According to government census numbers and the Annual Church Profiles collected by NAMB in 2014, there is one Southern Baptist Church to every 1,707 people in Kentucky. In the South overall, the average is one SBC church to every 2,697 people.

However, in Iowa, that number is one SBC church to every 24,660 people, and for the Midwest region, the average sits at one SBC church to every 12,802, which means Iowa is nearly double the average for its region. Landlocked Midwestern states may not seem like a mission field, but these statistics show they are, and for 2017 graduates of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, Michael and Kari Chadwick, that is their mission field.

Michael and Kari met at Clear Creek in 2014 when they came in as freshmen students and were married the summer of 2016. They moved to Paducah, Ky., and finished their degrees online. The Chadwicks came back to campus to walk for their degrees at graduation, each earning their bachelor of arts in ministry degree. Then through a former youth pastor of Michael’s, they were connected with an Iowa church plant team.

“He told Michael about Adel,” said Kari, “and what they were going to be doing, and asked Michael and (another) gentleman to be praying about connecting through prayer, giving, or even going.”

After much prayer, the couple felt led to church plant in Adel, Iowa. The Chadwicks will make the 530 mile move to the Midwest from western Kentucky. While a small town, Adel is approximately 25 miles outside the state’s capital—Des Moines.

The Chadwicks will be bi-vocational church planters, Kari explained.

“We will both have full time jobs,” said Kari, “and then help with the church plant outside of work.”

The Chadwicks will be joining a larger team of four more people, the majority of whom are bi-vocational. Kari says right now they’re focused on preparing for their move financially.

“People can pray for jobs for me and Michael,” said Kari, “and finances to be able to move.”

To keep up with the Chadwicks and their team, visit their Facebook page, Reaching Adel, and subscribe to their email newsletter.