Dear ministry partners!

In this month’s update, I wanted to share with you some of the wonderful things that God has been doing through the children in our ministry! As you travel around the world on missions trips, one of the unique things that you will witness is that children are usually the first ones to come to the Lord! When missionaries move to a foreign country, it is usually the children that are open to hear about Jesus first!

Here in Rosarito, things worked that same way with our ministry! Since the very beginning back in 2002, we have been blessed to always have groups of children around the church!

At the present time, we continue with our Saturday street kids ministry, where we bring 30+children to our church each Saturday afternoon to hear about Jesus, play, do a craft, and enjoy a meal! We also minister to over 300 children every week at our weekend services!

This past month we enjoyed a very special VBS! (Vacation Bible School) In this summer’s edition, we had over children ages 5 to 12 join us this year and the racing style theme was “The Pits”! Each day the children got to race around the church campus on mini bikes and toy race cars, and throughout the day they would make “pit stops” for bible stories, crafts, and snacks!

The laughter could be heard from miles around, and each child had an amazing experience. Our ministry team did a fantastic job and over 40 teachers and youth volunteered to spend an entire week ministering to these precious children!

The highlight of our VBS week is always the final day where we present the message of salvation to the children! This year over 20 children made first time professions of faith. IN the Bible Jesus said,  “Let the little children come unto me”  and this week many of them did! Praise the Lord!

On the ministry side of things, we continue to focus on our church building fundraising project. In July we were blessed to host two fundraising dinners and many generous donors contributed, and God provided over 40,000 dollars towards our goal! Our present lease runs out at the end of this month (August), and we are still short of the purchase price,  so please keep this project your prayers!

 

If you were not able to attend one of our fundraising dinners and would like to give a special one-time financial gift towards the building project, the direct online giving link is below!

 

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=E28A7A549C0B4E8

Thank you once again for your love, prayers, and support of our family here on the mission field of Mexico! It is through your prayers  that God meets our spiritual needs, and it is through your financial giving that God meets our physical needs!  We love you and appreciate you!

 

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

Mike,  Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests:

#1-   Pray for the 20 children that made first time professions of faith at our summer VBS!

#2- Pray that God will continue to provide for the financial needs of our family personally!

#3- Pray that our building fundraising projects can continue to be blessed and that we will be able to purchase our building free and clear by our purchase deadline in August!

Dear ministry partners!

In May we got to celebrate and send out our 17^th church planting team. In this update, I want to tell you all about this wonderful event! I first met my friend Michael Hanson, his wife Melissa, and their three children (Caleb, Sarah, and Nathan) at our church over 6 years ago. They Hanson family had been sent out to Mexico from a church in their hometown of Santa Cruz (Northern California) to serve full time at a local orphanage that we partner with!

After completing their four year commitment with the orphanage, Michael sat down with me and shared that he has always felt called to teach the word in a full time ministry position! I invited Michael to join our ministry team,  and it was at that time, the Hanson family joined us as full time missionary staff. Michael also enrolled in our church planting course!

Over the past two years, the Hansons have not only been strategic ministry partners but good personal friends of ours! We eventually ordained Michael as one of our Assistant Pastors as he took on more and more ministry responsibilities! After completing our two year church planting course, Michael and Melissa both sensed that God was calling them to move back to their hometown to plant a church to reach the large Hispanic population in Santa Cruz that would be based on the bilingual model that we have at CCRosarito!

In May our church was able to have a SENDING WEEKEND service where Michael preached about God’s call to the nations and also shared the calling that God has placed on his  family to church plant! As always, it was with mixed feelings that we sent their family out! Not only have the Hanson’s become our good friends, but our children have literally grown up together. One of the blessings of being a sending hub is that many missionary families join our staff and it gives our children an opportunity to develop friendships with the children of other missions minded families!

Many tears flowed as we held our going away parties for the Hanson family! We miss them terribly, but we stand firm in our belief that God has called them back home to church plant! Just last week, the Hanson’s arrived back in Santa Cruz, and they have already seen God begin to open up doors of ministry for them. Please pray that God will bless the home Bible study that they are beginning soon, and that God will bring servant leaders alongside of them to serve in this great work! Thank you once again for partnering with us! Together God has blessed us to with the opportunity to partner together to reach so many communities through church planting!

I want to finish this update by sharing with you about the progress on our church building fundraising campaign! After 3 months of only local (Mexico/church side) fundraising, we have received over 35% of the total goal!  (180k out of 480k full asking price) The time has now come for us to visit the USA for our two planned fundraising dinners!

We hope that you will be able to join us for one of these two dinners! If you are in the Bakersfield area and would like to join us for our Friday June 30^th dinner, please contact my father Mark Vincent at 714-649-3105, so we can plan on you’re attendance! If you are able to attend our Orange County Fund Raising dinner in Yorba Linda on Saturday July 1^st, we have an online sign up for you to confirm your attendance. Please copy the link below into your internet browser and kindly tell us how many seats we can provide for you!

https://www.egsnetwork.com/events/?eventid=30EF7971A97D4EE#

Finally, #1- please continue to pray that God will bring those donors ready to partner with us to these two dinners. At these dinners I will share about the history of the church, everyone will enjoy a free delicious Mexican dinner, and then have the opportunity to give a tax deductible donation to help us purchase our building! #2- Pray as we continue on with our monthly local fundraising efforts in Mexico. #3- Pray about joining us for one of our fundraising dinners, and please feel free to invite other donors that you know that might be interested in partnering with us in this worthy cause! In our next month’s update, we will include sign up information for those interested in attending one of these fund raising dinners! (The dinner is free, but you and your guests will need to reserve your spot)

Thank you once again for your love, prayers, and support of our family here on the mission field of Mexico! It is through your prayers that God meets our spiritual needs, and through your financial support, that God meet’s our material needs!

 

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

 

Mike,  Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

 

Prayer Requests:

#1-  Pray that God will bless our newest church plant, Santa Cruz Bilingual Church and our church planters the Hanson Family!

#2- Pray that God will continue to provide for the financial needs of our family personally!

#3- Pray for our stateside fundraising banquets scheduled for Friday June 30 in Bakersfield and Saturday July 1^st  in Yorba Linda!

Greetings from Mexico,

In this update, I wanted to share two special stories with you! One good, one bad, both dealing with water! Let’s start with the bad news first. In February our city was hit with a flash flood! Located not to far south of California, when that mega storm hit on Friday February 17^th, the eye of that storm came ashore directly over our city of Rosarito!

Within 3 hours we had such a torrential downpour that the entire city was flooded. Roads were closed, a state of emergency was declared, and a few people tragically lost their lives through drowning! Unfortunately, our church facility is located at a low point near a city drain that is designed to empty out the water from the 10,000 residents that live on the hills above our church!

 

As the torrents of water gushed down the hill, our little city drain could not handle the water deluge, and a lake began to gather in our parking lot next to the church! The water level continued to rise for the next two hours until it suddenly overflowed into our church facility! It was a tragically amazing site, as we had no chance to respond. The entire church was under 12 inches or more of water within 5 minutes.

Our sanctuary, children’s ministry rooms, bathrooms, and kitchen all flooded!

 

We had nothing to do but wait and pray for the rain to subside! The next morning, the rains had stopped and we surveyed the devastation! We put out a call for help and over 60 congregants showed up with brooms, mops and shovels in hand!

My first thought was that we were going to be forced to cancel church for the weekend. But so many worked so hard that by the time our Saturday evening service was scheduled to begin, the church was usable! This was an absolute miracle attributed to the grace of God and the hard work of his people! After calculating all of our losses, the permanent damage was minimal!

We had a second event this month that was so beautiful, so touching, that it left most of our church body in tears! I want to tell you the story of a 9 year old boy named Lucio! Lucio, was led to Christ by a missionary from our church and she brings him to church (without any friends or family) every Sunday. After accepting Jesus, Lucio asked his missionary friend if he could be baptized at one of our church’s monthly baptisms!

Because Lucio didn’t have any family present, as he prepared to get baptized I asked any children that were willing to be his friend, to come up and lay hands on him as we prayed for him before he was baptized! About 30 children under 10 ran up and laid hands on him and prayed for him with us! It was amazing to see these children run forward to lay hands on their new friend as he took this public step of faith!

 

Jesus said in Matthew 19:14, “let the little children come to me and do not forbid them, for as such is the Kingdom of heaven!” It is such an honor to see children that profess faith desire by their own will to take the next step of baptism!

 

We want to thank you once again for partnering with our family and ministry! It is through your prayers that God meet’s our spiritual needs, and through your financial giving that God meets our physical needs! We are honored and blessed to partner with you and serve as your missionaries!

 

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

Prayer Requests:

#1- Pray for that God will keep the rains away! (We almost flooded again on Monday)

#2- Pray that God will continue to provide for the financial needs of our family personally!

#3- Pray that God will help us purchase our building, as our 5 year lease runs out at the end of the summer!

Greetings from Mexico,

The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done!” Over the years, our church has become a hub to help the hurting in our city, and in this update, I want to tell you about a few of the mercy ministries that our church offers to our community!

Every month or so, we host a dump outreach. There are 100’s of people that live in shacks out at the Tijuana dump. These poor folks struggle with addiction and attempt to eek out a meager living by scavenging for trash which they sell to try and survive. This past Saturday our church sent a team to minister in the dump! This team brought with them 1000 sandwiches, gently used clothing, and they offered free haircuts and medical care. They also brought activities to play with the children that live there in the dump!

Most importantly, when we go to the dump (or anywhere else) we share the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ! We also bring along some leaders from a local Christian rehab center to invite any of the folks living in the dump a safe place to heal if they are ready to leave and come with us! (This past weekend, one man accepted our offer, left the dump and joined the discipleship home this past weekend!)

Our church also hosts two mercy ministries at our Rosarito campus. Our first ministry is a simple food ministry that provides a large box of food staples for anyone that has a need! (no questions ask) We also have emergency financial assistance funds for those that have medical needs!

Also at our church, we continue to host our Saturday morning kids club that Sarah began over 14 years ago. In this club we pick up poor children in our community and we bring them to the church where we feed them and give them a fun and safe afternoon focused around Jesus!

Our church is also honored to support and partner with a local children’s feeding kitchen that feeds children in our community! Along those lines, one of our earliest church plants located in the poor area of Tijuana (Vista del Valle) has built 2 feeding kitchens of their own that feed a combine 60 needy children every day!

Finally, we are blessed to have two orphanages whose children call our church there home! Most of these children have gotten saved in our church, then baptized, and many of them are even serving now! And up untill 6 months ago we even had a rehabilitation center joining us for our weekly services! (Until they broke away and became one of our recent church plants!- CCLiberty Ranch)

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “inasmuch as you did this to one of the least of these, you did it unto me” It is our honor and privilege to be merciful to the poor, the orphan and the hurting here in Mexico. And as you partner with our family, you too are spreading compassion and partnering in these wonderful mercy ministries! Thank you so much!

 

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

 

Prayer Requests:

#1- Pray for that God will continue to open doors for different mercy ministries in Mexico!

#2- Pray that God will continue to provide for the financial needs of our family personally!

#3- Pray that God will help us purchase our building, as our 5 year lease runs out later this year!

Greetings from Mexico,

In this update I wanted to tell you the story of a special young man that I have had the opportunity to mentor and grown to love. Over 5 years ago I was visiting a local discipleship home (men’s rehab center) when I met for the first time a young man named Eduardo (Lalo) Fernandez. I began to share about church planting, and this young man’s ears perked up as he heard about God’s desire to plant churches throughout Mexico!

I later found out that Lalo had been born and raised in the 2^nd largest city in Mexico, Guadalajara. He eventually snuck into the USA in a search to find his fortune, but instead he found heartache and difficulty and returned to Mexico addicted to drugs! After getting saved and then disciple at a local Christian rehab center, Lalo entered Bible college where he met his future wife (Linda) and after graduating, they got married!

Lalo and I had been talking about his desire to church plant, so I invited him to join our church staff so that we could train him up and send him out! For two years, Lalo and his wife Linda served faithfully with us while also working full time at a local orphanage. After completing our church planting program, their small family (now 3) set off on a 6 month journey as missionaries to assist in a new work located in Nicaragua.

Upon his return, I asked Lalo to take our 2^nd year advance church planting course which he completed with excellence. Over that time, God gave Lalo and some friends a deep calling to church plant in the city of his birth Guadalajara. (A historic city with few churches and very little Christian witness!)

Meanwhile, in Rosarito Lalo continued to grow in his gifting while serving with us in a variety of different ministries. He became an excellent Bible teacher and a wise and respected leader. A few months ago, I was blessed to be able to travel to Guadalajara (my first time) with Lalo and his family on his church planting vision tour! While there, we evangelized, sought the Lord, and searched for possible locations for this future plant. God spoke clearly to us that the time had arrived for this team to be sent out.

This past weekend, our church had the honor and privilege of sending out Lalo and his ministry team to begin this great work! This is the 15^th Church planting team we have had the honor of sending out over the past 8 years! We feel so blessed that God has turned our church that started out as a small home Bible study into a sending hub that plants churches to help reach Mexico and beyond!

Lalo has three goals for his church plant that he has asked for you to pray for. #1- Please pray that they can clearly TEACH the word of God. Secondly, they want to EXALT the name of Jesus in Guadalajara! Third, they want to REACH the many non-believers in their community! Please pray that Capilla Calvario Esperanza Viva (Calvary Chapel Living Hope) can accomplish these worthy goals!

Finally, I want to remind you that this church plant and all of the future souls that are saved and discipled there ARE YOUR SPIRITUAL FRUIT! As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1^st Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase!” This verse is a reminder that as you partner with us your missionaries, we get to partner together in all of these church planting adventures.

Biblically, church planting is and always has been a team effort. It takes senders (like you) and also those that are willing to go! (Lalo and his church planting team) The end result is that God does a new work as we get to partner together in the fields of the Lord! Thank you so much for your prayers and partnership and love for our family!

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel

 

Prayer Requests:

#1- Pray for that God will do a mighty work through this new church plant in Guadalajara!

#2- Pray for the right apartment for Lalo’s family, and location for the church!

#3- Pray that God will continue to provide for the financial needs of our family personally!

Vincent  Family December  2016  Ministry  Update!

Greetings from Mexico,

We hope that you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As we approach the end of the year, this is a wonderful time to reflect back on God’s faithfulness and blessing. In this final update of 2016, I want to give thanks with you for the great things that God has done in this past year.

#1- We witnessed over 450 first time professions of faith this past year during our main church services.

#2-  Our daughter Grace read over 20 books and was able to catch some of her favorite bands in concert with her missionary friends!

#3- Mike and Sarah were able to get away to Northern California for some R and R!

#4-  We were able to plant four new churches. (In La Mision and Mazatlan Mexico and San Ysidro, Ca., and Punta Gorda Florida!)

#5- Our son Daniel finally gave up soccer, and followed in his dad’s footsteps and joined a team to play basketball! (He is 14 ½ and almost 6 feet tall)

#6- This summer we had over 300 children enrolled in our summer Vacation Bible School.

#7- 240  new believers publically exhibited their faith in Jesus through the waters of baptism.

#8-   Sarah continued to get the “home school mom  of the year”  award as she helped our children navigate through high school!

#9- 160 adults graduated from our Pillars adult discipleship course!

#10-  Our church was able to reach the least of these in our community, local orphanages, Haitian refugees, and the city dump through mercy and medical ministries!

We want to thank you for partnering with our family this past year. It was our most blessed and fruitful year ever, and we look forward to partnering together in 2017  and we are asking God to do even greater things!  May God bless you with a Jesus filled Christmas and a very happy New Year!

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

Mike, Sarah, Grace, and Daniel
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 go to our mission’s website, or insert this web address into your web browser, www.sgwm.com/wp2010/ministries/calvary-chapel-rosarito/   Next, click on the “become a financial partner” button and fill out the information. If you want your gift to go to support our family, please write “Vincent” in the “purpose of gift” section.