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Dear friends at NPC,
There are many lessons that we learned from living in
one of the most impoverished regions in the United
States. Mainly, that not everybody is dealt the same
hand at birth. There are so many complicated systemic
problems in a place like this, and overcoming them is
almost impossible without help. Addiction, health issues,
poor educational opportunity, utter lack of employment
options, and a general air of hopelessness all contributed
to the poor outcomes for most residents of this county.
The lack of infrastructure and dwindling population, as
well as the geographical isolation, make it an undesirable
location for future economic prospects, thus continuing
the downward spiral that’s been occurring for genera-
tions. We learned that so many of these problems are
interconnected, and it is incredibly difficult to solve one
without encountering another and another.
Warrior Creek Development
(WCD), the nonprofit organization that Jack co-founded
with Craig Snow, worked to address a number of these
issues. The first priority was to provide quality jobs and
skills for young people in the county, and we saw that
goal come to fruition in Timmy, PJ, and Curtis - our first
three interns. Together they constructed WCD’s first
project, the Teachers Village: three homes split into two
apartments each to be rented out to teachers in time for
this coming school year. This provides for a desperate
need in a county that has had major staffing difficulties
for decades, and provided an arena in which Jack could
teach valuable, marketable skills to these young men, as
well as coach them through personal and professional
triumphs and trials.
Warrior Creek Development recently received a
$200,000 grant, which is a huge boon that will enable
the organization to continue to grow. They have taken
on three new interns, in addition to the three existing
workers. If you are interested in supporting the ongoing
mission there, you can do so by contacting Craig directly
for details.
Another exciting legacy of our efforts is occurring at
the schools, where Svea’s emphasis on recognition and
support for new teachers seems to have finally made an
impact. When she started, there was absolutely no ori-
entation or guidance for the new teachers. Her second
year, she implemented her own New Teacher Orienta-
tion, and helped support the new people in her building.
The county is now intending to do its own two-day
orientation before school starts each year. This could be
a huge step toward reducing the roughly 40% turnover
and poor retention rates for teachers in the county.
As mentioned above, we learned a lot of hard lessons
Mission Ministry
W
hile the majority of NPC Mission funding is allocated to our long term mission
partners we are sometimes blessed with additional funds and hear of new min-
istries that we can help launch and encourage.
In early 2014 Mission team met with Jack and Svea Schreiner who were feeling called
to step out in faith to serve the people of McDowell County, W Virginia. After prayer
and discernment NPC made a special gift to help launch their ministry.
You can read below some excerpts from their letter written at the end of their two
years of ministry, how God has blessed and used their time and talents for his glory.
Stella Clarke
Director of Missions
continued on next page...
Mission News
