Stirring up Love & Lots of Good Things

We thank you for celebrating with us the faithfulness of God.  His love never ends.  Thank you for praying for us and for the people we have the privilege to serve.  This month we tell of many outreaches, victories and plans.  We know God is using us - and in a great way because of your prayers and support – to stir up love and good works. 

UPDATES

New Members

Our month started off celebrating several new members of the church we have been planting, Fuente para las Naciones.  We believe that each one of these individuals is a future leader in one way or another.  

Outreach to new Senior Living Apartments

We love being the visible, tangible presence of the Lord.  We aren’t a huge army, but we are mighty.  Two blocks from our church, an apartment building that provides low-cost housing options for seniors was recently erected.  There are 89 units and we figured instead of bringing a batch of cookies or a pie to each apartment individually we ought to do something to bring the whole community together and share the love of God at the same time.  

While hosting a BBQ in their courtyard we were able to meet a man that spent 16 years in prison.  While locked up he found Jesus and is now known as “Rev” (short for Reverend) and is definitely a preacher.  In just a short time I was able to hear several powerful messages and pull others that were walking by into a conversation with Rev.  Here is a man who represents what we are all about – we come to evangelize, equip and empower people in the city to minister to the lost.  This man thankfully had already met Jesus and has a ministry, but to come along side him and empower, validate, encourage and even resource him was amazing.  

We also sat down and got to know another lady who moved to LA from the eastern part of the US.  She had battled for many hard years with deep substance abuse, but now was working at helping other ladies leave that life of addiction. Over some food we encouraged one another to keep pursuing God. She admitted that there were distractions and that she didn’t know many people, but through this event was able to gather some more strength and network with other people in the community.  There is no doubt in our minds that her last years will be more fruitful and life impacting then her first six decades of life because she has given herself to God’s purposes!

We received an Ethiopian blessing while there too.  We’re not sure all that was said, but it was very evident that there was gratitude, honor and respect being communicated in the words and bows.  There were people from the Middle East, several Asian and Latin American countries, and the large group of Ethiopians even brought some of their traditional foods to the table to share.  There were folks, mostly African Americans, who have deep history in the community and have watched it change before their eyes who were able to meet each other for the first time through this event as well.  We believe in helping facilitate the transformation of communities, letting people know that we are there for them, serving and empowering them because we genuinely care.

This was a fun event because with the help of volunteers and donations we were able to not only provide a wonderful atmosphere with delicious food, but hand out tumbler mugs with our church information on it, T-shirts, soaps and shampoos and other goodies.  

Across from this senior living apartment building the same management company is working on constructing a similar building complex designated for families with a playground, computer room and many other exciting amenities. We are already excited about being able to do something similar for all the families once they move in.  As so many of the ministries in our church are already geared towards kids and their parents we feel that this will be an even more fertile ground to build relationships for our King.   

Vacation Bible School

During Spring Break we held our annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the park where we taught children and their parents about the miracles of Jesus and the great plans that God has for each one of them.  The volunteer groups that came to help us told the stories through drama and song and re-enforced them through craft time.  There were also lots of fun games and activities.  We had our annual hot dog feed on the last day and invited people to church with us after sharing the gospel and some good time with them throughout the week.  

The park director thanked us for being there and just re-iterated how important what we do is for the community.  He said, “We’ll spend a lot of money and offer different programs, but we’ll get just 5 kids to come out…then you guys come and do your program you and you easily get 60+ kids. This is what the community needs. Free is a good price.  You are doing something really important for these kids and their families.  I’m so glad you guys are doing this.”

It is an honor to serve!  Thank you Jesus for the favor we have with the park and community!

Story Time.  The kids (and many of their parents too) love watching the youth act out the miracles of Jesus.  While the kids watch we are able to go up and translate the story for the parents, which helps us break the ice and share about life with Jesus and our need for his grace.

Our church ran the registration and evangelism stations without much more than a few pointers from us. 

 Game time….crafts….and then our hot dog feed.

  Our Fuente para las Naciones outreach team (above & below)

Ministry Beyond the City in the City

We wanted to share some journal entries from of one of the volunteer groups that came down to help us this year. Our ministry is not only to the under-privileged living in the inner city of Los Angeles, but also to the suburban church and outside groups, churches, schools, etc.  We know God has placed us here to be bridge builders and give opportunities for others to come experience the beauty and harsh contrasts in the city while being further transformed, equipped and empowered in their own giftings and walk. Honestly it is a lot of work receiving groups and coordinating and educating them to have a fruitful visit, but every time we see the eyes of a youth light up or hear how the heart of a mother has been melted and changed for eternity by this short term mission trip we know it is worth it! The Kingdom of God is greatly advancing and the darkness is shaking in fear….lives are being transformed both in and beyond the city.    

Journal Entries from Volunteers at VBS

"The kids at the VBS kids club we hosted today in South Park were so vibrant and full of energy. I'm pretty sure this has been the most physically tired I've been in a long time...but I was having too much fun playing with adorable kids to complain. I helped many kids with face paint, their crafts, got them pumped for games, blew bubbles with them, and passed out snacks. One fond memory of today was when a little girl named Kaila asked me to help her spell God for her cross craft project. I asked her if she wanted to spell "God loves you" since that was the theme of the day to which she nodded shyly. I spelled it out slowly letter by letter and she spelled it beautifully on her little paper heart. I was touched at her willingness to learn and be so open to Jesus and the fact that her mom and her siblings were all so sweet and encouraging.” – Meghan

“The VBS gives the LA team an amazing opportunity to reach out to kids who grow up surrounded by gangs, drugs, and crime. By meeting them individually, I've realized just how much potential these kids have, and I can only pray that their surroundings won't hinder that in the future. VBS has been a blessing to both us and the kids, and though VBS is only one week of these kids' early lives, I know that God can make the smaller things impact big.” – Amanda

“Meet King. He has short-cut hair, wears an orange striped shirt, and grabs at anything in his way. He is also in the fifth grade, likes basketball, and hates girls. Yes. He informed me of all of this upon our first meeting at Kid's Club on Monday. For the next two hours, King proceeded to shake my hand (about twenty times), order us around, and even force my friend Collin to kneel and apologize profusely for "being bad." Despite his antics, King revealed to me a lot about God. Besides the obvious fact that his name is literally King, he also showed the passionate excitement of God. We tend to see God as stoic and serious with this weirdly low voice that rumbles a lot, but King showed a different side of Christ that is made up of exuberance and joy. The other day, we sang this song that said that God's "glory goes beyond all fame." We usually think God's glory is best seen in big, famous things like the Grand Canyon or Mt. Everest, but today, I found that His greatness is also well exemplified in the small, like in children such as King.” – Helen

“Today was my first day doing our kids club in L.A., and I have to say that this day has been the most impactful so far. I was part of the crafts portion of the kids club and I was able to experience such amazing things. Our craft today was to use popsicle sticks and decorate them using markers. Ultimately they would come together to create a cross with a heart in the middle. I met a little boy named William who asked me what to do with his popsicle sticks. After telling him the instructions he told me, "I'm going to draw God!" After I checked back on him a few minutes later I saw that he had drawn a person holding his hands up and below it was a person with a sad face. I asked him why God was with a sad person and he told me, "because there are people without homes and food." I then asked him, "but God will provide, won't He?" and he told me with extreme assurance, "of course He will." I feel that this experience taught me that kids are really aware of what's around them and that even at a young age, the faith in kids is so strong. Knowing that there are people in the places that we serve that appreciate what we do really struck me." - Janice

Youth Outreach

One of the missionaries that use to help with our church plant moved out of the city to become a youth pastor in Northern California.  During  Spring Break he returned  bringing along with him his new youth group for a short term mission trip (along with a friend from Chad’s old youth group too!). 

We were able to have some nice fellowship times as one of the men in our church prepared some authentic Mexican meals for the group.  A couple of our youth led worship for the group singing songs both groups knew in English and then some in Spanish as well. On the last day of their outreach both our youth groups got together to do some outreach at Venice Beach.  Our youth returned stunned at the different (rude) way many people responded to an invitation to church.  In the community where our church is located people tend to be polite (even if they lie to your face). The cross-cultural experience was a good experience for both groups and helped open our eyes and better prepare them for future ministry and life experiences.

Good Friday Service

After our week of outreach, we came together for a special evening service where our different emerging leaders shared short reflections on the 7 last words of Jesus as he hung on the cross.  It was a powerful night; people came with such a hunger and expectation. Having different individuals prepare a short teaching gave us great opportunities to continue to train them up and encourage them in their personal walk and ministry.

Easter Sunday/Baptisms

We had a wonderful Easter celebration!  Baptisms and food always make it even more special.  

We baptized Sonia, Jorge and Omar.  There were powerful words of affirmation and encouragement shared by the church with each person being baptized.  It is fun to watch each stage of the growth of this church.  People are speaking out of more confidence and God-given authority and learning to really walk with one another and call each other to the greater things in God. 

 Sonia sharing her testimony

 Others pray for, exhort and encourage Sonia.

 Please keep Sonia, Jorge and Omar in your prayers as they continue to grow in God

and walk out their commitment to Jesus.

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

We honored our volunteers at a special dinner last Sunday night. Thanks to some amazing donations from some 9 restaurants (thank you Challis) we had a wonderful meal to share with everyone. It was a powerful time of affirming people in the gifts that they are discovering and using.  These volunteers recognize that they are serving God and do not look for any earthly return. 

This is so exciting, because as church planters we came into the community where we started Fuente para las Naciones and wanted to instill this value – part of living for God is serving Him, serving the Church and serving the world. We celebrated this with great fellowship and we gave “Fuente” mugs and chocolates to everyone…just to help them know they are loved. 

We wish you were there too – you have volunteered your time praying and caring for us.  Know that you were honored not just in our mind and heart, but also with some of the words we lifted up during the celebration….our church knows that we have a mighty army of people lifting us up in prayer…and that is why we can do what we do.

Please Pray with Us…

A SUMMER AWAY  Please pray for us as we prepare to leave our church plant (temporarily) for the summer in order to drive up I-5 and visit as many people as possible to reconnect with friends and strengthen our support team.  We have not returned ‘home’ in six years and are thrilled to be able to have some fellowship and share more of our vision for ministry. 

There seems to be an infinite number of details to work through, but we feel our church is ready for this step and know it will allow for more growth.  Pray with us that we will return to a healthy, thriving and growing church.  Pray with us for the details so that we will hand off responsibilities well and wisely.

Pray also for our travels.  If you live between Los Angeles and Seattle near I-5 we would love to be able to visit with you as we drive up and then down.  We will also be visiting the San Francisco Bay Area so we would love to connect with you there too!  

We Want To See YOU!  Please reach out to us: heart4thecity@gmail.com

UPCOMING EVENTS (please pray):

·  Fabiola’s Birthday                            Sunday, April 26^th

·  Mother’s Day Pampering Event     Saturday, May 9^th

·  Music Workshop                              Saturday, May 23^rd

·  Tutoring Celebration/Graduation    Sunday, June 7^th

·  Wolyn Family visiting friends/family and strengthening support team  Summer 2015

Thanking you for thinking about us, for praying and for stirring us up in love and good works so that we can do the same for the under-privileged and the ones that do not yet believe.   

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Justice and Beniah