“It is our time to go out and be seen as a church that serves the community and not look to just get for ourselves,” challenged Merced - one or our emerging leaders - at our church service just days before the huge WOW Jam outreach we held at South Park. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” Matthew 11:12.
We are moving forward – forcefully laying hold of the promised land God has called us to as we draw more and more to join us. We have had a fabulous time serving with our church this month. People are stepping up during church services, outreaches, and summer camps to serve – and we’re only partially through the summer. Thank you so much for reading, rejoicing and praying for us as we continue to commit ourselves to reaching and raising-up those that are lost in darkness in this hurting place called South Central Los Angeles.
We are moving forward – forcefully laying hold of the promised land God has called us to as we draw more and more to join us. We have had a fabulous time serving with our church this month. People are stepping up during church services, outreaches, and summer camps to serve – and we’re only partially through the summer. Thank you so much for reading, rejoicing and praying for us as we continue to commit ourselves to reaching and raising-up those that are lost in darkness in this hurting place called South Central Los Angeles.
Updates
See what happened - in part at least - by the numbers.....
Chad sharing at WOW Jam
WOW JAM 2011
Pictured above
See what happened - in part at least - by the numbers.....
Chad sharing at WOW Jam
WOW JAM 2011
Pictured above Top L: Fabiola praying over a family from the stage.
Top R: Looking out at the afternoon crowd.
Middle: The face painting tent and bicycle repair area.
Bottom right: The plant give away tent and the manicure area.
Pictured above We were so proud to have so many people from our church come out and serve.
Top L: Several ladies and their children helped pack and hand out 3,000 meals – others handed out flowers or snow cones and worked as altar workers.
Top R: Our children, Rebecca and Justice, love hanging out with their friends from church – they are doing so well here as missionary children! It was super special to be able to baptize so many people – 48 is a lot!!! I was actually sore for the next couple days from dipping so many people.
Guadalupe is holding up her baptismal certificate (Middle L) after being baptized (Bottom R). Her brother David (Bottom middle) and Carlos (Bottom left) and many others were baptized at the park.
Summer Camp [1st – 3rd Grade Camp]
Pictured above
Pictured above Camp is so much FUN! It is amazing how changed these children come back – they memorized verses, sang worship songs and were given many chances to share about their lives and apply the Bible lessons they heard.
Pictured above: Our girls cabin walking to an afternoon activity together. Life is so different at camp. Kid’s get to be kids and walk peacefully down the paths with adults that care for them from place to place. We have been doing a lot of home visits this week to help the children and their families readjust to life in the city and continue growing in their faith.
Pictured below
Summer Camp [4th – 6th Grade Camp]
Dancing, Singing, Playing Instruments for the LORD!
We had a one day praise dance and singing workshop that really got some of our youth excited about engaging in worship in a fun and meaningful way.
We have also started a ministry providing music lessons for those in our church and community that are interested in learning more about the guitar, piano, bass or drums. The purpose of these classes is to raise up future worship leaders and also future teachers for a music outreach we hope to launch within the next year.
First Bilingual Service. English Services to Begin.
As a result of the phone calls and visits we made following up on the many people that came out to the WOW Jam we had Stephan show up to our Sunday morning worship service. Stephan is an African American man who recommitted his life to Jesus and who we baptized at WOW Jam. Fortunately we were prepared with bilingual worship since the youth have been asking to sing more of the songs in English. I (Chad) then quickly adapted my message so that I could preach in English and Fabiola translated everything in Spanish. The overall response was positive and at the end Stephan testified to how God had been moving on him and challenging him this week and even woke him up telling him to go to 50th & San Pedro (the corner where we meet for church services).
Please pray with us that Stephan will return this Sunday. We plan to have an English Bible study on Sunday mornings for him and others that have shown an interest.
The Sunday after WOW Jam we had a fantastic Sunday worship service and a meal together that was organized very well by the ladies of the church...a continuation of their service the day prior at WOW Jam.
Please Pray With Us
·Two More Weeks of Summer Camps
Jr. High Camp July 17 -22
Counselors: Sheila, Garnett & Norma
Youth: Flor, Sol Angel, Liliana, Rocio
High School Camp July 24 -29
Youth: Alexis
·First English Service (see above)
10 am on Sundays
Starting Sunday July 17th
·Unity in the Park
Sunday, July 31
There is a burning in my heart to see a greater movement of the Church unified in our community. I have spoken to various churches and pastors without much fruit – until now….another Hispanic church (mostly Guatemalan) located about 3 blocks from us has invited us to work together with them to put on an outdoor church service for the community. Please pray that this would foster greater unity and much fruit in new lives coming to the Lord.
·Sport’s Camp
Monday – Friday, August 1- 5
This was probably our most fruitful event last year so we’re super excited to put it on again!!! It provides quality sport’s instruction with a very relevant and quality Bible teaching – including songs and dance, memory verses and more. It runs every day for a week from 8:00 – 12:15pm.
·Donations of Instruments
We have been working on grant application through music stores here locally and are constantly looking for guitars (electric or acoustic), basses, keyboards, drums, along with all the sound equipment needed for performance to enable us to reach more youth and adults with our music classes.
We are serving the community in Christ’s love with your help.
Thank you,
Chad & Fabiola
Pictured above Top L: Campers, counselors and parents getting ready to leave for the 1st – 3rd grade camp. Top R: Campers received swimming lessons and then were able to enjoy lots of free time in the pool (Middle L).
Middle R: The campfire circle was a highlight with fun songs, worship, skits (Bottom L)and a Bible teaching time.
Bottom L: The girl’s cabin won a prize for having the cleanest cabin and table after the meal. They were constantly being affirmed as God’s children and they all soaked it up.
Pictured above Camp is so much FUN! It is amazing how changed these children come back – they memorized verses, sang worship songs and were given many chances to share about their lives and apply the Bible lessons they heard. Top L: The boys head off on a train ride around the camp.
Top middle and L: One of the crafts was creating fun faces out of a nylon and saw dust with chia (like chia-pets) hair.
Middle R: The cafeteria was transformed into a jungle with a huge tree. Campers were immersed in a world where the theme “Rooted” was constantly being taught – based on Jesus’ parable of the seed falling on different soils.
Middle L: Students in small groups following a teaching time being encouraged to be the “good soil” and allow a crop to grow 100-fold in their lives. Other pictures: So much fun, quality time to build relationships with other campers and counselors and most importantly with GOD!
Pictured above: Our girls cabin walking to an afternoon activity together. Life is so different at camp. Kid’s get to be kids and walk peacefully down the paths with adults that care for them from place to place. We have been doing a lot of home visits this week to help the children and their families readjust to life in the city and continue growing in their faith. Pictured below
Top L: Campers and counselors from our second group – the 4th – 6th graders getting ready to leave for camp.
Top R: The boy’s cabin group.
Middle L: Some bulls-eyes at archery.
Middle center: David made us so proud by being selected for the highest honor at camp – “The Oaks of Righteousness Award” given to campers that demonstrate a real active faith and godly attitude throughout the whole week of camp. It was wonderful bringing the news home to his mother. David shared that camp was the best experience of his entire life and when asked what he liked best he just kept saying, “EVERYTHING.” I remember meeting David a year ago at an outreach at the park in front of our house and knowing ‘we need to take this kid to camp.’ I’m so glad God provided a way (also, he is one of the boys I baptized at WOW Jam). He did not want to return home to the craziness and hurt. But we did talk about how he can continue to be an “Oak of Righteousness” anywhere and he really grasps that concept of being strong in the Lord to give God the glory even though his life is very difficult and painful.
Middle R: Jenny bobs for apples.
Next row: Michael bravely climbs to the top of a telephone pole to take the leap of faith.
Bottom L: The night swim was hugely successful and helped everyone sleep very soundly.
Bottom R: It was wonderful watching ‘our’ children dance and sing to the Lord. Our high school student, Alexis – pictured in the black T-shirt, is up at camp all summer as part of the Leadership In Training (LIT) program and it was amazing to watch him really blossoming in his faith and see him do such a good job leading the younger children.
Summer Camp [4th – 6th Grade Camp]
Dancing, Singing, Playing Instruments for the LORD!We had a one day praise dance and singing workshop that really got some of our youth excited about engaging in worship in a fun and meaningful way.
We have also started a ministry providing music lessons for those in our church and community that are interested in learning more about the guitar, piano, bass or drums. The purpose of these classes is to raise up future worship leaders and also future teachers for a music outreach we hope to launch within the next year. 
First Bilingual Service. English Services to Begin.As a result of the phone calls and visits we made following up on the many people that came out to the WOW Jam we had Stephan show up to our Sunday morning worship service. Stephan is an African American man who recommitted his life to Jesus and who we baptized at WOW Jam. Fortunately we were prepared with bilingual worship since the youth have been asking to sing more of the songs in English. I (Chad) then quickly adapted my message so that I could preach in English and Fabiola translated everything in Spanish. The overall response was positive and at the end Stephan testified to how God had been moving on him and challenging him this week and even woke him up telling him to go to 50th & San Pedro (the corner where we meet for church services).
Please pray with us that Stephan will return this Sunday. We plan to have an English Bible study on Sunday mornings for him and others that have shown an interest.
The Sunday after WOW Jam we had a fantastic Sunday worship service and a meal together that was organized very well by the ladies of the church...a continuation of their service the day prior at WOW Jam.
Please Pray With Us
·Two More Weeks of Summer Camps
Jr. High Camp July 17 -22
Counselors: Sheila, Garnett & Norma
Youth: Flor, Sol Angel, Liliana, Rocio
High School Camp July 24 -29
Youth: Alexis
·First English Service (see above)
10 am on Sundays
Starting Sunday July 17th
·Unity in the Park
Sunday, July 31
There is a burning in my heart to see a greater movement of the Church unified in our community. I have spoken to various churches and pastors without much fruit – until now….another Hispanic church (mostly Guatemalan) located about 3 blocks from us has invited us to work together with them to put on an outdoor church service for the community. Please pray that this would foster greater unity and much fruit in new lives coming to the Lord.
·Sport’s Camp
Monday – Friday, August 1- 5
This was probably our most fruitful event last year so we’re super excited to put it on again!!! It provides quality sport’s instruction with a very relevant and quality Bible teaching – including songs and dance, memory verses and more. It runs every day for a week from 8:00 – 12:15pm.
·Donations of Instruments
We have been working on grant application through music stores here locally and are constantly looking for guitars (electric or acoustic), basses, keyboards, drums, along with all the sound equipment needed for performance to enable us to reach more youth and adults with our music classes.
We are serving the community in Christ’s love with your help.
Thank you,
Chad & Fabiola
No comments:
Post a Comment