Baptisms
One
of the most exciting things to celebrate is new life in Christ! In October, we
celebrated two baptisms.
Alma came to the Lord recently and has been bringing her 3 daughters, niece and nephew to church with her. Her baptism was only hours before she gave birth to her fourth daughter. We are now praying for her husband to join the family.
Luis
also came to the Lord recently. Everyone that knows him says they didn’t think
he would ever come to church…but he did and then he came out to our Family
Camp. It was there where we really noticed big changes in his life. During his
baptism, Luis humbly asked forgiveness of his wife, children, brother and
mother, all whom he had deeply wounded in his years of rebellious and
destructive behavior. Being willing to be broken like this ministered to the
whole church and has brought his unbelieving mother closer to him and more
willing to come out to Bible study and church on Sunday. Recently at our
mid-week Bible study that he and his wife now host he said with a huge grin,
"I look forward to Tuesdays
and Sundays because we get to study the Bible and learn more about God. Before
I never looked forward to anything. All the days were the same blah of
meaninglessness.”
Youth Event
Our
youth group has been solid. Thank you for your continued prayers for our
leaders Hugo & Yuri. The youth memorize verses every week and have been
doing a good job inviting their friends. They took a trip to play laser tag and
ride on go carts this last month. Their winter youth camp is coming up soon (in
February).
Worship Team – More New Experiences
Our
worship team was invited to lead worship for a special meeting led by the
president of World Impact and then again for the pastor’s breakfast and staff
training. These new experiences are helping these young worship leaders grow in
what it means to lead worship and invite God’s presence in different settings.
Thanksgiving
We
had a great outreach on the Sunday before Thanksgiving – where we acted out the
Thanksgiving story and shared the gospel creatively through an interactive
‘living history’. We had at least 4 new families come out and many hands raised
for wanting to make Jesus Lord and Savior.
It is always a treat to be able to bless people with a great meal and fellowship. Many of our new families were introduced and given spots of honor at tables where they were able to make new friendships with families that are already part of our church. This outreach was also a special place for many foster kids to come and meet up and have a meal with their birth parents.
The
following few days we were busy handing out 36 thanksgiving boxes packed with
groceries. The smiles on the faces of the families are always priceless.
Then…more celebrating…our whole church gathered again on Wednesday to have a family meal and share testimonies and thanks. There were a two families that we haven’t seen for a long time (years) that returned to be with us for this special occasion.
We’ve moved!
Thank
you so much for all the prayers and patience with us as we have been boxing
things up, repairing the new house and moving in. It feels like it has taken 3
years, but it hasn’t even been 3 months. We would love to have you over for a
visit…maybe in 2017 when we’re fully settled…just let us know if you are in the
area and can stop by!
Testimonies: As
you probably read, we did a lot of work and most of the labor was donated. We
had most of the glass, screen, painting, minor construction/repair work donated
by people in our church or other friends/supporters. Several of these workers
gave up to two weeks of their time just to bless us! The cost of materials was
still enormous, but thanks to one supporting church (Cornerstone) we had most
all of those costs met. There are still some outstanding costs and projects
that were left partially done, but we are so blessed and happy to be in the new
place.
[Note: If you are interested
in giving specifically towards helping us finish up this project you can still
do so online at this link: https://my.worldimpact.org/default.aspx?page=3826&funds=7477 or by writing your check to World Impact and writing
“Wolyn Home Repair” on the memo. Thanks!]
Ministering Together
Our friends Nik & Kristy Harrang, who are pastoring up in Seattle came and ministered to our church in late November. It was refreshing having friends come and visit and minister with us for the day. Nik was one of the first people to help me grow in God and instrumental in my coming to know the Lord. He pushed me out and showed me the ropes of evangelism, led the Bible study I was a part of and then handed it off to me causing even more growth. There is something super special seeing how God is using our lives now some 20+ years later. It was fun translating for him as he and Kristy spoke life-giving words over our church.
Coaching
We continue to connect with different pastors through the UCA (Urban Church Association), coaching meetings and other settings. It has been an honor to be a part of helping Pastor Refugio, from San Diego, go through the licensing process (to become a licensed and now ordained minister) through World Impact.
Please
Pray with Us…
1. Fruitful
Outreach
Please
pray that our Christmas Banquet would be effective in sharing the gospel to
people that desperately need the hope of Christ. We are praying for 25+ new people to attend this event.
2. Strong
start to the New Year
- Remodeling: To make room for more people we are doing some remodeling at the church building (it’s not that we love this…moving and fixing up our new house was enough, but this will allow us to fit double the number of people in our service on Sunday).
- We are also launching a new evangelism/discipleship strategy to touch the neediest of people in our community through Children’s Hunger Fund food boxes.
- January is also a strategic time to launch or vision and focus for the year,
- install new leaders (elders) and
- launch our Academy of Music and Worship where we will be training people in instruments, voice, dance, drama and the biblical heart and purpose of worship.
As
our children are on their vacation from school, please pray with us that we
would get quality family time to connect, rest and have fun together…creating
memories that will last a life time. Our three children are super troopers
being the kids of missionaries and pastors…we are grateful to God (and them) that
they are such a huge part of the ministry, but want to make sure we get some
good time without the distractions of the constant need and pull of ministry.
Wishing
you a very merry Christmas. May Christ be at the heart of all that you do.
Chad, Fabiola,
Rebecca, Justice and Beniah
