Summer 2022 SGWM Newsletter

Calvary School of Missions Edition

The opportunity to serve God is one of life’s most cherished gifts and coupled with loving encouragement, the result is an explosion of passion and purpose. And so it is at the Calvary School of Missions here in Mexico. We are so blessed to be able to walk with so many young people who have a heart for the Great Commission. 
Almost five years ago now God clearly directed us to get involved with raising up, training up and helping young people to be sent from their home churches to the mission field. Through several confirmations, and taking a huge step of faith, we launched the Calvary School of Missions in Summer of 2019. We are now on our fourth Summer of this 6 week program and it continues to be an incredible tool in God’s hands to help these called out young people get prepared to fulfill the Great Commission in their lives.

It’s a common occurrence in many young people in the church today. Here’s the scene. They are sitting in their Bible teaching church, being taught verse by verse and they begin to get stirred up and awakened to the Great Commission. They believe they have found their purpose on the earth and feel a call to GO into the world and preach the gospel. So they begin to explore what it means to be a missionary and try to find a way to go. Their hearts cry is “Here am I, send me. But how Lord? Where do I start?” So they go to their churches and start to share what God is doing in their hearts. But sometimes their church isn’t involved in missions or maybe they just don’t have a vision to send people to the foreign mission field so there is not always a clear path for them to follow. Sometimes they are encouraged to get involved with a missions para-church organization or get involved with local evangelism. And sometimes, that original fire burns out and they never end up going. And those who do actually make it to the mission field don’t always have good training. In the last 25 years we have met many of these missionaries and have seen their struggles and our heart is to help them in any way we can. We also want to try to catch these called out ones before they go and help them prepare and be trained in order to go and be sent well. God has been faithful to allow us to be a part of raising these young missionaries up.

Radical Transformation

We are in our third week of the School of Missions and already the life changing power of the word of God is at work. We arrived in Rosarito, Mexico with 21 students eager to learn and hopeful for their futures. Within a few days we began to witness hearts being radically challenged, minds being changed and a sobriety for the call take root. Their dreams started to become unmovable callings. Convinced by the word of God, these students are counting the cost and praying for what God has for their futures. 
Since arriving at the school, the students have been able to see the heart of the church planting movement in Mexico. Twenty years ago we had the honor of sending out Mike Vincent to plant a church in Rosarito and we have seen God radically move in that ministry. So we partner hand in hand with his church, Calvary Chapel Rosarito, and have had the great privilege of coming alongside many of their 45 church plants. Because they have so many established works here in Baja California, we have been able to serve at the various churches doing evangelism, outreach, kids ministry, worship, providing meals and praying for the hurting. They learn in the classroom and then are able to use what they’ve learned in the community. Church planting is no longer just a concept in their minds, but a reality they have actually been a part of. They are getting a vision for the world and a heart for the lost and hurting and it is a privilege to be a part of their process.

One of the most important parts of the School of Missions is the teachings the students receive.

For the first week and a half, Pastor Trent Douglass, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Saving Grace and President of Saving Grace World Missions, lays the foundation to Biblical Missions and the Purpose of the Church. From there the students are blessed to receive teachings from several seasoned missionaries. Because our focus is on the most unreached people groups of the world, many of our teachers work in this area of the world. Some of our guest speakers have been Pastor Bond and Heather Gaona who church plant in South Asia, The R family working in North Africa, Pastor Rob Douglass, founder and director of Ends of the Earth Ministries working in South Sudan, Pastor EZ, President of Living Waters, Pastor Wes Bentley founder and director of Far Reaching Ministries, Pastor Cory Kilgus senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Trujillo in Peru and Director of CBI Peru, and Pastor Mike Vincent senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Rosarito and Director of the Church Planting School at CCR. We were also privileged to hear from many national workers from all over South Asia! Each teacher has brought to the students rich teachings on culture, evangelism, compassion, the gospel, support raising and much much more. You cannot put a price tag on these teachings! They are priceless and have brought these students to a deeper understanding of God and their individual callings in this world.
Please continue to pray for the students as they seek God for their next steps. The quality of character in each of these students is obvious and we know and believe that God has incredible things for each of them. 

We ask that you would prayerfully consider becoming a financial partner with SGWM. Financial partners are crucial to help operating costs at the SGWM home base, allowing us to serve missionaries worldwide.