Reaching the Nations & Our Move

Happy Valentine's Day...we know we are a day late but being Heart 4 the City we thought it would be great to share the love we have for you, our friends, and the love God has given us for the city and nations of the world with an update. 

2023 has been a very full year already and we aren’t even 50 days in!

We wanted to give a couple updates and ask for prayer.

We Are Moving!

We are only moving a few blocks from where we live and will continue in all the same ministries, schools, etc. as before.

Backstory: In March of 2021 we were told we needed to move from our current home. We were told it would be June 2021, so over the next months we began packing and preparing for the move. Unfortunately, that date didn’t work out (long story), but fortunately we were allowed to stay at the home we had been living at. This happened several more times, and while being stressed and stretched, we have been on an ‘adventure’ that after nearly 2 years is about to culminate. We know God has His purposes even through uncomfortable situations.

Our moving day is Friday, February 17 so please pray for a smooth transition. 

Before: This back wall was falling off of the house.

Before: Many other parts of the house were falling apart and rotting.

Before: The front porch was disintegrating and the ceiling was falling in.

Before: Many of the windows didn't work and this one had been vandalized.

The new house was truly falling apart and not safe, but thankfully it now looks and is functioning great. It is over 120 years old so will inevitably have its issues, but we are grateful for a new place to call home and a place where new ministry can take place. Unfortunately, we will not have any blinds or our new stove for the first couple weeks…but at least we can begin to set up our new home. We’ve already met some neighbors and are excited about being light for Christ. We are planning on a large gathering at the new house once the dust settles from our move. 

After: Justice and Beniah check out the new balcony.

Before

After (Thank you SVCC!)

After: The falling wall, broken windows, leaky roof are all fixed...With new paint it looks and feels new and wonderful.

Last weekend our family took time to pray over the whole house and property asking God to bless and protect us and to give us opportunities to share Jesus with our new neighbors and be a place of refuge and rest so we can fulfill the mission God has for us. 

If you would like to help in any practical way – gift cards for meals or for the inevitable trips to The Home Depot and Target as we make things work for our family in the new space over the next month would be greatly appreciated.  

International Dean School

In January I (Chad) got to be a part of a team from World Impact to train 14 new deans for our Evangel Church Plant School. There were 6 teams representing Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Ethiopia. Unfortunately, many other teams from other countries were unable to get a visa, so we will do another training online for them in the coming months. 

God has been doing a great work amongst the hardest to reach and even among some of the unreached groups through these men and women. Our goal was to encourage, train and empower them so that they can return and be more fruitful. Over 5 days we poured hours into prayer and strategic planning for each team to run their own Church Plant schools, where they will raise up church planters who will start new churches throughout their countries. 

We celebrated what God spoke to them and prayed and commissioned them. The combined goal for all the groups over the next three years is to plant thousands of churches.

One group wants to reach people in Nepal and Bhutan too. This team wants to start 100 churches this year, 200 the following and 300 the next…totaling 600 new churches in the next 3 years!

One Pastor shared that God had put it on his heart to help lead 50,000 people to Jesus. His goal is to train 84 people in the coming year to help move towards that amazing goal.

The stories of suffering, extreme poverty, and challenges to share their faith openly were challenging and eye opening. It is truly an honor to help teach and facilitate this school for such seasoned leaders. 

On the third day of our training, as teams were working on strategies for evangelism and discipleship, Pastor Philip received a call and then informed us that one of the pastors he oversaw had just been killed by a Muslim extremist. Things got real.

Each group shared about how death, imprisonment and other types of persecution are real, yet their commitment and urgency increased rather than diminish. 

While we were in the training the power went out in the entire nation of Pakistan. Literally dark. [https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/22/asia/pakistan-power-outage-intl-hnk/index.html] It was estimated some 220 million people had no power. While the nation was in literal darkness, representing the spiritual darkness and broken systems in that country, the couple from Pakistan, Naeem and Ruby, had a breakthrough. 

Pakistan is one of the 10 most dangerous countries to be a Christian and one of the least reached and toughest according to this couple. It is illegal or nearly impossible to do evangelism and “do church” like we do in the US, but the Holy Spirit gave them an idea.

One of Pastor N and R’s strategies is to have guest homes in strategic locations and place a couple there to run it as a covert mission where they can share their faith and disciple new believers. One of these strategic locations in on the northern border where the Taliban and many indigenous groups have strongholds. There will be several ministries focused on the capital city of Islamabad, which just as its name suggests, is majority Muslim. They will also place another strategic guest house in the southern border near India where there is more of a Hindu influence.

Twelve years ago, they had 20 house churches and now they have 150. They returned with faith stirred up and strategies and resources to see even greater multiplication in the coming years.

Another person shared, “I’m not the same person that landed here 5 days ago. God is doing a great work. I have a new confidence. I can see things differently.”

Pastor Samuel from Ethiopia just reached out and although we recommended a 60-day period of preparation before launching a church plant school he feels such an urgency for his people so he will be launching 3-4 schools in the next month to help key leaders in the northern part of Ethiopia where over 600,000 have lost their lives due to the ongoing civil war. He asks for our prayers. He is also gathering 50 pastors to take them through our trauma healing ministry. 

Our team of trainers and coaches.

Pastor Prodip is from Bangladesh but has ties to New York City. He will be launching a Church Plant School (he has already held 5 schools and one of the teams that came was a result of his labor) soon for the Rohingya people, an unreached people group of over 1,000,000. His training will be focused on reaching the 12,000 Rohingya people in the NYC area with hopes to then spread out throughout the connections worldwide.

One of my highlights was worshipping God in different languages with my brothers and sisters from around the world. Here are two videos (just 16 sec. and 9 sec.) to give you a taste of worship in Bengali. 

https://youtu.be/XfCXebVhTQk

https://youtu.be/IHWUc9lLZNs

Another group shared how the Kashi people group had become accustomed to receive foreign missionaries and leaned to expect them to do the work, but now because of increased persecution they are fewer missionaries so they are coming to realize sharing the love of Jesus and leading people to Him isn’t the “job of the missionaries”, but that the Church needs to step up and do what it has been called to do. 

Towards the end one of the groups stood up and challenged those of us leading the school. We were asked, “How are you living out your faith? And with so much freedom that you have, how are you living out your freedom?” Great question!

So many powerful things were happening in the short time. This training was book ended by more Trauma Healing Trainings and work encouraging and equipping pastors in the inner city of Los Angeles where the needs are different, but still great and real. What a privilege!

Please lift up all of these teams, their families, their countries and the burden God has placed on their hearts to help 100,000s of people come to the Lord through 1,000s of new churches!

Thank you for lifting up our family with our 1st world problems so we can live in the inner city and minister to those hurting most in the city as well as reach the nations through the contacts we make here in the city. 

God bless you!

Chad and Fabiola Wolyn

Rebecca, Angela, Justice and Beniah

Winter 2022

When we write we generally try to share pictures and stories to illustrate how your partnership with us, through prayer and financial support, is impacting the ministry…but as we close out the year, we thought it would be helpful and encouraging to see some numbers from 2022. Behind the numbers are many stories and wonderful people being called out of darkness, making great sacrifices and leading with inspiring faith. It is an honor to serve Jesus and His people! Thank you for being a part. 

A lot of what we do is empower others to do the ministry by coaching and equipping them and connecting leaders, pastors and under resourced churches and ministries to resources that they need. We are involved in training in two main areas: Trauma Healing and Church Planting:

Here is a picture of us at our church’s annual Christmas Banquet. As always Christ was shared, we had good food and a lot of laughter. 

Beniah, our youngest, sure looks a lot like Santa!

I love this picture because it has some of the most genuine laughter from our family – but it was at my expense. You know how you set the timer on your camera and then run to get into place before the picture takes…well, that is what we were trying, but I sort of tripped, and face planted on my way to the picture….and this is what you get…everyone laughing. 😊

Wishing you a very joy-filled Christmas!

 

Trauma Healing Group Testimonies

This has been such a full year of training and equipping pastors and leaders who are expanding the impact of the Good News of Jesus around the city and world. We have walked several cohorts of people through different levels of training in Trauma Ministry and Church Planting this year touching various neighborhoods in Los Angeles as well as North, Central and South America and Africa. In just one of our most recent advanced Trauma Trainings in Spanish the trainers sent in reports of over 200 people that have gone through the Trauma Healing Groups (that was the impact of just 5 leaders leading two groups each in 7 months). It is rewarding to train these trainers, those that have come through our healing groups and are now helping us expand these ministries into new places.  

Here are testimonies from two leaders that we have trained as trauma healing group facilitators:

“I believe more pastors, maybe all pastors, should take this course so that they know how to really help people and bring healing – it goes beyond just learning how to preach the Word, but to guide people to the Word and to bring true healing through the Word into the deepest parts of our hearts.” – Julio (Julio and his wife are now partnering with us to train new facilitators.)

Pastor Noe shared many stories from his latest trauma healing group in the country of Burundi. He said the response has been massive as there is such a need - they want more (so we need to train more of his collegues to help him!). He shared of people suffering from war, local violence, AIDS, suicide, being abandonded by family, extreme poverty, and a poor understanding of Scripture and how trauma affects them individually and as a community. 

Pastor Noe is pictured below facilitating a healing group at a community church with a group of youth. 

Thank you for joining us in prayer for:

• The 1,000s of people that have begun their healing journey because they have gone through a healing group led by one of the facilitators we have trained this year.
• A special time celebrating Christmas this year (our last year before Rebecca goes away for college).
• Our Dean training for our Evangel School of Church Planting for internationals this January. Pray that all the key leaders would get their visas in time and the fruit of new churches across the globe would be greater than we can imagine.

From Los Angeles to Burundi & Beyond

One of the pastors we trained as a trauma facilitator (the group from Cameroon) recently reached out asking for prayer for a new group he started in Burundi (some 2,000 miles to the east) when he was invited to teach at a Pastoral Theology class at Bujumbura Christian University. He shared that the students are very happy with the course and with so many deep needs around them they are quickly sharing what they are learning with others.

In order to support the vision of the many under-resourced leaders around the US and world we listen carefully to the needs and are willing to adapt for the win. It seems like every couple of months we are breaking new ground or trying something new. I think that is part of what excites me about the mission field – tapping into God’s creativity and constantly being able to try new things, adapt and improve. Of course, it is frustrating when things don’t work out, but the thrill of seeing a new believer’s eyes twinkle with understanding and appreciation or the raw, faith-filled vision of a new church planter feeling supported and empowered and willing to go where others have not gone makes it all so worth it.

At World Impact we are constantly working to improve and fine tune what we offer so that we remain not only relevant, but always affordable and accessible. One of our personal passions is making sure what we offer to Spanish-speaking leaders is as relevant, affordable, and accessible as what we offer our English-speaking leaders. This month we will be leading our first ever Advanced Trauma Healing Group Facilitator Training in Spanish. Please pray we would truly empower the attendees to be the best facilitators and dream big with God to see more people set free and healed from their deep wounds.

Different parts of the US, the Caribbean, Central and South America will all be represented in our training this month. Each person has a unique area of influence and vision to reach their church, community, city or in many cases region and nation. Not only do we have a great group of students lined up for the facilitator’s training this month, but we are also working on preparing the next group of trainers. Simultaneously training the upcoming facilitators (healing group leaders) and mentoring trainers empowers these ministry leaders to expand our collective reach to transform more communities with the Gospel. While it may not happen soon, it would be amazing to work ourselves out of a job!

Lastly, please pray for me (Chad) as I travel this month for World Impact’s annual staff gathering. Also be in prayer for Fabiola and the kids who stay back in Los Angeles with school and ministry responsibilities during that week.

Thank you so much for your generous support and all the prayers lifted up on our behalf!

What do I have to do to know God?

 Our mission is to empower urban leaders and partner with local churches to reach their cities with the Gospel. Much of our time is spent training the trainer by equipping and empowering leaders and pastors. Recently we were working with a ministry to help them start a Trauma Healing Group ministry. On the very last day of our introductory 6-week healing group we gave everyone a chance to ask anything they wanted. There were a lot of great questions about how to be more trauma informed, how to help people that are grieving, and other things related to the trauma training. One gentleman, Alfredo, boldly raised his hand and asked what had been bubbling up in his heart and mind over the last couple weeks, “What do I have to do to know God?”

Alfredo had just been taken through a journey of finding healing. He learned that God is good. He learned how to listen to others in their pain and was listened to as well. He learned how grief is a journey and what to expect on that journey. He learned how to express his pain to God through a lament. Alfredo and the group also brought their pain and sin to the cross and learned about forgiveness. He learned how to forgive others, himself and receive forgiveness from God. Honestly, not knowing him outside of the class, we didn’t know he was an unbeliever, but saw his growth and the healing take place within.

When Alfredo humbly and honestly asked the question, “What do I have to do to know God?”, another lady in our group, Maria, shared the Gospel and lead him to give his life fully to Jesus. Seeing the layers of transformation – a healed heart from the trauma of his life, but more than that the new heart and new outlook on life having made Jesus the Lord and Savior of his life – reminds us again and again why we know what we are doing is bringing value to so many communities that need these tools. And now Alfredo has a new community of people that can walk with him and help him to continue to grow.

There are many more Alfredos waiting for somebody to provide a safe place to wrestle with issues and heal from the wounds of life. There are many more Marias eager for an opportunity to share how Jesus is not just a healer of trauma and pain, but also a restorer and giver of life and salvation. We are working hard at multiplying our efforts by training and equipping as many people as possible so that we can see a healthy church for every community of poverty.

Thank you for your support and prayers for us and all of those with whom we are ministering.

Summer 2022

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. 

Some of the individuals we were able to train and send out as church planters in Mexico (from Veracruz, Sinaloa, and Baja California).

Also spent some time in jail and grew up in Southern California, but after being deported is now making a difference in Mexico as a strong role model and church planter. 

A church plant team at our Evangel School in Mexico begins to strategically map out their plan to reach a new community for Christ. 

One of the teams plans on starting a new church in the jungles of Costa Rica where they need to reach the communities by horseback or 4-wheel drive.

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. 

Our three church plant teams from Central America on our Zoom training.

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 

 

More Church Planters Trained

We just finished another fruitful and powerful training school for strategic leaders across Central America. Their 3-year vision is to plant 144 new churches as they equip the next generation of leaders in the church and to win their cities, neighborhoods, and regions for Christ.

First, we trained 4 leaders to become deans of their own church plantings schools, equipping them with the resources, theology, missiology, support, and strategies. The four will focus primarily on the nations of El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Next, we immediately partnered with these four leaders (instead of just doing everything ourselves) to help them train their first 12 church planters at their church planting schools. Their vision is to host their church planting schools twice a year so that they can constantly be raising up leaders and sending out church plant teams all over Central America. These four leaders are working together to support one another, which we believe is a key component of long-term success.

In our last prayer letter, we mentioned the group of over 20 French-speaking men and women that are faculty, students, and alumni of a university in Cameroon (Africa), Institut Universitaire de Développement International. The amount of trauma, war, violence, death, betrayal, and other cultural dynamics mostly unseen in the US that were shared over the course of our 3-month training was eye opening. The hope is to continue and expand the training on-site within a year because each leader has many others that he or she knows that want and need the same training. As we train the trainer, we create a platform for these strong leaders to take these trainings even further than we could ever do on our own.

Here is a picture of some of those that were trained and equipped: 

Words are not enough, but Thank You! for your prayers (that really make a difference) and every dollar you sow into this ministry as we partner to see more people equipped and empowered to win their communities – communities of poverty full of desperate need – for our gracious and loving God.