A Story of Church Planting, Partnership, and Gospel Impact in Goodyear Arizona.
From VCN Southwest Director Steve Engram.

Sometimes the most powerful stories in ministry don’t begin with strategy documents or master plans. They begin with prayer, obedience, and a willingness to step into what God is already doing.

That was the case for Desert Springs Community Church on the west side of Phoenix.

God had blessed their ministry. The church was growing. Their influence in the local schools was expanding. Their presence in the community was strong. They were outgrowing their space, but more importantly, they were growing in vision. As leaders prayed about what God might be inviting them into next, a simple but profound question emerged: What if growth wasn’t just about expansion — but about multiplication?

That question led them to church planting.

A Call to Go and Send

As prayer continued, God laid it on their hearts to plant a church. The vision became clearer, and they extended a call to a former youth pastor, Kyle Powell, to return and lead the new church plant. Kyle sensed God’s confirmation and said yes to the call. At the same time, another story was unfolding.

Kyle, who had previously served at Desert Springs in youth ministry, were pastoring in Iowa when God began stirring their hearts for change. When the opportunity arose to return to Arizona and be part of a church plant, the alignment was unmistakable. It felt less like relocation and more like calling.

Through Venture Church Network, the planting journey began with intentional assessment, coaching, and care. The assessment process wasn’t just strategic… it was spiritual. It created space for clarity, discernment, and confirmation of God’s leading. It helped identify strengths, growth areas, and a clear roadmap for healthy church planting.

VCN also provided coaching support that walked alongside the team during the earliest and most formative months. It wasn’t just planning meetings. It was relationship, mentorship, and faithful presence. The kind of support that sustains leaders when the vision is clear but the path is still unfolding.

Planting with Purpose

As the team prayed about where to launch, four possible areas emerged. They evaluated growth patterns, community needs, and gospel opportunity. Ultimately, God led them to central Goodyear, south of I-10. This area was a rapidly growing area with deep spiritual need. More than 85% of the community was unchurched.

This wasn’t just a strategic location. It was personal. It was home. It was the neighborhood where relationships already existed and mission already mattered.

Desert Springs sent more than 45 people to form the launch team. Worship leaders, youth leaders, teachers, ministry leaders, and interns who were already trained, equipped, and missionally formed. In January 2016, Mission Church was born.

A preview service in December 2015 drew people from the community, and regular services launched soon after. The church didn’t just start… it connected.

The Power of One Story

Early in Mission Church’s life, a woman named Nikki walked through the doors after seeing a social media ad. New to the city, knowing no one, she found community. She joined a young adult small group. Relationships formed. Faith grew. Eventually, Nikki surrendered her life to Christ and was baptized.

Later, her fiancé joined the church, became involved in worship ministry, and also came to faith. Today, they are raising their children in Christ. The first believers in their family line.

That’s not a statistic. That’s a legacy.

This is what church planting looks like at ground level: lives changed, families transformed, spiritual generations born.

Perseverance Through Disruption

Like many churches, Mission Church faced major disruption during COVID. They lost their meeting space and struggled for years to find a stable location. But once again, God worked through relationships within the VCN network. Through connection and collaboration, a permanent facility was secured, built out, and opened for ministry.

Today, Mission Church celebrates stability, renewed momentum, and fresh vision.

Even more powerfully, God orchestrated a merger with another local church plant that had been struggling through the pandemic. Instead of two weakened ministries, God formed one strengthened mission (unified, resourced, and positioned for impact).

A Church That Is “For” Its City

From the beginning, Mission Church embraced a defining conviction: We will be known for what we are for, not what we are against.

They asked a bold question: If our church disappeared, would anyone in the community notice? Would anyone care?

That question shaped everything.

They chose to be a church for Goodyear. For families, for schools, for businesses, for the city, for the people. They believed the gospel is fundamentally “for” people, because God is for people. “For God so loved the world…” is not a slogan… it’s a mission.

Multiplication, Not Maintenance

The story doesn’t stop with one church.

Desert Springs didn’t shrink because they sent. They flourished. God replenished leadership. God raised new leaders. God expanded their vision. They are now preparing to plant more churches.

Mission Church now carries the same DNA. Their vision has never been just growth. It has been multiplication. They are actively investing in young leaders, developing planters, and preparing for future church plants of their own.

They are also walking alongside other VCN church planters, offering coaching, encouragement, and wisdom, multiplying not only churches, but leaders.

This Is the Venture Story

This is the heart of Venture Church Network.

Not programs.
Not platforms.
Not personalities.

But churches planting churches.
Leaders raising leaders.
Communities being transformed.
The gospel advancing through local presence.

This is what happens when churches choose obedience over comfort, multiplication over maintenance, and mission over preservation.

And the invitation remains:

Seek the Lord.
Listen to His voice.
Ask what He might be calling your church to plant.
Ask where He might be calling you to send.
Ask who He might be calling you to raise up.

Because God still reaches the world through the local church.
And the local church still changes cities.

And when churches move together, united in vision, connected in relationship, and anchored in mission, the kingdom of God moves forward with unstoppable power.

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