Thank you so much for your prayers and support! It is a joy to serve the Lord together with you.
Time keeps slipping away and we are already headed into the third month of this new year! I look forward to the dawn of spring here in California and pray that you are well wherever you may be reading this.
Christmas 2020 Outreaches
Last month I promised an update on the Christmas outreaches that took place in the 10/40 window and I don’t want to disappoint!
We were able to facilitate 21 separate Christmas outreaches in the 10/40 window by receiving and sending funds! Our national pastors worked very hard, many of them hosting several outreaches in various areas in order to meet the needs of the lost people around them. Praise God for the countless lost souls who were able to receive spiritual and physical nourishment!
Some of our outreaches consisted of giving clothing to widows, blankets to the homeless, food to the hungry, and ALWAYS the Gospel to the lost from the city to the farthest remote village.
Thank you for your prayers and support for these outreaches! It is such a blessing to see God move through the generosity and willingness of His Bride.
Other February Happenings
Missionary Care
This month my husband, Isaac, and I got to visit our missionary friends who were home on furlough in Colorado. We took advantage of Valentines Day weekend and flew out to spend some time with them before they headed back to the field. The verse that sticks out to me when I think about our time together is Romans 1:11-12, “for I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established– that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”
Our time there was exactly that, mutually spiritually encouraging and uplifting and we were so blessed to be able to sneak in one last visit before they left the states.
Praise God they are now on their way back to Uganda with their 4 children after being on furlough for more than 6 months!
It was a joy to administrate the plans for a pastors’ trip down to Mexico this month as well. Our small team went to fellowship with and encourage our missionaries working in a difficult and dangerous area as well as speak at a church planting conference in Mazatlan. We are so blessed to be on the move again!
Prayer Requests
Please keep the team in Mexico in your prayers as the conference begins on Feb 26th. They will be returning home on March 1st and are required to test negative for COVID. Please keep their health and COVID tests in your prayers.
We have a student team of 30 people heading down to Rosarito for a weekend trip on March 5th-7th. Please keep the students and those they will minister to in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for wisdom as I train Maribel (she’s doing an AMAZING job!) and clarity for her as she absorbs more and more information.
God is so good! I pray that the beginning of 2021 has been a blessing for you and that your January was full of God’s presence and grace. I know mine was!
This year is a big deal for me personally as my husband and I will be welcoming our first child into the world. Throughout my pregnancy I have seen God faithfully answer so many prayers regarding my position here with SGWM and the next steps once Fletcher is born which brings me to some exciting news!
Big News
Even before I knew I was pregnant I was praying that God would raise up and bring the right person to take my position when the time came for me to step into motherhood. I thought that would be a few years down the road yet I was praying that He would raise him or her up from our current batch of interns, not a future batch. Then we got the joyous news and I began praying all the more that God would bring someone capable and called to not only do my job, but to do it better than I have done it. From September to mid-January I prayed, the office staff prayed, and God answered.
Her name is Maribel Blanco and she was a student at our School of Missions in 2020. She has a heart for the unreached, a background in administration and accounting, and a passion to see the Gospel proclaimed throughout the world. This month we began training and she is the perfect fit! It is so wonderful to see the way God has answered the prayers so many lifted up to Him and I truly believe that Maribel will excel here and be an even better servant to our missionaries and our staff.
Where does that leave me?
I won’t be going anywhere. Once Fletcher is born sometime in May I will transition to working from home so that I can adjust to motherhood and still be involved in the ministry. Rather than remaining the administrative assistant, I will become the financial assistant and handle the financial/accounting tasks I have picked up during my almost two years in the office. I will be able to work from home while Fletcher naps and bring him into the office a few times a week to assist our accounting department in anything that is needed.
It is such a blessing to relay this exciting news to God’s glory and I pray that you are encouraged in whatever you are currently praying for. Whether it be the salvation of a loved one, the financial provision of your family, the direction of God in this new year, or anything else, remain fervent and faithful in prayer because He answers!
Prayer Requests
Please pray for Maribel as she learns how to do all of the tasks that allow this ministry to run smoothly. Pray against spiritual attacks from the enemy and that she would remain steadfast in the hope of her calling when those fiery darts do come her way.
Please also pray for wisdom for me as I train her.
I ask for and covet your prayers for my family and the huge transition ahead of us. As I step into part-time work, naturally my income will decrease. We have a lot of one-time costs associated with Fletcher’s birth as well as some on-going increased expenses which I ask you to keep in prayer. Our God has always been faithful to provide for our needs and will remain so. Please pray for strengthened faith as we look to Him and trust in Him for our finances.
If you would like to partner with me financially as I step into my new role(s) with a one-time or regular gift, you can do so at the link below. Just click on the button that says, “Become a Financial Partner” and you will be redirected to a secure online giving page where you can make a donation of any amount. You can also mail a check to Saving Grace World Missions, 17451 Bastanchury Rd, Ste 203, Yorba Linda, CA 92886 with “Hope Douglass Support” in the memo.
Update on Christmas Outreaches…
Thank you for your prayers last month for our Christmas outreaches among the unreached! They were a huge success and I will share pictures and stories in my February update.
May God continue to bless and keep you as you trust in Him.
I am in shock when I think back on how quickly this year has flown by. Like all of you this year, I was not without challenges- planning a wedding in the midst of a pandemic is not fun- but we can all stand together and say that God has been faithful through every difficulty.
This year SGWM has seen God provide over 2.5 million dollars in funds for and sent to missionaries on every inhabited continent! That’s over 2.5 million dollars donated toward specific missionaries that God allowed us to funnel into the battlefield for souls! Imagine what God wants to do in 2021 if THAT is how He provides in the middle of a worldwide shutdown and recession.
This summer SGWM trusted God and went ahead with the Calvary School of Missions missionary training program in Mexico. We had 12 students and saw the Lord radically provide for each of their needs, keep them and the 7 staff members healthy and safe, and bring hope and sustenance to many hurting people in Mexican slums. Our God cannot be held down!
This Christmas we have seen God open the door for 18 outreaches among the unreached and we cannot wait to hear of the fruit He will bring from them.
In my personal life God has been so faithful this year (just as He is every year). I had the joy of saying “I do” to the man of my dreams, the excitement of finding out that we are going to be parents in May, the blessing of seeing my family stay well and have courage, and the privilege of serving my church, my friends on the mission field, and my God through it all. It has been a very good year. As I said, not without its challenges, but the blessings far outweigh each trial.
Thank you for standing with me through this year and allowing me to share what God has been doing. Each of your prayers and kind emails have been deeply appreciated and I look forward to what God has for 2021; a year, surely, with its fair share of difficulty but with the steadfast assurance of God’s continued faithfulness.
God bless you and your family this Christmas and in this new year! May His blessings flow freely as you look toward and trust in Him through whatever this year may bring.
November was yet another fly-by month here in the office. We have started praying for our Christmas outreaches and we had the privilege of sharing the needs of 6 nationals with our church body.
Christmas Outreaches
Every year SGWM helps nationals working with us in the 10/40 window conduct local Christmas outreaches among their unreached neighbors. This year will be no different in spite of COVID! If you would like to be part of what God does this Christmas season among the unreached, you can give at this link. We are putting our Covid Relief fund to work for Christmas themed outreaches and would love for you to join us.
Below are just a few photos from last year’s Christmas outreaches. This year things will look different but we will not stop reaching people with the Gospel. In certain places where we minister, Christmas is the only time of year when Christians are able to share Jesus openly and we know that God wants to touch people’s hearts this year as well as any other even though group gatherings may be outlawed.
Why Nationals?
We at SGWM like to partner with nationals because they already know the language and culture and are immediately effective in ministry, unlike an American, or any foreigner, who has to spend years learning language and culture in order to be effective. That is why we endeavor to plant Bible schools in unreached areas where Christians of that nationality can be equipped to reach their own people. We then partner with a select few as SGWM missionaries. Naturally, they are unable to raise missionary support among their own countrymen because their unbelieving neighbors want to kill them for their belief in Jesus and their fellow believers are just as persecuted and poor. It then comes back to us to help launch these courageous men and women into ministry through our prayers and financial support.
We currently have 6 national missionaries/pastors who have little to no monthly support and we had the opportunity of presenting those needs to our body this month. For security reasons, I cannot post their photos and names here, but if you would like to hear more about them and their ministries, please reach out to me. I would love to share more about them and help you get engaged in reaching the lost in the 10/40 window.
Praise Reports:
The Gospel is not chained by COVID or any scheme of the enemy!
We have raised some funds for our nationals but still need more financial partners.
We had a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving with our families.
My husband got a full-time job!
Baby Fletcher is growing and gaining strength. I am beginning to feel little butterfly flutters and gas-bubble like movements.
…Another month has flown by! October was a bit of a slow month in the office as we focused on a lot of the usual tasks without the added workload of planning mission trips due to the continued shutdown. Although we in the office are not going far or long for the foreseeable future (we do have a little trip up our sleeves!), we are helping some of our missionaries move around!
Travels in Spite of COVID
The Aniku family who serve in Uganda were able to fly home after being here for the last 10 or 11 months. When the globe shut down they were in the States on furlough and have been unable to travel back to Uganda until now! We are excited to see how the Lord used their time in the States to help them prepare for a new season of ministry and to see Him bring them back to their mission field in His perfect timing.
The Harris Family
We had the privilege of hosting the Harris Family for one week this month during their furlough. It was so refreshing to fellowship with them and get to know their family. They were able to travel to the States in spite of the lockdowns and have been traveling around to visit with family and supporters. We were blessed to receive a week of their time! They have also just welcomed their fourth child, Charlotte Hope, into the world! Please keep them in your prayers as well.
This month we also managed the funds to allow our newest missionary in Mexico, Hassan Villegas, and a team of leaders from his church to travel to a leaders conference in Northern Mexico. It was so exciting to see God provide the funds and to hear the feedback as his team was blessed, equipped, and refreshed.
That little trip I alluded to will be taking place on November 6th as we take a group of our youth down to Rosarito for a two-night mission trip. We will be helping with some COVID relief in the outlying community and we are excited for the opportunity to show the students what life is like in a culture not quite as secure as ours yet just 3 hours south of us. Please keep this trip and our youth in your prayers.
Other News
In other news, Isaac and I are excited to announce that we are expecting a baby in May 2021! Please keep us all in your prayers- that the baby would grow healthy and strong, that the pregnancy would be smooth and risk free, and that the Lord would prepare Isaac and me to be parents.
Thank you!
Praise Report
I had the opportunity to meet up with a girl from the running club one-on-one and pray with her, talk about what God is doing in her life, and advise her on how to handle a situation. That was the hope for the running club, that the Lord would use it to build relationships to allow for further discipleship opportunities with the youth. Praise God!
At SGWM, we are passionate about Jesus’ final command to us and His call upon His church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. We do that by following Paul’s example all through the book of Acts, by preaching the gospel, making disciples, and establishing churches. There are 3.2 billion people in the world who are still waiting to hear the gospel for the first time and we seek to mobilize, equip, and send Christians who are answering the call to Go! We do this in three ways:
By being a missionary sending ministry launching missionaries from the U.S. into the foreign mission field and caring for them through administrative help, prayer support, leadership support, and general care
By working with nationals in other countries who plant churches and operate Bible schools to train other nationals to go and do the same, with a specific focus on the 10/40 window
By equipping young people who are passionate about foreign missions through our yearly Calvary School of Missions and through our internship program.
Calvary School of Missions
We have just completed our 2nd year of the Calvary School of Missions, a six-week program designed to catch, equip, and mobilize young people for long term cross-cultural church planting, and it was amazing. God did life transforming work in the hearts of the students and laid a firm foundation of the call of the church and our purpose for remaining in this earth. It’s always exciting to be a part of what God is doing as He plants and waters the seeds of His Word and starts to birth new works in hearts and minds. We look forward to partnering with each of these students as they prepare to be God’s hands, feet, and mouth to the lost world that still waits to hear the name of Jesus for the first time. Please join with us in praying for these precious ones who are willing to go to the front lines, being propelled by the love of God to be His ambassadors to the world.
Church Planting Conference at Calvary Chapel Rosarito
One of the highlights this summer at the School of Missions was being able to attend the Church Planting Conference put on by Calvary Chapel Rosarito. Partnering with a church like CCR has been exciting as we see Pastor Mike Vincent’s vision of church planting in Mexico multiply and be established. In the last 20 years they have seen over 25 churches planted and are continuing to plant churches throughout Mexico and other places through their Church Planting Course which is a 2 year program designed to help mobilize, equip, and send church planters. Involving the students in this conference was such a blessing as they were able to see how church planting is God’s way to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus in real time! Please continue to pray for CCR as they continue to send laborers out into His harvest!
COVID Relief Around the World
The year 2020 has shown itself to be a year of unprecedented challenges, and SGWM has had to learn to navigate an enemy we have never faced in our lifetime, COVID 19. We have, since the onslaught of this sickness, looked for ways to reach the hurting around us. We are praising God for the open doors we have had to bring relief directly to the people in Pakistan, Belize, Peru, Mexico, Uganda, Nepal, several locations in Asia, and the US through the loving hands and feet of our missionaries and national workers on the ground. These desperately hurting people have been overwhelmed by the love shown by those who have brought the much needed provision they have received through Saving Grace World Missions and its supporters! Glory to God for the great things He has done.
This month has been as active as any with the internship getting fully underway! Here are a few highlights.
I had the privilege of training two of our three new interns in the office and showing them what it looks like to send someone out onto the field. It is always an educational experience for those who haven’t considered just how many hours are dedicated to such a feat. Gabby and Nathanael have both done well in their training but the bulk of what they will learn this year is hands on. Please pray for them as they continue to serve in the office and press into whatever the Lord has for their internship this year.
The first intern class of the fresh start.
Another highlight was getting to attend a dessert gathering for one of last year’s interns. A dessert gathering is basically a mission update that we host for our missionaries when they are home on furlough or about to launch into the field. It includes homemade desserts, fellowship, an update from the missionary, and prayer. J.S. is our first School of Missions graduate to be launched into the mission field and he has faithfully interned in the office for the past year. It was a very special night to see the fruit of our pastors’ labor of pouring into him and my labor (in a small way) of training him in the office come to fruition as he now takes all he has learned and prepares to launch in the spring of 2021.
Thank you for your prayers and support that allow me to be part of what God is doing here in training up long term missionaries as well as abroad by offering technical and administrative support to all of our missionaries.
If you would like to be more involved or would like to support me or SGWM financially, I would love to talk with you more about it. Your support is needed and so appreciated.
Stay the Course Running Club
The running club has been going well! You could say we hit the ground running. I have a group of 4 girls who have been pretty consistent and we are now up to about 2 miles. Please continue to pray for this group to be all that the Lord desires it to be.
Prayer Requests
Please keep our new batch of interns in your prayers as they begin a year-long commitment of growing in their knowledge of God’s Word and preparing to serve Him in the foreign field.
Please pray for J.S. as he raises finances to launch out in Spring 2021.
Please pray for my family as we look to the Lord for His financial provision in our lives.
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What a great August! I had the opportunity to travel down to Mexico to visit with our school of missions students personally and attend Calvary Chapel Rosarito’s Church Planting Conference. It also turned into an opportunity to spend time with our newest missionary who I had the privilege of onboarding this month!
The School of Missions wrapped up on August 17th and it was such a great year of growth for our 12 students and 7 staff members. From it we are receiving two new interns and we hope to receive several more students-turned-interns in January.
Staff in light gray (missing 2) and students in dark gray
The conference was a special treat as I was able to hear from church planters and pastors who confirmed all of the reasons why SGWM exists- to go to all the world, make disciples, and raise them up to do the same, all of which is birthed out of the local church.
Pastor Mike on Sunday
Pastor Trent and Pastor Mike before Trent’s breakout session on serving among the unreached
Send off Sunday for the Guatemala team
On Sunday morning CC Rosarito had a special send off Sunday to pray over and send a new church plant to Guatemala. It is their 25th church plant, but their very first church plant to a country other than Mexico or the USA. We were all excited to be a part of what they are doing, even if just through prayer that day.
I also had the privilege of meeting several of our missionaries working in Mexico including Pastor Mike Vincent and his family, Ron and Kristy Struska, Nancy Schipke, and our newest missionary, Hassan Villegas who I mentioned above.
Pastor Hassan has been in Mexico for approximately 18 years and in his current location, Acapulco, for 7 years. Please pray that the Lord would continue to protect their church from the cartels and from the coronavirus. Pastor Hassan and I took advantage of the time we had in the same area to get him trained on his blog and help him work out the technical issues and questions he had. We also enjoyed hearing him teach the students on the importance of faithfulness in class on Monday morning.
Stay the Course Running Club
This month I started a running club for the youth of our church to train for a fundraiser 5K that I am planning for next year (or as soon as the government begins allowing that kind of stuff). My heart for the club is to have more discipleship opportunities with the youth, help them grow in discipline, and raise awareness of the work going on among the unreached. All of the proceeds from the 5K will go toward our missionaries working in the 10/40 window (the area of the globe where there are almost zero Christians and zero access to Christ- our target area of missions). So the more participants we have, the more funds made available for the work of the Gospel. My prayer is that the students would realize that they can be involved in what God is doing around the world now- they don’t have to grow up first. They can be actively involved in bringing the Gospel to the unreached and they can involve others in it as well.
Prayer Requests
Training the new interns- that I would be able to teach them with clarity and simplicity and that they would be able to absorb it all.
My husband in Denver this weekend- Isaac is partnering with our friend, Aaron Garcia to visit one of their supporting churches in Denver, Colorado. Please pray for safety, health, and a fruitful trip as well as comfort for both of us in our first parting since marriage.
The running club- that more students would be interested and join us, that there would be no injuries, and that we’d have fun and grow in Christ together.
I recently read this quote from a book of mission quotes compiled by Marvin J. Newell called Expect Great Things. I think it would do us all good to read it and adopt the heart it speaks of.
During the last world war, on the Gold Coast of Africa, there lived an elderly African man who had honorably served his Majesty’s government and had been given a small pension. With it he retired to the hills to farm. One day while he was working with his hoe, he heard a message come by drumbeat across the jungle forest. He stopped to listen and to translate it for himself. He learned that a Great War had begun and that his Majesty’s government was in great need of help. About a week later at the little ramshackle post office down on the coast, the postmaster processed a grimy little postcard on which this eloquent message was written, “Your Majesty, I am coming.” May God hear that from hundreds of hearts today; “Here am I, send me.”
Warren Webster (WW1)
At Saving Grace World Missions, we desire to minister with that attitude of surrender and availability and to train up those whose hearts echo that cry. Calvary School of Missions is a program the Lord birthed out of our ministry to equip called individuals for the work of full-time ministry in a foreign context. This month was a month of incredible growth and sanctification for our 11 students and there are still two weeks to go!
I have had the privilege of facilitating the School from the office and would love to share a few highlights I’ve read in the students’ weekly updates.
Last week the students learned about the 3 billion people of the world who have no access to the Bible, Churches, or Christians and this is what Spencer Pierschbacher had to say, “Class time this week was very heavy and eye-opening. We were learning about the state of the gospel in the world and the fact that there are still 3 billion people in the world who do not have access to it. What does that mean? They cannot even make the decision to accept or reject Jesus because they don’t even have access to that message. It’s not, “They don’t want to be Christian”, it’s “They don’t even have the ability to be Christian.” Does that rock you? It rocks me. It troubles me. It hurts me. I pray God sends me one day, but for now I know what He’s asking me to do.”
The students have been stirred up and brokenhearted for the lost people of the world even more than they were when they started the school and that’s exactly what we want! We wanted to further spur them on into the call that God has for them and show them the urgency of this task we’ve all been given. The School is designed to identify and catalyze the call of God upon future missionaries and we in the office are so excited to read the weekly updates as the Lord does just that.
The students and staff of this year’s School have also conducted weekly COVID outreaches in the communities around them in Mexico. These outreaches have included arts, crafts, and games for kids, short messages shared by students, food distribution, and manual labor. The outreaches are essential for the students to put into practice all that they learn in the classroom, but, more than that, they’re essential for people’s eternal souls! We’re seeing many people put their faith in Christ through these events! You can read all of the student updates for yourself on the CSOM page of our website.
COVID Relief Packages being distributed. Shared by Jordon Voisin.
I have been preparing the office to receive some of these soon-to-be School of Missions Alumni as SGWM Interns where they will continue to be discipled and equipped for full-time mission work wherever the Lord would call them. I have been working with our department head, Pastor Tim Pappas, to further develop our training program and overall internship based on the things we learned from our pilot year in 2019. We are so excited to see which of our students the Lord has called as interns for the next year!
It is such a privilege to partner with these zealous future missionaries as they answer the call to go on behalf of the Gospel and as they daily cry out, “Here am I, send me.”
Thank you for partnering with me in this work of preparing them, sending them, and supporting them.
Prayer Requests
Please keep our students and staff in Mexico in your prayers!
Please pray that the Lord would separate out those He has chosen for the Internship.
Please pray for the Lord’s provision as SGWM continues to bring COVID relief around the world.
Praise Reports
I am a married woman! Our wedding was a blessing and NO ONE got sick! We made sure that Christ was the main focus and that the Gospel went forth.
We are seeing fruit from last year’s School of Missions and Intern program (a year of sowing for us, many years of sowing for God) as several of our alumni/interns are preparing to launch into the field.
I got to share the Gospel with many unsaved family members and friends at my uncle’s Celebration of Life.
Below are some photos from some of our missionaries’ updates this month that I would like to share as praise reports.
Pastor Mike Vincent reopened their church in Rosarito and had 12 new believers baptized this past month!
The Harris family in Uganda saw God feed 60,000 hungry people over the last four months, all of whom were given the Gospel message, through their ministry with Business As Missions Enterprises. They have also seen the Lord bring many new believers into the fold this month. Please read their latest update!
COVID relief in the 10/40 window has continued to be made possible through your donations! SGWM was able to send the funds to our missionaries who were then able to feed this hungry village and share the Gospel. (Photos and update from Aaron and Jena Garcia)
I’m digging in – got my flashlight in hand and miner’s headlamp strapped around my forehead. I don’t want to miss anything our Lord has for me. We know He uses all seasons, bright and sunny ones as well as those unexpected, “what is happening?” ones – for our good: (Romans 8:28). Oh, yeah, I’ve been through a handful of those. Tough to figure them out… I remember in those crazy times the Lord told me (ok, sometimes screamed at me) “to get with the program Charlie Brown (Jim) and start digging in deeper, deeper! – find your focus, purpose and preparation.” Well, this is such a season. And so it goes…
Saving Grace World Missions Internship Program
The SGWM internship program that I’ve been a part of for over a year is winding down now. The youthful nine (myself included!) have gotten so blessed by serving in so many different ways: church office admin, weeknight bible studies and financial management classes, Sunday morning camera streaming setup, sound board maintenance, Sunday service grounds and sanctuary setup and tear down duties, worship, welcome greeting, ushering and our latest and most needed as we speak – sanitation and cleanliness! Gloves and masks ahoy!
I’m rounding the bend in our year-round Bible reading program. I am going to do it! My first time too in one year so I am excited. I just started Acts of the Apostles. I’d love to anchor there for a while but I see the finish line down the straight and narrow path and I’m gonna make it. I got plenty of water for the final stretch and a protein bar in my running belt. Let’s go Lord! Let’s do this thing!
Homiletics Class – Preaching the Word
Homiletics / Acts of the Apostles Classes
In addition we just completed a 13-message homiletics (fancy word for ‘the art of the art of preaching or writing sermons’) series on the book of James last week. We had a teeny covid hiatus a bit ago but we all, guys and gals, finished strong. You know there’s no hiding behind the bushes with the Word of God. When you have to preach a 15-20 message to an audience of Saving Grace pastors, you have to be ready. We interns spent many hours in study and preparation for our weekly Thursday afternoon sermons. Sure it was fun and a bit intimidating to do it in front of the “pros,” but all the training and preparation was well worth it. I love this book! I love the Word!
It seems like we’ve been studying Acts of the Apostles longer than Paul’s missionary journeys! And we just finished his first one. Whoa! You know, I’ve journeyed through the Bible for many years. But it’s just been since the Lord led me into this mission’s thing that I’ve come to realize how important every single sentence and phrase is. I mean I always have known it but I just know it more now. Our Lord, through our teacher Pastor Trent Douglass, has spoken quite clearly how He wants to run His church, His ministries, His mission. It’s all in this book. I think we’re finally getting it.
Brook Kidron (John 18:1)
Getting Back to the Garden
We’ve been doing a 9am Sunday church service outside in our pretty flowered courtyard since May 31st. And a couple Sundays ago we opened up our children’s ministry out in the parking lot. How cool is that? Now everyone’s getting fed by God’s Word. There are still some people not showing up for obvious reasons. It’s too bad but we all have to be careful. David says in Psalm 22:3, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Our Lord is amongst the brethren inside or outside. It’s really quite comfortable, though, out in the courtyard. Hope we’re not getting spoiled. Ha!
Bon Voyage – Calvary School of Missions in Mexico
Most of our current interns attended last summer’s first Calvary School of Missions (CSOM), a super intensive 6-week program that trains and equips guys and gals who feel led by the Lord to pursue long-term cross-cultural missions. Well. Guess what? The 2020 team just left for Mexico on July 6 – Paul and Barnabas move over! This is how it works, seriously. Like last year, we again have a group of experienced full-term missionaries from all over the world who will be pouring their misson passion into the hearts of 13 students and 7 leaders who themselves have been knee deep (literally) in sharing the Gospel to the unreached. I have the privilege to serve right here on the home front, in prayer. If you are reading this newsletter, please pray for these individuals. Calvary Chapel Saving Grace is so committed to preaching the Word; getting the forgiveness, love and compassion of Jesus Christ to be heard all the way to the ends of the earth. The CSOM provides a power-packed venue for this to continue. I know, this sounds crazy – to the ends of the earth, sure. But it is true. The Gospel is going forth to remote areas far far away. I’ve been there; I’ve seen it. I’ve talked to brothers and sisters whose lives were radically changed by hearing and then receiving Jesus into their hearts through the Gospel preached by our own SGWM missionaries.
My Classroom!
Teaching VOR Refugee Zoom Classes
Teaching three days a week is really something I look forward to. I knew it would work. I’ve seen the Lord do it before in places where I was serving, where no one knew any English. The Holy Spirit blesses when He’s present. What’s funny is the more I teach, the more I see how smart these gals are. Hey, it’s not me, believe me. It’s so the Lord.
I think I’m warming up to them and they to me. It takes time. My students so laugh when I make mistakes (they laugh a lot!). My biggest problem is typing. This is all Zoom class stuff; I try to make it as interactive as I can. So I’m flying all over the screen with this and that while the gals are all chatting in Arabic. Who knows what they are saying. Ha! I just know we have a lot of fun. Verb tenses are my weakness so I’m doing a bit of nighttime grammar vigils over coffee. We do a devotion at the end of each session so everyone hears the Gospel. Zooms teaching is ok, like… ok. I can’t wait to get back to the real classroom. And then the gals will bring in their freshly cooked Middle East surprises. Ahh, I’m in heaven! Can’t wait.
Father’s Day Luncheon at Fred Jordan Missions
Fred Jordan Mission Father’s Day Outreach
On Father’s Day Saturday I spent the day serving at Fred Jordan Mission in skid row LA. As I stated in a previous newsletter, this ministry has reached out to the homeless in so many ways for over 75 years. You can imagine with the severe economic climate and all going on, the staff there is working overtime. We were told this was the very first Father’s Day event FJM has ever done. Mothers get all the breaks. Before handing out the food to the fathers (covid prohibits in-house dining), several of the men gave their lives to the Lord at a devo. Such a blessing. We prepared and packaged 300 lunches; hey, we worked our tails off! I do have compassion for the homeless. I’m praying for more.
As I diligently seek the Lord, He leads me closer and closer to where and how He wants me to serve. Right now it’s via Zoom teaching in my dining room. When things lighten up, I’ll be back teaching English at Voice of Refugees (VOR) offices in Anaheim, CA. My fervency to teach remains strong – hey, stronger after every session as I’m seeing the fruit – my students and I are forming great relationships. That’s where missions starts, on Zoom, across the street or far away.
I’m running my race. Come run with me. Nothing is more enjoyable for a runner than to have someone run alongside, even all the way to the finish line. So please keep me in prayer. And if the Lord puts it on your heart, partner with me financially as well by clicking on the Become a Financial Partner button below. You can do this through a one-time donation or a monthly reoccurring donation. Thank you so much for your prayerful and financial support.
Praise Report
That all my family and friends here stateside are in good health.
That our church is slowly getting back into the swing of things. So thankful we all can worship and get into the Word together.
That things are starting to loosen up a bit for my church family overseas. It’s been very hard for them. Our Lord has answered so many prayers for their strength, health and steadfast walk with Jesus our Lord.
For blessing me with a bunch of refugee students who seem to enjoy learning English.
Prayer Requests
That the Lord would bring out more people to church on Sunday.
That the Lord would put His compassion in me for my Zoom refugee students. Also that the Lord would give me more compassion for the homeless.
For the outpouring of the Holy Spirit onto our CSOM team, students and leaders, so that each of them would surrender their hearts more to our Lord.
For the safety, well-being, strength and good health for all of our SGWM missionaries serving all over the world.
That I would see what new ministries the Lord has for me to serve here on the homefront. I know He does. Like I said, I just gotta keep seeking Him in His word, prayer and get more real with my brothers and sisters.
If you’d like to get my monthly updates sent directly to your email inbox, just click on the following link: Jim Needham Updates. You can reach me atjneedham@sgwm.com. The Lord bless all of you.
