For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:13

I (Matt) was surprised to find out that a cult had moved into my neighborhood while our family was away. Last year, several outrageous and vulgar things occurred in one of the “churches” here in Gulu. Among other things, the self-proclaimed prophetess leading the church publicly pronounced curses on anyone who opposed her, including barrenness and poverty. And then blessings of prosperity on those who supported her. Fortunately, the community shut the church down and expelled the leader from their area. However, instead of reflecting and repenting, the “prophetess” subtly relocated her house and church a short walk from my house. She has a large following and has been manipulating them into building the largest home in our community for herself. Now, my whole neighborhood hears damaging things from the loud speakers of that “church” every week.

But God has not been idle; the truth is marching on. Last Saturday, I had the privilege of attending the Calvary Chapel 12 Springs School of Ministry graduation. Calvary Chapel 12 Springs is one of our main churches in the Gulu area, which is led by Samuel Olara, my good friend and fellow Gospel worker. Three years ago, God put it on my and Samuel’s hearts to open a ministerial school at Samuel’s church for those who were called to serve the church but were unqualified to enroll at the Terebinth School of Discipleship. We needed $1,200.00 to begin the school, and after praying for the money, I received an unexpected envelope with the exact amount of cash inside. And so the school of ministry was started.

The students gathered together on Saturday and Sunday every other weekend; they served in the church and studied Scripture, missions, theology, church history, and more. Most excitingly, the ministry school was led by men equipped through the Terebinth School of Discipleship! During the same time frame, the other main church we work with, Calvary Chapel Gulu, graduated the first intake in its own School of Ministry. Which was likewise led by people equipped through the Terebinth School of Discipleship!

The fact that we can’t stop false teachers from spreading lies can be discouraging. But we are encouraged to see the addition of God’s Word turning into multiplication as those who have received the truth are passing it on to those who will do the same. Darkness is present in Northern Uganda, but the light is shining for those who desire it.

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 TIMOTHY 2:2

In Christ,

The Harris Family

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I hope you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support.

I am doing well by God’s grace. Two weeks ago, I was little sick for about a week. I had a fever, throat infection and upper respiratory infection, but now by God’s grace I am doing well!

In the end of January, I had my birthday. I am thankful that God added another year in my life. I had a blessed year last year. This last year I have grown closer to God and have been given more ministry opportunities.

We have 4 students at our Bible Institute who are in their second year. They will be graduating this summer. Right now, I am teaching 1st and 2nd Peter.

Since 4 students are graduating this summer, they wanted me to also teach the book of Galatians. They asked me to because after they leave they will not really have more opportunities to learn. In our language, we do not have many commentaries and study materials. The students do not really know the English language. So, I am also taking extra class and teaching them from the book of Galatians in evening.

Last month I went twice to a village to preach at the Sunday service. I mentioned in my earlier updates about this village where we do church service. It encourages me to see them standing firm for God and not turning back when there is persecution. At one time there were lot of people who used to believe in the village, but after persecution came, many of them turned back. A few of them stood firm. It is a blessing to preach and teach those believers to continue to grow in the Lord.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God will continue to use me for His glory.
• Pray for my health. I am allergic to dust and we have a lot of dust in my town. So I get sick very often.
• Pray for the students to be prepared to start church planting ministry.
• Pray for my ministry among youth and young adults. May the Lord continue to use me to minister to them.

Blessings,

Pastor 9

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

Dear Family in Christ, 

I praise God for everything that He has done in the past year, 2023! I praise Him for all of the tests that He allowed for me to grow in my faith and also to learn to fully depend upon Him. We are very excited for what God has for us in 2024! 

Graduation Ceremony 

It gave us great joy to see these young men be so committed to study the Word. They completed there courses. They are trained in the Word and are now getting ready to go out to the places where God has called them. Three students graduated from our Calvary Bible Institute. All three of them decided to do internships with our church planters in different locations, which will also help them learn. 

Village Christmas Outreach

What an amazing God we serve! God has been very gracious to use us to share the Gospel in this village. Because the village is very anti-Christian, this was the first time a Christmas outreach was held there. Villagers there once burned a Pastor who came to share the Gospel. After that many others came to reach out to this village, but the villagers beat them up. They did not allow anyone who is a Christian into the village. Even when we went to the village to share the Gospel, the villagers chased us trying to catch us, but we escaped. 

Amazingly, God has opened the door for us to minister to the people in the village by showing God’s love and visiting the sick people in the hospital that belongs to the village. This December we had a Christmas outreach. More than 50 people showed up! We got to share the Gospel with them. We had a fellowship dinner together. They really felt loved. They saw the love of God through our deeds. Many responded to the Gospel. They came to us asked us to pray for them. We had already started a Bible study and now we started a Sunday worship service. Right now, 4 families are joining us on Sundays. Praise God for His amazing work! We thank you for your prayers and support. 

Christmas Outreach in Another Village

In this village also, it is the first time the people heard about Chistmas. Many of them do not know about Jesus and what Christmas is all about. We prayed about having a Christmas outreach to share the Gospel there. God opened doors for us to conduct an outreach. The village elders also gave us permission to have an open-air Christmas celebration. We held this outreach program on government property. Almost the whole village came to the program! We did not expect this would turn into a big program. More than 200 people showed up! We got the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. We also performed skits about the Christ’s birth. As I already mentioned, many of them did not know about Jesus. Now the whole village heard the Gospel! Some of them opposed us while we were sharing the Gospel and used many abusive words. But God gave us the strength to stand and share the Gospel and also share love. In the end, everybody calmed down. The villagers responded very positively and accepted Christ. Our dear brother, a graduate of Calvary Bible Institute, is serving in that village. 5 people are attending Bible study. We praise God for His protection and provision. After our Christmas outreach, we had a fellowship dinner. 

Christmas Outreach In Our City

We also did a Christmas outreach in an old age home. Many of the people there are unbelievers and have no hope. They all were rejected by their families. Some of them lost their families. As a church, we stepped out to reach out to those people to share hope in Christ. We got to share the Gospel and also sang Christmas carols and laughed with them. It was really a joyful time for the people to rejoice in Christ and forget about all their burdens. They felt very happy. I was really happy to see our church people showing love to them and caring for them. It is really a great picture of Christ’s love.

The people of our church are getting fed with the Word of God and they are stepping out to reach the lost and hopeless. We all had a fellowship dinner with them and prayed for all of the people individually. Every Sunday evening we have an old-age home care and Bible study as one of our church programs.  On the day of Christmas, we had an amazing worship service celebrating the birth of Christ. We invited many during the outreach. 

Once again I thank you all for your prayers and support to do these outreaches in places where the people have never heard of Jesus. We are very thankful to God for you.  Please continuously pray for us to reach unreached places and share God’s love to His people. There are many places we still need to reach. We need workers. As Jesus said “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

Thank you,

Pastor 6* and Family

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

What a month we have experienced. Things have moved fast and obstacles have been removed, doors have been opened, and bonds have been forged in the furnace of life on the mission field. Let’s go over some of the highlights. We headed towards Japan in a pretty humble way, by driving to California. On the way, we visited friends in Las Vegas and Yucca Valley before arriving in Orange County. Our time there flew by quickly as we had a full schedule of meetings with friends and our sending organization, and before we knew it, the day of our departure had arrived.

Like a more famous group before us, we joined with nine others to form a fellowship that headed to Land of the Rising Sun. Which sounds epic but mostly was just a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. Once there, we spent a week meeting with Calvary Chapel pastors in the Tokyo area, helping with an earthquake relief outreach, and praying over a city of 35 million people who don’t know Jesus.

It was during one of those pray sessions that we went to the observation deck in the Tokyo government building. 450 feet in the air, with unobstructed views in all directions, and you could not see the end of the mass of people. The sheer size of the metropolis was somewhat overwhelming. It had such a big impact on all of us as we realized the task before us. Could the Lord use us to reach these millions? Well yes, He can, but He wouldn’t do it all in one day. We only have to focus on what He puts in front of us each day and be faithful to that.

After the end of the week, the team traveled to Osaka to see the place we are called to and see the work there. The church really enjoyed having the team with them and embraced us whole heartedly. We were able to give the missionaries a week off as we did an English language worship night for the midweek service and then Pastor Trent taught the Sunday service. Most of the team headed for Indonesia on Monday and those of us that stayed were ready to settle in.

Unfortunately, the settling will have to wait. We applied for our certificates of eligibility in October. The timeframe on those is supposed to be less than 90 days, and the 90-day mark was January 25. Since we were flying out on January 29, we knew that the timing would be close, but we shouldn’t have any issues getting it worked out before we left. Well, the 25^th came and went and the certificates didn’t arrive, they hadn’t arrived by the 29^th but since we were leading a team, we decided we should go and trust we could take care of it on the Japan side. They finally arrived on the 31^st and we were given three years!! Once the team had left, we went to the immigration office to apply for a change of status, we explained the situation to one of the officers there and were scolded for doing things out of the proper order and to not expect that they would accept our change of status applications. However, after praying about it that night, we returned the next day and turned in our applications and there seemed to be no issues from the people taking the officers there. Please pray for our change of status and that the visas would come through quickly so we can rent an apartment and start putting down roots.

Here are some ways to pray for us until our next newsletter:

• Alishia’s American citizenship was approved and her oath ceremony is on May 16. Please pray for us as we make plans to return for that and Daphne’s high school graduation on June 1.
• For direction in finding an apartment that meets our needs and allows us to use it for ministry.
• Wisdom in finding a language school that meets our needs

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

Isaiah 43:19

Dear Friends and Family, 

I pray you all had a blessed holiday season as you celebrated Christmas and ushered in the New Year. 

I believe Christmas is a time when people are more open than other times to hearing about Jesus.  You find people of different cultures and faiths acknowledging His birth and even celebrating. As Christians and as a church we realize acknowledging Christ’s birth is not enough to save you. During the holiday season we found the best way to celebrate Jesus’ birthday is to tell people the whole story, that He was born, lived, died for our sin, and rose again, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

The many different ministries at Arise Christian Fellowship reached out to the community in different ways. For the Women’s Bible Study the ladies invited friends and neighbors to come to our Christmas party. I shared about the family of Jesus leading up to His birth. I concluded with the purpose of His coming. One lady gave her life to Jesus and has said she will begin to come to church and Bible study.  We also had a meal together and gave some practical gifts to give the ladies so they could prepare Christmas at home. There were more than 20 children that attended the women’s party as well and we gave them a gift of school supplies and candy.

At Church for  2 weeks before Christmas the youth were practicing everyday for at least 4 hours for the Christmas program. We included Bible lessons surrounding Christ’s birth so  that they were also learning and understanding what they were preparing for.  We encouraged them to bring friends to be a part of the time sort of like a vacation Bible school, as well. The church was literally overflowing with children. Liana was a part of all the activities and was so happy to have so many friends. On the last day of practice we had a big party and the kids had a meal and received a Christmas gift. Liana gave out candy canes.

Some of the church members went into the slums near the church and shared the gospel and a food gift with those who they knew needed it the most. They also invited them to the Christmas service.  Our church celebrated its Christmas service on Christmas eve since it was on a Sunday. Brian shared the Christmas message. We had two people share special music, one on violin and the other on saxophone.  The choir led us in worship and Christmas carols. The children and youth put on a big production. They had singing and dancing that all culminated into the telling of the Christmas story through acting.  It was very beautiful. I believe everyone was touched and everyone there understood the true meaning of Christmas. After service we had a time of fellowship with snacks and we handed out salt, sugar, and soap as Christmas gifts.

Uganda ushers the new year in with fire works. From our neighborhood you could see many different displays that were set off around Kampala. Brian gave a New Year message for the church,  looking forward to what we are praying for the church this year. He used the example of the early church to share how the church should be moving forward. We are excited to see what God has for the church and our family in 2024.

Thank you for praying for our family and for the people of Uganda.

In Him,

Brian, Jill, Luke, Laylee, and Liana

PRAYER REQUESTS

• We are so thankful  for the many ways the Lord has blessed us and for everyone who supports us and the ministry in Uganda.
• Please pray for this New Year. Pray for God’s guidance in the ministry and for His will to be done.
• Pray for those who were reached during the Christmas outreaches. Pray that they would come to church and be in fellowship. Pray for many to come to Christ.
• Pray for the youth to continue to desire to meet together and learn about Jesus.
• Pray for the Kanyike children to get called for their citizenship interview.
• Pray for Brian as he pastors and leads the ministry team at Arise Christian Fellowship.
• Please prayerfully consider becoming part of the Kanyike Family support team.

Hello Friends and Family!

I pray you are all doing well! The last couple of months have been so exciting for SGWM, and especially for me as the Director of Missionary Care. We have sent out FIVE new missionaries straight to the field for me to care for: one couple to Japan, and one couple and a single gal to the Middle East. It is so exciting to be a part of loving and shepherding these teams as they develop. I get to lead the team who does a lot behind the scenes to support these missionaries well by processing their finances, sending their updates out to their supporters, and providing pastoral care. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing than SENDING these amazing men and women of God!

The Lord has also opened the door for me (Joel) to go to Uganda in June to visit our missionaries there. It will be my first time in that part of Africa, so I am very excited, and we have three missionary families there who we hope to spend time with. Pray that the Lord perfectly arranges all of the details of that trip.

On a personal note, we want to sincerely thank all of you who prayed for our housing situation from our previous update. The Lord has provided for us to stay at our current house for at least another year! Praise God for His grace in that!

We would love to keep you updated on our ministry via our newsletter email updates if you are interested. You can sign up for those by clicking the link below:

Email Updates

You can also become a one-time or ongoing financial partner with us by clicking the button below, or by mailing a check made out to SGWM with “Joel Garcia” in the memo line to 17451 Bastanchury Rd, Ste 203, Yorba Linda, CA, 92886. 

Love in Christ,
Joel, Amy, Maggie, Harrison, Jude, and Clara Garcia

Hello dear family and friends,

What an incredible month it has been! As many of you know, our 2024 started off with our wedding on January 6th. Praise the Lord! We write this letter to you with hearts full and immensely blessed by God’s goodness. Thank you to all who were able to come celebrate our wedding with us, we felt so loved and supported by each one of you. And to all the people who helped set up, serve, and manage our wedding, we can’t thank you enough!!

The wedding day turned out better than either of us could have imagined and the Lord even answered our prayers for good weather! As we’ve entered a bit of a cold, rainy season here, the sun, the warmer temperature, and the stunning sunset that came on our wedding day were all such sweet gifts from the Lord. 

Geoff and I (Lydia) have been enjoying our new life as a married couple and have already been growing together so much, thank you to all who have lifted us up in prayer. The month of January was spent resting, serving at church, working, and moving into our new place in Yorba Linda. We are so grateful and in awe of how the Lord has provided for all of our needs and more.

At the end of January, Geoff and I were able to help serve in a women’s conference at our church by running the media/sound booth. It was such a blessing to serve together and the conference was so powerful and ministered to each woman. 

Another very exciting thing we can share is that as we closed out the first month of 2024, we went on our vision tour to Japan! We were there from January 30th-February 9th with a team from our church. A vision tour is a trip where you go to a country you feel the Lord may be calling to serve in as a missionary for the purpose of seeking the Lord in confirming that calling. 

As many of you know, we have a heart for the country of Japan where suicide rates are extremely high and less than 2% of the entire population are Christian. We were grateful to be able to pray for Japan, visit a few churches, and meet with different missionaries while we were there.

Thank you to all who financially supported our trip to Japan, we are so blessed by your generosity and love. Stay tuned for our next update all about our trip! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Geoff & Lydia

Konnichiwa! Hi family, I miss you all and pray you are all staying healthy. Sadly, our time in Japan has come to an end but let me tell ya- Japan has my heart. From the people, to the culture, to the fashion, to even the yummy onigiri from the 7-Eleven’s. Truly, all of it. There is so much history here and many everlasting memories.

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

2 TIMOTHY 1:9

We had the honor of coming alongside two missionaries, Alishia + Jeff, who will be a part of the Calvary Chapel Abide Osaka team. Their love for Japan was sparked when they made a trip for their honeymoon eight years ago. The Lord touched their hearts for the Japanese- especially since it is part of the 10/40 window (high concentration of unreached people), with less than 1.3% of their population being Evangelical Christians. What a blessing it was to be with them, learn from them, and also experience this new move with them. I was encouraged by not only their lowliness, gentleness, and long-suffering for one another, but also how they endeavored to keep the unity within the team. Please keep them in your prayers!

Hands on the Plow

Along with this beautiful couple, we also had the blessing of meeting local pastors who have been plodding hard for more than twenty years. Twenty years!! That’s a long time- but in perspective, that’s how serious and hard the work is here in Japan (well, truly anywhere in the 10/40 window). Japan is totally open to the preaching and sharing of the gospel. However, it is still considered very unreached due to religious and cultural beliefs (Buddhism, mixed with Hinduism, mixed with atheism). This is hard ground. It is because of this that the pastors in Japan remain faithful to their calling, keep their hands on the plow, and continue to press on.

Last Sunday during service at Calvary Chapel Fuchu, Pastor Rich mentioned at the end of his message that there are no coincidences. He boldly preached the gospel and gave an altar call. With my eyes closed, I was praying for the hearts in the room to be softened and opened to the move of the Spirit of God. I wasn’t sure if anyone raised their hands, however, after service, we found out there was a couple who brought their Chinese parents to the church. Neither one of them had ever heard of the name of Jesus! This is still so mind-blowing to me (but a reality of being in the 10/40 window). However, my heart was comforted in knowing that they were able to experience the love of Christ within the church. They were greeted with smiles and hugs, which is something that most Asian countries are not used to. I pray that the parents come to a full knowledge and revelation of the truth!

The Only True God

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

JOHN 17:3

There is a common Japanese proverb “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Striving to fit the mold, to succeed, to conform, the concept of sin is vague and therefore suicide is seen as a way of taking responsibility. This became a heartbreaking reality during one of our train rides- there was an alert to someone jumping on the tracks. Seeing life underground was also a whole different experience- the hustle and bustle is real here! People are on a mission! After visiting multiple temples, shrines, and places of worship, our hearts continued to break for the people here. The reverence for man-made statues and images however, filled me with compassion in knowing that I was also there, once upon a time. Worshiping my own gods, completely blinded to the truth with a hardened heart, and unwilling to know the one true God. And I wept and wept for them.

I was immediately filled with joy and worship in knowing that salvation is a work of God, and God alone. It strengthened my faith in knowing that I believe in not only a BIG God, but also a God who is alive! Jesus Christ, being fully God came down to earth as a man, lived a sinless and blameless life, to suffer death on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day. It is then a grace-filled work by His Spirit that brings conviction to our hearts. The Spirit of God initiates the work of salvation, in order to draw us closer to Jesus Christ. My cry is for the Spirit of God to move radically in the hearts of the Japanese. May they seek and find the only true God!

What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

HABAKKUK 2:18-20

Praise Report

• We made it safely to the Philippines, waiting to head out to Indonesia for one week!
• It has been a fulfilling past two weeks in Japan- the Lord has showed me so many things!
• The Spirit of God is moving here, many Japanese are coming to know Jesus!

Prayer Requests

• Please keep the team in your prayers- may the Lord speak clearly and may we seek His will for our next steps! Pray for our protection against spiritual warfare!
• Please pray for the Japanese- against the spirit of depression that is weighing heavy on all, especially the younger generations. May chains break and may the people of Japan experience the freedom found only in Jesus Christ!
• Please pray for our team as we continue on in Indonesia and the Philippines!
• Please pray for the missionaries in Japan- may they keep on plowing!!

Thank you all for taking the time to read what God is doing and for your continual partnership in the gospel- especially through prayer. Thank you also for your faithful investment in the Kingdom of God. Any amount you feel led to give, will help me in raising support to be sent out one day as a full-time cross-cultural missionary, Lord willingly. I’m eternally blessed- none of this would be possible without you. This mission trip was a huge step of faith and obedience to the Word of God and I’m holding tight to His promise- anything is possible with Him!

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

– Mayra Alejandra