The Adventures Continue – Garcia Spring 2019 Update

Posted on by Joel Garcia

Hello Friends and Family!

Well, it’s springtime now, almost Easter, and that is the due date for our fourth little one, Clara, to make her appearance! So, I thought I would give you guys an update before we enter the busy season of bringing a new infant into the family 🙂

After my trip to South America, I expected that maybe my return to the SGWM home office would be a bit of a downer. Don’t get me wrong, I was more than ready to return home! But when you’re out on the field amongst all of the “action” of missions, it can make the things we do as senders back in Yorba Linda seem a bit mundane. Praise God I was wrong! When I see these families on the field doing the work of the ministry, it inspires me and excites me even more to put my hand to the plow back at the home base. Not only that, but life has been as busy as ever since my feet hit home turf again; the adventures have simply continued here in Southern California. Here is a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to via pictures 🙂

Just a few days after my return from South America, I had the privilege of representing SGWM at CC Downey, the home church of our missionary Zully Ruano who is preparing to go to Spain. At her informational dessert gathering, I told her friends and supporters about who SGWM is and the work we do for missionaries, and we had a sweet time of prayer over her!
In early March, we took a little vacation with Amy’s parents to their time share in Carlsbad, which included a fun family day at the San Diego Zoo!

Near the end of March, I took a day trip to Mexico with Pastor Tim, his fiancé Jenn, and our friend Denise. We visited the special needs orphanage that we work with in Tecate, Mexico. Denise will be spending her summer there serving at the orphanage, which takes care of both young people and adults who are unable to care for themselves due to mental and physical handicaps, so we wanted to scope things out with her. We were also there for Pastor Tim and I to interview Miguel Romero, who manages the orphanage, to officially partner with us as SGWM missionaries. We are blessed to be in the process of bringing them on board with us!

Finally, I was blessed to be able to be able to go back to my former employer, Evangelical Christian Credit Union, and share about my South America trip and my ministry with SGWM. ECCU was such an amazing company to work for, and they have such a heart and generosity toward ministry and missions! It is always a blessing to return and share there and see all of my friends I used to work with!

Finally, Pastor Tim and I have been holding the fort here at the SGWM home office as well as the church, as Pastor Trent and Pastor Mike are in the middle east. We’ve had the privilege of interviewing Nepali national missionaries via Skype, teaching through the Psalms on Sunday mornings with our congregation, teaching our Thursday night School of Discipleship and Ministry, and generally helping things to continue running smoothly while a few of our team members are away.

Please continue to pray for us in this busy season, especially for Amy’s health (and sanity!) as she gets through these final days of pregnancy. Also, would you pray about becoming a financial partner with us as we serve SGWM missionaries around the globe? We love you all and thank you for your prayers, support, and for taking the time to read about what the Lord is doing in and through us!

Love in Christ,
Joel, Amy, Maggie, Harrison, Jude, and Clara Garcia