Safe In His Hands

Living and ministering in the inner city where there is an increase in violence, a variety of crime, health issues and accidents might make your fearful, unless you really understand how safe you are in God’s hands.  He really is protecting us.  There are things like gossip and witchcraft being cast against us, but God is causing it to all fall down dead. We’ve dealt with vandalism and theft, but there is always someone who is willing to step up and put back what was lost.  There are near death experiences that we have had, but God has shown us He still wants us here so that more people can know of His great love and desire to reconcile us to Him. 

You may have heard about the recent fires outside of Los Angeles.  World Impact has an amazing camp ground called The Oaks, where we send our youth and children during the summer and also go for family camps and other retreats.  During these fires the camp had to be evacuated – as did the entire surrounding area.  For about a week we were all praying that the flames would not damage this amazing place of refuge where so many people from the city have come and given their life to Jesus.  As you can see from the illustration the fire completely surrounded the camp, but did not damage any of the actual camp ground and only touched a small corner of the property.  (The red is the fire; the part in the middle is the campground.) 

Updates

 

13 Mile Hike

There are quite a few people at our church that enjoy hiking and it provides a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time talking and sharing an experience with one another. This month 10 of us hiked a half-marathon around the perimeter of Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.  Several of the youth bared their hearts with us during different parts of the hike.  We also did some great planning and vision casting for the future of the church.

Beginning the ascent.  We saw a coyote, a skunk, a deer and some other critters (impressive for L.A.). 

 We walked through a nice creek area with ferns (we miss those from Oregon) 

Most of the hike was very dry, but with some nice views of the hills and city (and Hollywood sign). 

Of course we had to grab a picture by the fountain (our church name is ‘Fountain to the Nations’).

 The reward for completing this hike was a Smokey Bear bandana.Here we all are proud to be done.

Season of Many Birthdays and Graduations

We can’t make all the birthdays and graduations we have been invited to, but it is fun being able to celebrate these special milestones with the families that we love so much.  We have children and youth finishing every level of schooling.  It is great watching people mature and grow up – not just in years, but also in love and maturity in Christ. 

A couple of the youth from Fuente para las Naciones with birthday girl Cynthia. 

Can you tell it's her XV anos?

 

Fabiola, Lucero, Justice and Rebecca at a community party. 

  

Rebecca & Justice

Our children are such a huge part of the ministry and we are very proud of them.  Their hearts are full of compassion for others and they are learning so much about living a life of faith and love in Christ. 

Justice finished Kindergarten being named the student of the quarter. 

Rebecca finished 2^nd grade and was awarded the principal’s award for student of the year. 

Great Transition

Thank you for your prayers!  While still in the early phases we had a wonderful hand-off of the youth ministry.  It felt like the last minute, but was clearly planned out by God long ago.  God put it on the heart of two young women (Erika and Nancy) in our church to take over the youth ministry and some other responsibilities that were previously being done by the missionaries.  Erika and Nancy were the two young ladies that we have felt God wanted leading this ministry, so it was a wonderful confirmation having them step forward. 

We had a special service where our missionaries gave an exhortation and then we prayed for them as they go on to new ministry assignments.  We then prayed for Erika and Nancy as the new leaders over the youth group.  We were able to exhort the church to engage even more in ministry and sharing the gospel.  We continue to share the vision that some will be sent out to plant churches or be missionaries. 

"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity." - Mike Stachura

Lucero, a woman from Fabiola’s home church in Puebla, Mexico, spent the week with us and was able to bless the congregation by leading worship and giving some great tips to the newly forming worship team. 

 

Please Pray with Us…

 

Upcoming Events

o   Men’s Camping Trip – June 14-15

o   Day of Prayer & Fasting – June 21

o   WOW Jam – June 29

o   Sport’s Day Camp – July 1-5

o   Movie Nights – throughout the summer

o   Summer Camps – 4 weeks of camps

 

Erika & Nancy

Please pray for our new youth leaders. 

Pray for a special grace, patience, wisdom and passion. 

Pray that they would have a loving and pastoral heart for the youth. 

Pray that the youth group would continue to grow in maturity in Christ and in number.  

Family

Please continue to keep our family in your prayer, especially in this new season where we are the only full-time staff at our church.  We have a couple mini-get-aways planned between the busy ministry schedule to keep us healthy and sane. 

We are looking forward to ministering with our children, but also ministering to them and playing and making special memories. 

 

Finances

Though we have made some great gains this year we are currently only at 75% of our needed support level.  Please join us in prayer that we would reach 100% this month. 

Also consider if you might be able to give monthly (or a one-time gift) to help enable us continue ministering here in the city.  See information below on how to give. 

 

 

 We know we are firmly in His grip.  God is good.  God is great.  And we are His. 

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca and Justice

God's Doing the Work

Here are some highlights of what God has been doing through our church plant.  Please keep these individuals and our family in your prayers as we advance forward to make disciples and train-up leaders to bring as many to Christ as possible. 

Andres (all names changed) came and shared that he wants to learn more of the Bible so that he can defend his faith. He was the first to know Jesus in his family and many of his relatives and friends were asking him questions he could not answer.  Andres began having personal times of prayer and Bible study. As a middle schooler, God has used his hunger and commitment for Him to bring not only his immediate family, but several aunts, cousins and friends to church as well.

Fabiola was teaching the children one Sunday about the radical transformation we experience when we meet Jesus. ‘How many of you have ever seen God working in someone’s life?” she asked.  Diana’s hand shot up as she shared how she has seen so much change in her daddy’s life and attitude since he met Jesus. Diana went from being scared and feeling far away from her dad to being proud, excited about wanting to be close to Jesus and her ‘new’ dad.

Jaime use to just drop off his son Andres (from above) at church, but now he is a regular part of our church.  He was sharing with a co-worker about his new relationship with God and says, ‘even though I did not know what I was saying I felt like God was guiding my words and giving me power to speak and share of God’s love and power.’  He also told his co-worker, ‘if you really want to know a lot about God than come talk to my son…and if you want to experience God then you should come to my church.’ 

There is nothing greater than knowing God and helping others know how great He is!

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca and Justice Wolyn