Hello again family, friends, partners in the gospel! It’s been quite a busy season, but busy in the best possible way, as the Lord continues to bless me with responsibilities and leadership opportunities. It brings to mind the parable of the talents. The servant who received five talents traded with them and received five more, likewise the servant with two traded and made two more. However, the servant who had one talent buried it; he failed to be a good steward of what he was entrusted with. Upon the master’s return, the latter servant was scolded and had what he was given taken away, whereas the two faithful servants received praise:

Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.

Matthew 25:21

First, I was chosen to help with the BBQ ministry at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. In case you did not know, I absolutely love cooking, especially for others. It started when I was a child, being my grandmother’s little helper in the kitchen. Growing up in Italian households I developed a strong sense of hospitality, ensuring everyone was served and taken care of before the cook even sits down. After I had been helping cook at the church barbecues, and even at the men’s retreat in Tahquitz Pines, I was entrusted to lead the meal prep for the missions Bible studies at Pastor Trent’s house. We just had Thai at the last one and it went well, praise God! I was a bit concerned we would run out of food. I made a soup called tom kha gai, and Pastor Trent’s wife Debbie was handing out numerous bowls; I took a look and it hardly looked touched, the Lord must have multiplied! A similar, but far greater, experience happened at our Thanksgiving potluck. Many shortages of food were estimated, especially for turkey and ham, and as we were boxing leftovers for the homeless it just kept coming and coming; we actually ran out of to go containers first! It’s amazing to see the Lord’s hand in such marvelous ways as we faithfully serve Him.

Besides serving at these reoccurring events, I had several opportunities to serve during the Christmas season. I got to help serve my lovely sisters at the women’s Christmas event at the community center. It’s always a blessing to help the ladies out whenever possible. They do so much for the body and they deserve to be served. Our sister Tori also organized an opportunity to volunteer at Samaritan’s Pure for Operation Christmas Child. This amazing program not only provides shoe boxes filled with goodies for less fortunate children around the world, but aims to bring the gospel to them and their families as well. Finally, our sister Iziz shared an opportunity to serve at an Arabic Christmas outreach in Long Beach. I was blessed with the opportunity to help with the children’s ministry. Loving children, it’s a great feeling to put a smile on their little faces and that’s just what we did, along with paint. I painted this sweetheart Luciana to look like a bee, and the last face I painted before the end of the night was a little boy named David, who wanted a dragon. After trying to make him look like a dragon, he wasn’t quite feeling it, so we looked through Google for inspiration. He liked a tribal style dragon, so back to the canvas, well face, I went. He left a happy camper, and it was nice being able to share a bit about the mighty King David, of whom he did not know much about.

It was especially nice serving at this event because the Lord has continued to put the Muslim people on the my heart. At a secret church night at Calvary Chapel West Grove, I envisioned scissors cutting through a black veil; and recently at a prayer meeting for our upcoming vision tour to the Middle East, I envisioned a sword cutting through a black veil, and after the two halves fell away Jesus was the one wielding it. Last week we had baptisms at church, and when the one young woman Sarah got into the baptismal, I momentarily pictured her as a fully veiled Muslim woman. Tears began to well up. It’s a beautiful thing when Muslims come to faith, because they are a living embodiment of these words of Jesus to His disciples:

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25

Death is a very real possibility for Muslims who leave the Islamic faith. And if not death there are other various punishments which would greatly impact one’s life, such as imprisonment, fines, as well as loss of children and inheritance rights. I’m praying that God would continue to reveal what He has for me as far as helping these people, and just this weekend God moved mightily in my heart. We were at a missions conference hosted by Calvary Chapel West Grove, and the first night I had a vision. I envisioned a late afternoon sun, then the silhouettes of a boy holding his mother’s hand, a fully veiled Muslim woman; they were walking towards the setting sun. Immediately following I received this verse from the book of Romans:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14

The following day messages were given regarding the unreached, and one in particular really provoked me. In closing, the prompt was given to wait on the Lord after being given the statistic of 3.2 billion lost souls perishing, tears already started welling up. Then he ended with Romans 10:14 and it brought me right back to my vision from the night before; I broke down. I took this as confirmation not only to my vision and word but to the burden I have been feeling increase for the Muslim people. This was especially awesome as I felt called to teach at the Rosarito church planting conference, and during my prophetic prayer I was told God wants me to preach the Word. I look forward to God continuing to speak as I prepare for and embark on our vision tour to the Middle East. Regarding this tour, God has been providing! First with plane tickets a few hundred dollars cheaper than expected, and now with COVID-19 testing requirements being lifted. Personally I also saw His hand provide in unexpected ways after faithfully taking out the initial deposit, which was a bit of a stretch, especially after deciding to join the team serving in Central Mexico. We will be in Culiacán and Mazatlán for the first two weeks of March, refreshing the saints and witnessing the opening of a new church plant. This is exciting as we are aiming to be church planters ourselves one day, as well as the fact that I simply love Mexico; the people, the culture, the food, all of it! I’m praying that God would move in and through us in amazing ways while down there!

I thank you all for reading my newsletters, and for coming alongside me in prayer as I diligently seek His will for my life. It’s amazing what can happen when you surrender your own will and simply present yourselves available to be used by Him and ultimately to glorify Him. I’m excited for God to continue speaking as we serve Him in Mexico and seek Him in the Middle East, and as you can expect, trips such as these are a bit costly. Upon returning from Mexico I plan on selling jars of homemade pasta sauce at church, so be on the lookout for that! There is also a giving link below, should the Lord so lead you to partner with me in the gospel. More than anything I would love if you would pray with me for God’s provision, and as always feel free to reach out with any prayer requests of your own. Thank you and God bless!

Be encouraged to cheerfully offer intercessory prayer, by remembering that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears.

C.H. Spurgeon

Prayer Requests

• Continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His giftings throughout the body
• That God would move mightily in and through us in Mexico
• That God would protect and anoint us and the faithful servants holding down the fort
• God’s provision for myself and the rest of the interns
• Housing for myself and a few other interns in the near future

Praise Reports

• The Holy Spirit is stirring within the body
• God provided cheaper airfare for the Middle East and removed COVID-19 testing requirements
• Seventeen of us going to the Middle East