Church of Jehova Shalom

2008-12-31T10:50:00.000-08:00

2008-12-31T10:34:00.000-08:00

2008-12-31T10:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas/Anniversary Celebration...

2008-12-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

Well, our Lord has blessed us to be in His service here in Sacramento now for 2 years. Here are some pics from our celebration of His birth and His faithfulness. Please forgive the weird order of photography. Perhaps one day I will figure out how to have it all make sequential sense.

Thanksgiving/Christmas Outreach

2008-12-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday was cold!!! Thank God it didn't rain. We had a great turn out; almost all of the Brothers and Sisters showed up to serve. We had one family from another fellowship who showed up to partner with us in our efforts. Praise God!

We served hot turkey sandwiches, potato chips, coffee, arroz con leche, and champurrado. We always begin our outreaches by seving the food first. While everyone eats we have our worship service. Then the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached. Lastly, we handed out clothing and ministered one on one when given the opportunity. We also handed out all of the Bibles that we have collected for such outreaches.

We served about 30 men and women. With this small amount it meant that everyone was encouraged to eat as much as they could, and take as many bags of clothes as they could carry. I believe that everyone was blessed; especially those of us who served.

Thank you so much for your prayerful support. It means the world to us. This ministry wouldn't be possible without it. I would also like to a give special thanks to those individuals and families who donated items for the outreach; may God bless you with abundant recompense. A special thanks for the support we received from Love Inc. of Sacramento, and Opening Doors.

Thanksgiving/Christmas Outreach

2008-12-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

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October Update...

2008-10-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

We've had to postpone our couples retreat. We are now looking at some time in November. Please pray for God's guidance and provision. Thank you.

Pastor Dave was laid off and continues to be unemployed. Please pray that God would continue to sustain his family. We are actively seeking God's will and purpose in this difficult time. As we have been delivered to this time of opportunity, like so many others, we pray that those who are less fortunate than ourselves would be blessed; and if it be God's will that He would use us to serve them.

We will conclude our study of Ecclesiastes this coming Friday. Please pray that God grant us discernment as we determine what direction our study will take.

We have moved our Sunday service to the afternoon, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., for a trial period. We continue to pray for God's blessing upon this work.

Our Saturday men's and women's fellowship has been a blessing.

We continue to serve the Jornaleros, and covet your prayerful support.

Where to start?

2008-09-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not being able to blog for some time now.....I think that I am going to try and post monthly updates as opposed to weekly updates.

Our last visit with Mario Lopez was amazing as we continue to bare witness to his recovery. He has had an operation to replace his skull with some type of plates. He looks great and was using his left arm effectively, but the most awesome occurance was when Mario verbally responded 'amen' when told that Jesus loves him.

We are now having Bible studies on Friday night. We are coming to the end of Ecclesiates.

We have switched our Saturday format to alternating weeks of Men's fellowship and Women's fellowship. Every other week we minister to the Jornaleros on Howe Avenue. We are also passing out bread to the Jornaleros one day during the week.

We are still planning on a couples' retreat in October. Please pray for God's guidance and provision.

We are gearing up for our annual Thanksgiving Day outreach. We are praying for a provision of men's clothing to hand out. We also plan on serving dinner. There will be worship, and an evangelical message.

Please pray for Pastor Dave and his family as he has been placed on call as his employer is not currently able to provide any work. Thank you.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact Pastor Dave. Thank you for your continued prayerful support.

Blessings...

2008-08-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Two Saturdays ago we were with the men at Howe Ave. We served Bread Pudding and coffee. This past Saturday we served Arroz con Leche. Last Saturday we had a Jehova's Witness stop by and try and give us some literature. We discussed how the J.W. bible has been modified, and ended up discussing Jn. 1:1 a little. We invited our friend to come to Bible study with us, but when we handed him our card he threw it to the ground, stomped off angrily, and called us apostates. This Saturday we had no such incidents. We did have around five guys hang out with us for awhile and had some great fellowship. One of the men came over to our fellowship hall and asked if he could congregate with us. We talked with him for a little bit. He wasn't able to make it on Sunday though. Please pray for Manuel, that he and his family will be able to come to Bible study this Thursday, or next Sunday's service.

The car wash this past Saturday went really well. God has provided nearly all of the funding necessary for a keyboard. We will be having another car wash on August 16th for the purpose of raising funds for our October couples retreat.

I received a phone call this past weekend from Tio. He is staying in the home of a Christian Sister, and attending regular church services. Praise God!!! I'm going to try and visit this week.

Worship at the car wash...

2008-07-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

We were out Saturday morning with the guys on Howe Ave. One of our Sisters made some delicious bread pudding and we served it with coffee. We also handed out two bags of clothes that were recently donated. There were about 20 guys all together, and we had 4 of the guys stay and fellowship with us for a while. Please continue to pray that these men's hearts would be open to the Gospel.

Directly afterwards we headed over to the church for the car wash. We set up and almost immediately started getting cars. We were out there from about 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. We washed 11 cars. We had a lot of fun. It is wonderful to witness God's provision. We didn't have as many people as we thought we were going to have helping us, and God used that to demonstrate his faithfulness. I think we were washing our second car when a guy crossed the street, introduced himself, and asked if he could help us wash cars. We had some good fellowship, and then after helping us wash 3 or 4 cars he had to leave. Before he left he gave us a love offering. God is so awesome. We earned enough to pay for all of the extra costs of having a car wash. We anticipated this though, and so our next car wash we will be able to raise funds for our worship team. We are excited to see how God will provide. We thank you for your prayerful support.

Plenty of reason to pray...

2008-07-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

We were finally able to meet Mario's brother Osvaldo. We met at the hospital. We spent some time together visiting with Mario. We prayed together. We read the first four verses of Psalm 66.

Osvaldo shared with us that Mario's mom, dad, brothers and sisters are all having a hard time with this most difficult situation. Mario is the first born of 5 brothers and 2 sisters. As you can imagine this is not what they hoped for when Mario left Guatemala for the U.S.A. Mario has a wife and five children in Guatemala. I can't imagine how difficult things have become for them as Mario has become incapable of sending them further financial support.

We were informed that they were hoping to operate on Mario Wednesday night or maybe Thursday. We haven't heard anything so far. Osvaldo also informed us that the doctors believe that Mario will be confined to a hospital bed for the rest of his life. The family would like to have Mario home in Guatemala, but they don't know if that will be possible. Please join us in praying for God's mercy upon Mario and his family. Please pray for miraculous healing. Please pray for God's will.

We had our second Bible study, continuing in Ecclesiastes. We've been having a really good time in God's Word, as well as in fellowship. We had more visitors with us; which was a blessing. Please pray that God's will be accomplished in every aspect of His ministry to and through us.

We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. We will be ministering to the Jornalero's on Howe Ave. We're going to be getting up earlier than usual. We will be serving bread pudding and coffee. We had planned on tostadas, but that didn't work out. After that we've got our first car wash, as a fund raiser. We will be asking our Lord to provide funds for our worship ministry. We'll be doing two car washes for that ministry. Later in August we'll do more to raise funds for our couples retreat in October. Please pray that God's Holy Spirit will guide us tomorrow and be magnified in our testimony throughout the day.

We thank you for your prayerful support.

This week in review...

2008-07-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

We were told this week that Mario is doing well...that he doesn't have any infections...and that the medical staff is hopeful that he will have his operation soon. We ask that you continue to lift our Brother up in prayer.

As far as work goes...Dave's been having to use work share...and although it doesn't pay as much as a regular salary it is a blessing and we are grateful for it...so Dave continues to work just not as many hours as normal. We thank you for your continued prayers.

We had our first Bible Study this week. We will be meeting every Thursday night. We began with Ecclesiastes 1. We had a couple of visitors. We are very excited and look forward to this coming Thursday.

We found another area of Sacramento to meet with the Jornaleros today. We were over at the Home Depot on Howe Avenue. We served coffee and donughts to around 15 men. We handed out several Bibles and tracts. We ministered for a short time, but it was a blessed time. We are planning on serving tostadas next Saturday.

We are also going to be having a car wash next Saturday to raise funds for our worship ministry. Please pray for God's provision.

We hope and pray that God's blessing be abundantly multiplied in your lives. In Jesus name.

Prayers for Mario...

2008-07-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for your partnership in prayer. We visited Mario last night. He seemed to have really good color, and it appeared that he has filled out in his face a lot. The nurse told me that they have stopped his antibiotics. Please continue to pray for his well being. Also, keep in mind that if he continues without infection that he will be undergoing surgery to place some kind of plates in his head to replace the missing skull. Please pray for Mario's brother Osvaldo as well. I hope to speak with him soon.

It was such a blessing to spend time with our dear Brother. As we ministered to him he raised his hand to me. I lovingly held his hand as we continued to share scripture with Mario and pray for him. Last night we read Romans 8:28-39,

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Faithful in little...

2008-07-02T14:47:00.001-07:00

We were out last Saturday sharing Christ's love with the lost. We served fruit punch again. We ministered to two small groups; one at Florin and one at 46th. We were able to hand out some Bibles. We saw an old friend, Miguel Angel. He is really going through a hard time. Please pray that our Lord will use this time to save his soul, and free him from his physical addiction. We haven't seen "Tio" for weeks now. Please continue to pray for him as well.

Next week we're going to try and serve tostadas. That should be fun. I know it will bless the guys. Pray that their hearts would be softened to The Gospel.

We will be doing some car washes this summer to raise funds for our worship team. Please pray with us. You are welcome to join in the fun. Just give me a call.

We are also hoping to have a couples retreat in October. Please pray that God's will would reign over us as we prepare for that time.

Thank you for your continued prayerful support.

Praise God With Me...

2008-06-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

I went to visit Mario Lopez last night. It seems that the Holy Spirit wanted me to visit Mario alone. Noone was able to accompany me. Well, I pulled up a chair on the right side of Mario's hospital bed. I noticed that those leg things that they put on patients to exercise their muscles were missing. I also noticed an 8x11 sheet of paper up on the wall with pictures of Mario sitting in a chair. It seems that they have him in the chair once a day for two hours. It seemed to me that there is some apparent and marked improvement in Mario's condition. Thank you for your prayers. As I sat on Mario's right side and spoke with him there seemed to be some connection. More to the point when I began to read from Acts 3 he began to move his body more, and in fact used his vocal chords to hum. In the weeks that we've been visiting Mario I have not heard him vocalize before. Mario also moved his left arm from North to South. He had done this for the first time in our visit with him last week. It seemed that Mario was trying to communicate with me. I asked him if he would like to either accept Jesus Christ as his savior or be reconciled to him. I asked him to give me an affirmative sign that he wanted to do so. I asked Mario to do what I thought would reflect an obvious and conscious response; to move his left arm across his body and place it in my open hand. It took him a minute, but sure enough Mario lifted his left arm, reached it across his body, and placed his hand in my hand. We prayed together, and I know that Mario gave his heart to the Lord or reconciled with Him. Praise God!!!

I stopped at the nurse's station and asked them for a report on his medical condition. They told me that he has lost a lot of his brain; especially that portion of his brain associated with speech. They do not believe that he will ever speak again. I asked what his best case scenario was from a medical perspective. I was told that he currently has infections which are preventing a surgery to implant bone plates to replace the portions of skull that are missing. However, if they could get the infections out of his body and implant the plates they believe that Mario could be trained to have a low functioning life.

Brothers and Sisters I beg you to continue to join us in prayer for Mario our Brother in Christ. Pray that he would currently be healed of infection. Pray that he would have a successful surgery. Pray that he would be healed and be able to share his testimony with the lost. Pray that Christ would be glorified in his life.

...pray for one another...

2008-06-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

James 5:16, "Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Please pray for Mario Lopez. I can't give you much of a medically accurate run down of his condition. I can say that it appears that about two-thirds of his skull is missing. He is conscious, but not very lucid. We spent time in prayer with Mario this past Wednesday evening. We are asking God, as the lepor asked Jesus for cleansing, that if it is His will to heal Mario that He would. Please join us in prayer.

Persevering in Hope....

2008-06-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

This week we gathered together in prayer at a Sister's house before heading out to minister. We needed it. There wasn't very much spiritual receptivity at Florin Rd. At 46th Ave. we encountered approximately 10 to 15 men and one woman. Most of the people that we ministered to were in varying stages of inebriation. One man was very bold and wanted to demonstrate his piety in between sporadic thirst quenching swigs of beer. He continued to interrupt our ministry with off-topic questions and such. We did pray for him. He also asked for us to pick him up for Sunday service, but didn't show. While ministering to some of the men, a lady who had been sitting quietly in her drunken stupor began to ask questions. The Holy Spirit immediately called my attention to her and impressed upon me the need to minister to her one on one. I sat down at the curb and discussed God's love for her over approximately an hour. She seemed to be receptive, although it also seemed very difficult for her. In the end she allowed us to pray for her. Please join us in praying for God's miraculous and transforming power in her life. Her name is Luz Maria. All the while that we ministered to Luz Maria there was a man sitting next to her practicly unconscious from alcohol, and every time I opened my Bible to share a passage he would begin to loudly bellow inaudible noise. It was quite the spiritual battle. God is good, and his living hope is our motivation to persevere. We know that God is purposefully reaching out to these souls in an effort to rescue them from their present state of depravity. His grace is sufficient.

Tamales & Tampico...

2008-06-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

We were out this Saturday with the men at Florin Rd. We served Tamales which one of the Sisters made, and Tampico. It seemed like almost all of the men came over. We had a group of around 20 men allow us to minister to them. We shared the Gospel and invited them to give their hearts to the Lord. Noone accepted our invitation, but we know that God is at work in their lives. We trust that the seed of the Gospel was planted in good soil, according to His will. We had a couple of men ask for a ride to Sunday service, but in the end did not show up. We had just a few tamales left over, and decided to visit 46th Avenue, but strangely there was not one soul there. In the last year and a half that we've been ministering I've never encountered that before. There is always somebody there, even if just a few men. We quickly stopped at the gas station on 47th Ave. and passed out a handful of tamales, as there was only a handful of men there.

Hno. Vitalino has been gone for several weeks. We've been told that he is working in the Bay area. Please pray that all is well with him. Also, continue to pray for Hno. Augustine as he visits his family in Mexico.

We've been visiting some men in the hospital. Please pray for Juan's family as his life recently came to an end. His young son is having to deal with the difficult tasks required. They would like to send Juan's body back to Guatemala for burial, but the cost is around $3,000. Please pray for God's provision. We thank God for the honor of presenting the Gospel to Juan the night before he passed away.

We continue to pray for Mario who has been in the hospital for the past 6 months. His condition is grave, but we know that if it is God's will Mario will be healed.

We were also recently contacted to visit with Jose, who I was told the doctors had given days to live. We ministered to Jose and his family in the hospital and prayed for him. He was just released from the hospital. Please pray that we will have more opportunity to minister to the family, and that Jose will continue to heal both physically and spiritually.

It's all about faith in Jesus Christ....

2008-05-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

It was around 100 degrees in South Sac this past Saturday. I didn't want to take anything hot like coffee or arroz con leche, so I asked a few people for some ideas. It was suggested that we take fruit and it was suggested that we take punch. We took fruit punch. I bought several bags of assorted frozen chopped fruit. We dumped the fruit into a cooler of about 5 gallons of fruit juice and sprite. It was good and refreshing. I know the men appreciated it. We ministered quite a bit. Tio asked me for prayer for his son. We ended up serving at both Florin Rd. & 46th Ave. We made plans to pick up about 5 guys for Sunday service, but they didn't show up on Sunday morning. However, Hno. Augustine did come on Sunday morning. Please pray for Augustine. He is going to visit his family in Mexico. He expressed a desire to share the Gospel with them.

Pretty much everyone gathered at the Lopez home on Sunday after service. We worked all day and finished the curtido. Univision 19 showed up and put together a news report which they aired Sunday afternoon at 6 p.m. It was a nice report. They are coming next Saturday to do another report.

While ministering in the street a few weeks ago we had a Brother from another fellowship offer to come and play the keyboard with us to help our ministry. His pastor has given him permission and a personal recommendation. We met with the Brother this past week and discussed our plans extensively. Lili announced our plans on Sunday and we had two more express an interest in participating. It seems that God has answered our prayers. We hope to have our worship team honoring God in about two months. We now have a keyboard player without a keyboard and a drummer without drums, but we know better than to sweat the small stuff. Praise God.

God's Mercy...

2008-05-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Please pray for Isidro. This is a man who has just recently given his heart to Jesus. He was deported this past week. He is in Tijuana.

We were out at Florin Road on Saturday morning. There are a lot of people who are trying to take advantage of these men. Many offer ridiculous wages for difficult work. We hear stories regularly of people working the men for days and then refusing to pay them. A lady pulled up today in a beautiful Jaguar. it was probably worth around $50 to $70,000. She wanted to hire some men to work on her sprinkler system, do yard work, and put in new grass. She commented upon how hard the ground is in her yard. She didn't have any equipment for the work to be accomplished. However, she refused to pay $14/hr. She told the men to ignore her car because she didn't have a lot of money, but she wanted the men to promise that they would work hard for her. I was glad that a few of the men were given work, but it turned my stomach to watch one person abuse another person in such a selfish fashion.

We were able to fellowship with a small group of men. We handed out a handful of Bibles and Bible tracts. We were able to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with men who are spiritually wounded and discouraged. We prayed that the men would trust in God and depend upon Him to provide them with work.

We beg you to join us in praying for these men; that their souls would be saved, and that God would provide for their needs.

We celebrated reconciliation on Sunday morning; the reconciliation of man with God through Jesus Christ, the reconciliation of Peter with Jesus Christ after his denial, and the reconciliation of mothers with their children and children with their mothers. We were blessed in our fellowship.

A Prayer of Faith...

2008-05-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last night a small group of Brothers and Sisters visited U.C. Davis Hospital here in Sacramento CA. We had the privelage of visiting Mario Lopez and Juan Viatoro. Both men were in separate car accidents leaving them in grave condition. Much of Mario's skull has been removed, but he has come out of a coma. Juan is still in a coma. Both men have been in the hospital for approximately 5 months. We also met with a family in the waiting room and prayed for Ronaldo Arreola who is also in the trauma center. Please join us in praying for these men; that they would be healed both physically as well as spiritually. Please pray for the spiritual well being of their families.

Bringing in the Sheaves

2008-05-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday we served arroz con leche, tamales, coffee and orange juice. Hermana Imelda made the arroz con leche and tamales, so I'm sure that the men were pleased. We had around 40 tamales, and in total probably served around 60 men. We ministered at both Florin Rd. and 46th Avenue. There was a much bigger crowd at Florin Rd. We handed out a lot of Bible tracks and around 15 New Testaments. All together we ministered for nearly three hours.

It is extremely interesting to witness the spiritual battle that we encounter each week. There are times when it seems that there are very few men that are receptive to the Gospel, and other times we are overwhelmed. There have been a handful of times when we have encountered very strong resistence. We definitely appreciate your prayerful support.

One of the men informed me that Luis has returned to Tijuana. We haven't seen Miguel Angel. I'm hoping that this means that he isn't drinking. Jose and his brother were with us for Sunday service. We visited with Tio, but he seemed less lucid. We did pray for him, but he was much less receptive.

Sunday we had five Jornaleros come to service. We have been ministering to one of these men for nearly a year and a half. It was so exciting to have him with us. We also picked up two Sisters in South Sacramento, and one in Natomas. We had to send four cars to pick everyone up. We also had three new families visiting. We had a wonderful service, praise God.

Please join us in praying for a vehicle that we can pick everyone up in. I'm thinking a cargo van that would seat 15 people would be sufficient for now. God knows we need it. There are so many poeple that want to fellowship, but have no transportation. Help us gather God's flock.

God's Grace...

2008-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

We were only able to minister at Florin Rd this week. It was a beautiful morning. There were around 50 men there. We were able to serve around 20. I wonder if the coffee & pan dulce is getting old. Perhaps next week we can bring arroz con leche. We were not able to speak with either Jose or Miguel Angel. Please pray for these men. We did spend some quality time with a group of men from El Salvador, and were able to pray with them. We've been ministering to a man named Luis the last few weeks and were able to pray with him again this week. Please join us in praying for him and his wife Carmen. Pray for their spiritual well being.

Sunday, we were blessed with several visitors. One family brought a box of New Testaments for our ministry to the Jornaleros. Praise God. We were able to have our very first children's class. God so tenderly touched my heart to watch His little lambs go off to their little green pasture to be in fellowship in His Word. Our little Brother Gio watched as all of the children followed their teacher into the classroom. Finally he decided that where the other little lambs were going he was going as well, and he toddled right on after them with great confidence. After service we all fellowshiped together at Hermano Lopez' home. Hermana Marlene made pupusas, with help from the other sisters. They were delicious. Hospitality is such a wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit.

I am overwhelmed by God's grace and faithfulness as I reflect upon His work in my life and in His ministry. My heart is full and burns with such fervor that I nearly fear that I might be overcome. May God's love fill you this day as you share in witnessing His mercies.

Set Free From Sin

2008-04-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

It seemed that there were around 40 or 50 men gathered at Florin Rd. this week. We served around 20 of them. The men that we served seemed very resistent to the Gospel. We did hand out 3 Bibles. Two men, Jose & Lucas, asked for prayer. At 46th Avenue we ministered to around 20 men, although there were many more men who did not join us. We were able to pray and minister to the small group of men who were drunk or getting drunk. One of the young men there was very drunk and offensive. Our first encounter with these men on Saturday morning resulted in two men asking for prayer, Armando & Misael. The others seperated themselves from us while we prayed, and even began to make fun of us. Later we addressed the group once more and spoke with one of the men who seems to be somewhat of a leader, Miguel Angel. Where in times past he has been very resistent and closed, even earlier in the morning, in that moment God seemed to open his heart. We prayed with him. Please join us in continuing to pray that these men would be set free from their enslavement to sin by the glorious love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sunday we had our beloved Brother Vitalino with us once more, and his companion Emilio. Please pray that God would provide us with a facility in South Sacramento, or a vehicle sufficient to bring everyone to Sunday service. Both of our cars were full, and I nearly had to make two trips. A cargo van would be perfect.

The verse we shared on Saturday was Romans 6:20-22, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But then what benefit did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? None, for the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, you have your present reward in holiness and its end is eternal life."

What a beautiful morning....

2008-04-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

We stopped to fellowship with the men on Florin Rd. around 9 a.m. this morning. We were able to minister to a group of around 20 men. The men seemed fairly receptive. We served coffee & donughts. We handed out a Bible or two. We shared Psalm 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.". We passed out Bible tracts. We prayed for the men; that they would find work, but that they would also experience a spiritual awakening that would lead them to look to God for His provision in their lives. We also prayed that the mother of one man (Jose) would be healed of diabetes. We were able to spend time in fellowship with the men. Several men communicated a desire to come to Sunday service. We pray that if everyone does decide to come that we will be able to provide the means, because most of the men do not have a way to travel. The new truck is great for hauling stuff, but it ain't no mini-bus.

We also ministered on 46th Ave. We served approximately 20 men there as well. The guys there pretty much came and left. There were two men who we've served on many occasions that stayed and fellowshipped with us for a bit. Again, we discussed Psalm 119:105. We also prayed together. We ran into "Tio" again. He didn't seem to be intoxicated; which I found extremely hopeful. There was a handful of men gathered together drinking beer. We spent some time talking to them. We passed out Bible tracts to these men, and told them directly that Jesus loves them. Please join us in praying for these men.

Hermana Lili shared with me that one of the men commented on how important it was for the men that we came out and demonstrated our willingness to serve them. She said that he was very aware that we had been coming out regularly for over a year. This witness speaks directly to the heart of God's direction to us about being faithful and building relationships with the men. I pray that God continue to guide us and direct us in this same manner, and I know that as His Spirit is in this work it will in fact bare fruit.

We thank you for your continued prayerful support.

Tortured For Christ

2008-04-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Richard Wurmbrand's Tortured For Christ. I received it for free from Voice Of the Martyrs ( http://www.torturedforchrist.com/ ). It was stirring. It was convicting. It was inspirational. It has lead me to a better understanding of how my witness lacks boldness. Why am I so ashamed of the Gospel? Why am I so ashamed of Christ? I confess these truths here so that as I repent, if need be, you might join me. That we together would cry out to God for His forgiveness, and for His mercy. That we pray one for another that The Spirit of Truth would be evident in all aspects of our lives. That Jesus Christ would in fact, in every possible manner, be Lord of our lives and of our witness. I am praying for you my dear friend. I hope that you remember me also, as you commune with our ever faithful Heavenly Father.

Romans 6:23, "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord."

Resurrection Outreach...

2008-03-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 22, 2008: The Word of God being preached to the Jornaleros that joined us in Rainbow Park.

We served around 20 to 30 Jornaleros, and some 10 to 20 people who just happened to be in the park. We served tamales, beans, chips & nacho cheese, sodas, coffee and sweet bread. All of the food and supplies were donated. We had two corporate sponsors who I would like to mention; Don Federico & Dona Lucy of El Pollo De Oro who donated the beans, and Dona Esperanza of Panaderia La Esperanza who donated 50 pieces of sweet bread. We are eternally grateful to God for moving in the hearts of everyone who supported this outreach through prayer, donations, and the sacrifice of time, energy, and effort. We pray that our Heavenly Father pour out His perpetual favor upon you all.

We are thankful that so many men stayed to hear the Word of God preached. Even a small handful of men who wouldn't join us in fellowship sat at the fringe of our influence and listened to the proclomation of The Gospel. Two men asked for prayer afterwards. Two other men took the time to fill out petition slips. One English speaking couple stayed and spent some time being ministered to. One young lady asked for help in understanding our faith compared to the teachings of Mormonism. Our friend "Tio" came, listened, and afterwards allowed us to pray for him.

We praise God for allowing us the opportunity to serve Him in this ministry.

God is good!!!

2008-03-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

I just didn't want to forget this. Two weeks prior to our Resurrection Outreach, on Monday March 10, 2008 I was in a car accident. Just two days after our first prayer meeting for the event. We discussed the need for prayer and God's protection as we marched toward the day. Our prayer time together was truly edifying, powerful, and most necessary.

I was driving North on Del Paso Blvd., when a car came at me crossing Del Paso from a side street on the left, and crashed into the driver side quarter panel. The car slammed into the driver side rear tire and then folded the quarter panel under damaging the suspension and the bumper. The truck which had been purchased the day before was pushed into a spin and rotated 180 degrees until it came to rest facing South in the opposite lane of traffic. I had swerved to miss the collision thinking for a brief moment that I had, but quickly realized as I felt the jar (kind of like bumper cars) and then the scream of the tires as I was tossed into a spin that my evasion was unsuccessful.

The truck was purchased for the ministry to facilitate collecting donations and transporting materials for events like our upcoming outreach.

The driver of the car immediately accepted full responsability for the accident. She said that she just didn't see me. The police arrived on the scene within seconds. Apparently they had been driving South on Del Paso, heard the collision, and saw me swinging about.

I am grateful to God that Jordan was not in the truck with me, as I was on my way to pick him up from school. I am grateful to God that there were no inuries. I am grateful to God that as I flew across the road I was not hit by oncoming traffic. I am thankful that the lady accepted responsability. I am thankful that the police arrived so quickly. I am thankful that I was able to drive the truck home. I am thankful that the insurance company has already accepted liability.

Lili sent this to me from her daily devotional; Romans 8:28, "...And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Please join us as we celebrate His goodness.

How'd you figure?

2008-03-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

Revelations 6:6, "And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day's wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine! [II Kings 6:25.]"

How'd you figure that a quart of wheat could ever cost a whole day's wages? C'mon, could that ever be realistic?

Check out this article at the link below....

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/CouldWeReallyRunOutOfFood.aspx

Are you prepared for Christ's return?

Friendship/Fellowship (3-6-2008)

2008-03-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Psalm 133:1 says, "How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!"

I'm sure my parents would have benefitted immeasurably if my brothers and I would have lived in harmony. However, I want to apply this verse more specificly to that Body of believers of whom Christ is the head.

Jesus teaches in John 15:12-17, "...Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other."

Jesus teaches His disciples that He considers them His friends. He commands them to love one another. He demonstrates that there is no greater love than for one friend to lay down there life for another.

How wonderful and pleasant it would be if we as Brethren would live in harmony. I believe this is possible as we die to ourselves for the sake of our Brethren. In this way we demonstrate that we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ.

What kind of a friend are you? Selah

Marielos (3-4-2008)

2008-03-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post an update....

I've stayed in contact with Marielos' Dad Jose via e-mail.

I believe that he told me that it costs them $400 to apply for a visa each time they visit. Jose has shared with me that things are very difficult for his family right now. I'm sharing this with you so that you can join me in supporting them in prayer. I know that our Father is listening.

I made contact with Doris Matsui's office requesting any help or information that they might be able to offer. They were very willing to help. They communicated with the El Salvadoran Consulate; only to discover that there isn't much that they can do. We did discover that Jose can apply for a 6 month extension to Marielos' visa after arriving here in the U.S.

I have spoken with several non-profit organizations that haven't been much help.

I spoke with a representative of Shriners Hospital today and she was very kind and helpful. Interestingly they only serve North America. Anyone coming from outside of that area is considered special, and only helped after special review. I was told that it was a matter of their non-profit's bylaws and a responsability to those within the Shriners organization that raise funds for planned purposes.

She did provide some helpful leads in the Ronald Mcdonald House and Patient Travel. Please pray with me that these organizations will be able to provide some sorely needed help to Marielos' family.

We continue to tentatively plan a fund raiser for Marielos' family in May. We will be selling pupusas. Anyone that would like to offer any kind of support please feel free to contact me.

Thank you so much for your continued prayerful support.

Sunday's Sermon (2/25/2008)

2008-02-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

I believe that God's Holy Spirit has been placing upon my heart the need for The Body of Christ to proclaim with greater conviction His imminent return. It seems that preaching The Gospel has all but disappeared. What is the Good News? The Good News is that Jesus is alive! I believe that this must be the foundation of all that The Body is and does. We must become actively engaged in sharing our anticipatory hope that Jesus Christ will soon return. We must be about our Father's business. We must make soul saving our priority rather than church building.

Before the Storm (2-23-08)

2008-02-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

We were able to serve coffee & donughts at both locations again today. We got out earlier than usual because we thought it was going to be fairly cold. It was cold. Despite that fact there were plenty of guys out waiting for work. We saw several familiar faces. All the guys were grateful for a hot cup of coffee. We ended up running out of coffee. Logicly, the colder it is the more coffee we serve. I think getting out a little earlier made a difference as well.

We were able to pray with several men. We passed out 1 Bible. We encountered the same small group of men standing across the street drinking out of brown bags at 46th Ave. The one Bible that we passed out went to a young man from that group. Jesus (Tio) was there but he didn't seem to be as friendly this week. I did take some donughts over to them and they were somewhat receptive. My plan is to love these men to death. Please continue to pray for these men.

It seemed that several men were interested in attending Sunday morning service. I pass out my telephone number and tell the guys to call me if they want a ride. Lamentably I didn't receive any calls this week. In fact, I haven't heard from Vitalino the past two weeks. I tried giving him a call, but didn't reach him. Please pray for him.

We beg you to join us in prayer for God's provision. We would like to host an evangelical outreach for Easter in Rainbow Park. Obviously time is short on this event. We're probably looking at March 22. This gives us approximately 4 weeks to prepare. We would like to host a fund raiser for Marielos Martinez this Spring, perhaps in May. We'd also like to host another evangelical outreach for Christmas in Rainbow Park. Thank you for your prayerful support.

"...pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields"

The Battleground...(2-16-2008)

2008-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:00

We served coffee & donughts at both Florin Rd. and 46th Ave. this morning. We began at Florin Rd. where we served around 20 men. Usually there are around 30 to 40 guys out there. It was nice because we were able to concentrate our ministry, and the men that fellowshipped with us seemed more receptive. We handed out several Bibles. We shared from Psalm 32, emphasizing God's forgiveness. The last couple weeks our Lord has lead me to wake up early and prepare a few Bibles by highlighting the portion of scripture that I was lead to share. If nothing else it has blessed me.

When we first began serving, a truck pulled up that had a non-hispanic man driving and another sitting in the back seat. There was one hispanic man in the front seat. It looked like they had just picked him up to go do some work. They asked me if I was handing out free donughts. I informed him that we were serving the Jornaleros who didn't have work. The driver told me that they didn't have work either, and got upset with me. I invited them to park their truck and come have a donught. The driver snapped at me that he didn't think that I believed him and they drove off.

When we arrived at 46th Ave. we were surprised to find 60 to 100 men in the area. We served around 40 or so. There was a large group of around 20 to 30 men standing off to one side of the street drinking out of brown bags. Right a way our old friend "Tio" came across the street to greet me. He was very amicable and smelled of alcohol. His real name is Jesus. We talked to eachother for some time, and then he returned over to the gathering of men getting drunk. We were able to minister directly to around 10 men and passed out a handful or so more Bibles. Four of the men seemed very receptive.

While we were ministering the the crowd that was drinking became fairly roudy and turned up the radio of their truck. Several women wandered over into the crowd as well. Before we left a few of them drove off in the truck and made a big show of it. I did make a point of going over to introduce myself and invite them all to service on Sunday morning.

I spoke with Jacinto, who accompanied the young man that I spoke to last week. It was good to see him and he seemed a lot more alert this week.

There is a lot of spiritual warfare involved in this ministry. The conflift between the light and the darkness is almost tangible. There is a great deal of need out there on the street. Please pray for Lili, Jordan, and myself. Please pray for these men, especially the ones who seem so desperately lost. Please "...Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields."

Ministry (2/9/2008)

2008-02-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

We served arroz con leche today both on Florin Rd. and 46th Ave. Something seemed different today. I may not be able to explain it very well. It seemed that the majority of the men were very distant today. Not like any time before. I think that despite our service it seemed like we were unwelcome. Especially at the Florin Rd. location. We weren't really engaged there at all.

We did speak with our friend Roberto at 46th Ave. His mother is still very ill. I did find out today that he knows how to play the guitar.

I was able to speak with a couple of guys, and pray with them. They had been smoking marijuana. I had a very open discussion with the younger man of the two, and he seemed somewhat receptive. God knows.

Later I did pass out one Bible and shared a portion of scripture with four men. We read from Mt. 16:21-27.

Thank you for your continued prayerful support.

The Martinez Family (2/4/2008)

2008-02-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Marielos Martinez with her Father (Jose), Mother (Rosa), and Doctor.

Yesterday we all drove down to Castro Valley together to visit with our beloved Brothers and Sisters who fellowship at Casa de Oracion. Pastor Alvaro Castillo gathered the children of the congregation, and they prayed for Marielos.

The Martinez family will be leaving the U.S. this Wednesday. They will be returning in November of this year. So, they have to deal with all of the financials of filing for a new visa, air fare, living arrangements, and food. We are planning a fund raiser between now and then to help out. We will probably be selling pupusas and empanadas again. So, if you are interested in helping out let me know.

Please keep this precious family in your prayers. God bless you.

"One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing [to keep permanently]; another man considers himself poor, yet has great [and indestructible] riches." (Pr. 13:7 AMP)

What is failure? (2/2/2008)

2008-02-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I made arroz con leche for the Jornaleros this morning. Last time we served it the men didn't really drink very much coffee, and we ended up throwing about a thermos and a half away. So, this morning I only made one thermos, about 20 cups. This morning was a bit colder than last time, and before we knew it we were out of coffee. We served all of the arroz con leche. We were only able to minister at 46th Ave. this week. We ended up serving around 30 to 40 men. Most of the men took off as soon as they had been served; which probably had something to do with the rain.

I imagine it would be easy to question whether or not we made a mistake in our preparations. I suppose we could analyze the experience and propose all kinds of hypotheticals. You know, the "if onlys". However, despite it all we were able to share a portion of scripture with three men. We read Mt. 13:24-30 & Mt. 13:36-43. One man had requested a Bible before we read the passage, and another after. God says, "It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." (Is. 55:11)

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Heb. 11:1) We are blessed in serving the King of Kings.

Difficulties...(1/30/2008)

2008-01-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

I have recently experienced some discomfort in my life. I believe that it was a trial. In one 24 hour period my faith was put to the test. My trouble was relatively trivial; if I consider the profound suffering that is endured on a daily basis in this world. In our ministry alone we fellowship with men who are encumbered by lives of incredible challenge, difficulty, and suffering. Perhaps you are going through a difficult time. Perhaps your are in the midst of a trial. Perhaps you are wrestling with your faith. Perhaps this blog might help in some way. I pray that it does, and that God would be glorified.

On more than one occasion Jesus exhorted His disciples, "O ye of little faith". Through my trial I have been lead to confess that I am a man of little faith. As I studied the scripture in light of this most recent trial I was confronted by Job's reaction to his tragedy. Job suffered immensely, and by comparison my trouble seems so insignificant. However, Job's response blessed me and strengthened me. That's the point right? Job's concluding understanding was that he was "nothing" (Job 40:4-5), and in the end he repented of all that he had said (Job 42:2-6). God has delivered me unto humility as well. I find myself begging God that I might have faith as a mustard seed (Lk. 17:5-10). That is that I might truly trust Him, and depend upon Him, and nothing other than Him. He should be all that I need; for in the end there is no one and no thing that is faithful besides God. I believe, as Job declares, that we are all subject to God's will; both the righteous and the unrighteous. The distinction is that we are not all in submission to it. I suppose it could be argued that we are all in various degrees of submission; a constant state of ebb and flow. The truth is that whatever the ephemeral state of our heart there is none that escapes His sovereignty.

I marvel at God's divine intercession. At how fellowship and prayer are the loving tools of His Spirit which bring comfort and restoration to a troubled soul. Is there anything more devistating than the feeling of isolation and lonliness in the midst of a trial? I have been humbled by the love and ecouragement ministered to me and my family by the children of our Almighty Heavenly Father. I thank God for my dearly beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Be encouraged loved one. God is most assuredly aware of the struggle, hurt, worry, fear, pain, discomfort, lonliness, and lack of faith that you might be experiencing. He has not, nor will He ever, abandon you. In fact, I believe that He is actively seeking to comfort you and pour out His love and blessing upon you even now.

Sunday (1/27/2008)

2008-01-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know....

Worship was awesome. Setting up the sound system added a bit more to my morning, but it was well worth it. We've asked Lili's Dad to be in charge of the sound system, and he seems very interested. Please pray that God will continue to work in his life.

Augustine didn't show. Please pray that God will continue to minister to him, and that if it is God's will, that Augustine will be able to fellowship with us soon.

Vitalino was with us again. Praise God. Please continue to pray for this man as he seeks a stronger relationship with God.

Jose, Rosa, and Marielos Martinez were able to join us in worship. We were so blessed to have them with us. Please continue to pray for God's provision for this family, and that God would heal Marielos.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Just Another Saturday....(1/26/2008)

2008-01-26T16:15:00.000-08:00

God provided us with an extra coffee thermos for this week's ministry. Praise Him. Sadly, some of you will not be impressed. I would encourage you to be wonderfully impressed when God does anything in your life no matter how insignificant it may seem. Because we had the extra thermos we were able to serve approximately 20 more cups of coffee to the Jornaleros. In fact, we were able to minister at both 46th Ave. and Florin Rd. Because we served more coffee we were able to not only interact with more men, but we were able to minister for longer. Because we ministered for longer we were able to minister on a deeper and more meaningful level. We served more men on 46th Ave., but the time spent with the men on Florin Rd. seemed more significant. God knows. So, all together we served approximately 70 cups of coffee and 70 donughts. God is good and His mercy endures forever. We were able to pray with a group of around 10 to 15 men. Please pray with us that His Word will bare fruit in their lives.

We received another call this week from a Jornalero. His name is Augustine. I will be driving to South Sacramento to pick him up on Sunday morning. Please pray for Augustine.

As of right now I haven't heard from Vitalino. Please pray for him.

We are expecting that Marielos, and her Mother and Father, will be joining us for service Sunday morning. Please pray for them.

This Sunday we will be using our sound system for the first time. Lili will be singing with a musical accompaniment. Let God receive all of the glory.

Our Brother Wilfredo has recently undergone surgery. Please join us in prayer for his rapid recovery.

Thank you for your faithful prayerful support. God's blessings upon you and your loved ones.

Marielos (1/21/2007)

2008-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Recently I met this 10 year old girl. Her name is Marielos Margarita. She is from El Salvador. She was born with Prune Belly Syndrome(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prune_belly_syndrome) and Pectus Excavatum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectus_excavatum. She has had several major surgeries in her young life. Currently she is in the United States for further examination. She is being cared for by doctors at Shriner's Hospital. She needs more corrective surgery, but is not a very good candidate. Her family struggles with the financial burden of traveling back and forth between El Salvador and the U.S. We are currently praying for Marielos and her family. We are also engaged in raising funds for them. Please join us in prayer. If you would like to partner with us please feel free to contact me.

God is good....(1/19/2007)

2008-01-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful morning. It wasn't so much cold as it was brisk. The heavens were crystal clear and blue. Generally we are confronted by some spiritual obstacle as we prepare to minister, but this morning we prayed through it as we discerned the danger of it. We had peace which is the seed of joy.

We determined to minister at Home Depot today. We served arroz con leche (improved upon since last week by our in house chef) and coffee. What we discovered is that when we serve arroz con leche noone drinks coffee. We actually came home with almost an entire thermos of it. The men were in a good spirits today. It seems that some work has returned, and that there were in fact less men out. There were still approximately 30 to 40 men at the Home Depot location. We were able to minister quite extensively. I was able to share my testimony as well as the Gospel with about 15 to 20 Jornaleros. We also prayed with and for these same men. Praise God.

We still had about 20 cups of arroz con leche and two thermoses of coffee so we took time to visit the 46th Avenue location. There were about 30 to 40 men there as well. Again we ministered to approximately 20 men. I shared my testimony and the Gospel and we were able to pray with these men also. All morning long it seemed that the men were very receptive. We handed out several Bibles, tracts, and invitations.

Lili and Jordan worked very hard. Lili serves all of the food and beverages to the men with Jordan's help, and Jordan goes around and collects all of the garbage. It is such a wonderful blessing for me as a man and child of God to see His Spirit manifesting in them. James exhorts us to be not only hearers of His Word, but doers; and God is accomplishing His will in my wife and son accordingly. Praise Him!

We did not witness any police presence in the area today. I was contacted by a representative of the Sheriff's Department who informed me that they are not handing out any tickets to the Jornaleros for loitering. They have only had one recent incident with a man who had been bothering a lady and her baby. I was promised that their policy is to only respond to reports of crime.

We beg you to join us in praying that God protect these men and their families. That God provide for their needs. That God contiue to reveal Himself to them in love, that they might not fall into the darkness and temptation that is all around them. That their hearts would be open to the Gospel, and that they would be saved in Jesus name.

Building Relationships...(1/12/07)

2008-01-14T08:36:00.000-08:00

First I'd like to report that Vitalino continues to fellowship with us on Sunday. In fact, this past Sunday it was just Vitalino, Lili, Jordan, and myself gathered together in worship. It was a blessed service. We spent some time together after service as well.

I stayed up late on Friday night doing my best to make arroz con leche (rice with milk). It is a delicious dessert. So, we were able to serve arroz con leche and coffee to the men gathered at 46th Avenue. We had plenty, and were able to serve seconds and thirds. The men seemed to enjoy it. I did in fact burn it a little on the bottom, but Lili informed me that there was at least one man who thought that the burnt stuff was quite delicious. For the first time ever we had more than enough coffee.

It seems that the number of men gathered in the area increases every week. It could be that this is just a result of it being winter, or perhaps it is a sign of the times. The bottom line for these men is that there isn't any available work.

The past few Saturdays we've noticed a disturbing trend. It seems that the Sacramento Sheriff's Department is increasing their presence at the gas station where the men gather for work. There has been two police cars sitting in the parking lot of the gas station both this past Saturday and the one prior. More disturbing is that it seems that more than just asking the men to vacate the premises they are actually issuing tickets. What concerns me most is that these men are treated like criminals while with my own eyes I witness non-hispanic men and women loitering in various stages of public intoxication. I have never seen a Jornalero bothering the customers who pump gas, but while I was filling my gas tank this past Saturday a non-hispanic man went from pump to pump begging the patrons for cash. Not to mention that in recent days there has been much more serious criminal activity in this area that has nothing to do with the Hispanic community at all. So, why is the Sheriff's Department so concerned with these men and this gas station when there are much more serious matters to attend to?

The men need the protection and provision of our prayers. I beg you to join me in praying that God's mercy and favor would be upon them.

We were able to engage several men in meaningful conversation on Saturday. Three young men asked me to come and pick them up for Sunday service, but didn't come out when I arrived at our predesignated location. God knows. I pray they will call me next week, or perhaps we'll meet them again on the street. I spoke with a man named Roberto who is very worried for his sick mother. She has asked him to come home and see her in Mexico, but he is unable to make the trip. He also shared with me that he has a teenage son in Mexico. Roberto is an intelligent man that I enjoyed speaking with. He also allowed me to pray for his situation and that of his family. I beg you to please join me in prayer for Roberto, his family, and all of the many other Jornaleros struggling to survive.

Just Before the Rain...(01/05/2007)

2008-01-07T12:26:00.001-08:00

After Friday's crazy storm we weren't sure if we were going to be able to get out Saturday morning and minister to the Jornaleros. Thankfully though we woke up to a beautiful Saturday sun rise. It didn't last. About 2 hours after we had finished (praise God!) the rain came down.

When we arrived at 46th & M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. someone in a white pickup truck was handing out food to the Jornaleros. Halelujah! So, we drove over to Home Depot on Florin Rd. There were about 40 or 50 men there. We served coffee & doughnuts. We stayed and talked with a few of the men. I was able to share my testimony with a handful of the guys. Lili was asked to call and encourage one of the men's wives.

We had one of the guys call us this week and ask us for help. He had been in the hospital and was given a prescription that he couldn't afford to purchase. We agreed that we would pick him up Sunday morning for service and see what we could do to help. When I arrived to pick him up he was still very sick. I was able to pray with him. Later after service Hermano Victor and I drove back over to visit him. We were able to spend some time ministering to him. We drove him to a pharmacy and helped him purchase his medicine. We also prayed for him.

While in line at the pharmacy we met a family who recently moved from Riverside and is looking for a place to fellowship. So, we were able to give them information on how to get together with us this coming Sunday.

Our Guatemalan Hermano attended fellowship with us again this week. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for these two men, as well as the rest of the Jornaleros. Please pray that God would continue to be glorified in and through this ministry.

Praise Report (12-30-07)

2007-12-31T06:24:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I received a phone call from our friend in South Sacramento; the man who called us on Christmas Day. He called on Saturday to confirm that he wanted to fellowship with us on Sunday morning. So, Sunday morning I picked him up. He commented to me on the way home that he had been blessed by our fellowhsip and God's message. This is a man who is in the process of reconciling with God. Please open your hearts and pray for him. We believe that this man is our Brother in Christ and that our Lord has delivered him to us for His purposes. As it turns out his younger brother is a pastor in Guatemala. His brother urged him to fellowship in Guatemala so that he might receive God's blessing during his journey to the U.S.A. This man refused and promised that upon arriving in the U.S. safely he would seek fellowship. However, upon arriving here his heart was drawn away from his promise. He expressed difficulty in finding an evangelical fellowship in a foreign country. Three months after his arrival he was invited to Rainbow Park. It appears to us that God is unwilling to let this man ignore his promise. Praise God.

Coffee & Tamales (12-29-07)

2007-12-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

Our last outreach of 2007. We decided to go to the Home Depot on Florin Road first thing. There is an increasing number of men and young men who gather there looking for work. We knew from previous experience that we wouldn't be able to minister in the parking lot of Home Depot. The security guard is very vigilant and doesn't permit us to speak to the men or serve them on the property. So we parked at the Jack in the Box on the other side of the Home Depot parking lot. We honked as we passed the first group of men hoping that they would recognize us and follow us; and they did. Praise God. We served around 20 or so men there. We had hot coffee and hot tamales. We handed out several Bibles and tracts. We spoke to the men for some time, fellowshipping and sharing the Gospel. Afterwards we drove to 46th Avenue & Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. We discovered that there wasn't anyone hanging out at the corner. We parked and invited the men gathered at the liquor store and on the street to come and fellowship with us. We served around 40 men. We had about 40 cups of coffee and 70 tamales. In the end we had about 10 tamales left over and were able to offer some men seconds. It seems we always run out of coffe too early. All of the men seemed very pleased with the tamales. We were blessed when a Sister offered them to us. As I understand she worked late into the morning preparing them. May God richly reward her. Again we passed out Bible tracts. Noone requested a Bible. We were able to fellowship with the men for some time. We shared the Gospel, and prayed with around 15 men.

We pray that God will provide us with a sanctuary near where the men gather so that we can invite them to come and fellowship with us on Sunday mornings.

Reaching out at Christmas...(12-22-07)

2007-12-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

Funny thing happened over Christmas. We found our battery charger for the digital camera, but then we lost our camera. Sorry, no pics.

We had such an exciting time ministering to the Jornaleros this past Saturday. I believe that we had around 100 men come to Rainbow Park. We fellowshipped, shared the Gospel, and prayed with the men. We handed out many Bibles. We served coffee and "pan dulce". We passed out a ton of clothes. We handed out Christmas cards. We gave out 70 Christmas gifts. Each gift had a coffee cup with Romans 10:9-10 written on it; and a pair of gloves, some mints, a Bible tract, and a telephone calling card inside it. All the gifts were wrapped up real nice with paper and ribbon. We took pictures of the men with a polaroid camera; which they loved. I believe that everyone had a good time. I know that those of us who came to minister were truly blessed.

Let me share with you something very special that happened to us on Christmas day. My family traditionally celebrates Christmas on the night of December 24th. On the morning of the 25th it has been our tradition for me to cook everyone breakfast. So, this year I set about cooking some french toast, bacon, & eggs. While I was busy filling everyone's tummy's my cell phone rang. I saw that it was a number that I did not recognize. I am in the habit of answering my cell phone even when I don't recognize the caller, and so I flipped open my phone with wonder. The man on the other end of the connection spoke Spanish. So, I quickly changed my initial response of "hello" to "bueno". It turns out that the man was a Jornalero who had been at our Christmas outreach. He expressed his gratitude for what we had done. He was also interested in knowing where we congregated. To be honest, I have a hard time in Spanish over the phone. So, I asked if we could get together for lunch. I suggested this upcoming Saturday as we would be in South Sac anyway. He seemed apprehensive. We spoke of spiritual matters for a bit and ended our conversation with him potentially calling me back about meeting us on Saturday. After I hung up my lovely wife asked me if I had prayed with the man. Shamefully, I responded that I had not. I called the man back, as I had his number listed in my cell phone under received calls. We spoke some more. I felt that it was necessary that we meet, and so I asked when would be a good time to get together. We agreed that we would meet him at his house by noon. It was already 11 a.m. and so we scurried out the door leaving our family to fend for themselves for breakfast.

We arrived in South Sac right at noon. We picked up our new Guatemalan friend and headed to I.H.O.P. for coffee. Thank God it was open on Christmas Day. We sat and spoke of many things. Our friend wanted to make sure that he in no way intended for us to go out of our way, and especially did not want us to get the impression that he wanted us to take him out for something to eat. During our time together, on more than one occasion, he expressed his gratitude for our efforts on Saturday. He shared with us that he has only been in the U.S. for a few months and that this was his first Christmas away from his wife and five children. With the calling card that we gave him he was able to call home and speak with his family. One of his daughters was rather sad that they were not together for Christmas. He also had the chance to speak with his younger brother, who is a pastor. His brother took the time to encourage him to find a place to fellowship. Which is why we received a phone call on Christmas morning. Praise God.

As it turns out our friend is also our Brother. He confessed that he had given his heart to the Lord, but was struggling with his natural inclination towards the things of this world; especially in his current situation. A man far from home and loved ones, in a foreign land, struggling for survival. He confessed that he desired to fellowship and hear God's Word. Please pray for our Brother and those just like him. We discussed our picking him up this coming Sunday for service. We are hopefull that we will receive a call this Saturday to that end.

Be assured that those of you who support this ministry are in fact doing God's will. Thank you for your prayerful support. Being in God's will in such a way is both humbling and wonderful.

Thank you Jesus for your Mercy and Grace.

Saturday December 15, 2007

2007-12-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take a minute and share with you the blessed time we had this past Saturday. I apologize for the lack of photography. We were once again out at the junction of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and 47th Ave., in South Sacramento Ca. ministering to the "Jornaleros". We served coffee & donughts until we ran out of coffee. Then we served O.J. & donughts. We were able to minister at our regular spot which is actually at the corner of 46th Ave. We chose that corner primarily because it seemed to have a lot of "trafficking". Although since we've been ministering there we've seen a definite decrease in activity at this corner. We also drove south to Florin Rd. and met with some men at the Home Depot. All the men were appreciative. We were able to fellowship with several groups. We made a determined effort to pray; and were able to pray with over 20 men. While at the Home Depot we had two men specificly ask for Bibles; which we were able to provide. This provision is a direct result of The Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of His children. We are so grateful for all of the partners and supporters of this ministry.

We heard that the man many refer to as "Tio", who has been absent our last two visits, has taken up residence with a Christian family. We hope and pray this to be true. Many of the men were attentive to our message. The men are always respectful, and communicate their gratitude.

I am grateful to God that my family would have the honor to serve Him in such a calling. I am also grateful for the ways He is blessing our family through this ministry. It is a wonderful gift to be able to practice what we have heard preached. It is a blessing to my family in that we are able to serve together. Jordan generally sits inside the car and helps Lili serve. I believe in my heart that this ministry will be meaninful for him throughout his life as he reflects upon it. I know that this vocation is the vehicle with which our Lord is growing and maturing our faith. I am joyful as I contemplate the possiblities in our future as a family through this ministry to these men and their families. God is good and His mercy endures.

This Saturday I was also able to witness God working in the lives of those who ministered with us. I believe that there is much that God wants to accomplish in our little family. I look forward to witnessing all that He has planned for those who partner with us in this endeavor of love.

We thank you for your prayers, and ask that you continue to partner with us as we prepare for our upcoming Christmas outreach. We will be at Rainbow Park at 9:30 a.m. for set up. We will begin ministering at 10 a.m. We will only be there as long as there are men to minister to. God knows.

Arroz con Leche (11-23-2007)

2007-11-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

Hermana Lili made and served two pots of Arroz con Leche.

Here is a shot of some of the men we served on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

This is Jordan's artwork. The two men on the left were very worried about not having work, paying their rent, and providing for their families.

We were extremely blessed to have been able to spend more time with the Jornaleros. Please continue to prayerfully support our ministry to these men and their families.

Giving Thanks 2007

2007-11-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

Here we are Thanksgiving Day 2007 handing clothing to the Jornaleros in Rainbow Park.

We brought coffee and donughts.

We handed out wool caps like the one that the man in the front of this picture is wearing. We had 50 of them donated. We asked the men to only take one. So, we estimate we had somewhere around 50 guys show up. I know what you are thinking, but these men are very respectful. It amazes me how appreciative they are; and how much they honor us in their manner. We handed out many Bibles and tracts with David Berkowitz' testimony.

Here is Hermana Lili bringing the last turkey. We had five donated, and we gave away every one. It would have been nice to have had 20 or 30 more. She didn't even make it over to the table before she had given this one away. We gave away absolutely every piece of men's clothing.

We are so grateful to God for every one of your prayers, and for all of your donations. Praise God.

La Plalabra de Dios

2007-11-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the Bible God provided for us to share with the Jornaleros this coming Thanksgiving. Now, that is something to be thankful for. Praise God.

We are still in need of men's clothing, so please join us in prayer for God's provision.

I have to say that I don't really appreciate much about how our contemporary culture celebrates this particular holiday. I guess it is what you make of it. Before I was born again I didn't complain much about filling my belly with all the yummy treats served on Thanksgiving Day. In fact I relished it. However now, and especially in recent years, I find that I can't stomach it. Last year we were in Mexico serving food to orphans. This year we will be serving the Jornaleros. I pray that you find a significant way to give thanks to our Heavenly Father this year. I encourage you to meditate on all the many ways that our Lord has blessed you and your loved ones; and perhaps share a bit of that love with the many less fortunate souls in this world. There is plenty of opportunity to serve our King in the expansion of His Kingdom; if that is truly your heart's desire. God knows.

Wouldn't it be awesome if all the Christian families in the world who would normally celebrate Thanksgiving Day with a big meal fast instead? We could all use the money we saved to feed people who are truly hungry. Wouldn't that be something.

I pray that God bless your heart.

Esta Obra No Va a Parar...(10/17/07)

2007-10-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Here is our new sign. The Jehova Shalom signs were made by Aminah Challenger at "Appearances Sign and Design". I think that they are beautiful in their simplicity. Pastor Timothy Hinkle designed the Victory Tabernacle signs. A very dear Brother set the posts and hung the signs. God is so good.

Our beloved Brother also cut down the two unsitely trees in front of the church to a manageable height. They had many branches falling down and were truly quite ugly. The opportunity we have before us now is this unsitely paint job. We are praying that God will intervene. I love that the cross now dominates the sky. I think that once the building is painted it is going to look magnificent.

This a shot of the actual height of the trees. We set up a regular service with Clark Pest Control and they said that it was a very good thing that we cut down the trees. Praise God. Our reasons were purely asthetic, but as always God was caring for us in ways unseen.

Here is a picture from last night's Bible Study. The Ortiz clan is in the back, Wil, Stef, and Tif, and if you look close you can see that we pulled out the crib from the nursery for Gio. Our beloved Brother Victor Mendez is in the forefront. We studied Genesis 6:1-8, and discovered the powerful presence of Christ. We swam in the profound truth of the title "sons of God" and how it relates to Jesus. We also were blessed to discover so much love in God's grace; by which we are saved, even as Noah was saved. All praise to The Lord of Peace.

God's Drums (9/24/07)

2007-09-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is Tim Kimble, our dear Brother in Christ, teaching a classroom of kids about music.

The drums that Tim is using to share music with these kids was donated to Jehova Shalom by Robert Booth Jr.

Jehova Shalom in turn gave the drums to Tim in hopes of blessing his music ministry. We had no idea how our Heavenly Father would use the drums to bless these extremely needy children.

We debated using the drums for Jehova Shalom. We debated selling the drums to raise funds for Jehova Shalom. When Tim asked about the drums we considered selling the drums to Tim. Lili and I took some time and prayed about the drums, and our Lord made it very clear that He wanted us to give the drums in love to Tim, as they had been given to us in love. It seems very apparent to us that the drums are exactly where God intended them to be. Alabad a Jehova!

Last Rummage of the Season (9-8-07)

2007-09-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Ortiz family; Wilfredo, Reyna, Stephanie, Tiffany, and Giovani.

Tim and Olivia Kimble. I can't believe that I didn't get a family portrait with Atlas.

Here are some of the items that we had out in front of the church. Most of these items are from the El Cerrito haul. We had already sold a sofa and love seat combo, a king size bed, dining room table with chairs, and a matching china cabinet.

This is a shot of the set up on the inside. Lamentably, I thought this would be a good idea. The problem is that most people stop at sales where it looks like there are a lot of items. So, all morning long the going was slow. After lunch we moved all of the furniture up to the curb, and a couple of tables out into the parking lot. It seemed like we were a lot busier after that. We ended up extremely blessed for the day. We had great fellowship with the Ortiz and Kimble families. We pray that they will receive true reward in Heaven. We believe that we were sufficiently blessed to purchase signing for Jehova Shalom.

We hauled off about four boxes of donated items that we were unable to sell throughout the season. We packed away everything else for next year. At some point during the winter we will probably sort through all of the clothing.

Thanks to everyone who supported His work through prayer. You have truly blessed us. We pray that you will continue to lift up His ministry in and through La Iglesia de Jehova Shalom.

Salmos 46:10, "Estad quietos, y conoced que yo soy Dios; sere exaltado entre las naciones, enaltecido sere en la tierra."

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (8-27-07)

2007-08-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

We didn't do a very good job of capturing this event on camera; I apologize. I would love to have a snap shot of the trailer fully loaded. Despite that fact I did want to let everyone know that we were able to go to El Cerrito and pick up all of the items donated. It took a great deal of effort on the part of several people. I won't mention them here as it is my sincere prayer that they will be eternally rewarded. I do thank God for you my dear Brothers and Sisters. I also thank Him for all of you who have supported us in and through prayer.

The day started around 8 a.m. and ended around 10 p.m. We were able to sell several items already. Thus far we have raised $330.00. We still have to have a Rummage Sale with all of the remaining items. We plan on having one Saturday September 8, 2007.

We thank Jesus for His protection throughout the entire day. There were several near injuries. It was a long and arduous day and He was with us every step.

God is good, and we are so grateful for His mercy and faithfulness. Alabad a Jehova!

Jehova Shalom Rummage Sale (8-18-07)

2007-08-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the larger items that we sold. The file cabinets were so easy to sell, it was surprising. We were unable to sell the two nice love seats that we have, which was equally surprising considering our prices. We were able to sell a small office refrigerator for three times what we sold this full size refrigerator for. It's ironic how God works some times, but His plans are better than ours. We also sold a dryer, king size mattress and box spring, and many small items. We've been selling our clothing at ridiculous prices, but we have so much and people want to give us more. We had to have this sale on this unscheduled Saturday because of the timing of receiving donations and our lack of ability to store items. So, we will not be having a sale on 8-25-07, but we have tentatively scheduled another one for 9-8-07.

Here's a wide angle of all of the tables we had set up.

We had this shelving donated. I wrestled over whether I should sell it or set it up in our storage closet. Here is Hna. Reyna helping me put it all together. She seems a little distracted by the camera doesn't she? The shelving fit perfectly and really helped us to get better organized. Praise God.

Finally, here is Pastor Dave doing his not so famous celebratory dance as we finish packing everything away for another day. Praise Jesus for the wonderful victory. We were extremely blessed by His faithfulness to provide for our needs. He provided the items to sell, our co-laborers, the people to buy, the opportunity to represent Him in the community, the strength to make it through the day, and the vision to acknowledge Him in all of it. Thank you for your prayerful support. Alabad a Jehova!

We were able to raise enough funds to purchase a portable P.A. system for future ministry at Rainbow Park; and wherever else our Lord determines. Please pray that He continue to guide us in His work.

Jehova Shalom Update...(08-15-2007)

2007-08-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Our Lord Jesus continues to be faithful.

We were unable to have our Rummage Sale
this past Saturday. We have rescheduled
it for this coming Saturday. Please join us
in prayer for His continued provision.

We held our first Sunday service this past Sunday.
We were extremely blessed as we worshipped our
God and Savior in the early morning. The preaching
was from John chapter 6.

Last night we held our weekly Bible Study. We are
currently in Genesis 1.

Please continue to pray that our Father will
guide us in all things; and that we will bring
honor and glory to His name.

Petitions:

To be able to lovingly minister to lost souls.
Musicians to support our worship team.
An open door in our missions ministry.
Healing for Hno. Wilfredo.
Provision for our next outreach in Rainbow Park.
Protection and guidance for our local door-to-door outreach in Del Paso Heights.

Alabad a Jehova Shalom!!

The proof is in the pudding...

2007-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of what the striping in the Victory Tabernacle parking lot used to look like....

We thank God for being faithful in His provision. There was a time when we didn't think that we would be able to do this job. We didn't know how we were going to come up with the funds for the paint or the equipment. We prayed, and God used one of His willing children to provide all of the necessary items to get the job done. Well, nearly done. We'll finish next month.

We can only post pics from a distance, as otherwise you would most assuredly notice the flaws in our process. Looks good from here wouldn't you agree?

And here are the only two guys we could find to do the work.....next time we'll look harder.

Jueces 6:23 (08-08-2007)

2007-08-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Judges 6:23-24, "The Lord said to him, peace be to you, do not fear; you shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it Jehova Shalom (The Lord is Peace)."

We have been given the same promise of life. We need not fear. Romans 8:1-2 says that Jesus has freed us from the "law of sin and death". So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. Do you belong to Jesus Christ?

And so our Lord would have us name our fellowship La Iglesia de Jehova Shalom; The Church of the Lord of Peace. For we belong to Him. As Jesus laid out the vision of our ministry, the history of Gideon became critical to our understanding. The victories which we will experience will be won through His strength manifest in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Our Tuesday night fellowship was a blessing. Hno. Victor and Hna. Lupita came down from Yuba City. Hno. Wilfredo Ortiz and his family blessed us as always, along with Hna. Maritza, Stamie, and Stacie also.

We will be having Sunday services at 7:30 a.m. at Victory Tabernacle located at 3910 Marysivlle Blvd. Del Paso Heights, beginning this coming Sunday. Tuesday night services will now be strictly for Bible study. When we are able to have Sunday services in Rainbow Park we will do so on Sunday mornings in place of services at Victory Tabernacle.

Hno. Ricardo and I were able to get some of the striping painted for the parking lot at Victory Tabernacle. We hope to finish it in September. Hno. Ricardo has done a great job, praise God, maintaining the property at Victory Tabernacle. God willing we will be able to continue to serve our Lord in this capacity.

Praise Jehova!!! Our Lord Jesus has provided a lawyer who is going to help us finish our incorporation process and acquire our non-profit status.....pro bono. Our God is real and He is faithful.

Hna. Lili is learning to play the keyboard. Please pray that she would have patience throughout the learning process.

We have a Rummage Sale this coming Saturday from 9 a.m. to whenever we run out of steam. Pray for God's continued provision and blessing.

Please continue to join us as we pray that in everything we endeavor to accomplish that our Lord would be glorified, and for His provision of musicians, a PA system, direction in our mission efforts, and to fulfill all the requirements for future services in Rainbow Park.

Tuesday Night Bible Study

2007-08-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

This is Pastor Dave NOT talking with his hands.

I thought this was a funny shot of Pastor. He looks so serious. Hno. Ricardo trying not to notice.

Our camera man didn't catch everybody 'cause it turns out that he was snapping a lot of self-portraits. However he did capture Hna. Lili and Hna. Reyna. You can just make out Hna. Stacie and Hno. Gio. Hno. Wilfredo, Hna. Maritza, and Hnas. Stephanie and Tiffany are just out of the shot.

And here's Gio. He seems very happy that we have begun studying Genesis.

Please pray for us, as we are considering our Lord's will, in that we may begin having Sunday service from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

We continue to prepare for our Rummage sale on August 11th. Our Lord is providing abundantly; thank you for your prayers.

Jehova Shalom 7-24-2007

2007-07-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here we all are in Fellowship Hall at Victory Tabernacle. You can see just about everyone in this shot; with Pastor Dave and Hno. Ricardo in the foreground.

Hna. Aricelli Saavedra looking a bit serious; and Hna. Karla Velasquez enjoying her cheese cake, or maybe Hna. Maritza said something funny. Hno. Wilfredo's family in the background with Hnas. Staimy and Stacy.

Here's Hno. Carlos Velasquez. I can still remember the day I asked him for permission to date Liliana.

And here is a self portrait of our camera man......Hno. Jordan Bothwell.

Please pray for our preparations for our next service in Rainbow Park. We are praying that everything will be in order for one or two services in September.

Last night's sermon was from John 6:1-6. Jesus' proving of Felipe. Jesus is most interested in the condition of our hearts; and trials are our path to faith, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit manifest in our lives. Praise Jehova Shalom.

Sunday Service in Rainbow Park (part 4)

2007-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

We even had time for some fun in the park.....

Gio is so cute.

I wish I could sleep like that.

Here's our little Brother Jordan taking a some time for himself.

Sunday Service in Rainbow Park (part 3)

2007-07-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

We did have our opportunities to minister. Although we didn't have any jornaleros show up for our 10 a.m. service we had several people show up for "Grillbot's" hamburgers. This is Felipe and his friend.

We're hoping and praying that Veronica and her family will come visit us some Tuesday night.

Vicente spent some time with us and was very appreciative of the fellowship.

I can't remember this jornalero's name, but he is from Guatemala. Please pray for his well being.

Sunday Service in Rainbow Park (part2)

2007-07-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hermano Wilfredo and his amazing transormer grill (Grillbot). The hamburgers were fantastic. Good job Bro.

Everybody getting ready for our after service fellowship.

Here is Hno. Ricardo at the preparation table with Felipe. Felipe and a friend were passing by and we were able to invite them to eat with us.

In the back Hno. Mario is enjoying the shade. Hna. Stephanie is getting ready to try one of Wilfredo's World Famous burgers. The gal in the middle was a visitor who we were able to serve.

Sunday Service in Rainbow Park (part 1)

2007-07-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hermana Reyna, Tifany, and Jordan starting to get everything set up for service. I think this was taken while Pastor Dave and Hermano Ricardo were still on the way. Hno. Ricardo was hauling some empty garbage containers back to the church in the morning and one of the containers flew out of the truck on Hwy. 99. A car hit the container, but never looked back. It was quite the trial for Hno. Ricardo. We praise God for His protection. Eventually, Hno. Ricardo made it to the church and picked up Pastor Dave and the tables and chairs we used in the park.

The Brothers and Sisters gather in the shade of this wonderful tree planted just for us. It was a beautiful morning. Front and center is Hno. Ricardo's cousin Victor. Next to Hna. Reyna is German's wife Marlen. It was such a blessing to have both Victor and Marlen with us.

Here's the rest of our family that attended service. Who knows what Hna. Liliana is looking at?

Rummage Sale 777

2007-07-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Hno. Ricardo and German we had a little B.B.Q. for cooking hot dogs. Most people that came to the sale weren't interested in buying hot dogs, but our team managed to whoof down 40.

Hno. Wilfredo and his family helped us set up, run the sale, and put everything away. Pastor Tim of Victory Tabernacle managed the grill for us for most of the day.

Hna. Reyna with her little puppet Giovani. He's a cool little man just chillin' on a hot summer day.

Hno. Ricardo won the hot dog eating contest.

We had a great day. We were very blessed. There was a nice little breeze that blew for most of the day. Hna. Lili got a nice little sun burn. There was moment in the day when it seemed our ship had come to rest in the doldrums. We prayed, and even as we prayed people began arriving. God is so faithful. We had some great fellowship, and we sold a lot of stuff. We were able to give a significant love offering to Victory Tabernacle. We pray that it blesses them.

This Saturday we have men's fellowship from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Then from 10 a.m. to noon we will be passing out invitations to our first Sunday service in Rainbow Park (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and 41st). Our Sunday service will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Please pray with us that in all that we do Jesus Christ is exalted.

Update - July 3, 2007

2007-07-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Hna. Maritza Cisnero enjoying fellowship with us after our Tuesday night service. Hna. Maritza is a member of La Iglesia Getsemani in Vallejo. She and her family live in Sacramento, and have found time to fellowship with us on Tuesday nights. We have been blessed by our Father through their love. This past Tuesday Hna. Maritza brought a pasta dish that was delicious and healthy.

This coming Saturday we begin having men's fellowship from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. We also have a Rummage Sale from 9 a.m. until we can't stand the heat....

Saturday July 14th we will be handing out invitations, at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and 47th, to our first Sunday service at Rainbow Park; which is located at the intersection of M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. and 41st.

Please join us in prayer as we endeavor to bring honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise Jehova Shalom.

Mateo 25:35 (2)

2007-07-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Pastor Dave serving food.

Hermano Ricardo Perez and Pastor Dave serving food.

Some of the ladies at the shelter.

Some of the men at the shelter. What a blessing it was to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mateo 25:35 (1)

2007-07-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here is Sister Lili getting ready to prepare salad.

Here is Sister Lili preparing salad.

Here is Sister Lili with her salad.

In the back you can see Sister Lili serving her salad to some folks at a homeless shelter in Vallejo, alongside her Sisters from La Iglesia Getsemani; as we participate in Getsemani's ministry to the homeless "Buen Samaritano". The Brothers and Sisters minister once a month at the shelter. Praise Jehova Shalom.

The Father Lifts Up The Son...

2007-06-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Wilfredo and Giovani.

Last night (20070626), we were very blessed in the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word was from John 5:10-18. We examined the text as it applies to legalism and judgmentalism; and how we are to replace criticism with the love of Jesus.

We were blessed to hear the testimonies of how God is answering our prayer petitions; Hno. Raul's Mother and Hno. Wilfredo's nephew were both healed. In the case of Wilfredo's nephew the doctor commented that the healing could only be explained as a miracle. Praise Jehova Shalom.

We continue to pray for God's provision and guidance for Sunday services in the park, and our next mission to Mexico. We continue to pray for a music leader and musicians. We continue to pray and plan for a Rummage Sale on June 30th.

An early morning in Hayward

2007-06-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

I visited Pastor Alvaro Castillo and his flock on Father's Day. This is the house of prayer that they fellowship at in Hayward. They start worship service at 7:30 a.m.

Here is Pastor Alvaro Castillo.

These are some of the sisters performing a special dance for the Dad's.

Here are some of the youth reciting a poem for the Dad's.

Introduction....El Hongo

2007-06-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce you to this beautiful young girl who I met at the ranch in El Hongo. I can not remember her name, God forgive me. I would like to share a story with you that includes her. I had previously intended on starting a letter writing campaign between some children here in the U.S. and the children at the ranch. I spoke to this little one about the idea. I asked her if she would be excited about receiving letters from the children. She kind of shrugged. I told her that the children loved her and that they wanted to show their love through the letters. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me through this little one. He said...."If they loved us they would come and be with us..."

Introductions...Jehova Shalom

2007-06-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

Please meet Stacy, Stephanie, and Tiffany.

Rummage Sale for El Hongo

2007-06-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

1. Here are the Bothwells and the Cordovas setting up the Rummage Sale.
2. Javier Cordova making a purchase.
3. Mateo Cordova.
4. Pastor Alvaro Castillo holding down the fort.

Victory Tabernacle/Jehova Shalom

2007-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the front view of Victory Tabernacle. La Iglesia de Jehova Shalom is currently holding service here in the sanctuary every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. 3910 Marysville Boulevard, Del Paso Heights, Ca.

Introductions....Jehova Shalom

2007-06-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Pastor Dave and Jordan Bothwell, as Jordan worships our Father. Jackie and Karla Velasquez praise our Lord. Hna. Ariceli and Michelle Velasquez. Hna. Ariceli, Karla Velasquez, and Liliana Bothwell. These photos were taken at one of our Tuesday evening services.

Introduction....El Hongo

2007-06-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

These shots are of Hna. Ariceli. She lives in Vacaville. She was born in Colombia. Missionary to El Hongo at 68. God is good, and His mercy endures forever.

Introductions....El Hongo

2007-06-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

This first photo is Pastor Juan Rodriguez. He is standing in the old kitchen/dining hall. The second photo is Hna. Olga Rodriguez. This photo was taken at a vista point in La Rumorosa. The truck belongs to Hno. Javier Cordova. You can see that Hna. Olga needed a little help.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is Chuy. He lives on the ranch in El Hongo. Claudia is his daughter. The third photo shows Chuy's wife Claudia (on the left) and his Mom Martha (on the right). The last picture is Chuy Jr. We love this family very much. They are all from Durango. Along with Paul (previously seen in the picture with Judas) and Charlie (standing in front of the brick building on the reservation; just below the group photo) these guys have all been taking care of the ranch in the absence of Pastor Juan and Hna. Olga. Chuy was saved from a life of drugs and crime. Now he relies on the mercy of Christ to lead him and his family in the way of righteousness.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524 (Narrative)

2007-06-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 24th

In the morning I had to pick up the trailer we would be using for the trip. The cost of the trailer was graciously provided by the same Brother who donated his vehicle for our transportation. I did have to go in to work early to finish a project, then run to a Uhaul on I-80 and Auburn, then down to the Uhaul on I-80 at El Camino, to both pick up the trailer and get the wiring fixed. So, a little bit of running around, but it wasn't all that hectic. I left Sacramento around 12:30 p.m. headed towards Vacaville to pick up Hna. Ariceli. We arrived in Vallejo around 2 p.m. We (Ariceli, Silvia, Patricia, Petronio, and I) had planned on being on the road by 3 p.m. However, as we were packing Hno. Petronio's Mom cooked us dinner. So, we sat down and had the most wonderful meal. We ended up on the road by 4 p.m. We had decided to take Hwy. 12 to I-5 so as to avoid much of the afternoon traffic. This would have been a marvelous idea if there hadn't been an accident in Rio Vista. We waited in traffic until 6 p.m. Finally, we had an open road. While we were stopped at a gas station along the way Hna. Silvia and Hna. Ariceli spoke with a woman in a gas station rest room and lead her in a prayer of Salvation. Praise God. We made a detour through Rancho Cucamonga to pick up the instruments and supplies that Dr. Gonzales donated. So, rather than taking I-5 straight through L.A. and San Diego to the border, we had to head East on Hwy. 210. It was good to see Hno. Javier, but disappointing to leave him behind. We got a little lost finding the Otay border crossing. We were stopped at the border, and had to open the trailer, but the border guard had better things to do and let us go ahead. We were stopped once leaving Otay for Tecate by the Federal soldiers; without incident. Just past Tecate we got lost again which took about an hour. So, we finally got to The Ranch in El Hongo at 6 a.m. Friday morning May 25th.

Friday May 25th

The Ranch in El Hongo was quiet and still as we opened the gate, drove up to, and parked at the ranch house. We had just recently discovered that Pastor Juan's wife Olga had broken both of her legs in Zacatecas Mexico. We knew that Pastor Juan and Hna. Olga would not be at The Ranch. However, we were more than shocked to discover that the only Brothers and Sisters still living at the ranch were Hno. Jesus, his wife Claudia, their two children, Hno. Paul and Hno. Charlie. We immediately called a meeting to discuss what we could do to most effectively minister in the short amount of time that we had. It was really a matter of setting up all of the equipment; which took about two hours. We only wanted to set everything up once. We decided upon heading down to the orphanage in El Valle de Las Palmas and setting up there. Then we would have Hno. Jesus go to Tecate and pick up as many people as possible and deliver them to us at the orphanage. We were all in agreement. The only thing left to do was to call Hno. Villegas at the orphanage and see if our plan would work with his schedule, and then call Hno. Juan to inform him of the changes to our original plans. So, I called Hno. Villegas and couldn't get ahold of him. Then I called Hno. Juan and he was truly disappointed that we were considering an alternate course, and asked me to reconsider staying at the ranch. I couldn't see that there was much that I could do seeing as how I couldn't get ahold of the orphanage, and Hno. Juan wasn't releasing me from my previous commitment. We reconvened to discuss the circumstances of our predicament, and we determined that we would stay and set up at the ranch, but that we would make a trip down to the orphanage for exams, cleanings, and fluoride applications.

Hna. Claudia and Hna. Ariceli set about to preparing breakfast. After breakfast Hno. Jesus came to me and asked for prayer. Hno. Petronio and I spent some time with Hno. Jesus and Hna. Claudia in fellowship and prayer. It was such a blessing to be able to minister to and fellowship with them both. Later, after getting most everything set up for the clinic we packed up some items and headed down to the orphanage, Casa Celestial. We spent the rest of the afternoon ministering to the children. The Brother and Sisters had such a great time with the kids. Lamentably, Hno. Hassan and his family weren't there, and neither was Hno. Eric; Hno. Noe was our host. However, even Hno. Noe was extremely busy. So, we were pretty much left alone to spend time with the kids. I spent some good fellowship time with some of the interns. It always blesses me to listen to what God is doing in their lives.

So, we drove back to the ranch. Throughout the late afternoon Hna. Silvia and Hna. Patricia ministered to the Brothers and Sisters at our make shift dental clinic. In fact, they stayed up late with Hna. Claudia and didn't get to bed until around mid-night (neither of these missionaries had slept yet from the beginning of our trip). So, in our first day we ministered to I believe 17 childen and then at least three people at the ranch. So, I think at least 20 people.

Saturday/Sunday May 26-27

We woke up early Saturday morning. We had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Hnas. Claudia and Ariceli. Hno. Jesus had run all the way to Tijuana Friday afternoon to pre-announce the dental clinic for Saturday, and then again Saturday morning to collect anyone who wanted to come to the clinic. However, the people who said they wanted to come decided not to. So, Hno. Jesus brought people from Tecate. Hna. Martha and her children, as well as Alma. Alma is Hugo's wife. Hugo accepted the Lord into his heart our last trip down to El Ladrial. I was hoping to see him this trip, but we never had the chance. We had a morning service and an afternoon service. Hno. Petronio preached from Ezequiel in both services. Both sermons were extremely powerful, and a blessing. Hno. Paul lead the praise service in the morning, but couldn't in the afternoon. I think he spent a total of 3 or 4 hours in the dental chair. We did have one visitor in the morning service; it was Hno. Israel. He is a pastor in El Hongo.

By the end of the day everyone from the ranch had gotten to see the dentist. The only person who escaped was Hno. Jesus' son. Somehow he eluded us. I think the approximate total of dental exams for the second day was somewhere around 20. I know that Silvia and Patricia worked for over 12 hours.

I was able to make it over to the Mission House in El Hongo with Petronio and Paul, we spoke with Brian, and had a tour of the house.

In the afternoon the Hnas. prepared a wonderful lunch for us and all of our guests.

Our plans for Sunday morning were to have service after one or two more paitents. We didn't anticipate anyone coming to the ranch, and so we thought it would be a relatively simple service at noon, and then we were going to head out to the reservation. Hno. Israel brought his family in the late morning along with two other families from El Hongo. So, the sisters were busier than we anticipated. One of the little girls was having a terrible time and Hna. Silvia was able to spend time not only ministering dental care to the little girl, but also spiritual care. We had service at noon. Hno. Paul lead the worship. Pastor Israel and Hna. Ariceli sang specials. The preaching was from Colossians. Afterwards we served soda and sweet bread in the fellowship hall (the barn next to the sanctuary). After we had fellowshipped for a while Hna. Ariceli brought an older lady named Myra to me. Myra wanted to accept Christ as her Savior. We sat with Myra for some time in the sanctuary and ministered to her. Explaining to her very carefully the Gospel. We prayed together a prayer of Salvation, and then we prayed for Myra. We were also able to minister to her son Jose. Please pray for them.

Around 3 p.m. we left the ranch headed for the reservation where we would meet just a few members of the Komiai Tribe (http://www.kumeyaay.com/reservations/baja.html ) The road to the reservation is just shy of trecherous. So, once we arrived around 5 p.m. it didn't leave us much time before dark. So, we were only able to spend a short time fellowshipping with the three women and two men that we met. We were able to buy some hand made items from one of the ladies who's name was Lupe. They told us that often there were days that they had no food on the reservation. It was rather impossible to not purchase some items in the way of desiring to bless these generous and hospitable people. We were also able to pray together before leaving.

On the way back to Tecate we had to stop for a restroom break. We stopped at a random house and asked for help. It turned out that the family was Christian. They were very loving and hospitable. Hno. Constantine had even lived with his family in the Sacramento area for 7 years or so until they felt called to raise their children in Mexico. They believed that there would be less negative influences upon their children as they grew up in Mexico as compared to the Sacramento area.

That night we decided to give Hna. Claudia and Hna. Ariceli a break; we took everyone into Tecate for dinner. I think that everyone had a good time. After dinner we went to the Central Park and had ice cream, and walked around enjoying all of the tienditas. We got back to the ranch late and weren't finished packing everything until around 1:30 a.m. It was our sincere desire and prayer that Hna. Claudia and the kids would have fun. Hno. Jesus had to stay back in El Hongo to care for the ranch and work. We missed him being with us, but it couldn't be avoided.

Monday May 28th

We left the ranch at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning. I drove everyone down to Ensenada. We had breakfast. Hot fresh pan dulce like I've never had before. Yum. We drove up the Cuota road to Tijuana. We stopped at a public beach along the way and had coconut water and meat, and some fresh fruit. We walked the beach for a little bit picking up sea shells. Then we were on our way. The drive is beautiful. We got to the T.J. border and it was closed. We headed over to the Otay Mesa border, got lost for about two hours, and then finally made back to the U.S. We were still in pretty good shape time-wise. We got pulled over somewhere in L.A. for driving our trailer in the fast lane. Ten minutes up the road we arrived on the scene of a car accident that we probably would have been in if not for the ticket. We stopped in another area of L.A. for a bathroom break. We pulled over at a church, where the pastor just happened to be outside doing some gardening. He let us use the restrooms. We made it to Panoche Rd. somewhere on I-5, and just as we were getting back on the road from a pit stop one of the tires on the trailer exploded. We waited for an hour and a half for the Uhaul road side guy to get there. While we were waiting the hazard lights killed the battery of the car. So, we had to flag somebody down. The third car that passed pulled over. Out stepped a young man who asked if he could help. Meanwhile everyone was laying out on the side of I-5 in there sleeping bags. What a site we were. So, the kid asks Petronio about his hat; which was from a Christian convention. They began to talk and it turns out that the kid, Josh, knew Petronio's son Fabricio from college. That was extremely comforting. He had left L.A. two hours after us. Perfect timing. He said that he generally doesn't stop, but that he felt tha he needed to. Amen. The C.H.P. showed up while our tire was being changed and we were talking to Josh. They decided that everything was o.k. and that there was nothing to ticket us for, and were on there way. The one officer says, "Well, it looks like you have everything under control." Petronio and I looked at eachother and began to laugh. We most certainly didn't have anything under control, but the one who does loves us and so everything would be alright. Back on the road. I dropped Hna. Ariceli off in Vacaville around 5 a.m. God poured out His mercies upon us the entire trip.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Pastor Dave goofing off, just sitting around doing nothing...and in the second shot he's made a friend.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the aminals on the ranch, and on the Uhaul. I believe that the horse standing next to Hno. Paul is named Judas. The story goes that Pastor Juan tried to ride this horse and the horse had other plans. They can't seem to get the chickens to lay eggs.

Misson to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

These are just a couple of pics from the Komiai Indian Reservation just outside of Tecate. We were blessed to spend time with these very hospitable and kind people.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the clinic at the ranch in El Hongo. All told we ministered to over 40 souls.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

These photos show the dental clinic at work in El Valle de Las Palmas; which is south of Tecate on Hwy. 3. We were able to minister exams, cleanings, and fluoride treatments to all of the kids at this orphanage named "Casa Celestial". We handed out tooth brushes, paste, and floss to all of the kids.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the missionaries as they stand on a ridge above the ranch; which can be seen in the background. From left to right, Petronio, Silvia, Ariceli, and Patt.

Mission to El Hongo 20070524

2007-06-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

La Iglesia de Jehova Shalom recently sponsored a short term mission to El Hongo, Baja California North, Mexico. The purpose of the mission was to share the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ through fellowship, the sharing of His Word, and the administration of a dental clinic. The sanctuary in this picture is the latest addition to the ranch.