2023 Ministry Reports
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SUBMITTED BY GREG RHODES
2023 was a fantastic year at the St. Paul campus, full of old, new, and returning friends, church family celebrations, and demonstrations of faithfulness, both large and small.
Facilities & Operations
It’s been almost seven years since we moved into our wonderful building, and it’s holding up well. The drainage ditch we built in 2022 worked perfectly last Spring and Summer to prevent flooding in the backyard or downstairs. We also repaired two AC units, rebuilt the broken gate to the trash enclosure, and finally cleaned out the (very messy) garage.
The ministry highlight of the year was Easter, with nearly 350 people attending service and over 800 participating in our annual Egg Hunt. It was encouraging to preach the gospel to so many people and inspiring to see so many families enjoy the holiday together. Another highlight was the ongoing ministry of The Riverbank Food Shelf, which distributed over 60,000 pounds of food to local families, often serving 15-20 families on a typical Sunday.
Another blessing of last year was choosing to rent the church out to another immigrant congregation, Iglesia Apostólica De La Fe En Cristo Jesús (Apostolic Church of Faith in Christ Jesus). They are a first-generation, Spanish-language church that started meeting here last October. They appreciate our open-handedness and understanding of culture, and we welcome the additional income and the opportunity to serve another immigrant church plant.
Attendance
While our attendance was steady throughout the year, we did experience a 20% growth in average weekly attendance over last year. In 2022, the weekly average was 111 people (75 adults, 16 youth, and 20 children). But, in 2023, we averaged 133 people (84 adults, 22 youth, and 27 kids).
Our four highest-attended services were:
Easter (346)
Baptism and Child Dedication in November (193)
June 11, the Sunday after the Soul Care conference (178)
Costume Carnival (158)
Partnerships
Throughout last year, we were able to continue working with many of our ongoing community partners:
We joined M Health Fairview and Hmong American Partnership (HAP) to host vaccine clinics, focusing on medically underserved communities of color.
We partnered with the Sanneh Foundation and the nearby Conway Rec Center to serve food at National Night Out and collect toys for their Christmas Toy Drive.
We bundled diapers and collected wipes for First Care Pregnancy Center to bless new parents.
We hosted numerous Envision missions groups, sharing about Hmong culture and providing them an opportunity to serve the church and community.
We distributed hundreds of Bombas socks, light bulbs, and shower heads through the food shelf, Compassion Church Anoka, and Envision Twin Cities.
Thank you to the entire St. Paul campus family for seeking God together, serving with your gifts and skills, and loving those inside and outside the church.
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SUBMITTED BY KONG MOUA
Operations
2023 was a great year at the Brooklyn Park (BP) campus. This was the first time we operated for the entire calendar year. In 2022, we closed from January through March due to Covid-19 and taking time to strategize a relaunch of the campus.
The best decision we made this year was hiring Tim Thao as the BP Youth Pastor. Youth attendance has only grown slightly since relaunching in April 2022, but we’ve seen a dramatic increase since Tim launched Thrive Youth at BP. Because the youth attendance has significantly increased, we will launch Plug’d Friday Youth Nights beginning in February. We’re thankful and excited to see Tim drive youth ministry at BP!
Attendance
Overall, we saw a growth of 20% in average weekly attendance. In 2022, the weekly average was 71 people (35 adults, 8 youth, and 28 children). But, in 2023, we averaged 86 people (42 adults, 10 youth, and 34 kids).
Our three highest-attended services were:
Easter (131)
Costume Carnival (129)
Baptism and Child Dedication in November (117)
Notably, we took a significant step in hosting our own Easter Egg Hunt and Costume Carnival this year. In previous years, these were joint events held at the St. Paul campus. Thanks to Pang Moua for leading both events.
Baptisms and child dedications were also a highlight in 2023. We had a total of 8 baptisms and 10 child dedications.
Partnerships
The BP campus continues to partner with Envision Twin Cities and the Community Garden. All 96 plots were used this year (16 added in 2022). A special thank you to Hillside Community Church from Vermillion, South Dakota, for donating a playground for the children who come to the garden with their parents. This was our dream since we first moved into the property in 2021. RiverLife kids also benefit from the playground on Sunday mornings too!
In 2023, the BP campus continued to serve other community groups in practical ways.
Compassion Anoka, an Alliance church plant, continues to office at the BP campus. Their mission is to make Jesus visible in Anoka and serve those experiencing homelessness.
Another church, Local Covenant, continued its rental by signing a year-long lease agreement. They meet on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.
Foundations of Many Generations (FOMG) is a Liberian church that uses our parking lot to park its ministry bus. FOMG held an evangelism event in the summer of 2023 in the BP campus fields.
Clarity Church, a church plant in Brooklyn Park, also uses the parking lot to store their trailer.
Masjid Ar-Rahim Islamic Community Center continues to use the parking lot as an overflow option during major Islamic holidays. In return, they bless us with lots of Crumbl cookies.
We hosted its first COVID clinic in November 2023 and served over 150 individuals. This was a partnership with Hmong American Partnership, M Health Fairview, and the Lao Center of Minnesota.
In summary, 2023 was a year where the BP campus established a unique identity of being compassionate to people inside and outside the church community. This is evident in many things, including hiring a youth pastor, increasing youth and kids’ attendance, hosting 2 large kids’ events, and supporting 4 church plants.
Thank you, BP campus, for caring for others while we learn to care for ourselves!
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SUBMITTED BY JEREMY GARLAND (STP) & PANG MOUA (BP)
Overview
This year, we had big plans that seemed nearly impossible, but in the end, it was a huge success! Back in 2022, our we set a goal to teach through the Bible cover-to-cover. This year, we finished the Old Testament and moved onto the New Testament.
Have you ever considered anime as a tool to teach the Gospel? Well, we did. We rolled out a new anime-themed series for the New Testament. We turned Jesus into an anime hero and had so much fun learning about His ministry on earth. As part of this series, we even included copies of The Manga Bible and a fun collection of Jesus anime posters.
Each event hosted by Riverkids went off without a hitch, and we even broke attendance records! Easter was most accurately described as “chaos” because our numbers were so high. We saw more people than either of our facilities could handle, but we were able to give out a ridiculous amount of candy and love to the community!
In addition to Easter, we overall had a year of growth. Our average attendance was up 53% with 61 kids between both campuses. Also, you can’t grow a kids ministry without babies, and we have no shortage here at RiverLife. In fact, our nursery makes up 22% of our overall attendance.
Some other stats that blew my mind are:
Highest attended Sunday – Easter with 168 kids
Number of volunteers – 39
Number of kids that attended at least one Sunday – 177
St. Paul Campus Highlights
2023 was a year of new things at the St. Paul campus. We saw met faces, hosted new events, and saw new opportunities to see Jesus at work! We made learning the Word of God a priority and let the kids experience the Bible for themselves.
This year, we had the privilege to host Thrive Youth for a fully youth led service that brought back some superstars to be an example of serving God and looking cool while doing it.
At Level Up this year, Riverkids said a tearful, but also a joyful, goodbye to over a dozen 5th graders as they moved up to the Youth. On the other end of the ministry, we welcomed a room full of infants and toddlers. They are constantly filling up our nursery rooms and giving our incredible volunteers an extra dose of baby fever.
Brooklyn Park Campus Highlights
In 2023, Riverkids BP hosted its first Easter egg hunt (over 700 people) and Costume Carnival (180+ people). Over the summer, the children and volunteers led with love and courage while Pang was on sabbatical. The kids completed their study on the Old Testament and started the new anime series of the New Testament.
The BP kids are avid attendees and are always curious about the power and presence of Jesus. They ask deep questions and respond with profound answers. The children at BP continue to grow in stature and number. They love their church community!
God is at work in Riverkids, and 2024 will be just as much fun!
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SUBMITTED BY TOMMY LOR (STP) & TIM THAO (BP)
Our mission at Thrive Youth Ministries is to empower 6th - 12th-grade students to connect relationally with the church, deepen their trust in God, and live boldly for Jesus. This year, across our two campuses, our students experienced a fresh desire for community while taking noteworthy strides in their faith.
Staff and Volunteers
Tommy Lor serves as the Youth Pastor of Thrive Youth Ministries, while Tim Thao serves as the Campus Youth Pastor at our BP campus. (We were blessed to hire him as a part-time youth pastor dedicated to that campus last August.)
Our Thrive team has grown to 11 volunteers with weekly responsibilities. This helps our ministry to keep a 1:5 adult-to-student ratio that maximizes impact and personal relationships.
Weekly Attendance
Plug’d is our Friday night youth gathering for both campuses, meeting at the Saint Paul campus. Plug’d attendance has surged over 70% from the previous year. 2022 had an average of 17 students, while 2023 averaged an incredible attendance of 29 students. Our largest Plug’d had an attendance of 50 students.
Sunday Youth Service takes place on Sundays during the regular church service at both campuses. Attendance has grown by 60%. In 2022, we had an average of 15 students. By the end of 2023, we had an average of 24 students between both campuses.
Spiritual Growth
2023 marked a significant milestone for Thrive as we experienced more faith commitments than ever recorded. Eleven of our students publicly declared their faith through baptism, a profoundly moving testament to the impact of God's grace in their lives.
Special Highlights
Through our Student Transition initiatives, we warmly welcomed 12 new sixth graders into our community and graciously ushered 8 graduating seniors into the broader RiverLife family.
Preparing for the HLUB Conference, held from July 23 – 27 in Indiana, proved a challenging test of faith for our team. Thankfully, with the incredible support of our church community, parents, and students, we not only met but surpassed our fundraising goal of $12,500.
Beyond exceeding our financial target, HLUB served as a transformative experience, fostering deeper connections within our community and strengthening our collective faith in Jesus. Pastor Tommy baptized four students at the conference, contributing to our record-breaking total of 11 baptisms in 2023.
St. Paul Campus
Serve Sundays: Once a month, students were empowered to volunteer in various church ministries. By serving in different areas, we aimed to:
Create accessible opportunities for students and adults to connect.
Cultivate a heart of service in our students.
Increase familiarity with the larger RiverLife family.
Fundraising for HLUB: To cover the costs of the HLUB conference, we implemented two fundraising strategies:
RiverLife Family Donations – We gratefully received generous contributions from our church family.
Minnesota Twins Food Service – Our church fully participated in serving food at Minnesota Twins games, generating valuable revenue for our trip and the rest of the RiverLife community.
Preparing for Plug'd BP Launch: With the rapidly growing student attendance at BP, the need for a dedicated weekly Friday night gathering became evident. We set clear goals to achieve before the end of the year:
Find a reliable curriculum.
Develop and recruit volunteers from BP.
Establish a sustainable structure for Plug'd.
We are thrilled to announce that we successfully met these goals and eagerly anticipate Plug'd's launch at BP in February 2024!
Brooklyn Park Campus
Sunday Youth Service: Thrive proudly launched Sunday Youth Services at our BP campus, spearheaded by Pastor Tim. These services offer a safe space for students to connect with peers, engage in spiritual exercises, and delve deeper into the Bible together. Within its first year, we've witnessed remarkable growth in attendance, engagement, and community.
Special Thanks
From the bottom of our hearts, we want to show our gratitude for every one of you—from the families who lovingly provided meals for our Plug'd nights, to the individuals whose support fueled our efforts at the Twins Games, and especially to our incredible Thrive volunteers. Your dedication, investment, and care for our youth are the beating heart of this ministry. Your weekly commitment to be present made all the difference, and we wouldn't be where we are without you. Our volunteer team going into 2024 consists of Shining Lor, Pachee Xiong, Yeng Thao, Gavin Wan, Jerry Yang, Keng Xiong, Theo Vang, Izzy Lee, Pajjar Yang, Npauj Kue, and Albert Wan.
Conclusion
Thrive Youth Ministries blossomed in 2023, witnessing increased engagement and spiritual growth across both campuses. This is a powerful testament to our volunteers and staff's impact on our youth. We are excited for an even greater impact in 2024.
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SUBMITTED BY JOHAN YANG (BP) & SHONG VANG (STP)
Our ministry’s mission is to help people experience the holiness and love of our God through authentic worship. We utilize various talents from musicians, vocalists, computer operators, sound, livestream, and lighting techs. These volunteers range from middle schoolers to some of our congregation's oldest members.
Leadership
We have two primary worship leaders:
Johan Ncuab Yang, our Worship Director, oversees the worship ministries at both campuses and mainly leads worship at the Brooklyn Park campus.
Shong Vang, our Campus Worship Leader, serves at the St. Paul campus and leads worship there most Sundays.
St. Paul Campus
The St. Paul campus utilizes over 24 unique volunteers, with up to ten individuals a week working in tandem to execute our Sunday Services. We lead four songs per service on average, meaning we have played over 200 songs this past year.
We were blessed with the opportunity to upgrade our mixer and stage box this year. Unfortunately, the previous equipment had reached the end of its life in reliability, support, and service. We have had this system since the beginning of RiverLife, and it has served us well during our mobile church days.
Brooklyn Park Campus
The BP campus worship team is still developing. We’ve grown our volunteer pool to eight people and continued to curate songs that meet the musical preferences of this unique congregation. We feel that we are gaining more trust from the congregation while they are experiencing more and more freedom to worship God in ways meaningful to them.
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SUBMITTED BY PANG FOUA RHODES
Life Groups
The mission of Life Groups Ministry is to connect people in small groups for the purpose of spiritual growth, loving community, and sharing in the work of the church. We had seven life groups running in 2023, with nine leaders/co-leaders. The average number of people attending each meeting was seven. We estimate that about 25% of the adults at RiverLife were involved in a life group.
We want to commend Chong Xiong for his dedication to his life group, which has been meeting since we began this ministry in 2015! The membership has changed over the years, but he has faithfully led and held meetings almost every week. Thank you, Chong!
John Lee, Pang Kue, and Rena Moua currently lead groups, and we are grateful for their faithful shepherding. By the close of 2023, three of the life groups had discontinued due to changes in ministry focus for the leaders or to groups experiencing challenges finding a meeting time that worked for members.
Thank you, Ben and Choua Lee, Pang Moua, and Xau and Lani Moua for leading and caring for your group members, and we hope you’ll lead groups again in the future.
We need a lot more life groups. In 2024, We’re praying for at least three new groups to launch.
Prayer
In 2023, we had Prayer Gatherings twice a month—once at the St. Paul campus and once at the BP Campus. We usually have a handful of people, and because the groups are consistently the same people, we have been able to get to know each other better as we pray with and for each other.
In 2024, we will be praying every week—at the St. Paul campus on the first and third week of the month and the BP Campus on the second and fourth week. We welcome anyone and everyone to join us!
Healing and Deliverance
We believe that Jesus continues to heal people from sickness and disease, cast out evil spirits, and deliver people from demonization.
As we leaned into these areas of ministry, we taught a sermon series and held discussion groups on the book Soul Care by Rob Reimer. Then, on June 8-10, RiverLife hosted a Soul Care Conference taught by Rob Reimer himself. There were 171 attendees (some from around the US and a handful from Southeast Asia!). About 65 people went through deliverance at the conference, and others received deliverance in the following weeks. After the conference, several RiverLife family members shared their testimonies of life transformation from going through Soul Care.
The blessings from the conference just kept coming! Our expenses came to $3450, but with a generous donation of $3,000 and with Rob Reimer sharing $6685 of the profits from the conference, we actually netted $6,236 from holding the conference!
We continue to lead deliverance sessions for anyone who requests one, and a handful of RiverLife folks are being trained to lead deliverances.
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SUBMITTED BY ALICIA THOJ
In 2023, RiverLife families connected with people locally and globally in a variety of ways.
Local Work
Locally, we performed the following activities on a regular basis:
We distributed food to local families through The Riverbank Food Shelf.
We bought dinner for people experiencing homelessness with Compassion Church Anoka.
We prayed for missionaries with a team from the North Central District.
We hosted cultural tours and gave presentations for Envision Teams from different parts of the country.
Global Work
At the beginning of the year, we sent a team to Germany to serve at an English camp and to share the love of Jesus with others. This was a part of our ongoing partnership with the Young family, who are Alliance missionaries based in Warren, Germany.
During the second half of the year, we also had the joy of spending time with the Youngs, who are currently on home assignment in Minnesota. Over the summer, we organized a big pool party to celebrate the children's birthday. Additionally, we gave the kids Christmas gifts that included experiences at the Mall of America for them to enjoy over winter break.
Campus Highlights
Here are some highlights from each campus! Saint Paul campus participated in National Night Out with Sanneh Foundation and served Bahn mi hotdogs and snow cones. The event was a great success with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers. The Brooklyn Park campus had a thriving community garden even during the hot summer. Additionally, an Envision church team donated a new playground for the campus.
Both of our campuses bundled diapers for First Care Pregnancy Center, collected school supplies for local elementary schools, hosted Missions weekends, and organized our first-ever toy drive for two local organizations serving children in need.
We are excited to continue serving and blessing more families in the upcoming year, 2024!
RiverLife families are so generous with their time, resources, and finances in giving back to their local and global community. Thank you. We are better together!
