Christmas Celebrations

It was a long day, but well worth the effort. We met at our house for coffee and sweat bread and loaded up a coach bus to take the hour and a half ride out of the city to the camp. There were 20 of us that went from our group (unfortunately two families had to cancel—one due to a sickness and another due to legal problems). There were hay rides behind the tractor, numerous Christmas crafts, adventure and team sports, archery, great food, family pictures, air hockey, ping pong, foosball, special activities for the kids all rolled up into one day.

We ended the day with a special time in the Word of God. We had a great discussion about Christmas and its meaning.
Can you believe that nobody in our group knew what Christmas was all about?
They shrugged their shoulders and shared what they thought Christmas with comments like:
“It is a good way to wind down the year.”
“It is a time to get together with family and tell them that we’re thankful for them and give them gifts.”
“A time to use any extra money we have to buy things.”
WOW! There wasn’t even an, “Oh, that’s what I meant.” or “I’ve heard of that before.”, just wide eyes taking it all in when I started sharing from Luke 2, about the Savior’s birth and how significant that event is for all of us. We also reflected on how Jesus is our Emmanuel, our God with us. This event took place on December 5th so we were still early in the time of Advent. I shared how this time is meant for us to reflect and anticipate the coming King. He came as a baby and shared His life and death with us, but I also challenged each person to prepare for the second coming of the King in all of His glory. What a wonderful thing to wait expectantly and prepare for! What a great day to get the opportunity to build relationships deeper and wider and allow each one learn of the coming King. Thank you for your prayers.

As a result of prayer and this event we now have two of our youth (Italia and Juan Carlos) connected to the World Impact youth group which will allow the youth more opportunities-apart from our times with them-to grow in their forming faith as we plant and grow the church. At our regular Wednesday morning Bible study time with Primo, Bere and their family one of Primo’s sisters, Blanca, gave her life to the Lord! She was very hungry and responded with deep emotion and gratitude not based out of a sole intellectual understanding, but out of her heart and a longing for forgiveness and to know her Maker.

Adelso & Faustina (Tina) – Remember the couples that surprised us by coming to Rebecca’s birthday party after meeting them on the sidewalk the day before? We had them over for tea and coffee last Wednesday night and had a wonderful two hour discussion about God and having a living, active faith. Both of them are excited about continuing to meet with us and study the Word and pray. We feel like they are getting close to accepting the Lord and giving their life to Him, but know it is a spiritual battle with a lot of unknown factors and ask that you would pray for them and for us as we continue to reach out to them and other neighbors like them.

Upcoming Events & Prayer Needs:

December 30

– Prayer walk; canvassing the neighborhood; evangelism.
Focus: What are the real and felt needs of our community and how can we partner with God to be a part of the solution?

December 31

– Carnival Outreach at South Park (carnival games, bounce house, drama and music with gospel presentation).
Focus: Families of South Park community

January 1

– “Whatcha Gonna Do?” Gospel Outreach (free hot meal, clothing, care packages, rehab referrals, prayer tent and gospel presentation).
Focus: Homeless, Day Labors, Drug & Alcohol Addicts, Prostitutes of South Park and surroundings.

January 11-13

– Strategic Planning Time/Retreat with our team to prepare for launching the church in South Park – Los Angeles.
Focus: Laying out the vision, plans, strategies, and tasks for the coming year and beyond.

We pray you have a fantastic Christmas celebration with family and friends remembering the greatest gift any of us have ever received—Christ.

Thank you for celebrating Christmas with us through your prayers, encouraging emails and cards, and financial support.

We send our love!
Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca and Justice Wolyn

Thanksgiving Update

Thank you for your prayers for our Thanksgiving outreach. We had 18 people come to our house for a Thanksgiving dinner. Though we did hand out food baskets and boxes to some of our more needy neighbors and friends we really wanted this to be a time to come together and grown in our relationship with people and not just be “another hand out”. So Fabiola invited a handful of ladies to help cook the Thanksgiving meal with her. There were others that were unable to make the preparation time at our house so we helped gather up the needed ingredients for their dishes so that they could prepare something at home to bring to our feast. We had several families and our regular Wednesday night Bible study and prayer group in attendance. We all sat at a long table (see photo below) and had a special time in prayer and then enjoyed a great meal, laughing the night away with stories and just getting to know one another better. This was the first time three of them had ever come into our home.On Thursday, we were invited to two other Thanksgiving celebrations and were able to continue to grow relationships, express our values and the heart of thankfulness and dedication to God and get to know even more people (extended families). On Sunday, during our normal outreach/church service at South Park we were able to work with some volunteers and serve a full Thanksgiving meal. The homeless, some day laborers and others that sell concessions all greatly appreciated the meal. Afterwards we had enough food left over that we were able to call some of our other friends and neighbors and drop off plates of food and sweat bread just to bless them and share in the holiday spirit of giving.
Prayer Points

· This Saturday (Dec. 5) we take a group out on an excursion out of the city. Legal, money and health issues are pulling some people who were planning to go potentially out of the trip. Pray that everyone that should be there is able to come. Pray that they would all enjoy a refreshing time and that the Christmas message that we present at the end will be powerful and penetrate deep.

· Please pray for complete healing and restoration of one of our closer friends here who has been admitted to the psychiatric ward at the hospital. She has three young children, who are being watched by a relative.

· Pray that our relationships with people that are still on an acquaintance or friend level will develop deeper and people will radically decide to leave their old lives behind in order to follow Christ. Specifically pray for Guadalupe, who is very open, but has some concerns based on some bad past experiences with ‘religion.’

Like Anna, the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38), we are eagerly anticipating celebrating the coming of our King and Savior. We are thankful that He came and that He will come again. We are thankful for faithful friends and family that support us with their prayers and help us do what we’re doing with their own sacrificial giving. We are thankful that God has chosen to use us and we get to be “on the ground” meeting and helping these beautiful people know Jesus.

“[Anna] never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God [giving thanks], and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem [all believers]” (Luke 2:36-28, The Message, additions are mine). We are free because He came! Thanks be to God.

Breaking into an anthem of praise,
Chad & Fabiola

Christmas at THE OAKS

Merry Christmas!

It definitly doesn't feel like fall in Los Angeles, but the Christmas decorations are out and I did notice snow on the peaks of the Los Angeles mountains that make such a nice backdrop on our cityline.

In line with our mission to make disciples, raise up leaders, and plant churches in the city, we are starting the Christmas celebrations here with our neighbors in an exciting way. We are taking 25 people in whom we have invested the most (meeting weekly, studying the Bible, praying and being involved in one another’s lives) for a day-long retreat. On Saturday, December 5, we will all board a bus headed for an annual World Impact tradition, "Christmas at THE OAKS."

We leave at 9:00 a.m. and return to the city by 10:00 p.m. for a whole day of fun, good memories and deepening relationships! There will be special activities for each age group including adventures and challenges like the zip line, high ropes course and numerous team sports; crafts and projects like making Christmas jewelry and gingerbread houses. We will even have a family fun hayride. We will eat a delicious Christmas lunch and dinner, with all the trimmings, together as a growing family, and each family will come away with a family picture to remember the special time they had soaking up God’s love. Before we head back for the city, we will all gather and have a special time as a newly-forming church sharing our first Christmas together, looking into the Bible to learn more deeply what Christmas is really all about and how it can affect not only one month of our year, but every day of our lives. We will give everyone the opportunity to accept the gift of salvation and commit to grow in their relationship with God.

Please pray for unity among our group, lasting fruit, good follow-up time on the relationships and memories that are strengthened together.

Rejoicing that God is with us—our Emmanuel,
Chad & Fabiola