By Paul Boubion, May 2024 family update!

This is my dad and me about 8 or 9  years ago. He loved his hats and beanies! This March 14, 2024, at the age of 89, he went home to be with his Lord.

Have you heard this phrase? “God is good all the time! And all the time, God is Good!”

Does it sound cliché? Is it true? As we all struggle through trials and tribulations, we may wonder, “where is God?” This is what the Psalmist sang 3000 years ago:  “My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” – Psalm 42:3 

My father LOVED Psalm 42 and shared it many times! I will always remember how he quoted verse 1:

“As the deer longs for the running waters, 

so my soul longs for you, O God”

When my dad could still think clearly, he longed to be with the Lord. He continually repeated “I love God” and “God is Love” even as dementia took him. We have been saying goodbye for many years. 

I had a great father and loved him dearly! I miss him, but I am eternally grateful to God for him! 

Yet, I will see him again! I hope all who read this will be part of the Heavenly multitude worshipping and praising God before his throne (that’s described at the end of the Bible!) Thanks be to God! 

I leave you this thought found throughout Scripture as we all experience loss and trials: 

“Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.”

Psalm 42:11

Thank you, to everyone for your love and condolences!

‭We have been living in Mexico for nearly 3 years. I have been reflecting on the great blessing it has been to serve the Lord here and how much we have learned! A special thanks to all you who take the time to read these updates and support us!

Biblical Counseling Mini-Conference

In March, we organized our annual Biblical Counseling mini-conference! This is the first time we planned an evening conference to be available to working individuals who may not be able to attend on Saturday! It was well attended.

The Bilingual Women’s study:

 “Women of Worth and Purpose” recently made its first local mission trip to Calvary Otay to do a women’s event. For some of the ladies, this was their first mission trip and they loved it! 

Poiema is at CBI Peru for the semester and will return for the Summer soon!

Cristian continues to enjoy his last year of Preparatoria and is constantly studying Spanish vocabulary and grammar as he prepares to attend college in Mexico next year. 

Teaching and Translating

Recently we had the blessing of receiving Rob and Heidi Douglass from CCSG and Ends of the Earth Ministries where Rob is the director. He taught our Church Planting class and the church congregation on Wednesday night where I got to translate him into Español! (Check out Rob’s message on Youtube) https://www.youtube.com/live/3S90jR_ZYiY?si=r-L2b5Fa2hVmSdN3

My main ministry is pastoring and helping through our Biblical Counseling ministry, but occasionally I get to teach! I had the privilege of teaching our Wednesday night Bible study in the Book of Acts on April 17. Here is the link! https://www.youtube.com/live/BYhx7YnF-lI?si=okdfOXThNEjBgRMN

We stream services on Facebook live and then save them to our Youtube channel.

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Claudia and I will be teaching on Women’s Ministry and Biblical Counseling at the 2024 Church Planting conference.

My next big project is to create a website for our counseling materials in Spanish and English and make it available through our church website calvaryrosarito.com

Prayer requests:

• For our children
• Claudia to co-lead the women’s bilingual study with wisdom, grace, and love.
• Biblical Counseling ministry: to better manage the growing number of people requesting help.
• Balance our family life, parenting, and above all, time with Jesus individually.
• For my mom Joanne and our desire to visit her more frequently.
• The upcoming Church Planting Conference this August 2-3, 2024
• Claudia will be leading her first missions trip to Morelia June 20-24. Logistics, finances, and spiritual & physical health for each member of the team.

Praise Reports!

• Women’s bilingual Bible study is going great! Including a Facebook live stream! Thursdays @6:50pm
• Successful missions trip to Calvary Otay Mesa 
• Counseling is going great for Claudia!
• Paul exited teaching at the rehab clinic and is now discipling men Thursday nights
• Cristian is doing great at school, church, and personally.

     Our Heavenly Father is on the move in our hearts and in our lives. It is so amazing to see the hand of the Lord at work when He wants to get things done. Philippians 4:6 comes to mind. Prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, and asking, according to His will. We serve a miraculous God.

     As you may know we have been in Iquitos, Peru for a little over a month and a half. Our heart has been to get on the river and train pastors in remote places on the Amazon.  What we have found is the great need and desire the river pastors have for biblical training. The question is, Lord, how do we do this? No boat, no base of operations, no knowledge of the river, no connections. The Lord delivers! 

We were invited on a trip to a place called Cushillo Cocha. We were traveling with 414 Missions which is led by Jim and Chrystal Boothe. They have the same heart and vision as we do for river pastors and we went to Cushillo Cocha to help train about 12 pastors and 13 leaders from various river communities. It was an incredible trip and our hearts were knit together to labor in this ministry.

     As our trip was coming to a close, Jim asked us if we would be interested in running a base of operations for pastoral training out of a small river community 4 hours upriver called, Cochiquinas. This was an area we had been praying about since Ryan and a group of guys took a trip to the Amazon last June/July. Jim had already taken us to Cochiquinas on the way up to Cushillo Cocha and kind of planted the seed in our mind of doing ministry from this location. So, by the end of the trip, when he offered it, we were confident this was the Lord’s plan, so we agreed.

     One of the amazing aspects of this whole project is that Jim and Chrystal spent the last year building a beautiful jungle home, with solar, water filtration, and a garden.  They tore down a bar and built a training center/church with a kitchen and bathrooms. They drilled a well on another piece of property and they have a piece of property for agriculture (some of the property donated to them by the leaders of the community). Jim told us, it is yours to use, we have freedom to use it all for ministry. We were blown away. We had been praying for all these things and it was an impossibility, from the perspective of our feeble human minds. Our plan is to move to Cochiquinas in July. What is impossible for Yahweh, the Lord of all creation?  Now that this reality has set in, Lord what would you have us to do?

Our priority will be to the local pastors, training and equipping them. There are at least 20 communities within an hour and a half boat ride from Coachiquinas, better than L.A traffic. We don’t have a boat and that is a major form of transportation.  Jim told me that he has a 30 foot outboard that he will co-op with us, so we are going to be talking about what that looks like financially, but that will be such a blessing!  There is also a 40hp small aluminum boat for ministry in Cochiquinas that we will be able to use as well. Truly, God has gone before us.

  This is where the plot thickens. After this crazy trip, we went back to the river the following week to a community called Oran. Pastor Victor and I went to meet and teach 7 pastors and leaders from local communities. It was a blessed time.  God began to stir my heart to question these pastors about who they are discipling to take their place if the Lord called them home (half the pastors were 55 or older). They all said they have no one. I asked them, if we had a base where they could send us some of their young men for discipleship, would they be interested? By the end of our time there we already had them signing up for something we were not prepared for. We prayed for a couple weeks.

     I called Jim of 414 missions, and asked him what he thought about the idea. He got excited and said that we can use the training center to house and train them. Our prayer right now is using the training center for a Bible college to train future pastors and home Bible study leaders through an 8-month program. The river communities do not have the finances to send their students, so we will have to provide financially for their transportation and basic living necessities. We are planning to start next March with 5-10 students. So grateful for what the Lord does through His will, through His saints! 

During our remaining time in Iquitos we have been able to share at several local churches, train pastors once a week from the local river communities and churches, share the Word on a local Christian radio station and we are praying about a young adult study on Mondays. Please also keep in prayer the people who we share the gospel with, that they would trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Well if you stayed to the end, you are a trooper.  Please keep us in prayer.  

Con mucho amor,

Ryan and Karen

Local cuisine, wildlife, and airport in Caballo Cocha

Prayer Requests:

1. People and churches to partner with us financially and physically 
2. Pastors and teachers who would like to come and teach block classes
3. Someone who would like to teach English, they all want to learn
4. Patience and perseverance, this is going to be an investment of time and resources 

It’s crazy to believe it’s been about a month since I last wrote. A lot has happened since I wrote last time. There have been ups and downs, events, and fun things to share. I’m excited to share some things God has done in the past month.

Divine Appointments

During my time at the Missions Training School (MTS), I have talked to a lot of people during work, classes, and outreaches. One of the most notable ones happened recently at a college campus outreach. At the beginning of our time at Cal State Fullerton, I noticed a girl was standing by some table materials. She was one of the only people in sight who wasn’t looking preoccupied with school or her phone so I walked up to her. I began as usual asking her what she thought about the afterlife. At first, she was a little stunned but responded and we talked about heaven and hell which she believed in. Like most people I meet she was quick to say the way you get to heaven is through good works. During our time talking, I noticed she had a strangely familiar accent. At one point it all clicked when she told me she was Jewish. For those who know me well enough, I’m not a very animated person most of the time but I was thrilled. It was such an open door because I have lived in Israel. I started to share about how Jesus is the promised Messiah. Then she brought up the question skeptically. What does the church think about Israel? This was another awesome opportunity to share that God is faithful to keeping His promises to the nation Israel and not only that but since He’s faithful to His people Israel, He’s faithful to save all those who call out to Him. It was an amazing moment. Yet also looking back at it, it was a sad moment. Here is a Jew, who is one of God’s chosen people and all she knows about Jesus is how His followers have been abandoning Israel. Despite all that, she heard the full gospel and hopefully, we can stay in contact as she plans on teaching a class on Hebrew which I want to attend. Please keep her in your prayers and pray for more opportunities to share with her.

Teaching/Class

One of the core parts of the Missions Training School is our preaching class. While it’s certainly not easy, it is one of the highlights of my week. During my time here I have taught through 2 books, Philippians and Jonah. At MTS, each student is required to teach an allotted amount of Scripture every week. For example, last week all first-year MTS students will be taught 1 Timothy 1:12-20. So during the week we are tasked with properly exegeting a passage (drawing out from the text what is already there). Like any Calvary Chapel, we learn to teach verse by verse through the whole book. Once we have prepared a sermon with an accompanying PowerPoint and paper handout, then we preach in front of the pastoral staff and our peers. Through this, I have learned so much about properly breaking down a text and learning to share from it. Not only that but I’ve watched the things I’m teaching being applied in my own life.

What’s Next?

One of the things I love about the Missions Training School is that there are opportunities to go to unreached countries all around us. Our church is constantly sending out missionaries. As I seek the Lord for what He has next for me, I’m praying about going on various Vision Tours. If you’re not familiar with what a vision tour is, neither was I until I got here. A vision tour is simply a trip to another country where we get to go and seek the Lord in said country to see the works already going on and to wait and see what the Lord would want to do. Thankfully there is one coming up in the fall which I plan to go to. Please pray the Lord would show me where He wants me as I plan on going.

Prayer/Praise Reports

• Pray for the College Campus outreaches as we are praying that God would open a door for us to be established as a club on both campuses
• Pray for our Israeli friend that God would open her heart to the gospel
  • Pray that God would raise up more laborers to go out evangelizing to the Jews
• Pray that God would provide for the upcoming vision tours
• Praise God for our friend Jessica (from the last newsletter) who has been to almost every event Saving Grace has
• Praise God for our friend Kyle who has had it on his heart to go to France and share the gospel with some of his friends
• Praise God that He continues to work in our Young Adults group to bring new people

Thank you all again for all the prayers and support. I’m so excited about what the Lord will have in store for the next Newsletter. If you have any questions or want to hear more, feel free to reach out to me via email. If you would like to support me financially there is a link below. Thank you all again. God bless you.

Give

Hola!

We pray this newsletter finds you well! We’ve got updates and pictures from CBI Peru, Calvary Trujillo, our recent mission trip to Moyobamba, and of course some prayer requests and praise reports to share with you.

“…and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Matthew 16:18

Jesus really is the One who builds His church. He is adding to the church here in Trujillo — we’re now at two services on Sunday mornings, and the home fellowships and midweek Bible studies are often full. Calvary Bible Institute Peru has also been growing — two new students signed up to live on campus midway through the semester, along with a few others who are living off-campus.

The semester at CBI Perú is wrapping up, and we’ve had teachers from different parts of the U.S. and Perú come to teach classes on 1 & 2 Kings, the Pastoral Epistles, Ephesians, Hebrews, Nehemiah, Daniel, Song of Solomon, and currently, 1 Corinthians. God is truly transforming students’ hearts and minds as they diligently study and soak in the Word of God. We’ve seen big changes in some of the students’ attitudes, and they are learning not just how to be adults, but how to follow Jesus, and stick to the Bible as the guide for their lives.

A young student, we’ll call him “J,” was ready to pack up and leave after his first week here. He wasn’t used to living away from family, sharing a room with other students, or living in Perú in general. The balance of serving and working hard at the church and keeping up with his studies was a challenge for him. He bought flights without telling staff or his parents, and was going to sneak out and leave. But his mom called him, and he confessed to her and chose to stay. “J” has since been a really faithful student. On his turn to share a devotional with the school one morning recently, he told us what happened at the beginning of the semester. He compared himself to the prophet Jonah, who was running away from what God had commanded him to do. “J” is growing in his humility and his teamwork, and plans to stay here for three more semesters and finish the program at CBI Perú. Please keep him and other students like him in your prayers.

Thank you for praying also for our mission trip! We split in to three teams to visit three different churches here in Perú and serve alongside them for a week. I (Shilo) had the privilege to lead the team to Moyobamba, where we visited our friends and church planters Pastor Andrew, Jesús, and Yenry. The week was full of great things.

Some highlights from our trip to Moyobamba:

We got to prepare and deliver “bags of love” that had dry goods like rice, beans, and canned food to families in need. The director of an institute in Moyobamba has become a friend of Pastor Andrew’s, and he prepared every classroom to receive our team in small groups, where we shared testimonies, a message from the Bible, gave gospel invitations, and invited them to Calvary Moyobamba. We also gave some love to the church’s property — framing up walls for a storage area upstairs, texturing, and pouring some new concrete to upstairs walls, and giving fresh coats of paint to everywhere we could.

The entire trip was a demonstration of God’s faithfulness, and continuing to build up His church. The Moyobambinos were encouraged, and our team who travelled 20 hours by bus from Trujillo were likewise encouraged. 14 people were baptized the Sunday we left, and our team got to make great connections with many of them! God is really blowing us away with what He’s doing in this church plant that started only about 6 months ago.

Personally God has really been building us up recently also. Easter was a great time of reflection and rejoicing in our risen King. My (Shilo’s) parents were here visiting for a week around that time as well, and that was a blast. They met all of the Bible college staff and students, came and worshiped with us at the services, and we got to share some quality time out and about as well. Racquell and I both felt encouraged and glad to share time with family. Having extra baby-sitters for Amalia was great, too. Love you, Mom and Dad!

We’re also excited to share that we’ll be leading a program THIS summer, to introduce young people to foreign missions, and give an introduction and Biblical view of what “missions” is. It’s designed for English speakers aged 18-29 years old. Check out this short video for more information.Summer Missions Internship, June 22nd-July 31st

If you would like to apply, or know someone who may be interested, please contact us directly by responding to this email, or visit Calvaryperu.com and click on “Summer Missions Internship.” We’re excited for what God has in store this summer!

Thank you so much for keeping our family, and the ministries of CBI Peru and Calvary Trujillo in your prayers. We would not be here if it were not for prayer. We’ve seen God answering prayers in our own lives and the lives of others, and we look forward to His continued faithfulness. May His will be done.

Some current prayer requests:

• The students at CBI Peru to finish the semester strong
• Good rest at night (Amalia has been difficult lately– she’s our toddler with teeth poking through and needs a lot of attention)
• Wisdom in how to organize and plan for the Summer Missions Internship
• People to come to the Summer Missions Internship, and that their lives would be changed
• For continued unity and humility among the leadership team
• Grace to be prepared for the growth God is bringing as He’s building His church here
• Continued love and dependence on Jesus in our personal lives

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

We love you all so much and thank you for partnering with us. Through your prayers and generous financial support, you have made this ministry possible for us, and we want to let you know that this is the fruit of your labor as well. If the Lord leads you to partner with us financially, or increase your already generous support, you can do so by clicking on the financial button below or mailing your support check to: Saving Grace World Missions 17451 Bastanchury Rd., Ste.203 Yorba Linda, CA 62886 *Note “Stratton” in memo* To check out the ministry we are serving with, please click the link below or find us on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube: Calvaryperu.com By the grace of Jesus and for His glory, The Stratton Family

Last month, we were able to hike with a team to reach a new mountain area and it was one of the most blessed opportunities for us. The place is inhabited by tribal people that follow Buddhism. They are strict in their beliefs and culture. However, we were able to take the gospel of good news to that isolated and difficult land.

God is so wonderful that He provided a team from another Calvary Chapel to venture with us. We were altogether a team of 20 (8 from the states and 12 Nepalis) along with some porters hiking for many hours into the highs and lows of mountain.

We were warned in advance that the place is strictly prohibited for sharing the good news and people are hostile toward any new teachings. However, upon reaching there we found the opposite was true. The people were in fact very kind and welcoming. As we started to share, the people began to gather and heard the gospel enthusiastically. We thank God that He opened the heart of these people and the door for this opportunity. We are happy that the seed has been sown in this prohibited location, probably for the first time. 

We are trusting that God will do wonderful work in this area by bringing these mountain people in His Kingdom. 

Here are some prayer requests:

• We are trusting God to change the hearts of people where gospel fell, and turn to Jesus.
• For the local pastor in a nearby mountain area that helped lead us to this new place as he needs God’s guidance, wisdom and filling of the Spirit in coming days.
• We are thankful for this mission, and may God bless the team in the days ahead.
• Pray for us also for His guidance, strength and wisdom as my wife and I will be parents soon.

Thank you for your prayers,

Pastor Raju and Srijana

Greetings from Mexico. In this update I wanted to tell you about our upcoming church plant. (It will be #40) I met my good friend Humberto Ambriz over 5 years ago and I want to share his testimony with you. Humberto immigrated to the United States from Michoacan when he was just 8 years old with his family! He later married, worked, raised three children, and retired, all while serving in Christian churches for the past 25 years. And throughout that time, Humberto felt a burning desire to return to his home-state to church plant, even though he had no idea how that could ever happen.

Five years ago I invited Humberto to our church planting conference where God spoke to him clearly that this was God’s retirement plan for him and his wife Miriam. Fast forward four years later, and Humberto moved down to Rosarito to join up with our church staff and church planting program. He has plans to plant his church, Calvary Del Lago (Calvary of the Lake) in August of this year.   

Besides learning to teach the Bible creatively verse-by-verse, our church planting program also includes serving in all of the different ministries we have at the church! Humberto has thrived in every area that I have assigned him. It is wonderful to see Humberto working side by side with our 20 something year old interns all serving the Lord together joyfully.  

Humberto was born in the beautiful Mexican state of Michoacan! And God has placed on his heart to church plant in a historic city called Patzcuaro! This city is the ancient Mexican capital of this state and has a mostly unreached population of over 100,000 inhabitants. In April, I was blessed to visit this city along with my church planting assistant Super Mario Medrano, our Morelia church planter Tony, (who church planted one hour away) and my good friend Humberto! God blessed us in a powerful way on this church planting vision tour. 

We spent three days in Patzcuaro seeking the Lord, getting vision for this church plant, and (of course) sampling the delicious cuisine! Humberto has already purchased a home there in that city, so we were blessed to stay in his home on this trip. We quickly learned that Patzcuaro is surrounded by many towns that have populations of around 10,000. Sadly some of these cities don’t have any Christian churches! (YET!) Because Patzcuaro is the central city in this region, Humberto has a vision to use Patzcuaro as a sending hub of church planting to train up and send out church planters to reach those other cities.

During our vision tour, we took a 1 ½ hour road trip to visit the small town that Humberto grew up in. (He still has a family home there!) On this visit, we ran into at least ten different people who knew and loved Humberto! (He is so loved and recognized there, he reminded me of the town mayor!) Humberto plans to visit his hometown once a week from Patzcuaro to start a home Bible study in his ancestral family home.

When I travel on these church planting journeys, I do not travel alone. I take you in my heart, my precious friends and ministry partners. I want to thank you once again for partnering with us in this great missions work in Mexico. It is through your prayers that God meet’s our spiritual needs, and through your financial support that God meet’s our physical needs. We love you and give thanks for you!  

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests!

#1- Pray for the two lawsuits against me and our church! Please ask God to defeat this thief that is attempting to steal our south property! (Where our new sports center is located)    

#2-  Pray that God will bless our church plant that we will be sending out this summer to Patzcuaro with Humberto and Miriam Ambriz!     

Praise Reports!

#1- Praise God for a wonderful month at the church! We had over 50 first time professions of faith in April! (A post-covid record!)   

#2- Praise God for a wonderful church planting vision tour, where God gave us vision about the future church plant.

For our personal support, checks should be made out to Saving Grace World Missions with “Vincent support” in the memo section.  For special projects, checks should also be made out to Saving Grace World Missions or SGWM, with the project name in the comments section. Use the enclosed envelope or mail directly to Saving Grace World Missions, 17451 Bastanchury Rd., Suite 203, Yorba Linda, CA 92886-1873

For your convenience, you may consider giving through electronic funds transfer or direct deposit. Simply click on this link to directly support our family as your missionaries.

As they boarded the plane the team’s first stop was Japan, then on to Indonesia and finishing up in the Philippines.

Although I did not get on the plane… as Pastor Trent’s assistant, coordinating the travel and schedule details for this Vision Tour,  I felt like I was right there with the team every step of the way. 

PREPARING TO SEND…

A lot has happened since I finished the Calvary School of Missions program last summer. Let me give you a quick run down… I’m back in Southern California, continuing to live with and help care for my mom, I’ve joined the Missions Training School (MTS) held in Yorba Linda.  MTS is the training program run through Saving Grace World Missions, my missionary sending agency!

In addition to the weekly classes and training received through the MTS program, I’ve started helping weekly in the SGWM main office, assisting our senior pastor here, Trent Douglass.  One of my first big projects was to help coordinate travel plans for his Vision Tour to Southeast Asia. 

Vision Tours offer MTS students a first-hand experience in an area of the world they have sensed the Lord is calling them to. With a group of students and leaders, together they scope out the land and have the chance to meet and spend time with various missionaries and nationals currently involved in local ministry. These opportunities provide great insight as they seek the Lord’s confirmation of His specific calling on their lives to full-time ministry.

I believe that the Lord continues to prepare and send his laborers to His harvest through trips just like this Vision Tour to Southeast Asia.

And, I get to be part of His sending team!

In the midst of all the details…coordinating travel, accommodations, transportation, and communicating between the pastors and leaders in the various countries, the Lord has shown me, no matter if I am stationed out in the field or at the SGWM headquarters in Yorba Linda, it is always an an honor to be used in the Lord’s work!

FIRST STOP….OSAKA

Through the coordination of vision trips in various areas of the world, SGWM brings interested students to places like Japan, which happens to be the largest unreached people group in the world even though the country of Japan is still “open” to the gospel. 

With still such great need for the teaching of God’s word in Japan it is encouraging to know that as many missionaries that may be interested, can be sent to this part of the world to share the gospel of Christ openly.

Jeff and Alishia Root, previously SGWM mission training students, now went to Japan with plans to stay and continue on as full-time workers excited to join in the ministry of a local church plant in Osaka.

NEXT STOP… INDONESIA

Yes! They all got on the bus!  Sounds funny but, it’s details like this that made me happy. Having 3 groups of people coming in from 3 different countries, arriving on 2 different days, I breathed a sigh of relief and prayer of thanksgiving knowing this second part of the trip was underway.

There are so many great lessons that occur during these trips that just can’t be simulated in a classroom.  The team experienced 2 different areas, providing great insight into the variety of culture in Indonesia.

• The Island of Bali, predominantly Hindu, is a culture overrun by idol worship, shrines everywhere you look with a very small church presence that is very much in need of strengthening in God’s word and protection from spiritual warfare.
• Their time visiting the Province of Jakarta gave great insight to life in a Muslim culture, along with the multiple calls to prayer throughout each day.

The team had the opportunity to meet with various Christian workers who lived alongside indigenous church planters. With the local church being overrun with idols it was evident the existing church needed to be focused on teaching the whole Word of God. Pastor Trent’s seminar, “The Purpose of the Church” made a huge impact, encouraging and challenging local pastors and leaders to be grounded in God’s Word.

God is definitely in the details! 

Pastor Trent and Victor had the opportunity to baptize several people after church in the pool of the hotel the team was staying at.  When I organized and booked the hotel, it never crossed my mind that the Lord was going to use this location to have these new believers baptized! 

MEANWHILE…BACK IN CALIFORNIA

As I continue my stay in California, the Lord has continued to provide opportunities to serve Him through the church, outreach, and discipleship groups. I am blessed by the ways He continues to equip me for what He has next…whatever and wherever that may be.

By joining the SGWM’s Mission Training program, I’ve appreciated the great cultural and biblical teaching and training, presentations from visiting missionaries serving all over the world, as well as a wide variety of classes like: security (cyber & ground training), time management, scheduling, and money management. I feel honored to learn and serve alongside these amazing young adults who desire to be trained up and follow the Lord’s calling to “GO” and to bring the Gospel of Christ to the 10/40 window (remote areas where the people have not yet heard the Gospel). 

In addition to the classroom experience, students train alongside pastors and leaders of Calvary Chapel Saving Grace in the various ministries that the church offers. God has also graciously provided opportunities for me to share my past experiences by mentoring several students with examples of how He has guided me, a single gal, through the years serving alongside new church plants in Mexico. 

I am truly grateful to invest time in the training program! With such a great scope of learning opportunities, I really believe that the MTS provides a very well rounded training solution for all of us as we prepare for what the Lord has next. 

FINAL STOP …THE PHILIPPINES

With an invitation from Pastor Tony Reyes to put on a conference for local pastors, leaders, and students at the Calvary Bible Institute, Pastor Trent, Debbie and 3 other mission training students finished off the last leg of the Vision Tour by heading over to the Philippines.  

The Philippines, considered a country “reached” with the Gospel of Christ, had not really been on the SGWM radar of locations of scouting areas to send missionaries. But, God revealed the gem He has hidden in the midst of the 10/40 window, the heart of SGWM’s focused calling. Their hearts were sparked when they realized they were currently staying in a the only “reached” country, with freedom to teach, train and share the gospel, right in the midst of the “unreached.” The strategic location of the Philippines provides a unique solution for training national workers for those surrounding “closed” countries.

In addition to this, Pastor Tony explained in greater detail about the large amount of migrant workers coming from the Philippine population, already working cross-culturally who have become an integral segment of the labor force in the Middle Eastern countries.  One article listed 2-3 million workers, with about 90% of them split between the gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE… This group of workers from the Philippines could be strategically mobilized to fulfill the great commission in their context, thus reaching the Middle East with the Gospel of Christ.

It is amazing about how God works… as we pray for God’s heart, guidance, and direction to these “unreached” people groups, He keeps revealing new opportunities and avenues to send workers to be His light by opening up new ways to impact the “closed” areas. 

PRAYER

• THE COORDINATION OF DETAILS FOR SGWM’S NEXT VISION TRIP.
• GOD’S OPEN DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY AND HEARTS READY TO SERVE HIM!
• FOR THE STUDENTS, AS THE LORD PREPARES THEM FOR WHAT HE HAS NEXT.
• SUMMER 2024 CALVARY SCHOOL OF MISSIONS! STAFF, STUDENTS, GOD’S GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION!

THANK YOU!

The time invested on the Southeast Asia Vision Tour has brought much valuable return. In each location, God has turned hearts and minds toward new solutions and opportunities.  He sparked hearts, spoke, and called people. It is so fulfilling to help coordinate these trips knowing that I get to do my part on God’s sending team.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, and continued support making it possible for me to be equipped and able to serve the Lord full time!

With great love and appreciation for you all! Because of HIM!

NANCY

“We love Him because He first love us.”

1 JOHN 4:19

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I hope you are well and filled with God’s grace and peace. It has been far too long since my last newsletter, and for that, I sincerely apologize. Life and ministry have been a great adventure here in Mallorca and the magnitude of responsibility I have with our Christian school here has been both busy and tremendous, but I recognize the importance of staying connected with you, my faithful partners in mission.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and prayers. Your encouragement sustains me during every season of my missionary journey in Spain, and I am immensely grateful for your partnership in advancing God’s kingdom. 

While I may have been silent in my correspondence, the work of the ministry in Mallorca has continued.  I have witnessed God’s faithfulness in remarkable ways, as He has opened doors for me to continue planting seeds into the precious hearts of our students and families, as well as opportunities to serve through the ministries at the local church. 

I have now been serving the Lord in Spain for almost 5 years, (I can’t believe it will be 5 years in October!!), and as I am reflecting on everything God has done, I am reminded of the beautiful metaphor of seasons. Each season has brought its own unique blessings and my desire is to take you through a quick journey into what these seasons of serving in Mallorca have been like. 

Season of Sowing (Spring):

Our school (I’m so glad we are in this together, it’s your school too!) has been running for 3 ½ years now! It has been a time of growth, of perseverance, and inevitable challenges.  We are experiencing the sweet blessing of starting something very different in Mallorca; our school is not only providing a great academic program that parents love but it has also gained a reputation as a school that LOVES people. Praise God!! You and I know that what the children and their families are experiencing is God’s love overflowing through us! 

We are receiving many new children through the recommendations of other families, and that has been a huge blessing! We currently have about 30 children ages 1-5 years old, with a waiting list to enroll more children. Within those 30 children enrolled, 83% are from non-believing families. As a result, they come into our school with a total unawareness of who Jesus is.  What a privilege, honor, and a great responsibility to be the first ones to share Jesus with them!!

Season of Growth (Summer):

We are so excited in the steadiness of growth in numbers of students and staff at our school, however, I am even more so excited to share the growth that the kids are having in their knowledge of who Jesus Christ is!

We recently celebrated Easter, and what a joy it was to experience it once again through the eyes of our students who for the first time are hearing what Easter is all about.  As the kids are receiving the gospel message, the inevitable questions come, and this year one of our 5-year-old students asked, 

“Zully, why did Jesus have to die? Why did He have to do it?”.  

We gifted this specific student with her first Bible, and as she was joyfully embracing it, she was waiting for my response.  At that moment, I asked the Holy Spirit for wisdom on how to answer her question so that as a 5-year-old she would understand what I say and that it would resonate in her little heart as well.  This was my response:

“Do you remember what happens when the kids in our class do not listen or they do something they are not supposed to do?  They have to sit on a chair and wait until they are allowed to go back to play.  Well, it’s like if Jesus sits on that chair for you and….”

She interrupts me and says, “Ohhhh, it’s like Jesus takes our place. He had to die because He took our place!”

With my eyes super wide opened, awestruck and amazed, I affirmed her response, “Yes, exactly! Jesus loves you so much that He took your place on the cross…” and I continued sharing more of the gospel message to her.  The Holy Spirit made the gospel so relatable and understandable for her! What an immense privilege to be a part of that!  I shared that “chair” analogy to the rest of the class and in this season of our school, it was the best way for our students to understand the gospel message. Praise God for those heavenly “downloads” that come down at just the right moment!! 

Season of Harvest & Gratitude (Fall):

 “Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.” – Psalm 2:8

The Lord gave me this verse during my birthday last year.  My first reaction to this verse was a bit of intimidation as I felt the weight of this big promise.  Then I asked the Lord, “What does this verse mean for me?” After praying, the Lord reminded me of all the Bibles we have given to the children at our school.  Many of the kids at our school do not have a Bible in their home, so they are often so excited to receive their very own Bible! Since Mallorca is a very transient place to live in, it’s very common for some of our students to move back to their home countries (we have kids from all over the world) and they of course take their Bible with them.  In addition, their parents have to read the Bible to them because they are still too young to read! The Lord revealed how all these Bibles are scattered throughout so many homes across the globe! The impact our little school is having is only through the power of God and His Word.  For that I am so thankful!!

Season of Rest and Preparation (Winter):

The commitment to oversee and teach in our school has not been without overwhelming to-do lists and exhaustion.  However, I can attest to the Lord’s sustenance, grace, and wisdom in my life.  I can also boldly state that in those moments of exhaustion, He is my strength.  When stress and worry want to creep in, He is my peace.  When I consider the sacrifices that are part of this calling, I know He is worthy! 

I am at the school every day, all day so any moments of rest are so much appreciated!! The times I have been able to fly back home have been a tremendous blessing for me! But by far, the season of rest that I am so thankful for was one in which the rest was a bit different.  It was more of a sweet refreshing and encouraging time for me.  It was the time my parents traveled to Mallorca last year!! I am forever grateful that my parents, who are my biggest supporters, were able to witness first-hand what God is doing in Spain!  They are such a big part of the work God is doing here!

As I keep moving forward in God’s call, please be assured that I am committed to improving my communication to you all, ensuring that you are kept informed and involved in the ministry. Your support is invaluable to me, and I’m deeply grateful for your continued partnership in spreading the love of Christ in Spain.

Thank you for sticking around until the end! Thank you so much for being a part of this eternal investment.  Thank you for your support and your prayers. Everyone at the school truly feels your prayers, they are sincerely powerful, so I kindly ask you to please keep them coming!! If you have any prayer requests, if you would like to know how to get involved in the work here in Spain, or just want to say hello, contact me via email, WhatsApp, or any of my socials. You are very much appreciated, love you all! 

God bless you,

Zully

The title of this post is three-fold. It refers to our time so far here in Japan, the time we’ll be spending in the States, and this post itself. Even though it’s a quick one, we wanted to keep you up to date on our comings and goings. If you’d like to see us and hangout we’ll be in Montana from May 7-22, and in California from May 23-29. It’s tough to head back so soon, but we look forward to seeing you again.

We have caught our breath here in Osaka and have settled in nicely. Ministry opportunities are opening up and we are building several relationships. We hosted our first young adult night at our apartment this month and will be having that every first and third Saturday once we get back. We met up with some friends from Las Vegas who were in Osaka praying about moving here to serve in a church, please pray for them as they seek the Lord. Also, we helped out with a belated Easter party that was held for some kids that attend English classes taught by some friends from church. I shared with them what it was like growing up in America as a Christian, and we played games with them. So, a pretty eventful few weeks when added to our normal church days and meeting with people.

This week we are attending the Calvary Chapel Japan Conference in Tokyo before we fly to America. It will be great to connect with Pastors and believers from all over Japan. Thank you for thinking of us and praying for us continually, we could not do this on our own.