8 Year Annual Report

years

We want to take a moment to say thank you.

As we reflect on 2021 and these past eight years, we are in awe of what God has done and overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude toward Him and you. There are two very important ingredients that are needed in order to accomplish the vision that God has birthed in our hearts. First of all we need God. Without Him we can do nothing and with Him we can do anything!

Second, we need you. It was never our intention or God’s design for us to do this alone. You are carriers of the vision of the house and ministers of the gospel of Jesus with us.

Second, we need you. It was never our intention or God’s design for us to do this alone. You are carriers of the vision of the house and ministers of the gospel of Jesus with us.

Discovery started from humble beginnings with a burning desire in our hearts to see people encounter God and discover His purpose for their lives. We didn’t know what all God had in store for us but we were excited for the journey and stepped out in faith.

Launching Discovery Church was an “Uncertain Big faith Moment” in our lives and God showed up in a big way! Whether you’ve been with us since the living room, our first non air conditioned building, or in one of the many phases of our current campus, you’ve witnessed lives changed and hopefully you’ve experienced your own life-changing encounters with God. Just a couple of years ago we experienced another “Uncertain Big Faith Moment”, when the pandemic first hit. We didn’t know all that God would do but we trusted His plan and in a time where we could have struggled, Discovery has thrived.

We’ve seen a great move of of thethe Holy Spirit, more We’ve seen a great move Holy Spirit, more people becoming followers of of Jesus, and God has people becoming followers Jesus, and God has extended ourour reach throughout ourour community extended reach throughout community and thethe world! and world!

Over thethe years, God has blessed this partnership wewe Over years, God has blessed this partnership have asas co-laborers.

There has been and continues to to be have co-laborers.

There has been and continues anan open Heaven over Discovery.

Thank you forfor being ap open Heaven over Discovery.

Thank you being of of this amazing journey.

It isIt our honor to to serve alongsid this amazing journey. is our honor serve alongs you asas your Pastors.

Let’Let’ s celebrate together and thank you your Pastors. s celebrate together and than forfor all all HeHe has done.

AllAll glory and honor belongs to to Him! has done. glory and honor belongs Him

e, rt part de od God

love god

love oth

each her

change th e world

"For wewe areare God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to "For God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus which God prepared in advance forfor usus to to do." which God prepared in advance do."

E PH 2:10

do good works, o do good works,

1127

2018

Average Attendance

1380

2019

Average Attendance

worsh er worshi ip p expe expe r pic

pic

i eence ri nce 2021 Average Attendance

1400

Total 2730 2730 Visitors

When Eddie and Brittny met last year they were both dealing with past and current addiction and sobriety struggles. Brittny had been abusing drugs and alcohol since she was 18 years old and had become addicted to meth. After her mom passed away in 2016 she spiraled even further and found herself in prison. The following year, Eddie also began to spiral and the loss of his job sent him over the edge and at 30 years old he was lost to his meth addiction.

After prison, Brittny went into a program, accepted Christ, and started her sobriety journey. In February of 2020, God brought Eddie into Brittny’s life and they knew if they were going to have a chance at staying clean and sober, they needed a fresh start. So they packed up and headed off to South Carolina. Brittny had been pressing Eddie about his faith, and halfway across the country, they stopped in Oklahoma and made a decision. Eddie had visited Discovery a couple of times in the past and so they searched for us online and watched their first message together.

The message was Relational Vampires Part 3 about “energy suckers” and Eddie said it was like Pastor Jason was speaking directly to them. They fully committed their lives to Christ and started regularly watching online. In just a few short months they found themselves with new jobs, both attending school, and living in Nebraska. Brittny said that while watching the Habits series this past year, she was challenged to completely surrender her final addiction to alcohol and that God has completely set her free!

In October while watching online, we announced that the following Sunday would be baptism Sunday. They were already planning a visit home and knew God was calling them both to make their faith public here at Discovery!

They went online and registered, then reached out to let us know they were coming. Brittny said God had done so much in their lives they just knew it was the next logical step in their faith.

Since taking the plunge last month, Eddie and Brittny both say that they feel stronger in their faith, they are happier, there’s a joy that wasn’t there before, and they know that their relationship with God has grown deeper.

Brittny and Eddie want you to know that if you’re using and feel lost in addiction, that there is hope. It may seem too difficult, even impossible, or maybe useless to try and get out but if you turn to God, He can make a way for you and it’s absolutely worth it! It all starts with that first step.

7,033 Salvations

baptisms

255

My wife Erica and I were very happy at our church in Monrovia, CA. The Pastor was articulate, the choir was amazing, and the people were kind. We had found a community and church home there, and we loved it! So you can imagine our disappointment when we knew we were moving away and heading to Bakersfield.

I’m actually a native of Bakersfield and had connections at a church in town already.

Once we got moved, we started to attend but ultimately knew it wasn’t the right fit for us and felt that something was missing. This began our search for a new home church, which can be a painful process. Every Sunday we were new to a church in town and every Sunday we left with a sense of frustration in the process.

After a discouraging search, my cousin Monique Taylor invited us to Discovery. It didn’t take long for us to fall in love with this church and realize it would be our new home! To be able to attend a church with every race, color, size, and shape was refreshing. It was a reminder to me of what Heaven will look like. Our God is the God for all people, all races, and all backgrounds!

My wife and I decided to attend Discovery Track. We were curious as to what Tracks were and we attended out of curiosity with a sprinkle of skepticism but we loved it. In Track Two I took the DISC assessment and one of my biggest strengths is worship. As soon as I saw that, I knew it was on! I’m a drummer and I was “drafted” or “on boarded” to the Dream Team to serve in worship. The next thing I know, the pastors and team members are all telling me how excited they are that I’m joining the team. Little did they know that this was an answer to prayer and a dream come true in my search for a place to belong. Some people praise God with their voices, some with their hands, and some use a combination of the two. My purest praise comes when I’m using my entire body, playing and praising with all of my might and all that is within me. It is my sacrifice of praise to the Lord!

I am so grateful for the gift God has given me and the opportunity to give it back to Him every time I step into that drum booth. I am so blessed that I have found a community in the worship team and that my family has found a church that we can call home.

715 Total Youth

124

Total Dis Kid

stude nt m i

49

scovery ds

39 Total DSEL Graduates

n istri es

GROUPS GROUPS

256

Total Small Groups

SZN 1 81 SZN 2 71 SZN 3 103

S S

pic pic

DRE DRE TEA TEA DreamTeam Team 660 660 Dream Members Members

People Attended People Attended

Discovery Discovery 356 356 Track Track

EAM EAM AM AM pic pic

“This is such a God story,” Tish Crews confessed when she first sat down with her husband to share how their choice to answer a prayer challenge lead to the couple focusing on learning how to trust God in giving. “We became more intentional and more dedicated to prayer. That's really what our story is about. It's not, ‘We did a prayer challenge.’ It's really, ‘We challenged the Lord through our prayers and He's increased our faith,’ which is going to increase everything else in our lives.”

Back in November of 2021, Paul and Tish Crews started a 40-day prayer challenge. They had never done that in their marriage before. They had prayed together in the past and each had their own prayer time, but never circled a goal together. They never said, “This is what we want God to do in our lives.” That challenge pushed them to start being really specific about their purpose.

Pastor Jason was talking about legacy and called the church members to help support the giving goal. As a couple, they started praying over how much money they could give because they knew that Paul always gets a bonus at the end of the year from his job.

They had a number in their head, and believed they were going to give a certain amount of money. But then a guest pastor came in, and was telling the story about building their church. That pastor said, “Whatever your wife says, that's what you give.” Paul felt that was great because he figured Tish would say nothing, but instead she came back with, “We got to give our whole savings.” As it turned out, they both came up with the same number but didn’t know it. After that service, Paul wasn't going to say his number because he knew if he said “Hey, we should give it all, he knew his wife would say ‘yes’.” So, Paul stayed quiet. And then a couple of days later, he still didn’t want to believe it was the right amount of money. But Tish said the same thing again and he knew it was right.

The problem was, Paul knew their budget like the back of his hand. He knew how much they were going to give for their tithe, to pay off their debt, and the extra legacy challenge. There was no way they could afford it all. But rather than give up, they prayed over it together.

That prayer paid off big time because when Paul got his bonus check, it was double what they were expecting, giving them the ability to meet every one of their needs, plus a double portion. “God always wants to give you more,” Paul encouraged. “We were able to give because it's our heart to leave a legacy. It was just so wonderful because we want to be generous,” Tish added with a smile.vv

What transformed the most for the couple was a switch in their thought process about prayer. They went from praying, “We need You” to “What do You need us to do for Your kingdom?” That change in the way they viewed their walk with God radically altered their goals for 2022. Their focus is now going to be about generosity and prayer. “The more we give, the more He provides. Like when I went back to school and he provided me with the computer I needed,” Tish explained. Tish is currently working on her four-year degree at Discovery College and had been praying about a computer, but they didn’t think it was in the budget at the time. They went to help somebody else buy one, and while they were there, the sales person told her she could get the computer that was already on sale at a discounted price because she was a student. It made it attainable. “If we hadn’t been generous with our time to help that other person, the Lord wouldn't have been able to bless us with that deal. That was God answering our prayer because we were faithful.”

The Crews became aware that as much as they gave, they were getting blessed back so much more.

Not only were their finances blessed, but their marriage as well. They’ve seen a huge change in their relationship. “That’s actually our word for our marriage this year— generosity. If we can be generous with anything, we will.” For example, the Lord has given them a beautiful home and it's a big enough to fit many more people than they need. If someone is in need of a place to stay, they’re going to open up their home to them. “We want to be generous with our time, talents and treasures,” Paul emphasized, before they finished up their interview and headed back to spend their time in the church’s kids’ ministry. That’s just who they are now, givers who have figured out that they can’t out give God.

2021 Dream Centre Individuals Served : 19,715 Households Served : 5652 Total Volunteers : 1739 Dream Center Outreach Groups : 13

Serve Day Totals Total Groups : 15 Total Volunteers : 195 Total Served : 1208

Thanksgiving Hot Meals : 300 Meals Delivered : 200 Volunteers : 82

Christmas Angel Tree kids : 109 Toy Giveaway : 1200 Total Volunteers : 206

expansion

5.20%

m issions

tith es & Offe ri ng

4.54% $108,392.03

$2,119,365.28

Legacy Givi ng

$266,249.48

$2,385,614.76

$124,031.51

savi ngs

12.

1 7% $290,378.97

M i n istry pe rson n e l

28.78% $686,551.37

M I N ISTRY Ope rations

25.62% $611,277.43

Bui ldi ng an d Faci liti es

23.68% $564,983.45