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Headed out this morning from Burbank toward Las Vegas. We were very blessed to have such great hosts in the Pitt family. I really wish we had more time to help them do ministry but were very busy most of the time in Castaic. Pastor Robby has an amazing ministry. I loved speaking with the Pastor's from the other churches that met in his church building. The Korean pastor would come by every morning and pray in the church from 6am to 7am and I would keep an eye out for him as I was setting up breakfast just to speak with him. I thing he is the only one in the Korean church that has decent English, haha. And then some evenings when we got back from Castaic (9pm-ish) I could count on a great conversation with a few men from the Armenian (Iranian) church. They were very funny and loved to talk. They were the last people I talked to Friday night and the Pitt's gave us a great send off (lots of hugs and pictures). They even said they enjoyed having us there - haha, I was really concerned about that a couple of times.
Our last family time was a very deep reflection on the week. The students recognized their great successes and also some areas that they would have done a little different (mostly spending more quality, intentional time with the children). I was very, very pleased with the students this week and enjoyed seeing some lights come on with many of them. I pray they use this experience as a motivator to do ministry wherever they go and stay interested in the Word.
Pray for continued safe travel back to Grand Junction from Las Vegas. The students should sleep well since they were in the hotel pool for hours this evening.
I found out how difficult it is to lead a mission trip without a phone. Lol, it completely died on me on Thursday, but I am glad I had insurance. Called them Thursday evening and received my phone Friday. I apologize for the missed messages and delayed responses. I was soooo relieved to get my phone the next day. Not fun having to use my daughters phone :-).
Had a great, busy and relaxing day all in one. Had our last VBS at Val Verde Community Center. It was interesting since the children came and went whenever the parents decided to drop off and pick up. Apparently they are very laid back in Val Verde. The students did great though and, once again, were very flexible, creative and involved. Pastor Kevin was pleased with the number of family contacts that were made and is looking forward to the results in the following weeks. Pray for these families to attend his church on Sunday and feel connected because of the ministry to their children.
One of the volunteer leaders had us over to her house today for lunch. She had a pool so of course the students were thrilled. It was really HOT though and I was glad to spend a couple hours in a local mall and sit in the air conditioning. We all bought some souvenirs and then headed over to pastor Kevins house for dinner - 7 different kinds of soup, yum yum. We were going to head out to the park for more youth outreach but the church praise team came for dinner also and wanted to worship with us before we left. We felt special and enjoyed the singing outside in the shade of the front yard. This wasn't just a guitar around a campfire, they brought all the guitars, flute and drum box and were plugged into amps. I hope the neighbors were enjoying the music as well :-).
The students didn't want to leave but I herded the cats, threatening to fall asleep at the wheel if they didn't let me get enough sleep. I don't blame them - the Molloy's are a great family. They prayed for us and we prayed for them. We will miss them
Mobile VBS went a about the same today as there were a few new children. Again, the gospel was presented and families were ministered to. We pray for fruit from the effort. It has been great fun and great experience for our students. I have seen some surprising mature moments from them in terms of thinking on their own, being creative and taking leadership with their own roles in VBS. Good job students! WooHoo!
The beach was a great time for the students to be students again, have fun and relax. Of course there were a few students who refused to heed multiple warnings and suggestions of prevention and then somehow realized they mysteriously got sun burned. HaHa, I'm sure that wasn't the first, nor will it be the last time in their lives that they ignore good wisdom. But I swallowed my urge to rub it in and simply said "DUH!" :-)
The evening youth outreach was great fun again, but the students were EXHAUSTED from running and fighting the waves at the beach. There was a small bible study time prepared by the new youth pastors (husband and wife) for Hope Christian Church. They just started a few weeks ago and they had to take on our tired students. It went very well though. I have a feeling the students are going to sleep really really well tonight and hate me in the morning for waking them up at 6:30 for shower rotation and breakfast. I enjoy those times though and laugh. Continue to pray for friday as well. Same routine, different park, and hopefully more children and families.
Oh yeah, and if you tried to contact me today I need to apologize. My phone got wet and died. New phone will be delivered to Pastor Molloy's house friday.
Mobile VBS started today from 9am to 11:30am, which means we have one VBS per day at three different locations on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Since the flyers were distributed yesterday, we were hoping for a large turn-out. Not the case today :-). But we did have a small group that heard the gospel and was invited to the next Sunday service at Hope Christian Fellowship in Castaic. The parents were welcomed and spoken to as well. In all, there were a good number of contacts made and the children had a great time. The students had a great time as well. Following the VBS we distributed flyers for the next days' event. Pastor Kevin told the students that if they passed out all the flyers in certain location for all 3 VBS's that they would have more free time around lunch on Thursday and friday. HaHa, you should have seen the students pass them out (face-to-face, on cars, at houses). They worked really hard so I told the students I would reward them by taking them to the beach on Thursday following lunch and head back for dinner at Pastor Kevin's house. Both the Pitt family and the Molloy family have been amazingly generous with housing and food. Pray special blessings for them.
Tonight was our first teen outreach of the week and it will continue Thursday and Friday from 7pm to dark at the local park in Castaic. There was a decent turn-out of local teens to come play games and hang out, talk, have fun. The nice thing about the next couple days is that it is the same structure and content which makes it easier for the youth - no new things to worry about. They did great with the students in Castaic. Looking forward to seeing how our students respond to any needs that they see. I hope the gospel is presented and that the students are encouraged.
We spent our morning at skid row. What an eye opener for the kids. Met Don Overstreet who started a church in an old building there. But we went with a man named Mark who Don had led to the Lord. What an incredible story. Mark was on drugs and fought all the time. Mark ended up on skid row because of his poor choices, but was rescued from it by making the best choice of following Christ. The students absolutely loved him. He was a 350 pound African-American who had a reputation for his meanness from before he got saved. Haha, the students felt very safe with him. He spends 1 1/2 hours traveling by bus into skid row just to have a Bible study with some men who also had their lives changed. It blew the students away to see how passionate these men were about Jesus. We walked with Mark from the skid row church to Azusa Square where he meets these men and invites others to come. This was quite the experience for the students, one I'm sure they will always remember. We finished there, ate lunch in Burbank and went up to Castaic to pass out flyers for the 3-day VBS at three different local parks. They did a lot of walking and sure earned the meal prepared for us by the Castaic church. We are looking forward to working with some local kids and share Christ's love with them.
Today was a great but busy day. We spent the morning with Ara the Armenian (Iranian) pastor. He shared an incredible testimony about his journey of salvation and persecution. He was imprisoned and beaten severely and thought he was going to be killed. Afterward, the students distributed flyers to a predominately Armenian neighborhood inviting them to the Armenian church and offering English as a second language (ESL). The students recognized that just one flyer out of the thousand that were handed out could change a.life. The afternoon was spent cleaning the church property in Burbank. The last couple of hours in the evening were spent taking pictures at the Hollywood sign and a very brief stop at a local mall just a few blocks from the church. The students worked hard and even enjoyed it :-)
Today has been great so far. We spent the morning in Castaic at Hope Christian Church with pastor Kevin Molly. It is a small church plant, sponsored by Fellowship Church of Burbank, that meets in a school. Great service. We had lunch at a restaurant in the community and invited them to come with us. A half dozen or so showed up, mostly youth. A few of our students invited one of the workers (who was 18) to hang out with us at the park later this week. Pray for her to connect with us. Also pray for Loren (who the boys and I met at a skateboard store in Burbank) and her parents Bob and Carrie. They need to get plugged in to a church, hopefully FC Burbank. We just finished a potluck picnic at FC Burbank that included the six different churches that meet at FC and the Castaic church. The food was AMAZING. The six different churches are American, Armenian, Arabic, Lebanese, Spanish and Korean. Did I already say the food was amazing? Great time of fellowship. The students did a super job playing games with the children and helping set up and clean up. Later tonight we are going to the observatory that overlooks Los Angeles for our Family Time. I have asked Pastor Robby to take the opportunity to share his heart with the students. By the way, Robby is the regional church planting strategist. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for your prayers.
Well, we've been out for 24 hours now and no major issues. Arrived in Las Vegas around 5:30pm Friday, June 24th. Our first meal was In-N-Out Burger (of course). Hung out there for a while to let it cool down outside before we continued to Sandy Valley. The air temperature was 105 plus add in road heat and an oven on wheels. Need to have the a/c checked out when we get back. We bought a few fan/mist bottles to help the students. The a/c works but the cool air was not so cool by the time it got to the back. Pastor Jeremy was gracious to let us stay in his church. The students get to experience their first baby wipe bath. Haha, no showers. Not sure it bothered the boys - might have to force a few to take a couple showers this week. :-) Pastor Jeremy is making us breakfast this morning, the 25th. Pancakes and cereal. Slept well once I got a couple girls to stop whispering at 2am. Ugh. We may not visit Hoover Dam today as it will add another 3 hours of driving time to the L.A. leg of the trip. We'll see how I feel after breakfast. Next stop, Burbank, CA. Greatly looking forward to meeting the pastors and their congregations. Thank you for your prayers. Until the next post...
Welcome to our blog for our summer mission trip to Castaic, CA!
As we prepare for this amazing adventure, please be in prayer for the students and leaders that will be raising funds ($450 each), traveling (784 miles, 12 1/2 hours each way) and ministering (sharing the gospel message). I am very excited as I anticipate watching God change lives in Castaic and among our students.
Be in prayer for Hope Christian Church and the Castaic community, and for Fellowship Church of Burbank and their community that the Holy Spirit will move in a powerful, life-changing way.
Fundraising, student preparation, safe travel, great fellowship, harmony, spiritual growth, changed hearts, boldness and confidence to share God's message.
Castaic Christian Church, Castaic community, new relationships, intentional ministry, new life.