Sleigh Bells & Wedding Bells – Boubion Update December 2023

Dear friends and family,

Christmastime is here! And as you know, with the holiday season also comes a very busy and bustling time. With mine and Geoff’s wedding around the corner, the days have been especially packed with wedding preparations amidst our missions training school at the church. Though there have been very overwhelming moments in time, my heart brims full of joy and awe in the Lord to see where He has brought us thus far. I am so excited to begin a new life with Geoff and am so grateful for everyone who has come alongside to support us and help with wedding/marriage preparations.

Making decorations for the wedding reception with Geoff’s mom!

In November, I felt so blessed as my mentor and older sister threw a bridal shower for me. I enjoyed every moment of it and am so grateful to everyone who attended and helped. I felt so loved by my family and church family, God is so good!

Thanksgiving was pretty special this year because I was able to celebrate it with my church family, Geoff’s family, and my own family all in one day! In the morning a friend at church invited all the missions training school students over to her house for a Thanksgiving breakfast! 

Thanksgiving breakfast!

Then afterwards Geoff, his roommate, and I traveled up to Geoff’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner and my family met us there from Mexico! It was so surreal to see our families come together for the first time and we had an amazing dinner and dessert of course;) 

Ministry Updates

I am currently going through my second year of MTS (missions training school) at my church. We have a pretty packed schedule of classes, homework, and ministry opportunities. On the first Thursday of every month we have been going to 2 colleges in Fullerton to evangelize and pray for the students. This has been challenging as most students tend to be running in between classes and too busy to sit and talk, but the Lord has been blessing this evangelism ministry incredibly. Please pray that the Lord continues to bring more students to us who are willing to engage in gospel conversations.

In the beginning of November I attended CC Golden Springs’ Missions Conference and Pastors & Leaders Conference. It was such a blessing to go meet people from all over and get to hear the different speakers. Geoff and I got to meet the director of the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Okinawa, Japan, and his wife as well. They were super kind and helpful to answer our many questions about life and ministry in Japan. It was also super exciting to hear how the Lord was using their bible college to train up both foreigners and Japanese nationals to plant churches in Japan. Praise God!

Geoff and I are going with a team on a vision tour to Japan in February to see the ministries there and seek the Lord in confirming our calling to serve as long-term missionaries there. If you would like to help support our trip financially you can click the button at the bottom of this page. We will be traveling January 29th and returning on February 9th. We still have about $1,000 left to raise for the trip and any contribution would be a huge blessing! Please especially keep the team in prayer, for our preparations and time there.

I’m so excited for this upcoming year! Thank you all for reading this update and supporting me, I appreciate all of you so much. A quick practical update: As Geoff and I will be getting married next month, we will be combining our newsletters into one. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Love you all and have a merry Christmas!<3

In Christ,

Lydia Boubion

Are You Ready (Pt.1) – Voisin Update September 2023

On my way to Lima Péru!

A couple of Fridays ago I was teaching on Mark 13 to my middle schoolers, just asking them if they were really ready for Jesus to come back. Many said no, and the Lord got them thinking about it in ways they hadn’t before or hadn’t in a while. A big question for me lately is, “am I ready for Jesus to come back?” My oh my has He been doing a work in my heart with that one. It’s been a very busy season of life, but I feel like it’s been a fairly productive one too. It’s been amazing to see the Lord’s provision and strength as I’ve been dealing with work, ministry, and some big transitions as I prepare to go to Peru. Many things have been weighing on my heart regarding family and other practical needs that need tending before I would leave for Peru. Many of those big things are being provided for as we speak, and I am looking forward to all that the Lord is going to do.

Hanging out at CC the Rock.

PERU

The Lord has certainly provided for this go-around to Peru, your prayers and financial support are such a blessing! As I am currently in country and have been up to a lot the last two days, this update will be a segue into a special second edition coming soon to an email near you. Already I see the Lord doing much to prepare my heart and mind for the challenges that may come and I am beyond grateful for how the Lord has been giving me the grace to deal with it well. On Saturday morning it became clear there would be a couple snags as I headed down to join the team en route to Peru. An early delay brought about a flight carrier and connection change so I ended up meeting the team in Lima rather than at LAX. I honestly had a fair amount of time to spare and even with delays and some other curve balls, the Lord caused me to meet up with the team from Saving Grace almost right after they checked their bags. Prior to that I got to meet an elderly gentleman by the name of Jeff. We had a great conversation, but outside of me sharing what I was up to, I didn’t get to talk with him more about the Gospel. He’s an American ex-pat who lives in Thailand with his wife and adopted daughter and couldn’t speak more highly of the Thai people. With that he expressed that he felt he aligned most with Buddhist ideals and beliefs, and kindly emphasized he was not a Christian. As I was trying to find a pause to share and at least give a few Gospel thoughts to hopefully spark some eternal thinking about what would happen when he died, and point him to a loving Savior, there was a call to prep for boarding. Any chance I had may have disappeared as I didn’t see him again long enough to share. Please pray that the Lord world bring more Christians to share the Gospel with him and that he would have a heart to hear the Lord’s call!

After meeting up with the team in Lima around 10pm California time, we boarded our flight 2 hrs later and got into Trujillo around 5:30am Peru (Texas) time. So far it’s been a sweet but busy couple days. Many familiar faces and lot’s of new ones as we’ve also been joined by CBI Kauai.  Please be praying for our teams and the outreach that will be happening in the midst of the big church planting conference coming later this week! There’s a lot to do, but with the Lord and many of his hands I know He will see us through. He is up to something good, and I’m excited! With that I think it’s time for me to go to bed! Hopefully I will be doing a workout bright and early! Prior to my part 2, feel free to add me on Facebook or Instagram for some behind the scenes looks at what the Lord is up to down here in Péru.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

  • Middle School while I’m in Peru (Miss them already)
  • Time in Peru, to bring refreshment for students and pastors who are serving and attending the conference 
  • For teams to stay bold in the Lord and for his hand of protection during service and outreach
  • Team unity
  • Hearts to be stirred for missions
  • Laborers for the harvest is plentiful…
  • Relationships with students and staff to grow
  • for the Lords will to be done!

P.S. If you’re wondering how you can get involved with what the Lord is doing, I will be giving some more info about that on part 2.

Thank you for your prayers and God bless you!

– Jordon

Wait, Hold On a Moment – Boubion Update June 2023

Dear friends and family,

The past couple months have held quite a lot in them for my life here in Yorba Linda. I knew I was heading into a heavily busy season of life, and though it’s been challenging, I’m learning really valuable lessons.

Wait, Hold On a Moment

Due to how busy my life gets, I often feel overwhelmed in the midst of it. And I forget why I’m doing all of it in the first place. But the Lord slows me down and beckons me to sit still with Him.

When you are so busy with ministry, you tend to be more susceptible to falling into the routine of it. And when serving God becomes routine, your heart can grow hard, and even bitter. I started to find that this was happening to me.

But praise the Lord, God is so faithful to hear our cries for refreshment and respond. For me, it is helpful to remind myself that if I just work and serve without prioritizing quiet time with the One I am serving, the works I do become pretty counterintuitive and pointless.

It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of all my tasks and responsibilities and so I take myself back to the Bible passage about Mary and Martha. Where Jesus told Martha, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). At the end of the day, there is only one thing worth being concerned about, and that is pausing to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Visitor from Mexico

Now that I’ve shared what the Lord has shown me in the midst of my busyness, I’d like to share just a few special moments from the busy season.

First, Hugo Limon, a pastor from Culiacán, Mexico, visited our church at the end of April. He has planted almost 10 churches in Mexico since 2015, and he actually joined our missions organization (Saving Grace World Missions) last year.

It was so awesome to hear what the Lord has been doing in his ministry in Mexico and how the Lord has stirred his heart to even figure out a way to send church planters to the Middle East! Hugo is such a gifted and humble guy, and it was such a blessing to hear him share his testimony at a house gathering one of our pastors held for him.

Hope Central Watts Outreach

The next thing I want to share is a little trip I took in May with a team from my church to Hope Central Watts, a church in Los Angeles. We went over to do a “church takeover” to relieve some of the congregants from serving on a Sunday. My roommate Tori and I ran the children’s ministry class and taught “Noah’s Ark.”

I loved this short trip, the church reminded me of the church I grew up in because it was a small, Spanish-speaking church. I really can’t wait to go back this month and get to know some of the congregants a little more this time.

Dessert Gathering for the Roots

Before I wrap up this long update, I want to lastly share about a dessert gathering my church had for my friends Jeff and Alishia Root. They are a couple called to serve in Japan and Lordwilling, I, Geoff, and another couple at my church will be sent out to serve there with them too one day.

At their dessert gathering, Jeff and Alishia shared about their recent 3-month vision tour to Japan where they visited different Christian churches there. The Lord confirmed to them to go to Osaka and serve alongside another missionary couple at Abide Osaka church.

It was so amazing to hear about their trip and be stirred again for the spiritual needs in Japan. Japan is about the size of California and yet their population is about 125 million! And of all those people, less than 1% are Christian.

Jeff and Alishia are planning to move long-term to Japan in the new year and we are planning to have a 2-week vision tour thee in early Spring. Please pray for both these trips.

And Now You’ve Reached the End

Thank you so much for reading my update- I know it was a long one this time! I love you all so much and thank you especially to those of you who have reached out to me lately, I really appreciate you guys. As I’ve mentioned in this newsletter, it’s been an intensely busy season lately and so thank you for your patience with me! I’m hoping things will slow down a bit more in September when I’m on break from the internship. Until next time! God bless.

Sincerely,

Lydia Grace

Praise Reports:

  • I got to visit my sister in Sacramento for a few days in June
  • I’m almost done with my first year of the SGWM internship
  • The Lord is helping me grow in my weak areas

Prayer Requests:

  • That I would serve with the right heart and through the Lord’s strength
  • For God’s guidance in my next steps
  • That I would keep growing in patience and contentment in Christ

Ministry in March

Dear friends and family,

Last month was definitely a busy one for me! With Easter on the horizon, there was a lot to be done leading up to April. Though life in the SGWM (Saving Grace World Missions) internship can be overwhelming at times, I’m so grateful for the opportunities that it brings, as well as the people I get to serve alongside. Let me share a couple moments of this past month with you.:)

Evangelism Ministry

Our church has multiple evangelism opportunities every month and I’ve chosen to mainly take part in the “complex outreach.” For the complex outreach, we go around the building complex where our church is located and visit each business owner. It’s a way to reach out to our neighbors, let them know that we’re here and praying for them as well. Most of them can’t stay to chat for long due to their busy working hours, but it has been so cool to just get to know them bit by bit and be able to slowly grow relationships. 

There is also a door-to-door outreach our church does twice a month as well, and in March we mainly went around inviting neighbors to our Easter event. Talking to strangers is always more intimidating in my head than it is in real life haha. 

Handing out Easter invites with Geoff for the door-to-door outreach!

Working at Saving Grace World Missions

I love my job at SGWM! My responsibilities here are gradually increasing so that’s exciting for me. This past month we started onboarding a new missionary to our organization and so I’ll be helping a lot to make sure we get certain information from them, and that they get certain information/training from us. It’s so exciting to be a part of this side of their missionary journey.

Celebrating our pastor’s birthday at a staff lunch! (Thai food)

VOR Women’s Day 

This past month I also had the opportunity to serve at a women’s event with the Voice of the Refugees. This Women’s Day event was a day of fun and relaxing pampering for Afghan and Arab refugee women here in Southern California. It was such a blessing to be part of this event of serving and loving on these women. The VOR event had different “pampering stations” such as pedicures, manicures, and facials. I got to give facials in a relaxing “candle lit” quiet room with about eight other women. This was a lot of fun and the refugee women had a good time too. I would definitely recommend coming to help out at this event if you’re able to, they put it on every year in March.

Some of the team who served at the VOR event

Thank you so much for reading another one of my monthly newsletters! Your support means so much to me and I really appreciate all your messages and prayers. I’m so grateful for this chapter of life I’m in and am happy to be able to share it with you all as well. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! 

Until next time,

Lydia Boubion

Into the Whirlwind

Dear friends and family,

I have made it to Yorba Linda, California! These past 2 months have gone by so fast with all of the business of a new life. Moving felt like I was tossed into a whirlwind as I ran around for a bit, trying to get used to new schedules and responsibilities. But 8 weeks later, I’ve found my steps align to a steadier tempo. God is so good to me, He has provided all of my needs seamlessly and answered many prayers. Let me share a little bit about what I’ve been up to in my life here in Yorba Linda.

SGWM Internship

I have now joined the Saving Grace World Missions internship at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. I am taking 3 classes right now in the internship- one on cross-cultural missions, one on Ephesians, and one focusing on the historical study of Acts. The internship class also requires me to create a 15-minute bible study every week and present it to be critiqued. I definitely have a lot of areas to improve in but I really enjoy it! 

My New Job!

At the end of last month, the Lord provided a job for me! I’m super excited to share that I’ve been brought on as the new administrative assistant for the Saving Grace World Missions office. My primary job is to onboard new missionaries to our organization and help them through that process. I am also helping out current missionaries with any questions or technical issues they run into. The job involves a lot of communication and problem solving and I love it! It is so exciting to be a part of the amazing work of ultimately spreading the gospel to the world. I’m learning so much about the practical side of what it means to be sent out onto the mission field. 

Lunch with the SGWM staff!

Red Light on Japan Trip

There were a lot of ups and downs for me these past weeks and one of the disappointments was realizing I wouldn’t be able to go on the Japan vision trip after all. Unfortunately different aspects of the plan just fell through very suddenly and within a very short amount of time, preventing me from going. I know things always happen for a reason though, and I trust in God’s timing. I know I’ll be able to go one day when the time is right. For now though, I can keep focusing on the mission’s internship, as well as wedding planning:)

Grateful to be Here

Despite the business and craziness of life, I am so happy to be here and working with the people around me. The Lord is definitely growing me as I stretch myself out a bit more than before. Thank you so much for your prayers, God has taken very good care of me and provided for all my needs. I look forward to updating you next, this year definitely has a lot to hold.

Dinner at Life Group bible study!

Praise Reports:

  • I got a job at Saving Grace World Missions!
  • I got a bike!
  • I’ve joined a women’s discipleship group for the intern girls

Prayer Requests:

  • For Geoff’s and my relationship and life/wedding plans and provisions
  • That my love and trust in the Lord would deepen
  • That I would be able to maintain my relationships well in the midst of a busy schedule

Is it Worth the Wait?

Dear friends and family,

As my time here in Mexico draws to a close the Lord shows me the fruits of this year. I remember when I had first joined staff at Calvary Rosarito I struggled to keep up with people and took an excruciating amount of time to learn how to do the tasks I was given. However, the Lord kept me faithful and now almost a year later much has changed. I’m able to use my creativity in the media ministry and even be in charge of creating a podcast for the church. I’ve improved in the livestream ministry- going from constantly making rocky mistakes to finding a more streamlined process of doing things. For much of the year I struggled with thoughts of being a burden on that ministry due to how slow I was learning. But over time the Lord showed me that the greatest value is found in faithful endurance rather than talent.

During a prayer meeting at the beginning of the year, I had a personal prayer request to be like the tree planted by the river in Psalm 1. The idea being that I wanted prayer for being rooted in the Word and not shaken when life gets overwhelming. However, the Holy Spirit spoke to me that day through a pastor who highlighted a different part of that verse to me. I’d never really thought about it before but the pastor brought to my attention the part that says the tree “brings forth fruit in its season.” The fruit of the tree is not brought forth immediately when rooted, but rather it comes over time. Fruit requires faithfulness and steadfastness.

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”

~ Psalm 1:2-3 ~

The culture we live in today seems to be all about immediate gratification to our efforts and desires. Like a microwave we want the quickest path to results. It seems like today’s technology wires our brains to expect immediate results and get frustrated or impatient when the signal buffers or we see the dreaded word: “loading…” The wait is irritating. Yet how interesting it is that in life it seems the longer we wait, the greater the reward. The more we keep working at something, the greater the gratification. The longer we remain faithful, the more growth we see when we glance back.

Looking Ahead

I’m so excited for the new year! Many of you know in January I will be moving to Orange County to join the missions internship at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. This internship prepares people who want to be sent out to do long term cross-cultural missions. My heart is to be sent out with a church planting team to Japan one day and so I’m very excited about this internship. I also love Calvary Chapel Saving Grace and its people, I can’t wait to be back with them again! 🙂

To close I just want to say thank you so much for reading these newsletters. I love receiving all your messages and replies to them, they mean a lot to me. I’m also very grateful for your prayers, let me know how I can pray for you as well! I look forward to writing you again soon💛

Sincerely,

Lydia Boubion

Helping record the church planting class and filming the service for the livestream!

Praise Reports!

  • Answered prayer of finding a godly woman to confide in and receive biblical counsel from
  • Special moments with my siblings in my remaining time at home
  • More progress on the church planting book

Prayer Requests:

  • Wisdom and diligence in editing the church planting book
  • That my love for God and people would keep growing
  • For my move in January (housing, job, etc.)

by Lydia Boubion on October 12, 2022Leave a comment

Dear friends and family,

Another month has passed by with both its blessings and difficulties. First of all, I want to say that I am so grateful to live in Tijuana, Mexico. It has been such an indescribable blessing to serve on full time staff at Calvary Rosarito church. Thank you to those of you who follow me and keep me in your prayers. 

The month of September brought a few fun events to Calvary Rosarito! On the 15th, our church put on a Mexican Independence Day celebration! I had such a great time going and being immersed in the traditional side of Mexico. They had mariachi, folklorico, and of course, lots of food!

¡Día de la Independencia!

Throughout the month it was also a blessing to be able to visit my friends and family in California! Everytime I visit my church in Yorba Linda I get so energized and excited to be around that church family. Being around like-minded people pursuing the Lord’s call to missions is such a joy for me. I also was blessed to visit my cousin and grandparents again and spend some time with them on that trip.

Visiting family:)

Connecting Through Language

In other news, I’m continuing to grow in my Spanish abilities, praise God! I hung out at the beach with one of the ladies from our life group and it was such a beautiful time! We listened to each other share about God’s grace and love in our lives through various difficult circumstances. It was so encouraging to hear her heart of love and gratitude towards our Savior. What a blessing it was to connect during our conversation, especially in the language of this country! Language can be such a discouraging barrier when moving to a foreign country, so I’m so grateful the Lord has grown me a lot in this area. 

The Hiding Place

A day later I got to close off September by attending an amazing women’s retreat with our church! The theme of this year’s retreat was called, “My Hiding Place.” The passage of Scripture we studied that weekend was Psalm 32. David wrote this psalm after he had confessed to God his sin with Bathsheba. It is a psalm that shows us how to enter the Hiding Place, which is the Lord. When you confess your sins to God and repent, you are making Him your hiding place. I walked away from that retreat super encouraged and affirmed in God’s forgiveness towards me! But I also left feeling so much freedom and peace inside after forgiving someone else I had struggled with bitterness towards for too much time. In that retreat, the women and I learned about forgiveness and that when we bring our struggles to the Lord, we are hiding ourselves in Him. Forgiveness is the key into the Hiding Place.

“Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.”

– Psalm 32:10 –

Calvary Rosarito Women’s Retreat 2022

Open Doors!

The month of September also brought some amazing news for Japan! As I have mentioned in previous updates, I am planning to go with a team on a 2-week vision tour to Japan. For a while we were praying and waiting for Japan to fully open to foreign travelers. And a few weeks ago they finally did! Though the team had originally been hoping to do the trip this year, due to the reopening taking longer than expected to happen, they are now planning a trip in the Spring of 2023. Lordwilling, I will be going for 2 weeks in April next year so please pray for the provisions and preparations that will go into that trip. If the Lord puts it on your heart to help support my trip financially, I have a secure giving link at the bottom of this page! I would love to talk more about this trip with you and if you have any questions about it, please feel free to reach out to me!

That’s about it for this month’s update! Thank you so much for supporting me and reading these newsletters! I love you all so much, I’m excited to share more with you about what the Lord does in the following months. May God bless you as you make Him your Hiding Place💛

Sincerely,

Lydia Boubion

Praise Reports!

  • I had a refreshing time at the women’s retreat
  • Japan is fully open to foreign travelers again
  • I got to visit my family and friends

Prayer Requests:

  • For my move to California in a few months (housing, job, etc.)
  • That I would find a good mentor to confide in and receive godly counsel from
  • For my remaining time with my family and church in Mexico (that I would finish my commitments well and enjoy the time I have left living with my family)

Ministry Amidst Terror

A Rocky Start

I must admit the beginning of August took an unfortunate turn over here in Northern Baja. My parents had been away celebrating their 25th anniversary in Mexico City while I was at home looking after my younger siblings. I remember I was just about to go to bed when my brother came over urgently with a phone in his hand. Pretty soon, I heard the news that there had been some criminal activity near the entrance of San Marino, the community in which we live. Apparently, the drug cartel was causing terror by setting cars ablaze and creating roadblocks in Tijuana and other neighboring cities.

We always knew about the huge cartel history of Mexico, but being here in person while it was going on was definitely a whole different feeling. Admittingly, for me, it was a bit scary at first because it was an experience I had never faced before. However, the Lord was with us, and He brought my parents home safely the next day. It was truly a blessing to go to church that night because, despite the terror, the church body faithfully showed up to fellowship and hear the Word of God together. It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world, the salvation message will still be preached, and I’m blessed to be a part of a church that is faithful to that call.

What Else Happened in August?

One exciting event that happened this past month was that Calvary Rosarito put on its annual church planting conference! I had attended this conference for the past 2 years, but this year I was able to be a part of the huge “behind-the-scenes” team that puts it on every year. Wow! Let me tell you, preparing to host 1,000 people at our church for a 2-day conference takes a lot of work! It was quite an exhausting week, but I was so so blessed to play a small part in running such an amazing conference. It is so awesome to see what God is doing through this church planting movement in Mexico and beyond.

Another beautiful thing to witness this month was our church’s annual beach baptisms! We do baptisms at the end of every month at Calvary Rosarito, but only once a year do we have them at the beach. So after service on the last August Sunday, the church headed down to the beach to watch 20 believers get baptized. That day, there were so many people getting baptized that 3 pairs of our pastors were baptizing each person simultaneously! I can’t tell you how incredible it was to watch one person after the other keep going forward to make that public dedication to the Lord. The weather was also great because it wasn’t scorching hot and the water was perfect!

Back to Life as Usual

It is so awesome to be a part of the work God is doing here in Rosarito. I’m still working on the church planting book with Pastor Mike Vincent, and this month I was actually able to start working on the cover design! Though I’m not doing the actual graphic designing (I definitely don’t have that gifting, haha), I had the opportunity to brainstorm some ideas to give as a guide to the design team here at our church. It was so fun to get creative, and I’m excited that another part of this book project is progressing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read another update of mine! I really appreciate all the responses and messages from you guys. They mean a lot to me. I’m so grateful for your support and prayers for my family and me as we’re down here in Mexico. Also, so many of you wished me happy birthday this month! Thank you so much! It’s such a blessing hearing from you all💛

I’m so excited for these next few months. It’s such a blessing to have the life we do in Christ. I can’t wait to update you about what happens next!

God bless,

Lydia Boubion

Praise Reports:

  • The Lord is teaching me to be content in Him alone!
  • I had a great birthday!:)
  • The book project is progressing more!

Prayer Requests:

  • That my greatest delight would be in the Lord and His Word
  • For all the people working on the church planting book, we would work with diligence and wisdom

📸More August Moments:

Talking to a Stranger

A Quick Recap

What a great summer it has been here in Mexico! After a fun vacation visiting my sister in Norcal for a week, I jumped into July back here in Rosarito. It was our church’s 20th anniversary, so Calvary Rosarito celebrated all month long! We put on a special event every Friday in July, such as a movie night, beach day, concert, etc. It was so amazing to reflect on how far this church has come!

The highlight of July for me, however, was definitely serving at the Connections House again. Connections House is a place/ministry that hosts missions teams in Rosarito. They host the Calvary School of Missions every July, which is the program that I went through back in 2020. It was such a blessing to be able to serve with them all again! I got to sit in on some of their classes and go with them on their outreaches for 2 weeks.

A Blessed Conversation

On one of the outreaches with the School of Missions, we put on a Family Event at a park with the church “Gracia del Calvario.” When I arrived, I didn’t really have a specific job to do to help run the event, so I just figured I’d focus on meeting some of the people in the community that came. Pretty soon, the Lord gave me the opportunity to meet an elderly man who had come with his family to the park before our team had arrived. It was only by the Lord that I was able to do this, but I ended up talking with him for a whole hour in Spanish! Though I couldn’t understand everything he was saying, I was able to grasp general ideas and keep asking questions.

To be honest, though I have grown up in the church all my life, one thing I have always struggled to figure out is evangelizing to complete strangers. I just couldn’t understand how I could talk with someone I had never met before and naturally transitioned into the gospel. I didn’t want to force it awkwardly or give them the gospel quickly in a cold way. 

As I was talking to this man at the park, however, the Lord showed me two answers to my questions and struggles. Sharing the gospel with a stranger will take time and faith. 

During my conversation, the Lord led me to first simply ask questions about his life and family. To genuinely want to listen to his story. This took time. But through it, there was a trust that was formed, and eventually, God led me to share the gospel with him, and he heard it with open ears. That was where it took faith. It takes steps of faith to ask strangers questions like, “do you know where you’ll go after you die?” But because I had stayed to listen to him for so long, he knew that I cared, and so he took the question seriously. 

It was so amazing to meet and converse with that man that day, and I know the Lord blessed that interaction in more ways than one. Praise the Lord for His guidance and grace!

What is Up Ahead

With the summer coming to an end, I’m excited to continue serving on staff full-time and edit my pastor’s book on church planting. We’re aiming to finish the final draft by December. After that, Lord willing, I will go on a vision tour to Japan for 2 weeks!

My biggest piece of news, however, is that I will be moving back to California at the end of this year! I’ll be moving to join the internship at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace in Yorba Linda. This internship prepares people who want to be sent out to do long-term cross-cultural missions. My heart is to be sent out with a church planting team to Japan one day, and so I’m very excited about this internship!

I’m also looking forward to seeing many of you again, and I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read these updates. Thank you so much for your messages and prayers; they mean so much to me. If you are interested in helping me raise enough funds to go on the Japan vision tour, there is a secure giving link at the bottom of this page that you can use. The trip costs $2,700, and I’ve had $1,000 for it so far!

Again, thank you so much for all your care and support as I’m serving here in Mexico. I’m so excited for everything yet to come. Talk to you again soon!

God bless,

Lydia Boubion

Praise Reports:

  • I got to serve with the Calvary School of Missions again!
  • Calvary Rosarito celebrated its 20th anniversary!
  • The Lord has brought me more clarity and guidance in this next season

Prayer Requests:

  • For the book project, I’m a part of
  • For the Japan vision tour’s preparation and provision
  • For my moving preparations in the next couple of months
  • For my organization of time and priorities

Never Imagined I’d Go This Far

Dear friends and family,

It’s been a while since I last wrote you in the Calvary School of Missions of 2020. What an incredible summer that was, where I received a calling to long-term cross-cultural missions! The Lord has done so much in my life since then, and one of the biggest updates is that He brought my family and me to live in Tijuana, Mexico! We moved last July, so we have just about been living here for one year.

My family and I are at our new house in Tijuana!

I’ll give you a quick recap of what I’ve been up to during the last year! Last July through August, I was able to volunteer at a house that hosts missions teams in Rosarito. It’s called the Connections House, and it is the place that hosts the Calvary School of Missions every year during those months. It was so amazing to be involved in the School of Missions again, but differently, and to understand everything the staff does for the teams.

The 2021 Summer Connections Staff!

After the summer ended, I jumped right into a semester of bible college at CCBC Mexico in Ensenada! What a challenging but precious time in my life, where culture shock was hitting hard, but God was drawing me closer to Him than ever before. I learned so much in my classes there and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery of the hills in which the school was located. Not a morning passed where I didn’t wake up and was blown away by the natural beauty there.

Calvary Chapel Bible College Mexico

Once that semester ended in December, God spoke to me very clearly that He was calling me to leave the bible college and come back down to Rosarito. So for the past 5 months, I have been a full-time staff member at Calvary Rosarito. I’ve joined the media team there and trained in videography and live streaming. Four days a week, I work at the church with my team from 8 A.M. until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. What a blessing it is to be involved in a ministry that’s a part of making an eternal impact on people’s lives! It brings me so much joy to be living the life I have in this season.

From one of our photo shoots in the studio for some new Calvary Rosarito mugs! (that’s my hand pouring, lol!)

The main thing I do when I come in at church, however, is his work on a book project that the pastor of Calvary Rosarito is writing. He’s writing a book primarily for pastors who want to transform their church into a sending hub. A “sending hub” would be a church that sends out church planters to plant churches that plant churches, and so on. The Lord has allowed me to use my skills and passion for editing in this book project! And so Pastor Mike Vincent has recruited me to be the primary technical editor of his book. Currently, it is still in the writing process, and so the team on this book has just been doing content edits and suggestions. But yeah, that has been a super, super exciting thing to be a part of. I’m blown away that the Lord gave me this opportunity to use my passion in editing for His kingdom!

One last thing I want to share that I have been doing in Rosarito is attending Pastor Mike’s church planting school. I just finished my first semester at the end of May, and it was such a valuable and growing experience! In it, I learned how to prepare and present a women’s bible study every week. I also gained a lot of knowledge through the classes about the ins and outs of church planting and all the challenges and blessings that come. What a privilege it was to be a student in the school and be further prepared for the work God is calling me to one day in church planting.

Giving one of my bible studies in the church planting school!

As I continue on in the work God has called me to do here in Rosarito, I would love to invite you to partner in it with me. Your prayers for me and the ministry here would help so much as I continue to work with Mike on his church planting book especially. The content is so powerful and I wish to help produce it in the best and most clear way possible for the readers.

This winter I am also planning on going on a 2-week vision tour to Japan with a team and need to raise about $2,700. I would greatly appreciate any funds I can receive for this trip, and if you’re interested in financially supporting me, you can click on the secure giving link below this page. I am so excited for this trip and to see what the Lord has for me over there! Only about 1% of Japan’s entire population is Christian, and so the need for the spread of the gospel is great. My heart is to become a long-term missionary in East Asia with a church planting team, and so I’m praying about Japan.

Anyways, that wraps up today’s newsletter! Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to read it and partner with me in the work the Lord is doing. I never imagined the incredible life God has given me! He has placed me in opportunities I could never dream of experiencing.

Talk to you again soon,

Lydia Boubion

Praise Reports:

  • I finished my first semester of Calvary Rosarito’s church planting school!
  • My Spanish has improved a lot!
  • The Lord has drawn me closer to Him than ever before over the past year.

Prayer Requests:

  • That God would give me aid and wisdom as I edit Pastor Mike’s church planting book
  • For the upcoming vision tour to Japan
  • For the salvation of those in places unreached or restricted from the gospel