Some Twists & Turns on the Way

It is so amazing how God carries us through every step of the way.  We have had some bumps and frustrating moments these last months.  One such twist relates to our building space.  After starting the year off with such excitement and vision for how we were going to use the new upstairs space we were later informed that due to some shifting in other housing units one of the families was going to need to move into ‘our’ new space.  We were crushed. After years of waiting, a great plan for the space to expand our outreach and discipleship ministries, time and money invested into cleaning, painting, moving and setting things up….we have to loop back around and ‘undo’ everything.  What we’ve learned, though, is we are stronger, clearer on our vision, more full of faith…and happy we were able to bless this incoming family. 

Sure arriving at this perspective took some time to develop.  There was a lot to weed through and all this while some of the families at our church plant were going through some tough moments.  Yet there is no doubt God knows what He is doing and we believe that He has something so much better for us.  Pulling key, emerging leaders together to process these twists and turns has been a great growing experience for our church, drawing us closer to God and one another as a community.     

Our new neighbors move in sometime this month and we have already been able to collaborate with them.  The father is a pastor who is super excited about ministry and church planting.  His son is coming to our youth group.  Our church was feeling a bit over stretched in covering the extra rent anyway…so again, it ends up being a blessing.  With some of the money that our church pulled together for renting upstairs we build a shed in the back to help us create more space in the downstairs portion.  We are moving forward.  We are excited about our new small groups and upcoming outreaches to see more people come to know and live for Jesus. 

Here are some of the highlights of the last month and a half:

Work Projects

One of the men in our church gave a good portion of his week to help build this shed and saved us a lot of money…it was half the cost of a pre-built one!  We are now re-organizing space inside the church to allow for more space for ministry and greater diversity of activities….and of course more people.  

One of the spaces we hope to free up more is a quasi-office space that we hope to turn into more of a functional office space where our emerging leaders can come and use the tools and resources we have available for their classes, small groups or outreaches.  We are also figuring out ways to get more children into each of our classrooms.  Below you see one of our youth leading an upper elementary aged group during Sunday service.  

We’ve also put up a nice big sign to help announce who we are….it is great to be able to point from the other end of the park and show people where we meet for worship. 

The frame.

Chad waving from the roof.

Princess Tea

It is so important for girls and women alike to understand their value and worth in Christ.  Fabiola and Rebecca along with some of her friends and other ladies/daughters from our church participated in a special evening of being pampered and affirmed in the love that Father God has for them.  

Music Workshop

This was our 10^th music workshop we have put on.  We are beginning to see some growth and it continues to be a great first step for people who want to explore what playing a musical instrument is like.  Students of all ages and levels get a half-day workshop on the instrument of their choice - free.  Several individuals who are currently part of our worship team started out through these workshops.  Also, the piano students were able to play a worship song the following day for the church!

Financial Seminar / FL!P Intern

Mid-January our intern, Francisco, put on a seminar on finances for the church based on what he had been learning in his internship classes at our church.  This was his first time teaching up front.  We worked together with him to prepare him for this 3+ hour event and he did great. 

Francisco and his involvement in our prayer ministry and internship program will also be one of the feature articles in World Impact’s Bulletin that gets mailed out.  We have a clipping of that article at the end of the letter if you’d like to take a sneak peak.  

Pan y Café / (Sweet) Bread & Coffee

We have started a hospitality time with Pan y Café during several of our meeting times to help encourage conversation with first time guests and it is also a place where people are able to connect deeper. 

Somewhat related we have been doing a lot of training these last two months on how to walk with a new believer and help them grow in their faith.  We want to make sure everyone is being fed and the best way we know to do this is equip and empower the people we have led to the Lord to do a good job taking care of the people that they are bringing to the Lord. 

Men’s Night

A group of men from our church got together and shared fellowship, got to know one another better and played some pool.  Most of us were able to win at least once.  We had a powerful Bible study on purity and it was encouraging to hear men open up to one another and share a hunger for godly living. 

Winter Youth Camp

Thank you for your prayers! Camp went amazingly.  The youth bonded, had powerful times of worship, teaching, prayer and lots of fun.  Several youth recommitted their life to Jesus and one of our girls dedicated her life to Jesus for the first time!!!  The enemy works hard at discouraging and distracting them once they come home so please keep them in your prayers!

#HIGHER – was the name of the retreat

…some of the fun things they were able to do between sessions were play games like foosball, play a HUGE Connect Four game (below), 

archery, graffiti, 

paint ball, football, 

swinging, leap of faith (jumping off the top of a telephone pole to reach a trapeze bar a couple feet away), 

hiking, cabin time and much more!  

We believe in our youth – we invest in these future leaders.  Many shared that they are the only Christian in their entire school.  Again, thank you for your continued prayers on their behalf.  

Young Church Planters 

I came home one day to see a Lego village created that Rebecca and Justice had put together.  Off to one side was a group of people sitting in some rows.  I asked them what they were doing and I was informed that a group of the Lego-people had come together to create a church.  I was thrilled to hear about this new congregation! The next day I came home and the church had doubled! What wonderful growth.  The next day I noticed what looked like a chase scene (or a marathon). When I asked about what was happening, Justice responded that everyone in the city had heard the Good News and was running to get to church.  Pretty cool!!!  I love how God asks us to rest in Him and play like children and out of that playing God creates wonderful things.

Please Pray with Us....

LAUNCH of SMALL GROUPS Please pray for our leaders, hosts and assistants as we finish up our training and continue to pray for heart’s to be broken for their neighbors and communities.  Pray for faith, courage, unity on the teams, a heart for the lost and vision.  Most of these new leaders have never done anything like this before so it is exciting to give them these opportunities to grow and be challenged.  We will be walking by their sides, but more and more these ministries are becoming theirs.

EASTER  Please join us in prayer as we will be out in full force the whole week leading up to Easter.  We pray for fruitful outreaches and growth in the church!  See below for more details.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Outreach to new Senior Living Apartments – March 28

Vacation Bible School – March 30 – April 2

Youth Outreach at park – March 30 – April 2

Good Friday Service – April 3

Easter Sunday/Baptisms – April 4

           Beniah turns 1 on March 21!!

May God bless you and give you strength.  Thank you for reading….and thank you for praying and supporting what God is doing in the city through our family.

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Justice and Beniah

Article excerpt from World Impact Bulletin (pre-release) about Francisco mentioned above:

I will never be a Christian!

“I will never be a Christian! And I will definitely never go to your church.”  These are the words of Martin.  Maybe more accurately stated these were the words of Martin.  This was all said before Martin’s wife started praying for him a couple years ago. 

We have spent a lot of time investing into Martin and his family.  We met them when Velma, their neighbor, invited them to church.  Martin refused to come, but his wife came and rekindled a heart for God that had grown cold over time.  It has been fun watching God do the work – turning a hardened heart into one that is tender and in love with Jesus. Today Martin has committed his life fully to God and we got to celebrate that change when we baptized him.  He is a regular part of our church.  More accurately, he is an integral part of our church.  He is serving humbly and gratefully and learning so much.  He enjoys reading his Bible and asking questions. If you were to come to our church next Sunday, Martin would greet you as you come up the walkway and help you feel welcomed.  He probably would then invite you to be a part of his community group that his wife and he are helping with during the week as assistant leaders. 

It has been an answer to much of our prayers to see Martin and other men and women – and youth too – begin to develop more and more into their God-given gifts.  After starting this year with a focus on training and preparing a group of emerging leaders for ministry we have sent teams out into the neighborhood to minister in small groups to help bring in the lost and mature them in their own faith.  These small teams are learning to lean hard on the Holy Spirit and growing in their passion for their neighbors, who are struggling in so many areas of their lives, yet do not yet have the answers.  Martin and others are boldly sharing that Jesus is the answer.

Our focus as missionaries and pastors is to equip and train and empower.  We meet with each one of these leaders, assistants and hosts during the week to continue to coach, encourage, challenge and pray for them and their groups.  When we meet somebody like Velma (Martin’s neighbor) we get excited!  She invited Martin’s family to church and is now hosting the group that they are helping to lead.  Not only that, but now, together, they are inviting other people to know Jesus through their group. 

Please be in prayer for Martin’s family, Velma’s family, their group and the other groups around our neighborhood that are helping mature believers and reach the lost.

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Justice and Beniah Wolyn

'Came to My Rescue' (The Power of a Phone Call)

We recently came back from our youth winter camp. God is in hot pursuit of the youth, but it is really in the context of the church and people reaching out – even in simple ways – that they are being brought in and feeling that needed Father’s embrace.  Here are two testimonies that our youth recently shared with us:

I would never have imagined that she would call me.  I was ready to kill myself.  I had a plan and had locked myself in the bathroom.  As I looked into the mirror the hurt and pain that was looking back at me surprised even me.  I was going through a very dark time.  A knock at the door startled me.  My mom was yelling at me that there was a lady on the phone.  “Who?”  I yelled through the door annoyed in some way at the interruption.  ‘Oh, the youth leader from the church.  Why would she be calling me?’ I thought.  I mumbled some things into the phone and later that afternoon she picked me up and took me to youth group.  It was that night while the worship song ‘Came to my Rescue’ was playing that I gave my life to Jesus.  What a difference; from death to life.  I will never forget that day. 

Another student who gave her life to Jesus for the first time at camp shared the following.  Some people showed me how to put an app on my phone so I could get Bible verses every day.  I did not even want to go to church, but then I saw it was fun.  The verses were not important to me.  But then while I was at the camp and had some quiet time the verse in John 11:25 popped up on the screen.  “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’”  All of a sudden it all totally made sense.  It was like a light bulb went on and I could see and understand it all. This is what it is all about.  Jesus is life.  I had so much fun at camp and came back to Los Angeles changed.  My life is His!

Thank you so much for praying and giving financially so we can reach out to more youth, children and adults in this community. Together we get to share Jesus with them, train them up and empower them to in turn do the same for many more!

Please pray for us this month as we reach out to the community and prepare for Easter week. 

·         Vacation Bible School (VBS) at the park the week leading up to Easter,

·         Visits and prayer at a new apartment complex that just opened up down the street,

·         Starting new home groups that we hope to fill up quickly with all the new people that we meet and introduce to Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and Friend. 

May God bless you and give you strength to do something as simple as make a phone call or help somebody download an app….because the Spirit of God is moving and wants to use us in many ways for His glory so that more may be saved.

Chad & Fabiola

Just One Coal Will Start A Fire

“I have never finished reading a book before,” shared Francisco, “and now I’m starting my fifth book in five months!” His mouth was cracked into a small grin and his eyes wide and twinkling showed the awe of this new accomplishment. Francisco, a man in his 50’s, has finally taken some steps towards the calling God has on his life.  He just led his first conference too – another big first.  He taught three sessions. We were there every step of the way to guide him, watch him be stretched and cheer him on. 

The preparation behind-the-scenes has been constant: weekly mentoring meetings, Bible memorization, fasting several times a week and much more.  At the end of the year not only will he have read 12 books, but all 66 books of the Bible too. It took us a month and a half to work on those 3 sessions he taught, but next time he will need less guidance. Now we are working on his first sermon. Francisco is so thankful for this push, this opportunity to pursue and be guided in something that a year ago seemed like only a dream. Please lift him up in prayer. Pray that God would continue to work on his character through this process. 

Last month we also had our first-ever men’s meeting.  Since we began ministering in South Central Los Angeles over 5 years ago we have been praying for the men to rise-up in this community and in our church.  This is a huge prayer need.  There are a lot of strongholds, yet we know God has great plans. We saw a great glimmer of these plans as we came together in prayer, the Word and fellowship. It takes just a small, hot coal to start a large fire – we desire to be that coal for our community and families.

We are positioned to train-up numerous leaders in the city so that more people can hear the gospel.  So that more disciples can be trained and matured.  And so that more churches can be planted throughout the city and world.  Please pray with us this month as we continue to work with Francisco and look for others that God has been calling.  Others that nobody has yet taken the time and effort to come alongside of and encourage and shape and release.  This is our passion. 

As it is the month of love and friendship we will have a special teaching time on marriage and family.  We have also been working with some couples through the pre-marital or tune-up phases of marriage.  Please continue to keep these times of teaching, counseling, and life-on-life mentoring in your prayers. 

Your prayers and financial support make every bit of difference in enabling us to do what we are doing.  Thank you!

May God bless you and keep you strong and close to Him this month and always,

Chad, Fabiola, Rebecca, Justice and Beniah