Over
the last two months we have continued to call out to Jesus for the harvest –
more life transformation, more lasting change, more neighborhoods released from
the claws of darkness and set free to experience true, life-giving
community. We are continually in awe of
what God is doing. He loves to answer
these prayers. Thank you for praying
with us. Faith can move the mountains!
Updates…
Youth Summer Camp
The third of our summer camps was
focused on the youth of our church. We
have been putting the middle and high school students together and it is fun to
see how they interact and help one another.
We had great Bible teaching and
devotional times. Five of the youth gave
their lives to Jesus. One of the girls
kept sharing how clean and light she felt afterward. Once we returned home her mom could hardly
stop from sharing how changed her daughter was as well. A couple other youth rededicated their life
to Jesus. Everyone had a powerful
encounter with God.
There was plenty of fun. Specialty classes every day (arts & crafts,
dance, drama, swimming, graffiti, sports, coffee making and much more).
Adventure sports were every afternoon (paintball, going to the lake to go tubing).
They had field games every evening. And even camped out in tents one night.
Cabin time was rich with fun,
fellowship and some really deep times with God that we will not quickly
forget. There is nothing quite like
spending a week with a group of teens – you really get to know and hear them at
a whole new level. Thank you to those
that helped sponsor our teens – we could not have done it without you.
Family Camp
We took 17 families – 64 people – up to family camp this
year. The majority of us made it up to
the camp on a school bus we were able to rent due to a generous financial
gift.
· We had powerful worship times, great teaching times (9
sessions in that weekend), life-changing ministry times, early morning
devotionals that were both instructional and relational.
· There was a funny and powerful drama that Fabiola
organized with two other ladies hitting home some powerful points during out
teaching time.
· We did night hiking, stargazing, watched a movie
together and had great fellowship times.
· People were ministering to one another and encouraging
one another.
· Our theme was: Transformed in Christ (focusing on
Romans 12:2 and talking about taking off the old and putting on the new).
· Some families brought their unsaved spouses or
children. The positive and friendly
faith-filled environment really helped people grow closer to a place where they
can make a decision to follow Jesus for themselves….and see that the church is
not such a scary place after all. J
· We ended the weekend with four baptisms and then a
powerful testimony time (filled with tears of joy and shouts of praise. Powerful
prayers and words were spoken):
o
One family had
their first family Bible study and devotion time together – something they want
to continue into the future.
o
One lady shared:
“I came with my cup empty, but now it has been filled.”
o
One man shared:
“I hardly spend time with my family and this was a good time and place to spend
time with them.”
o
One man shared
that his knee was healed during the weekend.
o
There were a
number of testimonies of how God provided financially and gave favor in getting
time off of work to be able to come to the event.
· Steve and Jenny, a great couple that came and
volunteered for the weekend, did so many fun activities with our children and
taught them some Bible lessons allowing the adults to focus on what God was
saying to them. And the kids had a
blast!
· God was and is definitely calling people to
Himself! There were a lot of cleansing
tears shed and great joy and thankfulness at the end.
New Ministries & New Starts
School is in session and while it doesn’t feel like fall
here in Los Angeles (record heat) we have launched off into some new ministries
and re-started some others.
Please be in prayer with us for each of these ministries:
· Usher
Ministry: We have launched a new
usher ministry which helps get more people in our weekly services involved and
will help us do a better having eyes and hands ready to welcome and serve the
people that we are inviting to come worship with us. There are over 12 people involved in this and
we will be training people up as we go.
· Training
Home Group Leaders, Facilitators and Hosts: We have begun the process of intentionally training 8 people for
leading or helping in our home group ministry.
We hope to start several new groups in the new year.
· Prayer
Group: We have started a community
prayer group that will be hosted at a different house every week. We will intercede for the needs of the
church, the family whom we are visiting and the community. As we continue to strive to empower and
train-up others in ministry we are so encouraged that this is a member-led
ministry.
· English
Classes: We piloted an English (ESL) class last spring
and are now ready to launch this needed class for the adults in our community
come the first week of October.
· Tutoring: We are starting the third year of our tutoring
program. We hope to increase the number
of students we serve once again this year and continue to take them to the next
level academically and spiritually.
· Worship
Team: We have a small group of
worshippers that are meeting weekly to rehearse and will be leading worship for
the first time this month. We are
excited as we see their growth in understanding the power and intimacy of worship. They have been developing musically and in
their ability to lead others into God’s presence.
· Internship/Leadership
Program: We will start our second
year of the Fuente Internship this month.
Youth Beach Trip
Enjoying the last days of summer
before school starts Joshua and Rocio, our youth leaders, took a group of the
youth and some of their parents to the beach for some fun in the surf, time on
the sand and a stop at the local arcade.
Work being done around church
Over the last months we have been
plugging away at some projects at the church.
It is always great to get outside
help for some of the things we can’t do on our own – whether because of our
lack of the proper finances or skills.
Pictured above – getting help to put a safer/cleaner ground cover under our
play structure.
It is even greater when we see
our own people take ownership and work with their hands and minds and buy the
needed things to make improvements in our facility.
Pictured above and below: Our church taking the initiative to install new blinds and do
a deep clean throughout the church.
We see that God is moving through
the outside help and the inside growth.
The Church family throughout the world is an amazing thing!
Family News
Beniah is 5 ½ months old.
We were able to go to Mexico and
visit Fabiola’s family a couple weeks ago.
They all love Beniah! Our church
did awesome without us! While in Mexico
we were able to teach an internship class and impart some vision to a new group
of leader’s at Fabiola’s home church in Puebla, Mexico.
Please
Pray with Us…
Our purpose for being here in the
city is to evangelize the lost, empower and equip those that have come to know
Jesus and plant churches.
We cannot do this alone. Without prayers we grow weak and doors in our
community do not open.
Really we cannot do this alone!
Without your financial support we could not focus all our time and energy on
these precious people – imparting vision, teaching the Word of God and modeling
a godly life. Thank you for all that you do!
Please keep each of the “new ministries & new starts” listed above
in your prayers this month. Keep our
family in your prayers as well.
May each life that is transformed
by Jesus be a seed that transforms many more families and communities here in
Los Angeles and throughout the world.
Thank you for being a part of this vision!
Chad, Fabiola,
Rebecca, Justice and Beniah
