This past Christmas we partnered with Fuente para las Naciones, a church in South LA that Joseph has been helping develop processes and training to plant 10 bilingual Spanish speaking churches.  We joined with them to help provide a Christmas toy drive for their community.

The church desired to pass out gifts as a way to not only care for the families within the church, but also as an outreach.  Each child received a gift for themselves and also a gift for a friend as an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them as well.  We were able to help Pastor Chad and his wife raise the funds, through our local church, to provide these gifts.

It went wonderful as the leaders of Fuente para las Naciones were also able to talk with the children within their church and their families about sharing their faith and the meaning of Christmas with others in need.  They were able to bless and talk with several families after the service that were walking down the street in front of the church. 

New Staff Training for Cru Church Movements!

We recently welcomed 15 new people into the Church Movements ministry and Joseph was able to be a part of their initial training.  Joseph is on the national team of Church Movements with 10 other men/women who set the direction of the ministry.  They also oversee 85 staff—in their development and care.

For the New Staff Training they talked about the mission and vision of church movements, understanding the roles and the teams they are a part of, the tools and processes of church movements and the structure.  The 4 main objectives are: Connecting to Jesus, Developing Missional Leaders, Multiplying the Church, and Partnering to Serve. Joseph led the time on multiplying the church.

Please pray for them as they partner with local churches in one of the 35 cities nationally we have ministry in.  Pray for them as they develop community and gain connections with their teams so they feel supported as they do ministry.  And please pray they would be effective as they partner with churches to help churches share the Gospel and see many more come to believe in Christ.

Family Update:

As we reflected on 2020 and began 2021 we are thankful for so much the Lord has been doing.  Even though 2020 was hard in so many ways the Lord has always been faithful to draw us closer to Him and we saw  many blessings throughout 2020 within our family.  Slowing down, having all 4 kids home again, family games & laughter, talking with our neighbors more, appreciating the little things, our health, deeper friendships, and processing life in 2020 as a family have been highlights. 2021 has now begun and Luke has moved back into his college apartment finishing up his Junior year.  Daniel is home for virtual college and we are continuing to be virtual in most of our life (schooling, small groups at church, meetings, therapies, etc..) but we are hopeful for change!

We would like to ask for prayer also for our oldest, Luke.  About 2 weeks ago we were hiking in the   Malibu area as a family and he jumped off a rock and landed in a random position on his foot that caused tremendous damage.  He tore ligaments badly, bruised bones deeply, and a small bone with ligaments attached to it broke off.  He is unable to move anything at all and is in a lot of pain.  After x-rays, MRIs, CT-Scans and talking to a specialist and surgeon it was decided he will have surgery in a week to reattach the bone.  He has a long road of recovery ahead of him.  Please pray for him as he loves his sports and is so active with working out and hiking and sports. Pray for his healing and his spirits during this time.  We know God has him and has a plan through all of this.  Thank you for praying and loving our family.