A Small House with a Huge Purpose

After being in Bakersfield we were able to spend a night with another family that have been faithful friends and supporters for over 20 years ever since we were all single and their church would come down and serve with us at Rancho Agua Viva.

Now they live in Orange County and have a very innovative and quality remodeling business called Black Diamond Builders. http://www.blackdiamondbuilders.com/

This year for the first time they built a home to be donated to an organization that benefits the homeless. http://www.projectplayhouse.org/ Not only that, along with the architect, the interior designer and the rest of the team, they built a house that honors those who were devastated by the tsunami in Sri Lanka just a few years ago. So this is a small house in size, but a huge house in purpose.

So here are J. Steele and David in front of this work of art and labor of love. And any of you who can get to the Irvine Spectrum in Orange County before September 12 can see this playhouse, along with the other eight creations Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 6 pm.

Here's to good friends, and good home and Kingdom builders!!
Thanks J. and Cheri

Good Food and Good Friends

In our busy lives it seems like there is never enough time to connect with all the people who are important to us. A little pocket of time and a few hours of driving allowed us the gift of visiting with friends who are also faithful supporters and very significant parts of our lives and ministry. In being together we had the opportunity to give them an update about what God is teaching us and doing in our lives and the work here, as well as share in some of the trials, challenges and victories these friends are experiencing as well.

We have known Steve and Linda Boyle and Doug and Dena Carter for the past seven years. God brought them into our lives and they have been the conduits through which individuals and families from both sides of the border (and literally around the world) have become united in faith, friendship and fellowship. In addition they have become like family as we have shared life, ministry and lots of time together.

So here we are after a delicious dinner at a favorite Bakersfield eatery enjoying the gift of good food and good friends and looking forward to the next time we can all be together.

Gym Encounters

For as long as I've known David (that is for over 20 years now!) he has loved to run and to go to the gym. Every morning he gets up around 5 a.m. and is at the gym by 6. Besides the satisfaction of the physical discipline and the health benefits, in the last year there has been an added bonus to this daily routine--he has developed some significant relationships with a few guys there.

Now besides seeing each other early each morning, several of them have gone out to breakfast various times where they have been able to touch on deeper topics that involve their jobs, their families, their worries and concerns and also spiritual themes. One man especially at these meals always asks David to share something. This week it was his illustration of the "tres circulos", (three circles, as he refers to it), that creatively illustrates our three-part reality as human beings--body, soul and spirit.

In response to David's words, this man assured him that he has been contemplating this very reality lately, especially after a freak bicycle accident resulted in hospitalization and emergency surgery, and one of his close friends and business associates was murdered recently in Tijuana. One never knows when the seeds we sow will fall on fertile soil.

Please pray for David and for these teachable moments and softened hearts at the local gym.

Women's Retreat Life Changing

During the weekend of July 9-11 women from Bakersfield and Ensenada (along with two from Chula Vista and one from Tijuana) met once again for the annual B&B Retreat. This time the talks were titled the "Spirit of Fear" and "Faith the Antidote to Fear" taken from 2 Timothy 1:7.

We learned that most of the emotions we struggle with like worry, concern, doubt and the like, come directly from the spirit of fear and that does not come from God. We also learned that faith comes from God, we can ask for more of it and just a little bit of it can move mountains.

As we met in small groups the last evening, we shared where fear most manifests itself in each of our lives and prayed for one another. There were some powerful breakthroughs as we began to identify the root of fear in areas of our lives and realized that God can help us to overcome them and be free.

We are already looking forward to our next retreat February 2010 in Ensenada!

Service Project is a Dream come True

As we reflected on the completion of our project after 14 hours of work, we were amazed on all that was accomplished, on the wonderful group of friends that had come alongside us to share the load, and on the realization that this was truly a dream come true.

The name CAME is likely familiar to most of you. It is the initials for the family crisis center where we volunteer doing counseling and helping with the fund raising. It means Center for the Support of Ensenada Women, but truly everyone, men, women, children and teenagers, receive help for their problems and needs there.

Giving the Center a face lift through cleaning, painting, pulling weeds and planting flowers, was definitely part of the satisfaction we felt. But it was the community that came alongside that caused us to reflect on everything God has been doing to answer our prayers and accomplish His purposes.

One of the desires that we shared as we began working with leaders in the Ensenada community years ago was that as they give their lives to follow Jesus, He would give them a heart for the things that touch the heart of God—namely the poor and needy--and that they would commit to investing their time, talents and resources to loving those neighbors. We saw this in action that day.

Another joy was to see the body of Christ join together to serve in a practical way in His name. Whole families worked together side by side. The ages of the volunteers spanned from seven to 72! Representatives from seven Reflejo families were present and two even came from north of the border. One of Karen’s patients at the center took her grandkids and worked alongside the rest of us all day as well.

The same group of people met together the following day in a local picnic spot for our monthly gathering with Reflejo for a time of fellowship and fun as families. One family came for the first time. We are so grateful to God for our family here.

photos by Daniel Meza