An Underground Movement

There is amazing growth taking place! It is what we call an underground movement because much of what is happening cannot be easily seen or measured. Much of our growth as a church plant has been incubating deep within the hearts of the people we minister to day-in and day-out. It’s like the initial growth of a bamboo colony….
Bamboo is an interesting plant. It is known as the fastest growing woody plant on earth, but did you know that at first it appears to just sit there and not grow? It is because the bamboo starter plant acts more like a colony than an individual plant. This colony is mostly underground (80% of its mass). The massive root system builds a foundation of nutrients and strength to enable it to later produce larger plants. When you plant a new bamboo it will only grow underground and you can’t short cut the amount of time it takes a plant to establish it's root system.

Also interesting is that while not noticeable at first, the bamboo as it matures will eventually take on the characteristics of the parent plant. New plantings of bamboo usually take about three full growing years before they produce multiple shoots and take on the appearance of a small grove.

We see the growth in the people at our church, but we long for more growth. There is a process and a period of establishing the foundations in this underground movement. Like Jesus spending time with his small group of disciples we have been given the opportunity to pour into a group of new believers that will grow exponentially and touch the nations.

UPDATES

Christmas Program & Dinner

Highlights: One of our emerging leaders received a new guest from off the street and ministered to him resulting in this man giving his life to Jesus! There was also great food, a Christmas program focusing on the true meaning of Christmas by the children, a gift exchange, a piñata, and musical chairs for all ages.

Our family had the opportunity to get away for Christmas to be with family, but so much got done while we were gone. A year ago – even six months ago – this would not have been possible, but look what our church plant was busy doing:

Serving our Neighbors

There are lots of real needs in our community. One of them is the need to help mothers watch, play and train their children during vacation times. We were able to host two days of Bible clubs with the complete permission and support of the Department of Recreation & Parks.

Hosting a Dinner for 100+

Our men and women prepared and served over 100 plates of food for a visiting youth group. This was such a highlight for both groups. The logistics of having that many people at our house (especially when we weren’t present) was a feat in itself. There was a powerful time of prayer at the end of the evening (pictured below).

End of the Year Carnival

We had over 150 children present – plus parents who stuck around to watch their children’s faces light up with smiles. Our church was in charge of the registration and the evangelism, while the visiting youth group helped put on the carnival fun and food. Nancy, one of the young ladies from our church, has been willing to help in so many different ways. She translated the gospel message into Spanish for the first time in this large, public setting. We’re so proud of her and the whole church for taking this big event on and doing such an amazing job!

Pictures (top to bottom): Above - The registration table, gospel drama, Nancy translating the message, and below - the fun games, crafts, prizes, etc. lasted for four hours on a Friday afternoon.

HELP! Fair
Praying for a lady that is feeling trapped in an abusive relationship and then helping her connect with an organization that can help her, offering hope through Jesus and programs that can help to the many who are ‘solving’ their problems with alcohol and drugs, and providing clothes and hygiene supplies are some of the reasons we have for the third year now partnered with other area ministries to put on the HELP! Fair at South Park (below).

One man from our church, Victor (pictured below), shared his testimony of how he found Jesus after struggling with a drug addiction. Others from our church shared the gospel one-on-one with people and helped organize the 10 bags of clothes we gave away.

Winter Youth Retreat

Pictured above: Kevin, Jim, Flor, Wendy, Italia, Alex, Lupe, Sol, Norma and Chad at the Winter Youth Retreat this last weekend.

Please Pray with Us…..

Youth
The retreat was a powerful encounter for the 7 teens that went. One girl had only come to our church once. We have continued our relationship with her through the various weekly and seasonal outreaches we do at the park. At the retreat she committed her life to Jesus and wants to begin studying the Bible more to understand more about Him. Two others confessed their sins and the fact that friends and other things had been distancing them from God. They came back to Him. Our group continues to get stronger and more unified thought these special times as well. Please pray that we wouldn’t live from retreat to retreat, but see these youth grow deep roots that would spread wide and that they’d shoot up tall for Christ in a city and in schools where it seems that nobody else serves Him.

New Team Members - Jim & Lizzie from Lancaster, CA
They have 20 years of ministry experience working with youth so we are excited to have them on board with us to help us reach the thousands of new students at the new high school down the street from us.
Pray for their safety, grace and fruit as they transition into the neighborhood, church and leadership team.

Leader In Training (LIT) Retreat
For the last six months Chad has been mentoring one of the youth at our church in a leadership program. We will be attending a retreat together on January 28. Please pray that Alex continues to deepen his relationship with Christ and excel in leadership development and ministry preparation.

Safety against Increased Crime
In the last couple weeks two homes (the one in front of us and another a few houses down) and two cars have been broken into on our street. Both the car incidents were literally outside our window. Continue to pray protection over our house (church) and family as well as for opportunities to minister life and love to these people that are lost and living in sin.

A Fresh Touch of the Holy Spirit
Our church knows we need more of God. We have decided to pray every night for a fresh touch and move of the Holy Spirit. When we aren’t meeting corporately at our home we pray individually at the same time (9:00 pm) for this move. Join us and pray for our endurance in seeking God and His Kingdom as well.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Committed to reproduce Christ in others,

Chad & Fabiola

The Needs are Great

Here the needs are great: the physical needs may astound you and leave you a gasp, but the spiritual needs are far weightier and much uglier.  There is a bright glimmer of hope penetrating this depravity and hurt.  Jesus sets people free–brings hope and peace and an amazing joy.  The church is equipped to bring this message.  We are here to plant healthy reproducing churches.

Getting out into the community, asking and listening to individuals is almost as important as actually meeting their felt needs.  It gets us close to people and allows us to speak life to them.  Pulling ourselves away from the tyranny of the urgent and the rut of the routine has proven to take us into some of the richest ministry times we have ever had.  So, the last week of December we closed the doors, no services, no worship time or preaching, and no children’s classes. Instead, our church – family by family – gathered at our neighborhood park to serve and reach out to the community.  God smiled down upon us.

We helped provide families some needed child care.  We were able to talk to the parents about their concerns.  Addressing problems such as how to be healed from the guilt and move through the grieving process when after being separated for years from parents and other family members by borders a loved one dies.  Other questions on parenting and family issues frequently come up.  The health of a family is the most basic and critical element of a healthy community and society.  We care for the family – that is our duty. 

For a couple days we provided fun family oriented activities and shared the gospel.  We also handed out hot meals, tons of clothes, hygiene packets and more to families, the homeless, addicts, gang members and others that make up our community.  We are here for a reason.  It would be a shame to let those purposes slip away being inactive or being busy doing something else. 

We are working with families that are wobbling on the razor’s edge between life and death.  Success and victory is still mixed with some defeat and disappointment.  Little victories like one of our youth recently saying, “I am giving faith a chance,” show us the slow upward progression being made here in the city.  Giving up is easy and is the path many choose in life.  Youth are constantly being bombarded with ungodly, faithless messages and unfortunately the gospel sounds more like a fairy tale than the video games they play.  We offer hope in Jesus. 

This month we are excited about taking our junior high and high school students to a retreat.  Last year this was probably the single most significant breakthrough time for our youth – several giving their lives to Jesus.  Please pray that this year would be even more powerful producing fruit that will remain in the lives of these young teenagers long into their adult life. 

Thank you for praying new blessings over our family and ministry this year!

 

Chad & Fabiola