Reaching the City…

Through Partnering with Churches to Reach Their City!

One aspect of our ministry has been being a part of an initiative called – LOVE CLAREMONT.   LOVE CLAREMONT is a group of pastors and ministries from within Claremont that have come together to pray for the city of Claremont and serve the city with the love of Jesus. Here is the website we have up: http://www.loveclaremont.com/about

The churches uniting together are: Solid Rock, First Baptist Church of Claremont, Baseline Community Church, Pomona Vineyard, Life as One, and Sanctuary Claremont.   Joseph has been meeting with these pastors every Friday morning for prayer and planning – to partner with them to help them reach out to the city together with the Gospel.  They meet every Friday for prayer, every quarter they come together as churches for a prayer/praise night and they have multiple community service projects throughout the year together as churches united.   It has been a blessing to see these churches praying for one another, planning together and their hearts joined to be united within the City of Claremont and reach the city with the love of Jesus.

This Saturday we have an event planned with LOVE CLAREMONT called “Serve The City.”  We will be helping the community prepare for the El Nino rains to come.  We will be joining together to fill sandbags for the public and give them out to those in need.  Please pray for the unity of these churches in Claremont and that the Lord would use them powerfully to be a witness for Jesus to those who do not know Him within Claremont.  It is exciting to be able to help these churches unite together and serve with them.

Reaching the City…

The Gospel brings freedom from slavery!

This month is sex trafficking awareness month.  Please continue to pray for us as we partner with EveryOne Free Ministry and Azusa Pacific College to help prevent sex trafficking.  EveryOne Free has developed a curriculum to be used in the schools to raise awareness to children and teens about sex trafficking here in the U.S.   We are excited to be a part of this as Joseph will help with the training of volunteers from APU this month to be able to present the curriculum at assemblies in the 13 local middle schools  and within the classrooms of the High Schools within Pomona.  

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Luke 4:18-19

Thank you for your continual prayers and support to our ministry reaching the cities of                    Los Angeles!  We appreciate you so very much…

Why do we have a passion to partner with church planters?  We partner to see more people come to know Christ!  We have been blessed to see multiple people come to know Jesus in just these past few months through church planters we are partnering with.  We praise God for Fatima and Horacio through Epiphany Fellowship in Los Angeles  and the several people who were recently baptized at Renew Church in Fullerton! Thank you for your prayers and support to us as we partner with church planters to reach the city. Pastor Wilson and Jeremiah with Melissa, Carl and Corrine being baptized at Renew Church!

One of our church plant partnerships in Claremont had an exciting recognition this past month with the City of Claremont.  Pastor Ruben from Solid Rock Church was recognized by the Mayor and the Chamber of Commerce of Claremont in a ribbon cutting ceremony as being a valuable part of the city of Claremont.   Joseph was able to be a part of the ceremony also and we are grateful that the city of Claremont is thankful for our presence in the community!  Beginning in January Joseph will start leadership training with the various leaders of Solid Rock Church as they continue to reach out to the city around them.

Mayor Corey of Claremont and Pastor RubenChamber of Commerce, Mayor Corey, Pastor Ruben and Solid Rock staff and Joseph during the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas Celebration!

Reaching the City… through fighting sex trafficking

“About 15,000 to 17,000 men, women and children are trafficked into the U.S. every year and nearly 300,000 U.S. children are at risk of being swept into commercial sexual exploitation, according to estimates by the CIA and the U.S. Department of Justice respectively.

California is among the most vulnerable states for human trafficking, and Los Angeles is one of the top three points of entry for trafficking victims, according to CAST statistics.  Pomona “is sitting right in the middle, sandwiched between major areas of trafficking,” said Pam Neighbour, director of the SHE Community of Pomona, citing the city’s position between San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, areas that the FBI has deemed hubs of prostitution. ” (“Hundreds Rally Against Human Trafficking in Pomona” http://www.nbclosangeles.com)

We recently had the privilege to begin partnering with a local ministry – EveryOne  Free – to help prevent sex trafficking.  EveryOne Free has developed a curriculum to be used in the schools to raise awareness to children and teens about sex trafficking here in the U.S.   Recently EveryOne Free was able to meet with the superintendent of Pomona Unified School District and share the curriculum – which the schools were eager to have EveryOne Free implement!  We are excited to be a part of this as Joseph will help them raise awareness to the children in the 13 local middle schools through assemblies on campuses and within the classrooms of the High Schools!

Us at the recent fundraiser for EveryOne Free and Tanya (below) sharing her story of being trafficked here at a young age and her journey to finding freedom.

Reaching the City… through planting churches

Joseph is partnering with a church plant in Claremont, called Solid Rock.  He has been working with Pastor Reuben on how to develop leaders within his church.  (Below on left) is a training Joseph attended at Solid Rock with the core leaders of the church.  The training was on “Why Should We Reach Cities for Jesus?”  After the training we had a dinner afterwards to talk together about how reaching the cities applies to Solid Rock Church in Claremont (picture below on right).  Multiple churches within Claremont are coming together every Friday morning to pray for the City of Claremont and they have asked Joseph to be a part of their prayer times.  It is exciting to see churches

Partnering Together to Reach the City!

Thank you for continue to partner with us through prayers and finances and encouragement as we reach the city through these various avenues!  Please continue to pray that many people would continue to come to know the Lord Jesus!

Joseph had the privilege of leading a training time for the young adults of  our partnership, Renew Church.  Renew Church was the church we helped plant the summer of 2014 and they are now about 130 people strong with 3 elders and various leadership teams.  Pastor Wilson had asked Joseph if he would be willing to share at their young adult group on how to have spiritual conversations with others.  Every month Renew Church has a Saturday outreach to the apartments around them.  They use these times (barbecues, taco bars, desserts) to create spaces for conversations with others through a meal together. It is a time to share Christ with those in the apartments near the church and invite them to church.  Joseph enjoyed sharing with the young adults and encouraging them in how to have spiritual conversations with those who come to the Saturday outreaches.

        BACKPACK DRIVE!  – A few weeks ago we had the privilege to partner with Epiphany Fellowship Church of LA to provide backpacks to the children in need within their community!  As we have been helping Pastor Tommy and his core leadership team plant a church in South Los Angeles one outreach we had been preparing for and praying for was this backpack outreach.  The Lord opened the relationship with the community center in the neighborhood and we held a joint event with them.  It was a great partnership as Epiphany Fellowship was able to give away waters and backpacks filled with school supplies to those in need—as well as share about the church we are forming there and meet many parents to invite to come learn more about Jesus.  The following week Epiphany saw 4 new adults and 12 new children join them at their weekly Bible Study that they had met at the backpack drive!  

Why Church Planting?

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Mark 16:15

We recently returned from a National Cru Conference in Colorado that happens every 2 years.  We gathered with over 5,000 staff from around the nation and heard challenging, powerful speakers to encourage us in our faith and in the ministry the Lord has called us to. We were also able to meet some of the leadership of the new ministry we are involved in, Cru City.  Here is a glimpse of some of our personal notes we took and how the Lord spoke to us! 

Partnerships – “Our partnership should reflect our intention of making people to be Like Christ.”  “The heart of partnership starts from relationship first.”  “Two parts of great partnering: deeply value others and wholeheartedly show up with all I am.”                                                                 Greg and Charmaine Lillestrand   (Cru City Executive Director)

“The Christian life is the outliving of the inliving Christ.”  “Justice and Racism is an economic issue of oppression. It is Artificial! We have the answer! We have found what Abraham found – we are one people with one true God! He has called us to join Him in that Redemptive Reconciliation work.”  Dr. John Perkins (author and speaker)

“Faith is not a Feeling, it is a choice we make to take God at His Word!”  Ney Bailey (staff with Cru for 46 years)

“Do we have boldness to preach the Gospel? Ecstatic and in Love with the Gospel personally.”  “Movements of God are fueled with people who are deeply in love with Jesus!”  “Let’s get back to the Word and back to the authority of what it says!” Francis Chan (author and church planter)

Here is a link to many of our talks if you would like to listen and be challenged and encouraged!  Speakers

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUAL PRAYERS AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT TO US AND THE MINISTRY HERE IN LOS ANGELES!

As we begin our 17th year with Cru God has led us to transition into another division within Cru. As we shared last month, this Fall we are desiring to go beyond college campuses into the communities of Los Angeles!  God has put into our hearts the passion to be a part of Meeting the City’s Deepest Needs.  We are transitioning to a ministry in Cru called Cru City!  One aspect of Cru City we will be involved in is helping church planters plant churches that will plant other churches.  One church planter we are working with is Tommy and his wife, Fatimah.  Tommy and his family have moved to South LA (near USC) from Philadelphia—to plant Epiphany Fellowship LA, which is a church plant of Epiphany  Fellowship Philadelphia.  Please pray for them as they transition to LA, begin to build community in South LA, and find a few key leaders to begin to work with as they start the church plant. 

This summer we will also celebrate 17 years on staff with Cru! God has so blessed us throughout these years and we truly believe that our best years of ministry are before us! That’s one reason why we are so excited about our US Staff Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado this summer. As we gather with over 5,000 fellow U.S. staff and hear from our leadership and other  Christian speakers, we anticipate that God will broaden our perspective for the world, equip us to be more effective in our  ministry roles within Cru City, and enable us to go forth to bear even more fruit.  We are excited to hear from Dr. John Perkins (founder of a reconciliation, leadership training organization), Francis Chan (author and speaker), James White (Pastor of Christ our King Community Church) and many others.  Please pray for our travel to and from Colorado and that the Lord would use the time greatly in our lives. 

Cru City – Kingdom citizens advancing the mission of Jesus for the well-being of the city. 

This summer we celebrate 17 years of ministering with Cru!  When Joseph and I first joined the staff of Cru we knew the Lord was calling us into full-time ministry and are so thankful He has given us the blessing and privilege to serve Him full-time all these years.  It continues to be a life of faith, trust building in seeing His provisions, an adventure in walking with Him and amazing joy in watching Him work in the lives of the students we minister to.  There is nothing we would rather do in life than serve Him fully.  Thank you for being a huge part in allowing us to serve the Lord full-time through your prayers and generosity. 

This Fall we are desiring to go beyond college campuses into the communities of Los Angeles!  As we have grown older each year (and the gap between our ages and the college students increases ) and grown in our passions and gifts the Lord has given us, we are excited to share with you the next steps we feel God is calling us to!  He has put in us a desire to reach beyond the college campuses into the communities around us.  Our hearts are burdened to see communities reached with the love of Jesus through adoption ministries, fighting sex trafficking within Los Angeles and helping to plant churches within communities that are not being reached.  God has put into our hearts the passion to be a part of Meeting the City’s Deepest Needs.  We are transitioning to a ministry in Cru called Cru City!  Since we will be working with church planters that are located near a University we will still connect with college students—challenging them and working with them to be a part of reaching their communities around them.  We are so excited about this next step the Lord has called us to and ask you to please pray for us and the work the Lord is going to do in reaching the communities of Los Angeles!

The Heart of Cru City: 

“For many, life in the city offers only a bleak existence. The bitter realities of human slavery, homelessness, neglect, and food insecurity plague the lives of countless men, women, and children in cities around the globe. Although none of these issues are easy to solve, the love of Jesus compels us, followers of Jesus and kingdom citizens, to action. Cru is partnering with hundreds of like-minded churches and passionate organizations in an effort to catalyze Gospel transformation and bring light to the darkest places of the city.” 

We recently had a Vision Night and students shared their testimonies and how the Lord has been working in their lives.  One student, Kevin (from Cal Poly Pomona), shared his story….

Kevin grew up in a very difficult home.  Anger permeated everything and his parents were continually yelling and fighting with one another.  Many times bottles would fly across the room and neighbors would call the police.  Police would appear on their doorsteps often to access the situation.  As Kevin began High School he became very involved in partying and drinking.  He began to steal and vandalize property.  The party culture he attempted to be friends with rejected him and he was a depressed teenager.  He graduated and went to college where he was assigned a Christian roommate in his housing.  It was through his roommate that Kevin experienced a real acceptance for the first time.  His roommate invited him to Epic (Cru’s Asian American ministry) on campus and it was there he experienced a real love and genuine friendships for the first time as well.  Kevin became very involved in Bible Studies through Epic—desiring to learn more about this Jesus the students believed in.  This past Fall Kevin went with his Epic friends to our Fall Retreat in the mountains.  Joseph was one of the speakers and Kevin shared how through the Fall Retreat talks he felt as though something was stirring within him.  Jared, a staff member on his campus, shared the gospel with him during the Fall Retreat and Kevin accepted the Lord into his heart!  Since then he has been growing in incredible ways in his relationship with Jesus!  He is meeting with another student leader on campus for discipleship and very involved in the ministry on campus.  He attended our Epic Winter Conference in January where he shared that he was so excited to see the Lord use him to share his faith with others for the first time!  And now he is preparing to go on a summer mission trip with Epic to San Francisco—where he will spend 6 weeks ministering to the people of San Francisco and grow in his own love for Jesus.

Praise God for always working in students, like Kevin’s, lives!  We love seeing hearts changed and lives transformed for His glory alone!

Kevin sharing his story at our Vision Night!