Bethel Off The Beaten Path

The idea of a utopia among on the Great Plains did not die with the 19th century, but still can be found along the back roads. Here, in rural Missouri – about four miles south of the little town of Newark and about the same north of the 19th century would-be utopia, Bethel, is the Heartland Community. Founded in 1995, by insurance mogul and pastor Charles Sharpe, Heartland Community is designed to be a non-denominational place of refuge ‘where people can find help and healing through Jesus Christ’. There are programs designed to allow recovery from drugs, alcohol and for troubled youth. The small community includes a restaurant/lodge, the New Creation Country Store, Solid Rock Café, Calvary Medical Center and Nations Harvest Bible College and is surrounded by fields of corn. The pastoral setting was chosen – as was Bethel’s setting – to minimize outside distractions from the World and to serve as a peaceful place within which to discover deeper meaning.

There is a large contiguous agricultural and cattle operation surrounding the community – providing more opportunity for geographical separation.

http://www.heartland-ministries.org/map.html for directions