Hello friends and family! Thank you so much for taking the time to read our newsletter and for partnering with us in the Gospel! It’s a huge blessing to know that we have people who love us and care to hear about what God is doing in and through our lives. We’re excited to share where the Lord has us right now and what we are doing at SGWM (Saving Grace World Missions), at CCSG (Calvary Chapel Saving Grace), and in our home as our family continues to grow.

The last few months have been riddled with excitement. First, I (Isaac) have been given the opportunity to serve in a new role as Assistant Director of Missionary Care assisting Pastor Joel in serving our missionaries around the world.

Saving Grace World Missions is the sending organization of CCSG and our goal is to reach the world with the Gospel by training and raising up missionaries to minister cross-culturally and nationals to reach their own communities. We currently have 65 missionaries/families serving on 6 continents (sorry, we haven’t reached Antartica yet) who are planting churches, serving in sending hubs*, and establishing bible colleges to help raise up national pastors and leaders to plant churches. We have seen over 130 churches planted from CCSG over the last 30 years and many more are in the works. All of this is made possible by the Holy Spirit working through ordinary people who have made it their aim to go and to send well.

*churches that have a goal to send missionaries

Missionary care is the crucial puzzle piece of sending well and is extremely important to us as a sending church. Many missionaries around the world are forgotten by their sending churches and many churches view missionaries as people who have left their church to go somewhere else. We believe, based on Scripture, that missionaries are an extension of the church and that they will be most effective on the mission field with the ongoing physical, financial, and spiritual support of the church. That takes the form of prayer, financial giving, short term visits, and provision for the missionary’s practical needs. This is what we call missionary care, and at our church, we provide this care through care teams. 

Care teams are groups of people from the church (senders) who meet together once a month and pray for the missionary or missionaries their group has adopted. When the missionary returns to America for furlough or to transition off the field, the care team helps meet their practical and spiritual needs. Many missionaries sold everything to serve God and have no material belongings to return home to, just a few suitcases that they’ve carried across the world. The care team steps in and helps meet whatever needs and serves the missionary where they are able. Our goal is that all of our missionaries feel supported, taken care of, and covered in prayer by the body of Christ.

As you can see, there is a lot of need in this area and with so many missionaries mobilized around the world, we have a lot comings and goings. My job is to make it easier for them to transition home from the field and take care of their needs so they can focus on what they need to do during their time on the field and at home. This includes planning where they will stay, what they will drive, and when they will share at the church, keeping in mind time for rest, time with supporters and much, much more. In a scenario where missionary care is lacking, the missionary usually has to figure all of that out on their own before they get home.

Please be praying for us as we step into this role as a family. We have been writing some curriculum for the care teams with the goal of helping them better help our missionaries. There is one body but it has many different functions so pray that the body here functions effectively in our different roles. If you are interested in our care teams, our missionaries, or in knowing more about all of this, please reach out and we would love to talk to you about it!

Second, we have been able to share at other churches and with other people about missions. Our family had the privilege to travel to St. Joseph, Missouri and share with Grace Calvary Chapel about the Great Commission and our collective calling as the Bride of Christ to missions during their Missions Week. I got to share in the youth group and my dad, pastor Trent, got to share with the young adults and the entire church. Many people were encouraged and stirred by the word and by the command to reach the lost with the Gospel. Pray that God would send more laborers and raise up more senders!

While we were in St. Joseph we were blessed to stay at Jon and Mel Medina’s house. The Medinas serve at Grace Calvary Chapel and Jon is the youth pastor. Hope and Mel have known each other since they were kids so it was very special for us to go see them. Plus, Jon makes the best coffee and they had raw milk, which my wife was so excited about. Please pray for them as they serve the Lord in Missouri!

We also got to see our good friends Bryan and Kayla Crenshaw! They served with us in the youth ministry at CCSG for over 2 years and just moved to Missouri at the end of last year. It was a great reunion and very refreshing to spend time with them again. Plus, the kids loved seeing their friends as well!

For those who don’t know, we help serve in the youth ministry and in the worship ministry at CCSG. I am the Youth Director at our church and Hope assists me in that. I also get to lead worship at our church a few times a month. Hope is involved in our church’s ministry to young moms, Inspired Motherhood, where moms come to be encouraged in raising their kids in the ways of the Lord. Please pray for these ministries, that God would grow the people who are attending, and that more would come to know Him.

One cool note about youth ministry is that our Wednesday night youth service is entirely student led. The students set up the room, lead worship, do the sound, pick a game, and even teach; three young men are on rotation teaching through 1 Peter. It is a huge blessing to witness these young men and women serve God and step up in areas they may be called to serve in the church in the near future! Praise God!

Lastly, we added another baby boy to the Douglass family! Titus Zion Douglass was born late on January 14th and is healthy and growing! His brothers, Fletcher (4 years) and Theo (2 years) are absolutely in love with him, as we all are. Hope has recovered well and is already starting to train for her next marathon! Crazy! Haha, but please pray for us as a family of 5, that God would give us grace in parenting and training these boys and that He would provide for our needs.

Thank you again for taking the time to read our newsletter! Your prayers and encouragements are coveted treasures and sustain us. If you’d like to support us as we serve God around the world, please consider becoming a monthly financial supporter. God bless!

Greeting to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am doing good by God’s grace. Thank you for your prayers and support.

It is is a joy to see church members and Bible Institute students growing in the knowledge of the Word of God. We had a Bible quiz competition. It was a written test that was organized by a national organization. Members from many churches in our district participated in it. One of our church members one first prize out of the whole district and another won third prize! The man who got first place is a student from our Bible institute who is going to graduate next month.

It is such a great reward for me to see the fruit of our hard work teaching the Word of God to our students and to those in our church. They are growing in their faith and knowledge of the Word and the result is evident.

I can look back and see the importance for growing in Christ and in the Word of God. Three families of our church are from a nearby village. A few years ago, they went through so much persecution in their village. Many people from their village who had accepted Christ and were part of other churches turned their back from their decision. However these believers, who attend our church, stood firm and faced the persecution. They were excommunicated from their tribe (Hindus have many tribes) and were denied any privilege in their village. They were not allowed to talk to other people or buy basic necessities from their village shops. In spite of all this, they stood firm in their faith. I think that one of the main reasons is that their faith is grounded in true knowledge of the Lord according to the Word of God. This encourages me to work even harder to minister to them from the Word of God.

We had planned to do some Christmas programs and outreaches in December. However, we were not able to do all of them because were not given permission by the local government officials. Last year an anti-Christian government came into power in our state.

I was invited to be a guest speaker for a Christmas program at a Christian school. The students of that school performed a really beautiful dance and skit. Then I was given time to address the students and teachers. I shared the real Gospel message to the students and staff of the school. Most of the students and staff are non-Christians. Even the principal is not a Christian. I thank God for the opportunity that I got. I pray that the seed planted in their hearts will grow and that they will be saved.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God will continue to use me among the students, church members and community.
• Pray for my health. May God give me complete healing. I have a dust allergy and my town has a lot of dust.
• Pray for the students and staff of the school who have heard the Gospel.
• Pray for a revival in our town. May it become a Christian town. Pray that the Lord will open doors for us to share the Gospel.
• Pray for the growth of our church.

In His service,

Pastor 9

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

Praise the Lord!

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you, dear supporters and prayer partners, for your prayers and financial support. We are praying for your family and for your country. By the grace of God my family and I are doing well, God has kept us safe.

Last month we got the chance to visit brother A’s* house. We had fellowship with his family in the Word of God. I got the chance to share the Word of God there.

Brother A* is surfing with pain. He had neck surgery, but the surgery was not good. Since then his whole body is paralyzed. He has been unable to walk or stand up for a year. We are continuing to visit him and pray for him and share the Word of God with him and his family.

Last month our church conducted a children’s program. 50 kids participated. It was a wonderful time with them. The Word of God was shared through songs and a skit.

I met a child named P*. She has a hole in her heart. She has to have an operation. I prayed for her.

I am also teaching a computer class at our Calvary Bible Institute.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for my children to grow in Lord’s fear and knowledge and also for their final exams.
• Please pray our house visitation ministry. Please also pray for the students as they share the Word of God. May the Lord use them.
• Please pray for our local village ministry. May the villagers grow in the Lord’s Word.
• Please pray for the youth of our local area to walk in the Lord.
• Please pray for our CBI students to grow in the Word.
• Please pray for the young girl, P*, who has a hole in her heart. Pray that her operation goes well.

Blessings,

Paster 16* and Family

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

Greetings from Mexico. February was a blessed but busy month in our ministry, and in this update I want to tell you all about it. The foundation of our church’s missions program is our church planting program, and that all begins with our weekly church planting class. At the start of February we started our new class of church planting and we were surprised with nearly 50 students including 12 first timers.

The requirements to be in our class are that you #1- Are a faithful servant in the church, and #2- You are open to being sent out as a church planter or part of a church planting team. Over the years, each one of our 41 church planters have completed this course, and our 25 2^nd and 3^rd generation church planters have also completed the church planting class which was begun by their pastors in their local churches.

As I looked around at this years class, I reminded each one to believe that God can use them to do a great work. Because of the fruit of our program, many of our rookies begin the program wide eyed with hearts full of fear. I encourage them to work hard and to (even more importantly) trust in the work that the Lord wants to do through them. I also had two of our  final semester students share a testimony of how God called them during their time in the class to be sent out to do the church planting work that God has called them to do.

I do have some breaking news to share with you about our church planting program! The final words that Jesus shared in Acts 1:8 were “you shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!” Our church has done a great job of reaching our city (Jerusalem) our surrounding cities (Judea) and the other states that are close to us. (Samaria) But we have found it a challenge to send church planters to the ends of the earth!

As the word has gotten out about our church plants, I have had many men from other countries reach out to me and ask me to train them to church plant in their respective countries. Over the past couple years I’ve been praying about how we could do that, and in February I’m happy to announce that we started our very first Online International church planting class!

In this years class we have four students that live in the Philippines, Kenya, and Uganda. Each one of these men have been contacting me for over a year and we even attempted (unsucesfully) to get two of them over here to Mexico to train at our church in person. After much prayer, God showed us a way that we could do our church planting program 100% online, with our online participants receiving the same training that our local students receive. Were only three weeks into this new class, but so far it’s been fantastic. Please pray that this new online program bears much fruit.

In February, I was also interviewed by my good friend Pastor Hugo Limon for his SPOTIFY church planting podcast! Though mostly in Spanish, this podcast is one of the highest rated mission’s podcasts on Spotify. Hugo and I had a great time chatting together and reminiscing about the great things that God has done through his church and the 11 church plant’s he has sent out in just 10 years. You can listen to my bilingual interview by searching “Plantacion de Iglesias con Hugo Limon”! (I am on episode 26) 

We ended the month with a Vincent Family Reunion! My brother Matt brought out his six children (all adults now) and I brought up Grace and Daniel, who hadn’t seen their Kentucky cousins in over five years. We had a wonderful time eating, fellowship, singing, and eating some more, and as always my mom was a great host! Our time together reminded me how blessed I am by the Lord to have been raised by a mom and dad that honored the Lord and taught us to do the same.

We had a spiritually fruitful month, but we could not have done any of this without you, our generous ministry partners. Our family could have never lived here in the ripe mission fields of Mexico for the past 23 years if it weren’t for precious friends like you that choose to partner with us through your financial support and prayers! We love you and are praying for you!

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests!

#1- Pray that God will bless our new church planting students!

#2-  Pray that God will bless my two missions trips in March to visit our church plants. (Mazatlan and Morelia)  

Praise Reports!

#1- Praise God that three of our church plants are planting their first churches in the next few months.

#2- Praise God for a blessed family reunion and a quick vacation with Sarah to celebrate Valentines Day together.

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.

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=DFA990CC09D942B

Or, you can  go to our mission’s website, click on the “become a financial partner” button and fill out the information. Please remember to type in  “Vincent” in the “purpose of gift” section.

Greetings to all of you!

I want to thank God the Father and all of you. Thank you for always praying for us and encouraging us through God’s Word every day. I thank God that, despite the fog and cold here, my family has been protected from pain and illness. God has protected us from all kinds of opponents even as persecution is increasing here day-by-day. People are being tortured in various ways by the villagers and the society. Praise be to God–despite the torture here, people are growing in their faith in the Lord and people are giving their lives to the Lord.

I thank God that by His grace this month went very well. It was very cold here, but we still went to two to three villages every week and studied, prayed and worshiped together. Twice a week we also have fellowship at our home, a Bible study on Friday and a Sunday service on Sunday.



Here are the testimonies of some people who gave their lives to the Lord and accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior last month.

The Lord chose a drunkard who used to beat his wife. The Lord completely changed his life.

I thank God that He is really great and alive. He has the power to change people’s lives. This brother’s name is VY*. He has four children. He is a three-wheel (rickshaw) taxi driver. We hired him to take us to do outreaches. When he went from village to village with us for our Christmas outreaches, he kept listening to the Good News. God convinced his heart and he accepted the Lord.

When we went to a place in his village in his rickshaw, he took us to his house also. The people who lived in his house told us that he beats his wife a lot after drinking alcohol. Then we preached the Gospel to him. He had already heard the Gospel from us during the outreaches he took us to.

He started crying and regretting his actions. We prayed for his whole family, then God brought peace to his family. He accepted the Lord that very day. Praise be to God! He is planning to get baptized soon. He now comes to our church with his whole family and listens to the Word of the Lord. I hope that in the coming days, like this brother, his entire family will also gradually believe and get baptized.

A person who was despised by the people of the village for not having a son has been rescued from darkness by the Lord.

I feel proud of God. God has chosen me and is using me for His work. God never discriminates between a son and a daughter.

I am going to share the testimony of a person who has just given his life to the Lord during our Christmas Outreach. He is very poor and has 6 daughters. In our area, if someone has only daughters and does not have a son, then he is looked down upon. No one respects him. A lot of money has to be spent on the marriage of a daughter. No man will get married without being paid a dowry. People believe that the lineage continues only through a son.

Because of this, in the desire of having a son, many give birth to daughters even though they do not have the resources to feed them. People become more and more poor. Many people even sell their land to give dowry in their daughter’s marriage. Because of this, many people get an abortion if they are expecting a girl child. It is illegal to test whether a baby is a boy or girl, but everything can be done by giving a bribe.

I thank God that when I reached his village and gave a New Testament to him, he was very happy to accept the New Testament. He listened to the true news of Jesus Christ. He started sharing about his life and that he was despised for not having a son. As soon as he heard the true news of Jesus, he immediately believed and handed over his life to the Lord. He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. Now he comes to our church and listens to the Word of the Lord.

A young man, who heard the Word of the Lord, asked for so many New Testaments to tell the Word of the Lord to others!

I thank God that He has been using me for His work and continues to use me. In November, when I went to a village that is 400 km away from my home, the Lord introduced me to this young man. His name is RK*. He does farming in the village and goes to the city to work. When I went to the village, I met him and showed the Jesus movie on a new projector. After that I also told him the Gospel. He slept in the same hut in which I slept. I talked to him about the Word of God throughout the night and encouraged him. As soon as he woke up in the morning, he said that he wanted to share the Gospel. I gave him some New Testaments and told him that if he wants to serve in the future, he can go to Bible college and gain the right knowledge of the Word of the Lord. Then he can go from village to village and share the Gospel properly.

He is ready to go to Bible college but his parents sent him to a big city to work. He often calls and asks, “When will Bible college start? I want to study the Bible.” He keeps asking for prayer for his parents to send him to Bible college. Because of his parents greed for the money he makes in the city, they will not let him go to Bible college.

Please pray that if it is God’s will, he will be able to study the Bible in the coming days and that he can go from village to village preaching about the Lord.

Praise Points!

• Praise the Lord, God has kept me and my family safe.
• Praise the Lord, He is leading the people of our church forward in faith and in the Word.
• There was Hindu worship here and an idol was also installed in front of our house. By the mercy of the Lord, we were not attacked. Praise the Lord!

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray. In a state of my country some anti-Christian elements are planning to rape and massacre the daughters and daughters-in-law of Christians. The date is set for 1st March. May God give protection to all the brothers and sisters there.
• Please pray. In the coming days, there are many types of Hindu festivals in our area. May God give protection to our family and Christian brothers and sisters.
• Please pray. Our country has elections in a few months. May God give us a government that lets us worship and pray in peace. Pray that no law is made against spreading the Good News.
• Please pray. We are planning to do several types of outreach in the next few months. May God open the door to a village that has not heard the Good News yet.
• Please pray. A pastor is planning to come from the United States which will be the first time in our area. May God protect him and keep us safe too.
• Please pray for my wife. Three of her teeth are painful and hollow. She needs to get treatment. May God provide a good hospital here for her to get treatment. Otherwise, we will have to go somewhere else for her treatment.
• Please pray. Two students from my church are ready to go to Bible college. Pray that until the next Bible college year starts, there will not be anything that prevents them from going to Bible college. The last time I planned to send a student to Bible college, his parents called the police.

May God bless you all!

Pastor & Mrs. 11*

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

We traveled to a youth conference, that was hosted by one of our graduates. He is now serving as a pastor in the church there. Around 40 young people from the area attended the conference. We encouraged them with the Word of God. We also invited them to attend our Bible College. Two students decided to join next semester. We had a great time of learning and fellowship. We were happy to see our graduate serving faithfully. The trip was a blessing for all of us.

I had a wonderful trip to the South. We had a youth meeting. Around 120 people attended. We shared about our Bible College with them and invited the young adults to come. I had a great time with the students who traveled with me.

For the first time in my life, I taught in the that language at a youth conference. It was an amazing experience for me. We also met and connected with many pastors from there. The whole trip was a blessing and a joyful time.

For the past few months, Christians from all around the capital have been gathering once a month. We sit together, share our vision, and learn from the Bible. We also pray for each other and encourage one another. It has been a great blessing to stay connected. We asked those who come to share about our Bible College in their churches.

The people who come are connected with many different Christian organizations. The organizations do a lot of social work. This connection is helping us reach more people. We are thankful for this growing fellowship. It is a joy to see God working among us.

Thank you,

Anand and Usha and Family

Hello everyone! I hope all is well! Let’s get you caught up on what the Lord has been doing!

August/ September 

In August our team went to an unreached tribe in the mountains of Mazatlán. Here we were able to minister and share the good news. They not only received us, but they also received the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Pastor Antonio has recently been able to take over 70 Spanish Bibles to their tribe. With lots of patience, love and dedication, we are all still praying for many leaders to be raised up to pastor their own church!

Returning from Mexico and the school, our leaders helped us on this next step journey. I mean, what are we supposed to do after ministering and loving these people, to have them receive Christ- to just leave?

This is not the end. My goal is to see it to the end. Not just to preach, but to teach. That’s when I knew, the Lord isn’t calling me to just preach the gospel but to teach it. To dwell in the land He will call me too- long term. 

So, I had to say goodbye. It’s never easy, BUT praise God I even have people to say bye to! I packed my bags and I moved to California!

I still visit for holidays! However, each time that I go, it tasks a toll. Looking back at my old newsletters, I knew the cost. Now understanding it- is something else. I pray that my family sees the good works and glorifies our Father in heaven.

October/ November/ December

The holidays are so weird now! My first ever Halloween as a Christian! It was the best time ever! We went to someone’s house and was able to set up a popcorn, hotdogs, cotton candy, drinks and of course candy. While hundreds of people came, we were all able to spread the gospel and share the love of Jesus. It was such a fun time. 

November was my first whole month living here, I started school and was working. At first it was really lonely and slow (now it’s the complete opposite) I celebrated Thanksgiving with my church here and with my family back in Las Vegas. This was such a blessing.

The reason for the season: Jesus! December was full of peace and serving. There were many events inside and outside of church. I was working hard doing my homework and being social. I definitely would say I should’ve been resting at the feet of Jesus more. 

January/ February

January was such an awesome month. I received prophetic prayer at the beginning of the year and it was so encouraging and special to experience. I recently ended a relationship so I was on a spiritual high and felt so close to the Lord. Being broken hearted is much easier to call upon the name of Jesus.

We are currently in the month of February and so far, it’s been really challenging. I feel as though I am in a dry season. However, after speaking to some wise counselors and fellow saints, they helped me realize that IM HUMAN. Feelings and emotions aren’t bad, but they are not something to rely on or to have confidence in. They are a good indicator to point us to what we need (which is the Lord) but not to always listen. We aren’t always going to want to serve or workout or even get out of bed BUT GOD— listen to the word of the Lord. Proverbs 16:3 says “commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.” Often times we tend to not WANT to do read our bibles or pray, we can either listen to the flesh and not do it (often times it’s not drawing near to the Lord) or we can commit ourselves to the work (reading and praying) and the Lord will establish our thoughts. 

This is a difficult season I’m in. It’s continuous surrender and taking up our cross. I would love prayer for this! Even doing this newsletter has been very difficult, my goal is to send one out every month. (You all have become my accountability partners) 

I thank you all for your precious time. Thank you for your fellowship in the gospel and I pray you all abound still more and more in the knowledge and discernment of our Heavenly Father. 

Answered Prayers:

• I am growing in the Lord and becoming the women He’s called me to be!
• My older siblings Anthony, Julio, Jacky and Deedee have all put their faith in Jesus!
• The Lord completely providing a way for me to continue this path in doing missions

Prayer Request:

• That I would be able to organize and keep to a budget and time management 
• That the Lord will provide provision to go a vision tour
• That I would be used to be the salt and light of the world (evangelism)

Ways to support:

• PRAYER. IT CHANGES THINGS! Jeremiah 29:12, The Lord listens to us!Prayer is the most loving and effective ways to show you care, but that you also support me.
• FINANCIAL PARTNERSHIP. Philippians 4:18-19, God has really blessed me with all that I have. If the Lord has put on your heart to support me in this way, I thank you and pray, knowing that the Lord will supply all your needs too.
• SHARE IN THE VISION. My hearts desire is that all will call upon the name of Jesus; I can’t do this alone. Sharing this or even what the Lord has been doing in my life can and will help. 

Thank you again for your generosity and patience.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26

Love, Ariana

A LITTLE HARRIS-Y: Esther – God of Promises(The votes are in… A Little Harris-y wins! Sorry to those who are disappointed:))

I love The Book of Esther; I often consider it my favorite book of the Bible, but it has long been shrouded by controversy. In his theological commentary, Paul Redditt notes that Eastern churches rejected the book’s canonicity and that the reformers did not devote much attention to it. Likewise, Samuel Wells points out in his biblical commentary of the book that these types of views are often related to the fact that the book “contains no promise to the Church, makes no mention of the Gospel” and “does not once introduce the name of God or recognize [H]is providence.” In fact, according to Reddit, “Luther could say that he wished the book did not exist at all, because it contained pagan impropriety.” So why do I love it so much? I would have to write more than I am willing to (and more than you would be willing to read) if I were to say everything I wanted to about it, but some of my favorite things about the book are how God is able to keep all His promises even though they seem to contradict and work out salvation even when He seems hidden.

Some of God’s most famous promises are found in what people call the Abrahamic Covenant (see Gen. chapters 12, 15, 17, and 22). When God called Abraham, He promised He would bless his descendants with a great name, a land of abundance, and a high population (Gen. 12:1-3). God also promised Abraham and his descendants divine protection, swearing that whoever blessed them would be blessed and that whoever cursed them would be cursed (Gen. 12:3). Most importantly, God promised that His descendant(s) would end up blessing every people group on the planet (Gen. 12:3, 22:18).

Around 500 years later, God made another series of promises to Abraham’s descendants in what people call the Mosaic Covenant (Exod. 19-24, Lev. 26, Deut. 28). In the Mosaic Covenant, God promised Abraham’s descendants that IF they were faithful to obey the terms of His covenant, the ten commandments (see Duet. 4:13), that they would be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 19:4-6). God went on to relay the wonderful blessings Israel would experience if they were obedient and the terrible suffering they would face if they were disobedient  (Lev. 26, Deut. 28). God said that if Israel continued in their disobedience, that they would eventually be driven out of their homeland (Lev. 26:33, Deut. 28:64). Perhaps most severely, God said: “But I will surely hide My face [אַסְתִּ֤יר] in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.” (Deut. 31:18; also see 31:17, 32:20, and Ezek. 39:29).

One thousand years after God laid out His terms to Moses, those two sets of promises came to a head in the Book of Esther. Israel was facing all the threatened curses as a desperate, homeless, and foreign minority group on the brink of distinction because of a ruthless edict written by the leader of the pagan kingdom of Persia, just as they deserved (Esth. 3:13). Yet instead of being exterminated the book relays that many people actually decided to become Jews in the days leading up to their potential harm! (See Esth. 8:21). The book revolves around a plot to exterminate every living Jew, yet, because of God’s loyalty to Abraham, there are more Jews at the end of the story than there were at the beginning! However, the book does not explicitly give God the credit for this. Why? Because God had promised that He would hide His face during the time of their punishment.In the middle of the whole story is a young orphan named Esther, whose name is derived from the Babylonian god Ishtar. Yet every Hebrew who read Esther could see the four consonants in her name, אסתר, which form the title of the book and be continually reminded of God’s promise to אַסְתִּ֤יר (Hide Himself) during their punishment. This would bring comfort as they remembered that God kept all of His promises, for He saved them just as He promised Abraham, but He did it from behind the scenes because of what He promised Moses. 

I love Esther; it strengthens my faith that God sovereignly works behind the scenes of history to keep His promises and orchestrate the salvation and multiplication of His people. When God seems distant, I can be confident that “He knows, He is there, and He is working” (Douglass). Most importantly, I can remember that in God’s protection of Esther and the Israelites, He spared the line of the Promised Messiah, who came 2,000 years ago to suffer separation from His Father and bless all the families of the earth with salvation from sin and death!

Bibliography:

Douglass, Rob. Psalm 139 – He Knows, He’s Here, He works. Blue Letter Bible Rob Douglass Media
NASB. The Bible. New American Standard Version. Lockman, 1995.
Redditt, Paul. L. “Esther.” Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey. Kevin Vanhoozer, Craig Bartholomew, and Daniel Treier, eds. Baker, 2008, pp. 142-47.
Wells, Samual and George Summer. Esther and Daniel. Brazos, 2013.
Wechsler, Michael G. Commentary on Esther.
Wechsler, Michael G. Shadow and Fulfillment In The Book of Esther. Bibiotheca Sacra 154 July- Septemer 1997.

… Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian-its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word-Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, “Ready for either.”Morning and Evening, January 7th, Charles H. Spurgeon

Dear Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

Through this passage of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon the Lord spoke to me at the beginning of the fast we started as a church in California to begin the new year right before I moved Peru. As I was denying my flesh its natural desires and about to leave my family and comforts for another country, the Lord spoke so clearly and outlined how my mentality should be moving away from home. This kind of preparation and communion with the Lord sums up my last few weeks leading up to the move. The Lord has spoken so clearly and so much, I feel like the most blessed man on the planet. Not just that, but all the prayers, support, and love I have received makes me hardly able to contain my joy and shock. I truly believe I am one of the most privileged missionaries ever to be sent out.

Of the many other confirmations, I want to share a specific one that was so clear and simple. Last year I shared how I received a prophetic word from a pastor who prayed for me during the week of fasting we had. I never met the man, but he described a vision of me being a sprinkler of water to children in a front yard, giving them the water of the Word. Additionally, that God was going to fulfill my desire for children. This was a clear answer to my prayers of whether I should pursue the calling to rescuing and caring for children in trafficking. This month, during the week of prayer and fasting, another man prayed for me (who I also did not know). After asking me if I knew God’s calling for my life, he said, “do not put it off, do it now, by continuing in that calling.” While having the same kind of urgency as proverbs 6:4. This confirmation to not delay helped fix my gaze concretely on the place and work God has called me to.

Below are some last moments I shared before moving. The first is of my Sending Sunday at CC Saving Grace, my last Sunday before moving to Peru, when the children prayed for me. The other photo was a going away party with the Spanish Ministry, which was a huge blessing.

Living in Peru!

To be fair, I already lived in Trujillo for most of 2023, while I studied at Calvary Bible Institute. But moving full time to serve in ministry is a very different experience! I left Southern California January 18th with a one-way ticket to Peru. I got greeted with news that the church would also be doing a week-long fast to seek the Lord! If I didn’t just finish the one in California, I probably would have laughed. Either way, I decided to follow the fast as best I could while we were doing construction work on Pastor Cory’s house. It was difficult, but at the end I felt a great inner strength and anointed for the new life and ministry in Peru. It was only towards the end of that fast that I realized it was actually an answer to prayer. The last few months leading up to my move to Peru I asked the Lord to provide time before going into full-time ministry that I could use for my own “wilderness experience”, like Jesus before He started ministry. Definitely not to be tempted by the devil, but to have time alone with the Lord to be strengthened and filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, somehow in all the busyness of moving, God had made the way for it, even if it wasn’t completely alone, I got to seek the Lord and deny my flesh with my home fellowship in California and new fellowship in Peru.

A Beautiful Oasis

If you know anything about my new home city, Trujillo, Peru, you know it is not the best place to live. As the largest city in the North of Peru, it houses 1,000,000 people. The problem is, as a costal desert, it gets close to zero rain all year. It is a very hot, dry, and dusty, and has the worst UV rays on the planet besides some parts of Africa, with levels commonly being at 11. The developing tan city can sometimes make me feel depressed. But one morning as I was spending time in worship, the Lord gave me a picture in my mind of beautifully vibrant grass hills, with a strong tree next to a stream. It was like a mental picture of Psalm 1. That brought me a great wave of peace and joy. Then, as I looked over at the city, in my mind I saw the whole city green with trees and rolling hills. It is a mental picture I take with me everywhere I go. Because, although the city may still be a dry desert, the Lord is with me, and wherever I go I am a tree planted by still waters!

Later that day on my taxi ride, I made small talk with the driver. As I asked where he was from, he began for almost 5 minutes to describe how green hills, trees, and big rivers surround the city he used to live in Venezuela. It immediately reminded me of the picture I had in my mind that morning of Trujillo, and I could tell the Lord had brought me to this man for a reason. Afterwards I shared my testimony and the gospel with him. As I began to share how I had hated my sin, but didn’t have power over it, like Paul in Romans 7, he yelled out, “Yes! That is exactly my problem!”. I then got to share about the victory I found in Jesus Christ, and all the amazing promises of Romans 8. I get to have these opportunities to share the gospel with taxi drivers almost every other day, so please be praying for many of them to receive salvation!

Working Hard

As soon as I arrived to Peru, I began working with Calvary Trujillo and interning at the Bible School. I am also taking two classes leftover from when I first studied here. One of the first projects we started when I arrived was constructing walls for Pastor Cory’s first story on his home. His house is directly on the beach and the salt from the ocean goes straight through the bottom of the house, destroying the little room down there, as well as his car. It is the most corrosive place I have ever seen. So we built walls to help keep moisture out. We are also doing lots of construction projects around the Bible School as well. This is a big part of mission work and serving in full time ministry- whatever needs to get done, you just do it! And God has been blessing us the whole way.

Casa Calvary & Other Needs

In other news, we have been looking for a property for the children’s home. The non-profit has been legally created, and we have called it “Casa Calvary.” Though we are mostly in limbo as we look for a property, in the mean time, we have had other opportunities come up. One of them is a boys home which needs help. The orphanage, called “Ninos del Mundo”, was officially dissolved a few months ago. The problem is, the 6 teenage boys who live there have no where else to go, so they have been staying at the orphanage even though there it legally no longer exists. The food and lights are paid for by one man’s family business. Most of these boys will mostly be independent in 4 years, and our vision being really for trafficked children means we are looking for a temporary solution for them. I will be personally visiting and discipling them weekly as well as we seek out how we can take care of/provide a good place for these boys. I am expectant for the Lord to work mightily.

Calling All Partners!

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 show you the fruit of your work through me! If you would like get more involved in this work, there are different ways you can partner with with me as I seek to fulfill my call to rescue and care for children in trafficking.

One way you can support is through joining my Signal group. This is where I send prayer requests and more frequent updates on my life in the mission field of Peru! You can join this group by responding to this email.

Another important way to partner is financially. If you feel lead to become a financial partner, you can give through the link found at the bottom of this news letter! It is by your generosity that I am provided for on the field and available to give my all in this new work.

Praise Reports

• The incredibly blessed sendoff I got leaving to Peru!
• A quick and (mostly) easy transition, and the quick improving of my Spanish
• All the opportunities to share the gospel to taxi drivers
• Being able to bless pastor Cory with a closed space under his home
• An incredible start to a new, very full, semester at CBI. 

Prayer Requests

• Grace, mercy, and peace as I begin to assist Cory with things related to the children home and discipling the teenage boys, interning at the CBI, and finishing my last class
• To learn much from a conference I will be attending this February 20-22 in Trujillo about equipping people to take care of children from traumatic backgrounds.
• Wisdom for how we can help the teenage boys from Ninos del Mundo.
• The perfect property for the children’s home, and all the different resources that we will need