about Our Place and spread the vision &
the joy!  People are pumped about this new church - and so are we - cause
God is leading the way and we're just along for the ride of our lives!
Thanks Kevin, Barbara, Tom & Sonja!

------  Mitchell & Stacie Rose hosted an Our Place cookout at their place on
Saturday afternoon into the evening - over 40 adults & kids from the new
church and others were there!  As always, Zechariah had to put his 5-year
old leadership skills to use by suiting up in a hard hat and goggles and
leading a group of 10 kids and a few of us adults on a "wild dog chase"
through the forest and into other people's yards to find a missing dog!
Thanks Rose family for the great time together!

------  I was able to preach on Sunday at Beaverton Christian Church to kick
off their "Adventure with Christ" series!  I was able to tell the adventures
of summitting Mount Hood with Mitchell Rose and Justin Wolverton, my new
"Church Planting Associate" (Justin will be my associate minister and the
lead minister for our first daughter church in 3 years...Can you believe
it?...BCC's  granddaughter church!).  It was a fun way to help us all to
explore Elijah's great mountain adventures to experience God's Power & Care
on Mount Carmel and Mount Horeb...and yes, I wrote the rap, er, uh...poem
about Elijah & the Mount Carmel Baal Movement, when I was in college!  If
you missed it or want to send it to someone you know, I believe you can
catch the message at www.bcc.org - happy listening!

------  The Church is Growing and we haven't even "been born" yet!  Friday
we found out that our Tell-Start phone messages in the area have given us
223 households who left their names & addresses and want to know more about
Our Place!  We're going to need more people to follow up with brief phone
calls to make the most of this awesome opportunity!  Sunday, we had many who
signed up to find out more and some who even picked up forms to be a part of
the Launch Team, some who are contacting me to get together to spend time
together and talk about their involvement in the new church, and many who
are thinking about coming Wednesday at 7pm for our weekly Team gathering
where we are planning out all the upcoming responsibilities to make the
Preview services to happen in two weeks!!  Some are from BCC and very
involved.  Some are at BCC but not highly involved, and others are coming
from other situations and even other states!  IF GOD IS TUGGING ON YOUR
HEART TO BE A PART OF THIS EXCITING NEW WORK IN ANY WAY, PLEASE CONTACT
STEVE BROOKE NOW!!

------  Continue to pray earnestly for our location!  We have Brown Middle
School secured but we found out on Thursday that the City of Hillsboro has a
new hoop for us to jump through which has never been imposed on a church
plant in a school that we know of.  They were even unsure among themselves
whether we have to jump through this hoop or not, but we went ahead and got
the paperwork in on Friday just to be safe.  They seemed to suggest that
we're ok to keep moving ahead with our plans, and the fact that the school &
district is cool with us being there make us a "shoe in" to use the school.
Even with that reassurance though, it is just well known that cities, school
districts & schools can be temperamental entities.  Please PRAY for this
situation, specifically that the city officials would be able to find
clarity in their understanding of the law and that we wouldn't have to go
through this extra process.  Also pray for the school & district to not be
frightened away from this new development by the city's involvement.  Like I
said Sunday, God has been & will provide every need that we have - I am
confident of that - but I also know that he listens to the prayers of His
people!  Please Pray!

-------   And Monday, Labor Day, Renee & the boys headed out for the movie
they've been wanting to see!  Me?  I got to go with Kevin & Barbara Zuercher
and Sharon Neufeld to Mountain Bike up at Ski Bowl - cool place - get on the
lift and the bike goes on the lift behind you!  Kevin & I took the double
black, "Cannonball" while Barbara went with Sharon on the easier run. But
even the easy runs can be a little treacherous with rocks & gravel.  We
would like to give an award for the most creative way to get down the
mountain to our own beloved Sharon Neufeld!  For a quarter mile she was a
mountain biker until she wiped and gashed her knee pretty good, then she was
a limper while Barbara rode down to get help, then she rode the alpine slide
to get her battered body down to the first aid station!  By the time Kevin &
I got back from our run and found out, Sharon was in the first aid station
bandaged up and walking just fine - what an awesome attitude in the midst of
a pretty serious ouch!  Please pray for Sharon's quick & full recovery - we
love ya Sharon!

I hope you had a great weekend!  PUT THESE DATES IN YOUR PRAYERS & ON YOUR
CALENDARS!

--- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th, 1pm - the Management Team meets with Mike
Emmert of CDF who is interested in the warehouse/office space that we are
looking at in the Orenco Station area!  Pray for that whole process and for
God's continued leading!

--- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th, 9pm - STEVE BROOKE & KEN BUSSELL perform at the
Starbucks between Canyon & Beaverton Hillsdale (next to Fred Meyer at
Beaverton Townsquare) this Saturday evening, September 8th, 9pm!

--- SUNDAYS, SEPTEMBER 23, 30 & OCTOBER 7, 10am!  OUR PLACE PREVIEW SERVICES
at Brown Middle School (On Cornelius Pass, south of Baseline)

--- SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 9am - BCC COMMISSIONS NEW CHURCH, OUR PLACE IN ITS
SERVICES!  Steve Brooke preaches with Clark Tanner!
--- SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21st, 10am - OUR PLACE GRAND OPENING!!!! at Brown Middle
School!

Your friend & the minister for OUR PLACE - YOUR CHRISTIAN CHURCH!

Steve Brooke

PS:  with all the new staff and the location possibilities and incredible
ministry opportunities, do you want to help meet the needs of Our Place? Be
on the Launch Team!  Or let Steve know if you are planning on being a part
of the new church!  Be one of his e-mail prayer partners!  Or help out with
the tremendous start-up costs by supporting the work financially!

Where to send a financial gift to support Steve & Renee in their ministry?
Please make checks out to NWCEA and mail to The Portland Project (Steve
Brooke) c/o NWCEA  444 N. Holly St  Canby, OR 97013.  Or if you would like
to send a financial gift directly to the work of Our Place, please make
checks out to Our Place Christian Church and mail to Our Place Christian
Church 13600 SW Allen Blvd Beaverton, OR 97005.  May God bless you as you
have blessed us!