Eugene International Church of Christ

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 1:1-6

In February, a team of 42 Portland disciples joined 14 Los Angeles-area disciples to start the “City of Angels International Christian Church” in Los Angeles. Their tremendous efforts are led by Kip and Elena McKean, whose leadership and passion inspire thousands around the world. Their vision to see the world evangelized directly contributed to the Eugene and Corvallis church plantings. Truly, Eugene, Portland, and now the City of Angels International Christian Church are partners in the gospel and the fight to save souls worldwide. The following is a letter from the McKean’s to the Eugene Church shortly after their arrival in Los Angeles:

Dearest Rich, Steph, Jeremy, Amy and all the awesome disciples of Eugene,

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your sacrifice of $10,000 in
February that we used as seed money to allow God to plant a new congregation
of sold-out disciples in LA. Without your generosity, God would
not be moving as powerfully this month! To be distinct from the LA ICOC, we
have chosen to call ourselves the “City of Angels International Christian
Church.” With your sacrifice, 16 of the 42 Portland disciples on the mission
team have been able to not only move to LA, but to move into apartments or
houses and begin the work! Joining us is a small group of 14 disciples in LA
led by Sal Velasco and Ron Harding that have been waiting for our arrival.
(Our inaugural service will be May 6, 2007.) On Sunday with only one third
of the mission team in LA, we met in two house churches, one for the
English-speaking Ministry and one for the Spanish-speaking ministry. We had
25 adults and 7 kids in the English service and 20 adults and 18 kids in the
Spanish service! Elena and I and one third more of the team arrived the
week of March 18th. The last third will arrive by May.

Already God is bearing fruit! Lance Underhill had been in LA just three
weeks and baptized a young man on Sunday, March 18th. The Latin Ministry has
six studies and three restoration studies with maybe a couple being baptized
this Sunday as well!! So many former disciples are reading the UpSideDown21
website and contacting us. As a matter of fact, of the four former disciple
visitors and two non-christian visitors at the English service on Sunday,
all of them first heard about the City of Angels Church on the web!!!
(Thanks Jeremy!!!) Prayerfully, by May we will officially begin the church
with 55 to 60 sold-out disciples! Pray for us as there is so much work to
do. LA has 20 million lost souls, 700,000 of which are on the campuses. We
will have disciples at UCLA, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Long Beach, Cal
State LA, Cal State Fullerton and Santa Monica Jr. College. Vic and Aurora
will lead our Campus and Teen Ministry. Of special note, DJ and Kacie
Comisford will lead the Hollywood Ministry which will reach out to the 300
young people that move to Los Angeles EVERY DAY to make it somewhere,
somehow in “the Business.”

Come visit us anytime because you’ll have a home away from home. Lord
willing we’ll see all of you August 10th at the World Missions Jubilee in
Portland. Thanks also for your prayers for Elena’s surgery… all went
extremely well. Your efforts in Eugene are encouraging so many around the
world… especially us!

Your partners in the gospel,
Kip and Elena