In 1995, Pastor Dan Backens (after pastoring in the Midwest for ten years) joined the pastoral staff of New Life Christian Fellowship (NLCF), a growing multi-site church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as a campus pastor of its Greenbrier congregation. Five years later, Pastor Dan, along with Pastor Kevin Turpin, was sent out from New Life to plant a new, intentionally multi-ethnic congregation named New Life Providence. The organizational structure of NLCF evolved through the years until, in 2003, each of its
seven congregations – including New Life Providence – was released to be a self-governing, independent local church. These New Life churches maintained a close relationship with one another, however, by partnering together under a network of churches called New Life Ministries International. This structure continues to be vibrant today.