Family! I write this month’s newsletters with a heart that is filled with gratitude. While it has been a busy season for me, I have had a few weeks to sit back and see all that God has done and wants to do. Let me tell you… I cannot believe it. To think that a few years ago my mentality was a lot different than what it is now. I was once focused on things that did not really matter or things that would never make an impact on the kingdom of God. But little by little the Lord changed my heart and switched my focus to see the reason we as believers are here on this earth! So, with this heart change and call on my life, I continue to seek the Lord and be diligent to do what He has called me to do…. Go and make disciples of all nations! 

In my last newsletter, I mentioned the vision tours I would be taking this month. Well, today it is finally starting. I am currently in the Middle East where I will spend the first part of my vision tour. I will be in the ME for one month and in South Asia for three. As exciting as this sounds, I want to be clear on what these trips are for. It is called a vision tour because I am going to get vision from the Lord. The last thing I want it to sound like is a vacation. There I will see the land, be trained in cross-cultural ministry in the 10/40 window, and seek the Lord as to what He wants to do. So, I am buckling up for a ride I’ve yet to go on. I love what my pastor always says, it’s “a venture of faith”. I’m ready! 

Sent!

This month came with awesome opportunities. I had the honor and privilege of sharing the vision and call on my life with my SOLA family, my home church. I had never spoken in front of a crowd like that, so for me it was big and very nerve racking. But the Lord helped me get up there and share what He wanted the church to hear. I pray that much fruit will come out of Calvary Chapel South Los Angeles. Please pray for me! I felt very loved by my spiritual family. I want to say thank you once more for all of you who have poured into my life and have loved me to the fullest, I am incredibly grateful to have a home at SOLA. To be sent from my church that Sunday was something I never thought would happen. All glory to God! 

That Sunday, we also sent out a team to Colombia. I was blessed to be a part of this team that the Lord handpicked. Our time serving with Calvary Cartagena and Tierra Bomba was something I will never forget. The Lord is doing a great work in Colombia, and we got to be a part of it and witness it firsthand. The love that the servants there have for the people of Colombia is awesome. Not only are they faithful to the labor God has called them to but they do it with a heart full of the joy of the Lord. That is something that I want for my life. To serve God and people, love God and people, and not only that, but to do it with the joy of the Lord. 

Going!

I thank you for your continued support in my calling through your prayers, finances, love, and time. Please send me your prayer requests so I know how to pray for you too. If you are interested in partnering with me in the work of the Gospel for the first time or in new ways, I invite you to prayerfully consider one or more of the following: 

Prayer: As I spend some time in different countries, there can be a lot of fear of the unknown. Not only from me, but my family as well. Please pray for my safety as I come and go from different places and pray for peace for my family. Also, as I go, that I would seek Him first and be a blessing to the workers I will be staying with. Please pray that my time on these vision tours are fruitful and that He would be glorified. 

Financially: My heart is that you would be apart of what God is going to do in taking the gospel to the Unreached. If you feel led to give a one time donation or monthly support, that would be a blessing to me. As of now, this financial support will cover the cost of flights, on the ground stay, language school, food, etc.  

Encouragement: If you are not already signed up for my newsletter, I encourage you to sign up! This is where I give monthly updates and prayer requests, so you know what’s going on. I have started a group chat on an app called Signal. This is where I will be giving day to day updates about what I am doing and how you can keep praying. Please download the app Signal first and let me know if you would like to be in this group chat. 

Some would see language as a barrier, I saw an opportunity. As some of you who have been following my newsletters know, my last update was on my way to the Cora tribe. A tribe located in Mexico that had not been impacted by the gospel yet. We flew to Culiacan, Mexico, and then took an 11-hour bus ride up a mountain. Upon arriving, our pastors had to meet with the counsel men of the tribe to get permission to stay. Permission was granted, so we went to work setting up tents and tidying up. We were able to hang with a few of the kids who were curious as to why we were there. They spoke mostly their own language, separate from Spanish. But rather than seeing it as a huge hurdle I had to jump, the Lord showed me it was an opportunity for love. So, with my mediocre braiding skills, some of us girls started braiding the girls’ hair and they did ours! It was a moment that reminded me how much my actions matter to those I am sharing Christ with, and it was a great start to our weekend there!

I love how the Lord shows me things in such simplicity. While I was braiding one of the girls’ hair, she had knots in her hair and we didn’t have a brush. So I began to take each knot out of her hair one by one and the Lord reminded me of His love for this girl. When I was younger I would cry while getting my hair brushed, so my dad would come and take each knot out one by one. And the Lord spoke to me, “remember that love your dad showed you? I love her way more than that.” And I began to try to comprehend God’s love for this little girl, then His love for the whole village, which then reminded me of how much He loves me! And I was overwhelmed. And it set my perspective for that whole trip, that God loves the Cora people, He sees them, and desires to know them. So a question I’d encourage you all with is: How does God’s love for people and yourself, challenge you in your faith?

Overall God did amazing things there at the Cora tribe! There was great unity within the team, nobody got majorly sick, and the Gospel was shared! We held the first ever church service there that Sunday and held an outreach as well! We saw a great response from the tribe and about 30 people gave their lives to the Lord that Sunday! A few people got saved as well the night before at the outreach. The only thing is that they need bibles as well as someone there to teach the Word and disciple them! So please keep them in your prayers that the Lord would stir it in someone’s heart to stay there and help plant a church!

I will have a section on my blog with more in-depth stories from the tribe as there is just too much to share here! I would also love to chat more via email, text, or even over coffee sometime about all that God did those 6 weeks and is doing in my life currently. And beyond anything else, I hope you can come alongside me in a few prayer requests as well. 

• Pray for the Cora people (Pastor Antonio will be going back with bibles for them in November)
• Pray I would walk confidently in the calling God has placed before me
• Pray I would continue to seek the Lord for direction in my calling
• Pray I would be a bold witness of my faith to my family and community around me!
• Pray for fresh vision with the Youth and Young Adult Ministries here at CCSG
• Pray for the upcoming MTS school year! 

Love you all! Thank you for following my journey through CSOM.

God Bless You!

(Español abajo)

Praise God we were able to have our first Quinceañera at our church in April! One of our youth kids, Andrea, had her 15th birthday party and ceremony at the church. It was a beautiful party and we were blessed to be a part of it! We are also very proud of her because she is taking our pillars class on Sundays because she wants to serve in a ministry, which will possibly be the children’s ministry.

We had such a blessed time celebrating our kids at the church for Día del Niño (Day of the Kids – Mexican holiday). Thank you to our faithful children’s ministry teachers and other servants who were able to set up a fair for the kids. It was super fun to have the kids play the games and giving them prizes. Praise God for providing everything to celebrate the kids together. (Click here to see the post with more pictures)

We are also so grateful that we got to celebrate both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day at our church. It is always such a blessing to see families come to church together. After both the Mother’s Day service and the Father’s Day service, we were able to have a potluck together, which is always a blessed time of fellowship. (Click here for the Mother’s Day post). (Click here for the Father’s Day post).

There was a little bit of a rough patch that we went through with our community. After we got robbed and decided it was time to put the fence up around the property, there was a lot of opposition from the community. They started complaining about the church, how they were not asked before we started the church, and how they didn’t want a Christian church but a Catholic one. After all of this had been happening, the community was telling everyone that there was going to be a cleaning day for everyone to come out and help clean up the community. So we messaged our church and let everyone know that we should try to come out and help. Praise God we had about 10 people from our church come out to help and we haven’t really had any issues with them since then.

We are also so grateful for our partners in ministry. We’re so grateful for your prayers and financial gifts, and because of your partnership we were able to finally put fencing around about 80% of the church property. This is exactly what we were praying for to be done before the youth camp that we will be having August 7th-10th. (Click here for a video where we explain in a little bit more detail about the fencing and future plans).

As for the youth camp, we are so grateful to be partnering with Connections House and their team that will be coming down August 6th-13th. They are planning to help us with our youth camp. They were also able to help us with the funding for adding 3 more toilets to our church building! This will be a big blessing for the youth camp as we only had one toilet before that! We are excited, yet nervous, to see how the event unfolds. We hope that it will be a blessing to everyone attending and serving. We have also been blessed with a donation of a 30×60 feet structure that we will be using as our chapel area for the youth camp. Praise God that we were also able to purchase the tent fabric for the structure so it will be waterproof in case of rain and also protect us from the sun. It was a big blessing to get this structure because now we can use our church sanctuary as the dining hall.

On the left-hand side where the white door is, we have our current one-toilet bathroom. On the right side you can see the construction being done to put in 3 more toilets, with one common sink area in the middle. On the right-hand side of the picture you can see the white metal structure that will be used for the youth camp.

The last thing we would like to share with you all is about Brian’s knee accident. Brian accidentally smacked his knee into a trailer hitch on the back of our car while trying to rush to our car in the rain. At first we thought it was going to heal on its own, but then realized it was worse than what we thought. We went to a specialist, got tests done, got an x-ray, and got an MRI done. It turns out that the tendon in his knee separated from his bone. Thankfully there was no fracture, but the doctor said that the pulled tendon may need surgery. He sent us home telling Brian to find a physical therapist, do 12 weeks of therapy, and then come in to get checked again. He is currently doing therapy and seems to be getting a little better. (Click here to see Brian’s Facebook post with more details).

Praise Reports:

• That God is providing in miraculous ways for the youth camp
• That we were donated the structure and were able to it retrieve safely
• That Brian didn’t break any bones in his knee

Prayer Requests:

• That Brian would be able to continue going to therapy and be able to recover without needing the expensive surgery
• That there wouldn’t be any more break-ins on the church property
• That we would be able to continue being in ministry full time and not need to get a separate job to support our family and ministry
• For a safe and healthy pregnancy for Brittany with our baby #3

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

Bendiciones Sobre Bendiciones

¡Gloria a Dios pudimos tener nuestra primera Quinseñera en nuestra iglesia en Abril! Una de nuestras jóvencitas, Andrea, celebró su fiesta y ceremonia de cumpleaños #15 en la iglesia. ¡Fue una fiesta hermosa y tuvimos la suerte de ser parte de ella! También estamos muy orgullosos de ella porque esta tomando nuestra clase de pilares los Domingos porque quiere servir en un ministerio, posiblemente el ministerio de niños.

Tuvimos un tiempo muy bendecido celebrando a nuestros hijos en la iglesia por el Día del Niño. Gracias a nuestros fieles maestros del ministerio infantil y los demás servidores pudimos montar una feria para los niños. Fue muy divertido jugar a los juegos para los niños y darles premios. Alabado sea Dios por proporcionar todo para celebrar a los niños juntos. (Haz clic aquí para ver el post con más fotos)

También estamos muy agradecidos de poder celebrar tanto el día de la Madre como el día del Padre en nuestra iglesia. Siempre es una gran bendición ver a la familia venir junta a la iglesia. Después de ambos servicios, uno el día de la Madre y otro el día del Padre, pudimos compartir una comida juntos, que siempre es un tiempo bendito de compañerismo. (Haga clic aquí para ver la publicación del día de la Madre) (Haga clic aquí para ver la publicación del día del Padre)

Hubo una pequeña mala racha que atravesamos con nuestra comunidad. Después de que nos robaron y decidimos que era hora de poner la cerca alrededor de la propiedad, hubo mucha oposición de la comunidad. Comenzaron a quejarse de la iglesia, de que no les preguntaron antes de que empezáramos la iglesia, y de que no querían una iglesia cristiana, querían una católica. Después de que todo esto había sucedido, la comunidad les decía a todos que habría un día de limpieza para que todos salieran y ayudaran a limpiar la comunidad. Entonces enviamos un mensaje a nuestra iglesia y les hicimos saber a todos que deberíamos intentar salir y ayudar. Gracias a Dios, unas 10 personas de nuestra iglesia vinieron a ayudar y gracias a Dios no hemos tenido ningún problema con ellos desde entonces.

También estamos muy agradecidos por nuestros socios en el ministerio. Muy agradecidos por sus oraciones y donaciones financieras, gracias a su asociación finalmente pudimos cercar alrededor del 80% de la propiedad de la iglesia. Esto es exactamente lo que estábamos orando para que se hiciera antes del campamento juvenil que tendremos del 7 al 10 de Agosto. (Haga clic aquí para ver un vídeo donde explicamos con un poco más de detalle sobre el vallado y los planes futuros)

En cuanto al campamento juvenil, estamos muy agradecidos de asociarnos con Connections House y su equipo que vendra del 6 al 13 de Agosto. Están planeando ayudarnos con nuestro campamento juvenil. ¡También pudieron ayudarnos con los fondos para agregar 3 baños más al edificio de nuestra iglesia! ¡Lo cual será una gran bendición para el campamento juvenil ya que antes solo teníamos un baño! Estamos emocionados, pero nerviosos, de ver cómo se desarrolla el evento. Esperamos que sea de bendición para todos los asistentes y siervos. También hemos sido bendecidos con una donación de una estructura de 9×18 metros que usaremos como área de capilla para el campamento juvenil. Gloria a Dios que también pudimos comprar la carpa para el techo de la estructura para que sea impermeable en caso de lluvia y también nos proteja del sol. Fue una gran bendición conseguir esta estructura porque ahora podemos usar el santuario de nuestra iglesia como comedor.

Lo último que nos gustaría compartir con todos ustedes es sobre el accidente de rodilla de Brian. Brian accidentalmente se golpeó la rodilla contra un enganche de remolque en la parte trasera de nuestro auto mientras intentaba correr hacia nuestro auto bajo la lluvia. Al principio pensamos que se iba a curar solo, pero luego nos dimos cuenta de que era peor de lo que pensábamos. Fuimos a un especialista, le hicieron pruebas, le hicieron una radiografía y una resonancia magnética. Resulta que el tendón de su rodilla se separó del hueso. Afortunadamente no hubo fractura, pero el médico dijo que el tendón desgarrado podría necesitar cirugía. Nos envió a casa diciéndole a Brian que buscara un fisioterapeuta y que hiciera 12 semanas de terapia y luego viniera para que lo revisaran nuevamente. Actualmente está haciendo terapia y parece estar mejorando un poco. (Haga clic aquí para ver la publicación de Brian en Facebook con más detalles)

Reportes de Alabanza:

• Que Dios está proveyendo de manera milagrosa para el campamento juvenil
• Que nos donaron la estructura y pudimos recuperarla de forma segura
• Que Brian no se rompió ninguno de los huesos de su rodilla

Peticiones de Oracion:

• Que Brian podría continuar yendo a terapia y recuperarse sin necesidad de una costosa cirugía
• Que no habría más robos en la propiedad de la iglesia
• Que podríamos continuar en el ministerio a tiempo completo y no necesitar un trabajo separado para mantener a nuestra familia y ministerio
• Por un embarazo seguro y saludable para Brittany y nuestro bebé #3

“Mi Dios, pues, suplirá todo lo que os falta conforme a sus riquezas en gloria en Cristo Jesús.”

Filipenses 4:19

Greetings from Mexico. As I write this update, I am in the Central Mexico state of Morelos (near Mexico City) preparing to board a plane to fly back home. While on this trip I was blessed to lead two church planting conferences in different churches located in key population centers of central Mexico.

I write this letter with sadness in my hearts because my good friend and church planting assistant pastor Dan Valdez was planning on being on this trip with me as one of the featured speakers at our conferences. Dan had been sick for the past few weeks, to the point of being hospitalized. But as I prepared to start our first conference, I received a shocking text from Dan’s precious wife Cecilia that Dan had suddenly passed away in the hospital an hour earlier.

Death is so difficult for us as believers. But Jesus gave His disciples this encouraging word in John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.“

I know that Dan is alive in heaven today, and as a faithful believer, I know the words he heard as he stepped into eternity! Dan heard these words from our Lord Jesus Christ found in Matthew 25:23, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ These eternal promises are true not only for my friend Dan, but for every one of us who are faithful servants of Jesus!

My friend Dan was a long-time assistant pastor of a Calvary Chapel up in the Southern California, but then five years ago, God called him and his family (wife and four daughters) to move to the Mexico mission field full time to serve as missionaries. Dan and his family moved up the street from the church in Rosarito, and he and I became quick friends.

Dan and I bonded over our shared love for Jesus, missions, sports (Go Dodgers and UCLA) and corny jokes. When Dan moved down to Mexico, he served in another ministry full time, but he and his family immediately got deeply involved in our church. Two years ago, Dan decided to move over to our church staff to serve full time as my church planting assistant pastor.

Dan used his amazing social gifts to connect with our church planters, and he made quick friends wherever he went. For the past two years, Dan has faithfully led our church planting classes, and he was by my side on most of my recent church planting trips. Everywhere Dan went, he seemed to know tons of people, and he was also quick to make everyone laugh as he was the king of the silly dad puns!

Dan and I had so many future plans that we were dreaming about as we focused on the great mission’s work of church planting. When I heard the tragic news of his passing, my first thought was to return to Rosarito to be there for his family and our church. But after talking to our missions team (all friends of Dan) we quickly realized that Dan would have wanted us to continue on with the conferences that he had helped us plan. We dedicated both of these church planting conferences to Dan and his missions work.

Dan left a legacy of faithfulness to the Lord Jesus, His family, and missions work, and I am thankful for the time the Lord gave us as close friends. I know and believe that Dan’s memory will continue to inspire the future generations to continue with the great work of church planting. To help that happen, our mission’s team decided to create the “Dan Valdez Memorial Church Planting Scholarship” that will be given out in his name and memory each year at our annual church planting conference for as long as the Lord allows us.  

Precious friends, when a loved one passes away it is a good time to remember the brevity of life and commit to live every day for the Lord. My friend Dan Valdez did that, and I intend to continue moving forward in this great missions work God has called us to.

So once again, I want to thank you for supporting me and my family as your missionaries. We are honored and blessed to have you as our ministry partners!  

Con mucho amor de Mexico (with much love from Mexico),

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests!

#1- Pray that God will comfort Dan’s widow Cecilia and their four daughters. (Ages 19 to 28)  

#2-  Pray that the “Dan Valdez Memorial Church Planting Scholarship” can continue to help new church planters do the work God has called them to do.

Praise Reports!

#1- Praise God for two wonderful church planting conferences in Cocoyoc (Morelos) and Calpulalpan! (Mexico City)

#2- Praise God for 31 baptisms of (mostly) new believers in our September baptism.

This past Sunday at Abide, Pastor Joseph started Matthew chapter 5, the “Sermon on the Mount.” We covered the Beatitudes, and one that stood out to those I spoke with after the service was, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The Japanese are all about keeping peace, but not about making peace. In this culture they would assume that Jesus would have said blessed are the peacekeepers, but not peacemakers. They have what’s called the “wa,” which is the concept which values harmony and group unity over all else. They value harmony over truth, over justice, over love.

What that looks like day-to-day for them is that they must put their personal feelings aside for the benefit of the society. If a problem arises between two Japanese people, it will be ignored. They will not address the issue and will act as if there is no problem at all. The problem is that inside, they aren’t able to let go of the problem. They let bitterness toward the other person grow and fester, until finally one or both parties must leave the group. That may be a friend group or a job or even on some occasions, a church. They can’t make peace with one another because that would involve losing the peace long enough to face the problem and fix the issue.

Now, we know that the Beatitudes are for believers, not unbelievers, but I wanted to use them as a way to share with you just how far the average Japanese mindset has to change in order for them to ever have peace with their Creator. Like so many people around the world, they think that if they ignore the fact that they are at enmity with God, if they deny God’s very existence, then they won’t have to ever face the consequences of being in rebellion towards Him. Please be praying for the Japanese people, and for the Holy Spirit to help them see the failures of their culture and help them overcome those failures to find true peace with God.

We are back home from Thailand. Thank you all for your prayers regarding Alishia’s health while we were at the conference. She wasn’t able to stay healthy the entire time, but all-in-all, she was pretty happy about how it went, and we may go back next year. The CCA Asia Pastors’ and Leaders’ Conference, as well as the SGWM Conference, was a wonderful time of teaching and fellowship with the other missionaries from around Asia, and especially the other SGWM workers who were there.

A team from SGWM joined us here in Japan the week before the conference as well. Having them here praying for and about the work in Japan was amazing. They were a huge blessing to Alishia and I and Lordwilling some of them will come back full-time.

Thank you for always praying for us, it makes such a big difference. Here are some things to be praying for this month:

• Alishia’s health and for the Lord’s healing of her body.
• Language learning and what my language schooling will look like moving forward.
• For the Lord to meet our needs and provide for us in every way.
• For wisdom about our housing situation moving forward.

Dear Pastors, Leaders, and Church Family,

Greetings to all of you!

I thank God that He has kept us all safe. I also thank God for you. You keep praying for us and standing shoulder to shoulder with us, like a family, in every difficult time. Through your prayers and by God’s grace, we now have church in three villages. Also, Sunday services and Friday Bible studies are held in the hall of our house, which my father built after receiving a

vision. In our Friday Bible study, I started teaching with Genesis Chapter 1, verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter. Now, I have reached

Exodus Chapter 18. In our Sunday service, I am teaching through the New Testament. Right now, we are in the second to the last chapter of 1st Corinthians.

One Day Outreach!

Why people said “God has come to our village today!”

We all know when Lord Jesus Christ met a Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 and

He went to her village, the people welcomed Him and accepted God. In this way we also got the opportunity to go to a village where no pastor or evangelist had ever before reached. This village is completely different from other villages, because it is a village of people of lower castes. Because of that, people of other castes hesitate to enter this village.

A believer of my church grew up in this village. I have written about her many times in prayer requests. Her name is R*. Her father-in-law, the people of the village and the Hindu fundamentalists were ready to kill her for refusing to leave Jesus Christ, yet she did not leave Jesus Christ. She shared with us that the Gospel had not yet reached her mother’s village. I had been preaching from 1 Corinthians 15. Through that chapter, she got more excited to spread the Good News.

When we reached her mom’s village, they gave us a very warm welcome and jumped with joy because it was the first time that someone had entered their village. Two women started saying, “You people are God for us.”

We explained to them, “We are not God, we are humans like you are, we have come only to share the news of Jesus Christ.” Initially only 10 or 15 people came. But as soon as we started worship, over 50 people gathered!

I started sharing the Word of God. It was very hot. There had not been rain for a month and there was no wind. We were so drenched in sweat it was like we had taken a bath. I was also sick with a cold, cough and fever. Still, we were very happy and joyful as we shared the Good News. That day two people in that village believed in Jesus Christ!

Afterward, the people prepared many types of food for us for lunch. When we were on our way back, some people walked with us part way. They told us that they would come to our Sunday service.

When my father and I were on our way back, the tire of our motorbike burst. We had some trouble because of that. Later, we got a new tire put on the motorbike. I thank God that everything went well. The following week, 10 people from that village came to our Sunday service. I believe that God is going to plant a church in that village also.

Why a father called the police to get his son, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter out of the village.

“And your parents, brothers, relatives and friends will also hand you over; they will even get some of you killed.”

Luke 21:16

We always thank God that the people of our church understand God’s Word deeply and are ready to bear the greatest sufferings in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Recently, a family had gone to the capital after believing in Jesus. As soon as they came back from the capital city, their family members asked them to do idol worship. They refused and said, “We believe in Jesus Christ and we will not worship any kind of idol.” Upon hearing this, the man’s father got angry. He gathered the villagers and tried to kill him. His father then called the police.

When the police reached there, the police saved the life of the believing family. The man said in front of everyone, as the whole village was gathered, “If you want to kill me, and then kill me, but we will not leave Jesus Christ.”

When the policeman heard this, he said, “We cannot stop anyone from following any religion.”

The believer’s father said, “From today on, no one will have any kind of relationship with this family. No one will talk to them. No one will eat food in their house. No one will invite them for dinner.”

The believer said, “We are happy with our Lord Jesus Christ. You all do whatever you want to do.”

I am thankful to God that this family is always coming to the church and listening to the Word of the Lord. No inquiry of any kind was made against us either.

Points of Thanksgiving:

• Praise God! A family from our church was persecuted as I wrote in the story above. His father, who did not believe, gathered the people of the whole village and called the police to get his son and his family out of the village. But the police fully supported our church family and said, “We cannot stop anyone from believing in Christ.” The family is still living in their village.
• Glory to God, there has been no flood in our area yet.

Prayer Points:

• Please pray that God strengthens our church members in faith and that they can understand the Word more deeply.
• Please pray. In the coming days we are planning to go to many new places to spread the Good News. May God help us and protect us and fulfill our every need.
• Please pray for our protection from fundamentalists. The season of Hindu festivals started in my area. During this time, Hindus attack churches and pastors.
• Please pray. A land survey is going to be done in our village. Many people are claiming that the land where our church is built is theirs. The case has been going on for about 20 years. May God help us so that no injustice happens to us.
• Please pray that God fulfills all of our needs.

May God bless you all!

Pastor & Mrs. 11*

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

August 2024 Newsletter

Joshua Vanrenterghem

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

This last month and a half I have seen miracle after miracle of the Lord moving in this new ministry beginning in Trujillo. This newsletter will not be able to contain half of the things I would like to share, but I will do my best!

At Home

Returning from Costa Rica, everything began switching up for the fall season. The CCSG Spanish Ministry began meeting again on Wednesday nights, and it has been a blast getting back into serving in this Spirit-lead, transformative group! During our second meeting back together, we had the pleasure to have a little pachunga (party) time for one of our sisters who is going on a 6-month vision tour to a Middle Eastern country to confirm her call to live there full time. As always, it was sad, but a joyful sad.

I have been purposely taking many extra steps to spend time with the Lord in this short time I have left in the States. One great experience I had was to go to an all night 10:30pm-6:30am worship meeting at Pasadena International House of Prayer with two friends. It was a blessing to take so much time with the Lord in worship, prayer, reading, studying, and meditating.

Stand Firm, Immoveable!

I have just come back from a week-long trip to Peru! I took this trip because Calvary Trujillo was hosting this year’s South American Missions Conference, and we were meeting with some great supporters of this new work with children; Wes and Vicky Bentley, and David Zavala. Wes founded Far Reaching Ministries, the same ministry I used to intern at. The conference gave me many great new connections, and the teachings themselves were on another level of fuego (fire)! The conference was named, “Firmes y Constantes,” based off of 1 Corinthians 15:58. Almost all the teachings encouraged pastors and church planters to be fearless and passionate for the Great Commission, even in the most dangerous places. Actually, during the conference we got to pray for a Venezuelan pastor, Angel, and pastor Cory, who are planning to take a vision tour to Venezuela in January to see how they can plant a Bible-teaching church in Maracay.

One of the messages of the conference was fittingly named, “Preparing for Battle.” Of course, Wes Bentley spoke for this message and it was a great encouragement to me, knowing more and more the kind of dangers involved in rescuing children. During the visit, we had the entire children’s home team meet with Wes and Vicky, and then go out to lunch. It was a great time of sharing encouragement and insight about how to pray and begin this new ministry. By God’s grace, He has provided every important role for the home through members of the church who already have professional training and licenses.

Children’s Home Plans

I have some great updates to share about the children’s home! Cory, with the help of one of the CBI students who has a degree in building architecture, drew up some blueprints and a 3D model of a future home we can build in an open lot directly next to the CBI and church. During the trip, God provided all the funds to buy the property. Now, all that is left is talking with the owner in negotiations. The current building plan would make space for housing 40 children, as well as all the facilities for school classrooms, an outside grass playground, staff housing, and offices. There is also some space for expansion.

God keeps moving in miraculous ways through connections we are getting in the government, police, and church. We have 2 renowned lawyers who write curriculum on law from our church currently working on the bylaws for the non-profit. One of the men in charge of security was a former commandant of the Peruvian Marine Special Forces and the other is a black belt martial arts instructor and MMA competitor, both from the church. God has provided us with some next-level people to play integral parts of this new work.

On the Battle Field

I went on two trips through some areas in Trujillo where children are known to be trafficked, kidnapped, or sold. Through multiple solid sources, we have heard story after story about how children are abducted right from the road at night, as well as bars, night clubs, and hotels who sell them for the evening or house this activity. One of these 24-hour prostitution hotels is a block down the road from the church. One of the pastors from our own church has seen a man leave at night with two children before. This evil is barely even hidden.

Learning more and more of the context and understanding of the local trafficking situation has only strengthened my sense of responsibility to this call and the lives of those children waiting to be saved.

Calling All Partners!

I will be moving to Peru January 2025. In order to move to the mission field full-time as a Saving Grace World Missions missionary, I need to have at least 80% of my monthly budget provided through regular monthly giving to ensure I am able to meet all my needs on the field. So far I am funded 30% of the way. There are also a few one-time payments I will need to make, such as flights. If the Lord is calling you to be a part of this work He is doing through me for the children and church in Trujillo, you can do so through the “Financial Partner” button below! It is my honor to connect you, my sisters and brothers of the American Church, to all God is doing on the mission field, and to show you the fruit of your work through me.

Praise Reports

• The success of the South America Missions Conference in encouraging and building up the pastors and missionaries serving here in South America
• God providing the finances for the land for the children’s home
• Provision of all the important staff and leadership in the home, as well as the support of Far Reaching Ministries
• A great beginning to the Fall season, and God’s graciousness as I never stop growing in my walk with Him

Prayer Requests

• God to be glorified in the calling of rescuing children, and that many children will be able to grow up in a Christ-Centered home
• God’s leading while Cory begins negotiations for the children’s home land
• Monthly provision for me to be able to be sent out as a full-time missionary in January
• Continued provision for the connections we need in government, as well as the creation of the children’s home non-profit organization
• Provision that will be needed for the building, and all the needs of the children

Dear Ministry Partners, 

Greetings to you all in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

We had a massive amount of rainfall, in our state. Four people, including a child, were swept away in the flood waters in different parts of our state. Bodies of two people have been recovered. The road routes between our state and the neighboring states have been disrupted. More than 100 villages have turned into islands (become surrounded with water). A truck full of grain was also washed away in water. A CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) army was also swept away while crossing a rivulet. This news was published in ‘The Times” of our country. In addition many other places, of our town was affected by the flood.

We deeply express our heartfelt gratitude to the almighty God for His grace and mercy upon my family. At the same time, we appreciate each one of you for your valuable prayers and financial support. Because of your financial help, we are able to move forward with the Gospel of Christ Jesus to the unreached without any worry. As a family we have been praying for you, for your family, ministry, job and businesses. May the good God bless you with all resources and good health.

I would like to share the story of one of our new students at Calvary Bible Institute. His name is SD*. He is from another state. He was born and brought up in a Hindu family. His father was demon possessed. Because of that, many times he used to go unconscious. The family members took him to the temple and to many sorceresses, but he did not get any relief.

One day, a Hindu man came to his home and told his family, “Some of my relatives went to a church for prayer and they are okay now.” The man suggested that they should also try going. 

So listening to Hindu man’s words, they took their demon-possessed father and went to a church. They met the pastor and the pastor shared the Gospel of Jesus with them and prayed. By God’s grace his father was delivered completely! He was set a free from the evil bondage after having the problem for 4-years. Through this, the whole family accepted the Lord as their personal Savior. Since then they are believers. Now brother SD* has committed his life to God’s ministry.

In the month of July we started our new semester of CBI. By God’s grace, all the classes are going very well. This semester I am teaching the book of Exodus. Every week we take our students to do practical ministry where they are able to lead and share from Bible.  

My daughter’s new school year has started. This year she is in 11^th grade.    

Prayer Requests:

• Kindly pray for area that is affected by the flood. May God help them recover all that they have lost.
• Please pray for brother SD* and his family to continue to grow in the Lord. As he studies at CBI, May God give him the wisdom to understand and learn.
• Please pray for the new semester at CBI. May God help all the teachers and may they teach well. May God open the minds of students to understand the Bible.
• Continue to pray for my daughter’s education to go well.
• Continue to pray for the growth and needs of our local church
• Kindly pray for me and my family. May the Lord use us for the expansion of His kingdom.

Thank you very much for your prayers and support!!

In Him,

Pastor 3* and Family

*Names and faces have been changed or omitted for security reasons.

School has started up again for the students of Cal State Fullerton and for Fullerton college and so me and Pastor Nick are back on campus for some evangelism. If you’ve been reading my newsletters for some time now you know that we have been working hard sharing the gospel on both campuses and maybe you’ve even heard some stories from my encounters there. However recently God has been putting on Nick’s and my heart to do more than just evangelism on both campuses. God has given both of us vision of starting a club on campus in which we have more ability to minister to the students and make disciples out of students who hear the gospel. If we were to become a club it would allow for a number of opportunities. The biggest opportunity would be to host events, not only that but this would allow us access to the facilities where we could teach and disciple the students. In order to become a club on both campuses we need 2 students and a professor. However we really are praying for someone we can trust and someone who is a solid believer because on both campuses there are plenty of false disciples and even people from various cults. So while we want to start the club as soon as possible we don’t want to compromise in who is to partner with us.

If you’ve kept up with the past few newsletters you would also know that for months I’ve been praying and planning on going on 2 vision tours. I have been praying about going to Thailand and India. At the time which I’m writing this I have been in Chiang Mai, Thailand for almost a week now. I have been attending a conference and for the most part it has been awesome. Also at the time of writing this, I am sick with some sort of cold but am recovering. Please continue to keep me and the team in your prayers. I don’t want to give too much away because next month I will be back in the states and will have a whole segment dedicated to my travels in the next newsletter.

Prayer Requests/ Praise Reports

• Praise God I, my buddy, and the rest of the team made it safely to Thailand
  • Please pray for continued travel mercies
  • Please pray for the Lord to speak to me with direction
  • Pray that I would have full strength for India
  • Please be praying for Godly men and women we can partner with to start a club on one or both college campuses

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I can’t wait for next time to tell you all about both of my trips. Thank you again for all your partnership in prayer for the colleges. I don’t believe much of the work would go on without your prayers. I cannot thank you all enough for your financial support as well for this trip. It has been such a blessing watching the Lord provide for more than I could ask or think. If you would like to give financially there is a link below labeled “become a financial partner” which will give you the choice of a one time or a recurring donation. If you have any questions or want to hear more please feel free to email me at Calebsanchez0321@gmail.com. Until next time. God bless you all.