First time on TV

What a summer!  Our summer months were filled with deeper prayer and worship times as a congregation, more indigenously lead Bible studies, as well as children and youth giving their lives to Jesus and enjoying amazing times at summer camp.  We also taught music lessons, held a sport’s camp and had several other outreaches at the park.  We had our first bilingual Sunday service and began an English service once a week.  During one of the outreaches I, Chad, baptized 48 people!  We took a couple of our emerging leaders to an inspiring leadership conference that has led to great discussions and more fruit.  I was the guest of a television program for the first time ever and then interviewed for another TV channel a few days later.  Fabiola and I also celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary.   Justice, our youngest, starts preschool this week and Rebecca will be going to a new school as a big 1^st grader.  Like I said, what a summer!

Pouring our lives into this community of South Central Los Angeles is a joy, but also as our hearts are poured out we can feel the drain.  We have invested in a young woman and her two children for just under a year now and due to circumstances in her life she may have to return to her homeland of Mexico.  So much has happened in her life – she has learned the ways of the Lord and has begun walking in them, but she has so much yet to learn.  You never know how long you will have to know somebody.  We pour and give as much as possible to every person, but do hope for enough time to really lay strong foundations.  Pray for Ronda.  If she does leave she will need to find a strong community of believers so that she can continue growing in her new found faith. 

One of our highlights this summer was reading what Leila – Ronda’s daughter - wrote about her time at summer camp, “I learned that God loves me and that Jesus died on the cross to take away my sins.”  That was not a religious answer, but a profound and emotional answer about the Good News that she heard for the first time in a way that she was able to grasp and make her own!  Leila prayed to give her life to the Lord during cabin time on the last night of camp!

Prayer Needs

1.      Family Camp –September 3-5 (Labor Day Weekend)

2.      Freedom to Live and Serve – We have been walking the men and women of our church through many deep hurts and wounds.  Pray for complete freedom for God’s dearly beloved so they can experience life and give life through ministry as God originally planned.

3.      Our Family! Continue to lift the four of us up as we minister in Jesus’ name, restoring marriages and family relationships to many who have years – if not generations – of hurt and brokenness.

Thank you for your prayers for us and for those who have yet to come to the place Leila came this summer – of full surrender. 

Chad and Fabiola