By Jim Nieman
Good News Productions, International has completed the sale of a building that houses two studios in Joplin, Mo., to Christ In Youth in a deal should advance the work of both ministries.
CIY’s acquisition of the 18,000-square-foot building will allow the Joplin-based youth ministry group to create more video content for events and digital platforms, according to a news release. CIY had been exploring avenues to acquire additional studio space for years.
“Having a space we can inhabit daily will give our content team an incredible canvas to explore new and creative ways to communicate the gospel visually for students,” said CIY’s director of film, MD Neely. “It’s a massive blessing for CIY.”
GNPI director of operations Tom Nutt said that, over time, the ministry’s production work has become more decentralized, so that the Joplin studio building was no longer critically needed.
“We currently have eight other production studios in various parts of the world, along with 15 other small [production] teams . . . that do not have brick and mortar studios,” Nutt said. “We are hoping [to use] some of the proceeds from the sale to expand to 100 teams that will be producing in different areas by the end of 2025.”
The building that was sold was completed in three phases, starting with initial construction in 1975-76, Nutt said. As GNPI has utilized the Joplin studios to a lesser degree over the past 15 years, it has made the facility available to other Christian ministries more and more, including CIY.
GNPI will maintain its headquarters located across the street from the studio building. “Our current building also has a small studio that suffices for 95 percent of the productions that we do in Joplin,” Nutt said.
CIY president Jayson French expressed gratitude to GNPI, a longtime ministry partner and Joplin neighbor.
“GNPI has been part of building a legacy of connecting the digital with divine purpose,” French said. “For decades, men like Ziden Nutt and Mike Schrage have looked for tangible ways to partner with others to expand kingdom influence. GNPI has once again allowed a kingdom-minded ministry like CIY to expand.”
CIY produces video content for the dozens of conferences for middle school and high school students that it stages throughout the summer. During the worst of COVID-19, when it was unable to host conferences, CIY remained viable by creating video curriculum for churches.
In June, French told Christian Standard that one of CIY’s three main goals moving forward was to ramp up its virtual production capacity. Purchasing the studio building should also help CIY accelerate its global impact.
Mike Schrage, president of GNPI, said his ministry “has always benefited from and prioritized partnership. It is one of our core values. So, to have the opportunity to invest in the ministry of CIY as well as to do current and future projects together with CIY in partnership is a true blessing.”
Jim Nieman serves as managing editor of Christian Standard.
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