From 1972 through 1976 

• NLEC Dial-a-message offering hope and inspiration
   
• Radio Program “Moments of New Life” on KADI
   
• “Jesus Rallies” on Saturday nights at 2107 Park Avenue with an underground “Catacombs” coffeehouse
• A parade on April 3 for the National Day of Prayer & Fasting
   
• Involvement in the “Key 73” evangelism thrust and the “Jesus 73” festival on the west coast resulting in thousands of
• scripture portions distributed and publishing of the ZoaFree Paper along with the resolution to spend Wednesday noon hour in fasting and prayer.
   
• The first NLEC Free Store opens, to give clothing and household goods to the needy without charge.
   
• Puppet shows and the Kid’s for Christ clubs.
   
• Visitation at jails, prisons, mental hospitals and homes for the elderly
   
• All night prayer line
   
• New Life Training Center to train High School Graduates in evangelism
   
• Filed an application to acquire UHF Channel 24 in St. Louis to be used for a Christian TV station
   
• Larry and Penny Rice open their doors and offer emergency housing to couples and singles
   
• Purchased a five story building at 14^th and Locust street for a new headquarters and television studio
   
• Developed the ENTRY formula for understanding how to receive Christ.
   
• Offered a correspondence course for new Christians called, “Putting it All Together”
   

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From 1977 to 1981

• NLEC implements a Citywide “Clean Up Day” to raise funds for Christian Television and to clean up various places in the neighborhood.
   
• School of Broadcasting offers a two-year training program in beginners and advance courses.
   
• Larry Rice responds to an invitation to Lagos, Nigeria in West Africa to see the desperate need for nationals to be given Bible College Courses.  New Life Bible College was built in 1978.
   
• In response to the devastation left by Hurricane Allen in South Texas, NLEC organizes a busload of homeless people to help with relief.
   
• On April 21, 1981, The Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to NLEC for UHF Channel 24.  Construction of the tower and transmitter facilities begins.
   
• Assistance Programs to the needy expand to 4 free stores, emergency food pantries, and financial aid grants.
   
• Winter patrol is established to train volunteers in finding the homeless overnight and bringing them food, blankets, and transportation to shelters.
   
• NLEC Clinic opened for the homeless providing medical and dental care and eventually eye care
   
• A ministry to the blind is begun by Judy Schlipert
   
• NLEC Shelter program begins in East St. Louis, Illinois

 

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From 1982 through 1986

• The Winter Crisis of 1982 brought tremendous suffering to people throughout Missouri and Illinois, resulting in broken water pipes, hypothermia, & untimely deaths.  NLEC gave out 3,500 blankets, 1,200 heaters, 450 kerosene heaters, 150 wood burning furnaces, 100 sleeping bags, &15,000 pounds of food.  Every winter since, NLEC has devoted its resources to keeping those in need from freezing in their homes.
   
• KNLC Channel 24 (KNLC stands for Knowing New Life in Christ) signed on the air on September 12, 1982.  Featuring inspirational programs, wholesome entertainment & public affairs.  KNLC offered an alternative to non-Christian television, and brought the plight of the homeless and the needy to viewers at home.
   
• The focus on the Homeless intensifies nationwide and Larry Rice is featured as “Person of the Week” by Peter Jennings on ABC.
   
• “Dollar Help” is founded in 1982 by Larry Rice, Sister Pat Kelly, and Pastor Robert Huston.  This program encouraged individuals to add a dollar to their Laclede Gas bill to help those in need.
   
• Larry Rice is led by God to spend a night on the streets and gives a video report on his experiences.  This eventually lead to hundreds of others partaking in NLEC’s Annual “Night out for the Homeless”
   
• A construction permit was granted for UHF Channel 25 in the Jefferson City, Missouri area, to build another Christian TV station near the Capitol of the State in order to speak out among the law makers on matters of homelessness and social justice.
   
• When the farmers across the Midwest found themselves in a crisis in 1984, NLEC established 2 toll-free phone lines in Missouri and Illinois to offer counsel & resources.  In May, NLEC had a unique pig give-away to the children of farmers to encourage them to keep raising livestock.
   
• A court order was won obtained by Larry Rice and several homeless plaintiffs in which the City of St. Louis was required to implement services for the Homeless such as shelter transportation and transition services.
   
• Shelters for the Homeless are opened in Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri.
   
• On Easter Sunday, March 30, 1986, KNLJ (which stands for Knowing New Life in Jesus) Channel 25 signed on the air in New Bloomfield, Missouri.

 

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From 1987 Through 1991

• NLEC’s Christmas Party for the poor and homeless grew until it reached an average of 4,000 to 5,000 being fed and given gifts at the Cervantes Convention Center in downtown St. Louis.
   
• NLEC fought to defend people displace from their homes because of redevelopment in St. Louis.  Several elderly people were able to keep their homes.
   
• New centers were opened in Springfield and Kansas City offering shelter, food, and clothing as well as prayer and Bible study.
   
• The reading program was started to help adults learn to read and also help others to study for their GED.  Volunteers from the community met with students at the Locust Street facility in St. Louis.
   
• A Homeless Research Library stocked with studies, documentation and video tapes opened at the 1411 Locust Street Facility.
   
• Conferences on starting a work among the needy were help which inspired several new ministries to the needy to get started.
   
• An orphanage was established in Kakinada, South India to care for 50 orphans.  Steadily this work grew to include a medical clinic, a school, street evangelism, and a feeding program.
   
• The homeless Express Newspaper is created from the stories of the homeless and sold by the homeless to help them earn money for an apartment.
   
• School Supplies Kits were offered at the beginning of the school years to needy children at the various NLEC centers.

 

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From 1992 through 1996

• A major earthquake in 1993 and a major flood in 1996 in India was met with compassion as NLEC funded a rescue and reconstruction operation
   
• Foreign mission outreach expands to include Haiti, Russia, and the Philippines.
   
• In 1995, NLEC and the Homeless Express Network call for justice for a mentally retarded man named Johnnie Lee Wilson, from Aurora Missouri.  He was given a life sentence in jail and had pled guilty under intense interrogation by the police to the murder of a family friend. Yet he was clearly innocent and had served over 9 years in the Penitentiary.  A public outcry resulted in the Governor granting him clemency and declaring him innocent.
   
• The Cry Justice newspaper www.cryjusticenow.org is published by NLEC from articles and letters from inmates all over Missouri and the United States.  They tell their stories and reveal injustices within the prison system.
   
• NLEC’s largest free clothing store opens in Van Buren, Missouri.
   
• As the crime rate escalates in St. Louis and gangs control the neighborhoods, NLEC launched a violence prevention program with televised panel discussions and seminars on how to deal with violence in schools and near one’s home.  The publication of the “Murder Free” newspaper and a campaign to violence prevention called for an end to violence.
   
• The Mid America Care Center is completed in New Bloomfield, MO next to KNLJ TV.  It serves as offices, a broadcast studio, and a meeting place for people from all over Mid-America. 

From 1997 through 2002

• NLEC opened Free Stores in the following communities:  Shelbyville, IL; Decatur, IL; Marshfield, MO; Lebanon, MO, Sedalia, MO; Popular Bluff, MO
   
• NLEC leads the way in Mid-America with a challenge to seek alternative energy resources.  It operates its radio station in Ellington, MO off the grid with solar panels.  NLEC begins the work of Missouri Renewable Energy (MORE), providing information to the public on clean and natural energy.  www.moreenergy.org
   
• NLEC provides 130,000 shelter nights to the homeless in the Midwest; 195,000 visits were made to the NLEC Free Stores; 290,000 food allotments were made; 330,00 counseling and referral calls were taken; 20,500 blankets were given away; 2000 heaters and 11,000 pairs of gloves were given out; 19,500 families received utility assistance; 1600 people received medical prescription of co-payee assistance; 7500 fans were provided; 10,000 care kits of personal hygiene items were given to the homeless; 8000 bus passes were given; 1100 grants to help stranded travelers were provided; 5000 shoe store certificates of $15 were provided.

 

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