By Mark Hopper

 

Recently, my wife and I were able to attend the Ground Breaking service for Vantage Point Church in Eastvale, California.  Our effort to launch a new church in this new community actually started 15 years ago in January, 2003.

 

Several families from our church had moved to this new community in 2000-2002.  It was called Corona Valley at that time.  Developers were buying up the Dairy Farms in area from Archibald to the 15 Freeway along Lymonite Road. Hundreds of homes were being built at attractive prices.  I often said that you could buy twice the house for half the price in Eastvale.

 

In early 2003, a family from our church asked me if I would help them start a Bible study in their new neighborhood.  Their names were Greg and Carol Crawford.  They invited neighbors and we launched a Bible study in Eastvale in their new home.

 

However, we quickly sensed that we should do more than have a Bible study – we should start a new church in this rapidly growing community.  There were three things we began to pray for – a leader, a location to meet and land for a future church site.

In 2007, God provided two leaders – Mark Lee and Tom Lanning from our church staff in Diamond Bar.  They offered to enlist the people from the Bible study and recruit people from Diamond Bar to launch a new church in Eastvale.   About 40 people banded together to launch this new church.

 

Throughout the summer of 2007, these people worked hard to promote the new church.  They handed out free bottles of cold water to people driving their cars near Hamner and Lymonite.  They gave away free gas and did free car washes to meet people in the community.  In September, they launched preview services once-a-month in a local Middle School.  And, in February 2008, they launched weekly church services with 200 people coming the first Sunday.  As the church grew, they were able to move to the auditorium at Roosevelt High School.  They now have four church services at the high school with about 2,000 people attending each week.

 

The church was able to purchase ten acres of land on Archibald Road just north of the Santa Ana River in Eastvale.  Our church in Diamond Bar gave a generous gift to help with the down payment.  The land had been a dairy farm.  On Sunday, September 29, 2018, church leaders broke ground to begin construction on their new facility.  It was a historic moment with about 1500 people on the property to celebrate and dedicate this land for the future site of Vantage Point Church.

 

It will take time to construct and complete this new facility.  I am sure their will be roadblocks and unforeseen challenges ahead.  This has been a remarkable journey.  We prayed for a leader and God provided two.  We prayed for a location for them to meet in and God provided a Middle School and eventually a High School.  We prayed for land and God provided 10 acres in the middle of this beautiful new community.  We are very thankful.

 

If live near Eastvale and don’t have a church home, I hope you will visit Vantage Point.  You can find information on their services and ministries on their website.  If you live near Diamond Bar, I hope you will visit our church on a Sunday morning.  I think you will be glad you did and we will too!

 

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree Church of Diamond Bar

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

Efreedb.org