July Youth Re-Treat.

July Newsletter.

"Cali Furlough"

For the first two weeks of the month of July, i found myself furloughing in California.  The time i spent there flew by!  there were so many friends i wanted to meet up with but time and my horrible management of it did not permit.  I'm very sorry...next time we'll make it happen :).  It was, however, a great joy to see my family, many friends, and visit my home church Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.  I was very pleased to see that my nephew Aiden (whom i babysat all last year; from age 1 to 2), had not forgotten me!  Words cannot express how much i love him.  There's nothing that i wouldn't do for him.  I also got to see my baby niece Alana who's not even a year old.  She's so beautiful!  I've never seen a baby smile so much.  It was such a blessing to see my parents, sisters, and brother...they mean the world to me and i love them with all my heart!

I was also blessed with the opportunity to speak at a missionary school ran by "Go Ministries," which is a ministry of Calvary Chapel Norco.  Go ministries is an unbelievable ministry that aide's missionaries by shouldering the burden of looking after their taxes...but what means even more to me is that they faithfully conduct weekly prayer meetings for "Go" missionaries.  Pastor Louie, Pastor Brian, Linda, and the entire "Go" staff, thank you so much for all that you do!

Back to Spain...

There are many things in life that a person may look to and label as frustrating, learning a new language has got to be in the top 5.  It's a challenge that i have begun to face.  I'm determined to learn Spanish and for this reason i have hired a tutor who will meet with me twice a week. She is a sweet lady named Toni who does not know the Lord but has many questions.  Pray for me!

A new semester is quickly approaching and there is a sense of excitement between us all on staff about what the Lord is going to do.  I'm going to be teaching 1 & 2 Thessalonians, two missionary biographies, and some Men's Discipleship classes this semester.  Raf (the Pastor) has also asked me to teach the Sunday service on August 24th.  The Lord is opening up so many doors and it's my prayer that He drives me to faithfulness each day in all that i'm responsible for.

The month of July came to a close with a Youth re-treat to the other side of the Island.  Three other leaders (Trevor, Carolyn, Eric) and i took 6 of the youth camping.  We had an amazing time building relationships, sharing from the word, swimming, and playing our version of the Olympics :).  It's our hearts desire that the Youth from our church and from the community begin to seek Christ with their whole hearts and begin living for Him.

What the Lord's been showing me...

"Jesus said to them all, if anyone desires to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

In some Christian circles "comfort" is said to be a bad thing, i disagree.  If you're in a place for a good length of time, there is a certain level of comfort that comes with it.  If you include the time i spent here in Mallorca to the time i've spent here as a missionary, it's been well over a year.  That's not a long time, but nevertheless i'm comfortable here.  I'm comfortable because i know its where the Lord wants me.  While i was back in California i must confess, i thought on numerous occasions, "Man! I can get used to this again."  Driving around in nice cars, live in a condo by the beach, going back to my old job and making good money.  while there is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves, it is wrong when they take priority over the Lord's calling on your life.  You see, there is a great comfort for me in California as well, but it's the wrong comfort.  It's a comfort in material things that, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, will perish and have no eternal value.  Just because we may get a want or desire to do something doesn't mean it's what God desires for us.  The Lord has amazing plans for you that you can only know if you step out and trust Him.  the Apostle Peter never would have walked on water had he not gotten out of the boat.  Get out of the boat and fix your eyes on Jesus.

God bless you all!

Prayer Requests:

1. August 24th- i'm teaching that Sunday.  that the Lord will fill and anoint me.

2. New semester- That the Lord will help me be diligent in my studies, and that i would be taught by Him.

3. Language studies.

4. That my heart and mind would be renewed Daily.

JUNE NEWSLETTER

New Ventures...

June was a month of great stretching and growth.  This was a month filled with new beginnings, new opportunities, and traveling.  During the month of May i was approached by Pastor Rafael about starting up a new youth group geared towards kids in the church from ages 8-13.  It's something i was immediately excited about for numerous reasons.  My heart had already began to burden for these youngsters after watching so many from our Friday night youth outreach stop showing up.  Many youth from Friday nights stopped coming because they reached an age where they felt church just wasn't "cool" and began to care more for the things of this world and what the people of this world thought.  I saw a great need for discipleship at a younger age.  The Saturday night youth group for kids ages 8-13 that i lead is called "Roots."  It gets it's name from Ephesians 3:17-19.  The vision behind it is to see these kids get rooted and grounded in the Love of Christ.  That their roots would grow so deep in His Love and in His word that when the cares of this world come blowing, they would be firmly established in Him!

The Lord has also opened up a new way for me to serve here at Santa Ponsa Community Church.  Pastor Rafael and i had a meeting which resulted in him delegating much of the responsibilities of the church to me.  I now oversea/am responsible  for things such as church cleaning, sound, worship, youth, transportation, hospitality, visits, social outings, coffee shop, homeless ministry, church budgeting, and more, as well as serving on the board.  I'm very busy with a lot on my plate, but i'm having so much fun serving the Lord.

Traveling...

The month of June brought quite a bit of traveling my way as well.  A friend of mine, Marlon Brown, came out from Cali to visit for a couple days before we headed off to Morocco, Africa.  Marlon and his family have been praying bout moving to Morocco as missionaries for a while now, so the next step was scoping out the land.  It was a very eye opening experience for me.  We as "westerners" have a great freedom in Christ to serve Him in so many different ways without having to worry about persecution.  Morocco is an Arabic, Muslim country where native Moroccans cannot take part in any Christian church service period.  We weren't allowed to say words like "missionary" or use the names of missions organizations i.e. YWAM or Frontier.  They didn't mind us being Christians, and for the most part would even engage in religious conversation with you.  I was able to share my faith vocally with a number of people, the Lord is so good!  They are a people who are hungry for truth and starving for the gospel.

Right after getting back from Morocco it was time to pack for York, England.  Rafael, Loretta (his wife), and i attended the Pastors/leaders conference held  at the York Bible College in Northern England.  The conference was exactly what i needed!  It was a chance to catch up with some old friends in England, meet new ones, be encouraged, and exhorted by the sessions, and spend some quality time with my Pastor and good friend Rafael & his wife.

What The Lord Has Been Showing me...

What a blessing it is to realize that Christianity is about a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and not "organized religion."  Religiosity is always faithful to give you a bunch of do's and don'ts ; relationship with God allows us to experience His faithfulness in our lives through any and every circumstance.  You see, June brought many challenges, curve balls, and even a bit of disappointment...the mistake we sometimes make is thinking God doesn't see, that God doesn't know, and even that He doesn't care.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  It actually breaks God's heart when we conjure up such ridiculous thoughts.  With all that i was going through internally, i didn't know what i needed...but God did.  He knew all i needed was for Him to tell me He loved me.  Was i doubting His Love?  Of course not.  I don't ever doubt my earthly parents love for me, even if they don't have a chance to tell me for weeks, but it's always nice to hear it.  How did the Lord tell me?  Through friends, Through speakers at a conference, through His Word (the Bible), and His still small voice that impresses on the heart of the believer.  I truly believe that the greatest mystery in the world is the incredible Love God has for you and me!  We will never know the depth, at leased not on this earth, but possibly ever.  I'm thankful that He gave me a glimpse.  Though it doesn't end there, He greatly desires our love!  He had all of heavens love, yet He left heaven to come and get ours!  How unsearchable are the riches of His Love!?!

"A change of character is better than a change of circumstance."  - C.H. Surgeon 

I Love you ALL! Thanks for reading.

Prayer requests...

1.  Root's youth group on Saturday evenings.

2. Marlon, his wife Becca, and their children.  wisdom and trust in the Lord.

3. Faithfulness in my responsibilities.  That i would do ALL unto the Lord. Col. 3:17,24

APRIL & MAY NEWSLETTER

The Lord Remains Faithful even when we are FaithLess

As the semester came to a close there were a lot of emotions.  In April i experienced the joy of watching two friends and fellow laborers in the Gospel get married (Trevor & Carolyn).  It was a beautiful ceremony over looking the Sea, and both families were able to make it out here to take part in it...During the Month of May my older sister Stacey came out to visit me and remained through the end of the Bible College Semester.  It was such a blessing to finally have someone from my family come out and see What it is that the Lord is doing here in Mallorca and see where it is that i reside.  As May came to a close i was able to rejoice in the faithfulness of God!  My first semester teaching at the Bible College had come to an end and i'm still alive :) .  We had an amazing graduation ceremony for a group of students; 2 of which are returning as interns (Heidi & Liz) and another, Rick Andersen, who is like a literal brother to me.  He's my prayer partner, a constant encouragement, a best friend, and will be missed very much.  It's always a sad time when the students disperse and go there way, but a blessing to think that they came as strangers and left as friends.

What the Lord showed me.

It never ceases to amaze me when i consider the great call that the Lord has on the individual believer.  We're all different parts of the body and all equally important.  What an amazing blessing it is to see students from all over the world with different gifts & callings, desiring to reach the world for Christ!  Having traveled quite a bit in my fairly young life i can truly say without hesitation, that i know now experientially the harvest is plentiful but the Laborers are few.  Life is about bringing God glory.  So no matter where you find yourself in the world,  seek Christ and ALL that He has for you and stay open to wherever He may want you in the future!