And We’re Off…

Hola! We write to you from Mazátlan, Mexico! We have been so blessed this past week of ministry and learning. We finished up our classes in Rosarito our Pastor Cory Kilgus (missionary to Perú) taught our last classes as well as another missionary, Pastor Wes Bentley, to South Sudan. This week the team gathered for a time of evangelism at a nearby park. Our last couple days there were spent attending the Church Planting Conference that was put on by Calvary Chapel Rosarito. They gathered all the churches that they have sent out so far (around 45) and also invited many other pastors and leaders to catch the vision of Church Planting around the world. Right after the conference we caught a flight out to Culiacán and drove from there to Mazatlán to attend church at Calvary Maranatha on Sunday morning and an evening service at Calvary Isla de Piedra.

Before we left Rosarito, we joined the rest of our group in an outreach to a beach community not far from church. We set up a face painting booth and a prayer tent to encourage people to stop and interact with us. Part of our group was leading worship to bring people into that area of the park. While some of the team stayed in the main plaza to talk to kids and their families several groups formed to invite more families to get their face painted as well as to get into conversations. Our team pointed the people to a local church (Calvary Chapel Rosarito) if they were looking for a place or if they had any follow up questions.

Over the weekend we attended Calvary Chapel Rosarito’s Church Planting Conference. That was a huge blessing to us and our team, as we got to sit under some amazing teachers and attend insightful workshops all about Church Planting. One specific workshop Shilo got to attend was about discipleship. Pastor Michael Pallotto from Calvary Chapel Oceanside led the workshop and unpacked for us what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The reality is that the word “Christian” is used only three times in the New Testament. But “disciple(s)” is used over 200 times. Pastor Michael discussed how a disciple of Jesus is more than just a “learner,” or “follower,” as we commonly simplify it — a disciple of Jesus is “someone who imitates and obeys Jesus Christ, who is changed and transformed by the Holy Spirit, and who makes other disciples.”

For Racquell and I, as we live to obey Jesus’s command to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), that is our goal. Be healthy disciples ourselves, imitating and obeying Christ, being transformed by His Spirit within us, and making other disciples…who do the same! Long term, it is our hope to do that in Trujillo, Perú, by assisting with a Calvary Bible Institute and church there. The past week or so we were joined by not only Pastor Cory, but a group of other friends (pictured below) who are or will be part of what’s going on in Trujillo. We cherished the time we’ve gotten to spend with those friends, and hope to join them within the next year.

We will be in Mazatlán for a couple days before heading to Cualicán. We are mostly visiting different church plants and serving along side of them as well as encouraging the missionaries that are here with fellowship and by strengthening their hands.

We would love for you guys to join us in prayer that the Lord would clearly speak to us as our trip is in its last two weeks. Our prayer is that we would have a clear vision and purpose in our next season. We would also appreciate your continued prayers for Racquell and our baby girl — that they would both be strengthened. Lastly, for Shilo as he has been fighting a cold for the last couple days.

Thank you! We appreciate you encouragement and support. We only have about two weeks left here at Calvary School of Missions. In the future we will likely continue with monthly newsletters, rather than weekly updates as we’ve been doing.

We have $2,967.14 left to raise to cover our tuition here at CSOM. Thank you to those who have given generously already.

If you would like to partner financially with our family in furtherance of the gospel please consider donating through the button below. 

By the grace of Jesus and for His glory,

The Stratton Family