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2022ANNUALREPORT Planting churches worldwide

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TABLE OFCONTENTSA LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT 03GLOBAL MOMENTUM 04MISSIONAL INVESTMENT 06ROBUST ASSESSMENT 08PASTORAL TRAINING 10 KINGDOM ADVANCEMENT 12GOSPEL COLLABORATION 14EFFECTIVE MISSION 16FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 18

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02 BOARD MEMBERSOUR MISSIONOf the eight billion people in the world today, only about one-third would call themselves Christians. That means billions of people don’t know Jesus. Like you, we want people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to know and worship him. This is why we plant churches worldwide. Our God is worthy. Our mission is urgent. And our churches are ready.MATT CHANDLERExecutive ChairmanBRIAN HOWARDPresidentHUNTER BEAUMONTBoard MemberDONNY CHOBoard MemberVIC KELLERBoard Member

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03A LETTER FROMOUR PRESIDENT Brian HowardActs 29 President There are many other endeavors I could invest my time in, but none are as worthy as Acts 29’s mission to plant churches worldwide. I’m hon-ored to lead Acts 29 and grateful for your partnership with courageous church planters and bold leaders who share our passion for God’s glory to fill the earth. In 2022, 61 churches—including 33 brand-new church plants—joined our global network! We sent over a quarter of a million dollars in start-up funding to 11 new church plants in the US. We laid the groundwork for a dozen new churches to be planted in the Philippines this year. We also began training 60 French-speaking pastors and church leaders in West Africa to reach their region that has a high percentage of unreached people but a tiny evangelical presence. We’ll keep planting churches worldwide so people who have never heard the name of Jesus can know him. Thank you for partnering with us in this mission. Together, we’re catalyzing a worldwide church-planting movement for Christ. Our 2022 annual report highlights God’s work through Acts 29, and we hope it’s a great encouragement to you and your church. 06

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04GLOBALCHURCH-PLANTING MOMENTUM511752110First Acts 29 Church in the countryThe kingdom of Christ advances near and far as he gathers a great multitude from all tribes, peoples, and languages who will stand before his throne and worship him for all eternity. His mission is our mandate. He calls us to make, baptize, and teach disciples of all nations, and this call is answered most effectively through gospel-centered churches. 55CubaVenezuelaUruguayASIA-NORTHAMERICALATINAMERICAAFRICA EUROPEPACIFICNORTH AFRICAMIDDLE EAST-ACTS 29 CHURCHES BY GLOBAL REGION

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0345 61338,496 6,936700CHURCHES ACROSS 47 COUNTRIES, WORSHIPING IN 31 LANGUAGESNETWORK OF OVERCHURCHESJOINED IN 2022NEW BELIEVERSACTS 29 CHURCHES CELEBRATEDBAPTISMS 05BRANDNEWCHURCH PLANTSINCLUDING5 billion PEOPLE GLOBALLY DON’T KNOW JESUS MORE THAN ROUGHLYOF WORLD POPULATION30%

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CHANGING THE WORLD THROUGHMISSIONAL INVESTMENT Paul Fernandes grew up in Belleville, Illinois, and never imagined he’d be planting a church there someday.Paul came to know Christ as a young man. He was a youth pastor for eight years and loved serving in that capacity. It allowed him to travel worldwide for missional work, igniting an interest in church planting. But his older brother poignantly told him, “remember, Belleville needs help, too.” Paul’s life was changed when his brother tragically passed away. He never forgot his brother’s words about Belleville, which eventually led him to plant in his hometown. He connected with local Acts 29 pastors for guidance and began the assessment process. His church was set to launch in 2020, but had to delay. This was disappointing but proved worth it; they secured significant funding from Acts 29 and other donors, which laid a solid foundation for what would become Living Hope Church.Living Hope Church is reaching Belleville for Christ. Whether serving at a chili cook-off or organizing prayer walks, they’re visibly present in their community. This is how we change the world—one life at a time, one community at a time—as local churches proclaim the gospel and lives are forever changed by Jesus.$275K INVESTED IN START-UP FUNDING FOR CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATESIN 2022, ACTS 29 OFFERED FUNDING TOEVERY ASSESSED CHURCH PLANTER IN THE UNITED STATES07

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PREPARING PLANTERS THROUGH ROBUST ASSESSMENTActs 29 exists to plant churches worldwide, and our world-class church planter assessment process is essential to our mission. In 2022, we hosted our first assessment conference in Ireland. For two and a half days, Acts 29 pastors interviewed, coached, and equipped appli-cants to plant Jesus-exalting churches. One man being assessed wants to reach Iranians living in Ireland, and another wants to plant in an often-overlooked rural town. Acts 29 is expanding into countries we’ve never been in before due to the growing reach of our assessment process. In 2022, we welcomed new churches in Cuba and Venezuela—areas devastated by populism and communism—and in Uruguay, where people adverse to the gospel are responding in faith. Our robust assessment and equipping of pastors bring new missional partners in challenging contexts.Josh Yen, a Texas planter going through assessment, says, “the Acts 29 assessment was a means of the Lord's kindness as we planted King's Church. Our assessors carefully called us into some vulnerable places, helped us see our strengths and weaknesses more clearly, and affirmed the Lord's call on our lives. That time holds a special place in our hearts that we look back on often.” We praise God for all the church planters assessed in 2022 in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, the Caribbean, Ireland, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and countries where it isn’t safe to list. Acts 29 thoroughly prepares faithful leaders to plant churches worldwide because this missional work deserves our best.08 OF PLANTERS WHO GO THROUGH ASSESSMENT WILL PLANT A CHURCH WITH ACTS 29CHURCH PLANTERSASSESSED IN 2022FROM 21 COUNTRIES100+ 70%

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OVER 11550LEADERS GLOBALLY ARE IN AN ACTS 29 COHORT6PUBLISHEDTRAINING RESOURCES IN LANGUAGESTRAINING PASTORS TO PLANTCHURCHES OF IMPACTSouthern Spain’s religious landscape is rooted in Roman Catholicism, with its citizens primar-ily more cultural than practicing Catholics. Gospel-centered churches are rare, and training opportunities for aspiring pastors to plant these churches are nonexistent. But one Acts 29 church is changing that. “How is our church going to plant other churches?” This is the question Iglesia Bautista Fe in Seville, Spain, asked themselves. They committed to do this by training pastors because you can’t plant healthy, effective churches without theologically trained leaders.Iglesia Bautista Fe is one of the only churches in the entire country with a pastoral internship for Spanish church planters. Pastor Alberto Puente Navarro prayed for four years about his church’s capacity—functionally and financially—to provide this rare but needed pastoral training. When God gave the green light, he also provided missional allies. Acts 29 churches in Texas and Oregon generously committed to partner in this work. Today, three Spanish pastors are participating in the full-time, two-year internship focusing on church planting. They represent three new churches that will one day proclaim the true gospel throughout Spain. Alberto says, “this is our way of blessing our country. We’re sending out the pastors we train to reach Spain with the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Aspiring pastors are rising out of countries like Spain, where gospel need is being met by bold churches asking how they will do mission in their context. Acts 29’s global network allies together to train pastors to plant Bible-preaching churches of impact in their communities.

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5012CHURCH-PLANTINGAPPRENTICEGRADUATES IN 2022125APPRENTICES AT THE END OF 2022ADVANCING GOD’S KINGDOM INPOOR COMMUNITIES Before Andre Posthuma became a pastor in Christchurch, New Zealand, he taught delinquent kids. Every day he witnessed their brokenness and wondered, where are all the churches who should be helping these kids?God purposed Andre with a desire to reach the marginalized. He often passed Emmett Street Community Church, situated in a deprived area, and thought, this church is in the perfect spot to reach this community. In God’s providence, that church eventually asked Andre to be their pastor. Previously, Andre had connected with Acts 29 and participated in a Church in Hard Places apprenticeship. His training prompted him to kickstart a conversation with his church about what it would take to reach the lost around them. Andre knows discipleship must be more than just a meeting on Sunday. Surrounded by lost people in desperate circumstances, he’s leading his church in the desire to be fully present in their community, knowing it will be messy. Last year, Acts 29 churches in New Zealand gathered in Tauranga to consider how to work in closer partnership to plant more vibrant churches together. This was followed by four region-al Church in Forgotten Places workshops that equipped churches to plant new churches among New Zealand’s poorest communities. Andre said, “we desire to see churches planted in hard-to-reach places. The wisdom we gleaned from Acts 29 is helping our church to do this.” In Christchurch, New Zealand, and in poor communities all over the world, the hope of the gospel spreads as Christ’s kingdom advances.

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1525 millionNIGER HAS A POPULATION OF OVER YET LESS THAN 1% CALL THEMSELVES EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANSTRAINED 60CHURCH LEADERS IN WEST AFRICA IN 2022GOSPEL COLLABORATION TOREACH THE UNREACHED Acts 29 is connecting with more church planters in more countries than ever before. In August 2022, we hosted an inaugural church planter training in the Ivory Coast. More than 60 individuals not currently associated with Acts 29 attended. Acts 29 leaders and local pastors from the different countries of French-speaking West Africa—Ivory Coast, Sénégal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, and Bénin—discussed what it would look like to collaborate in mission.Pastors and leaders who attended the event shared their urgent need for training, coaching, and assessment, as well as a desire to partner with Acts 29 to plant biblically sound churches among unreached people groups and where there is little to no gospel presence.Silué Moïse is a pastor serving in Mamou, Guinea. He ministers to the Fulani people, who are almost exclusively Muslim. It’s challenging for his church to openly proclaim the gospel in this context. Silué said, “I came to the Acts 29 training in Ivory Coast to learn more about the network and to meet other people who work in Islamic contexts, especially people who have experience with church planting among the Fulani.”Silué hopes to collaborate with the pastors he met who have experience with evangelism in an Islamic environment. He said, “people are longing for spiritual freedom, and we need more people involved in evangelism and church planting in West Africa.” Acts 29’s church-planting network is expanding into more nations because we share Silué’s desire for more people to become and make disciples of Jesus.

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16OF PASTORS HAVE FLED UKRAINE OR BEEN DRAFTEDINTO THE UKRAINIAN ARMY 70%CHRISTIAN BIBLE CHURCH CONTINUES TO USE THEIR BUILDING TO DISTRIBUTE AID TO UKRANIANSDURING THE WEEKUNITED TOGETHER FOR EFFECTIVE MISSIONPastor Oleksandr Lyakhovyy (Sasha) recently returned to Slovakia after visiting his home in Chernihiv, Ukraine. This was his first time back since evacuating in March of 2022 to escape the heavy bombings in the war’s early days. Before the war, Sasha pastored the only Acts 29 church in Ukraine, Christian Bible Church. What was once a congregation of 30 younger people currently consists of five believers and about 40 nonbelievers, mainly older people. Sasha and his young family were able to flee Ukraine while the church’s other leader was drafted into the military. Because of the war, 70% of pastors are no longer there to lead what’s left of the nation’s churches. Sasha longs to return to Ukraine after the war, but for now, God is using him to spread gospel hope among the many hopeless Ukrainian refugees living in Slovakia. While he waits, he’s serving in a local Acts 29 church, and the pastors there are equipping him for when he can return to Ukraine and lead his church.Sasha says, “when you do this work alone, it’s not good; it’s much harder.” Sasha doesn’t work alone. He’s part of Acts 29’s global network that cares for and invests in each missional partner. Sasha has received calls, prayers, support, and aid from several churches, and he’s made new friends and allies in mission. Near or far, we’re connected. We’re more effective together. Come what may, we’re united in the worthy cause of advancing Christ’s kingdom on earth.

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19INCOME ACTUALACTUALFundraising IncomeChurch Income US Church Plant IncomeEvent & Sponsorship IncomeTotal Income $5,400,000$1,310,000$44,000$330,000$132,000$7,216,000$2,703,000$2,063,000 $1,241,000EXPENSESNorth AmericaGlobalUnreached, Urban & Minority$2,173,000$8,180,000OperationsTotal ExpensesNet Operating Income2022 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS-$964,000In 2022, Acts 29 increased its global budget to $9.12 million in response to the world’s reopening from Covid-19 and the need to gather and equip church leaders worldwide. However, by mid-year, it became evident that our fundraising goal would not be met, and expenses were surpassing income. Therefore, we reduced expenses across all of Acts 29 by reducing the size of our staff team, re-evaluating programming, and cutting costs in several areas of administration and operations.We adjusted our 2023 budget to reflect our 2022 income and expenses.Other Income

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U.S. POSTAGEPAIDActs 29 Network23052 Alicia PKWYSuite H #621Mission Viejo, CA 92692