Summary: God has been blessing the ministry with many new people trained and sent out as church planters and workers amongst the broken throughout Los Angeles and the world. We also have a big financial need for our kid’s schooling so please see how you can help at the end of this letter. THANKS!
Highlights…
Church Plant Schools
So far this year we have already run two Evangel Church Plant Schools with 16 people representing at least 8 cities in at least 5 countries. We say at least because several teams are already thinking and praying about the church plant that will come out of their church plant (babies and grandbabies).
Formerly incarcerated, now planting churches for God and standing up to the cartel to defend his community.
9 New Deans in Mexico & Central America
Dean Training is training key leaders how to run their own Church Plant
School. We know that we can’t possibly train everyone ourselves, so we partner
with pastors and leaders with the vision to plant many churches and train them
to be trainers of our Evangel Church Plant School.
Between
a trip to Mexico in March and an online training with pastors from Central
America we have trained 9 pastors as deans so far this year. The earliest
school that will be run through these leaders is in August in El Salvador.
One
of the deans we trained up a couple years ago, Javier, has already hosted
several schools. This year he finished one in Columbia and has just started
another in Florida. Javier planted a church in Florida and just handed that
church off successfully so that he could move to Ohio to start another church.
While he is building relationships in Ohio, he is still reaching back to train
others in Florida how to plant so that there can be even more churches in his
old state.
Trauma
Ministry Expanding
So far this year we have trained 65
people from 10 countries as facilitators or trainers in Trauma Healing
ministry. That is up from 38 people from 6 countries all of 2021, and 17 people
from 2 countries in 2020 and we are only halfway through the year with people in
cue waiting for advanced trainings in Spanish.
I want to share a bit of a
correspondence with one of our African brothers:
My warm greetings to you Sir,
I was so proud of receiving the certificate. Today I introduced it to my collegue pastor then he suggested to form the trauma healing ministry which might be very helpful to our parish and community because the people who are suffering from trauma are a lot due to civil war which has been occured in our country. He has even chosen the psychologist who will be my assistant so I would like to request your prayer so that God can make it fruitful.
I will be giving the report when we start.
Thank you for everything.
Then a little later this same brother in Christ wrote of his first Healing Group, "I would like to let you know that I have started the first session on trauma healing. It was wonderful, God has been with us."
Here is a picture from another healing group that was formed as a result of our training in a different part of Africa:
Testimony Gathering of the
Previously Incarcerated
“Were
you on the inside?”, asked the gentleman standing in front of me as we waited
for our burgers at the In-N-Out truck serving our lunch. “No," I responde, "but I love to go
into the prisons and jails and share Jesus!" The gentleman gave
me a strong slap on the back and said, “Thank you, I was in for over 20-years,
but now I’m out and getting my bearings and want to shine for Jesus…it’s
amazing being here with so many guys and gals that have been locked up like me and who love Jesus like me!”
What
a powerful time to hear story after story of deliverance and re-established
purpose for people that once were locked up (many with life sentences) who now
run ministries, write books, teach classes, pastor churches and live healthy,
productive lives.
Through
our TUMI seminary classes (The Urban Ministry Institute) which we offer inside
(and outside) prisons and jails we have built a great network and family of
people throughout the state of California and beyond. It is an honor to be
a small part of some of these relationships and to be able to look for ways to provide
the encouragement, resources and support they may need to make an even bigger impact.
You
can watch a little more about this ministry partner and event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaBU8_Bq-KQ
Fuente Church & Community
Yard Sales continue to be an effective and practical way to help fund
the church ministry to the community, bless the community with good, affordable
items and build community contacts. Fequently people come and share their life
stories and pains and walk away with prayer, a Bible, and an invitation to be a
part of what God is doing in and through Fuente.
Our
Good Friday, Easter and Mother’s Day outreaches were a bit
smaller than in years past because our volunteer base shrunk some during COVID,
but we still had good turn outs of new people to hear the Gospel and receive
prayer.
This
summer we will be watching Season 1 of the series, “The Chosen”, (in Spanish) and
walking through life application in small groups. Our hope is we will all walk
away more in love with Jesus and more aware of who we are in Christ as the
chosen, activating our faith in greater ways. This series will allow us to
reactivate our lay leaders for in-person ministry times after being limited to
Zoom meetings for the last season.
Home Front
We
praise God that we have not had any recent problem with fires, theft, stalkers,
or vandalism for many months now.
We
are still in ‘limbo’ living in a partially packed home (for 1.5 years now)
awaiting everything at the house we are moving to (several blocks away) to be
finished being repaired and readied for our move. We hoped to be moved in by the end of summer, but at this time it is
looking less likely…so maybe mid-fall???
Prayer Needs
1. Provision for children’s
schooling. ($12,800 needed)
2. Grace, provision, God’s
timing on move to missionary housing. (We would love to be moved in by start of
school, but also want house to be ready and not a construction zone.)
3. Covering for all the
amazing people we have been able to get to know, train, encourage and send out.
Thank
you for cheering us on and partnering with us.
May
Christ be known in the darkest, hardest of places from the city streets to the
jail to the many other countries God is putting before us!
Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Angela, Justice and Beniah
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