A dry, diverse fourth

Two words I think of regarding the fourth of July in Southern California:
1) Dry. Today marks the end of the “weather year,” and it will go down as the driest year since they started keeping records in the 1880s. 3.21 inches of rain fell in downtown LA in the last 12 months. Dry = nervous, very nervous about fireworks.
2) Diverse. Last night Kristalyn and I saw a high school band performing at a local mall. Before they started, five people introduced the band in five different languages. I went to a youth basketball game this morning, and probably 10% of the players/fans were Caucasians.

Church Camping Trip

Just got back from our first (soon to be annual?) church camping trip. I think it was healthy for our church family. Hopefully soon we’ll have a bunch of pictures we can post. Time to go try to get clean …

Crossing Relationship Rivers

In adult Bible study this week we talked about “crossing relationship rivers.” We have relationships with nonChristians that we’ve known for years – yet we have never shared the gospel why? This was a practical attempt to help us understand the “rivers” that scare us, and keep our relationships from developing. The people in our church family have been praying for specific nonChristians: so we used this chart to help them think about those specific relationships, and what rivers need to be crossed. Here’s the handout:

The family

Team Building

I would appreciate your prayers for several people that are considering the possibility of coming to be part of the team here. As mentioned earlier Mike Huguet moved out a week ago. We are really excited to have him on board. But in the past two weeks I’ve been in communication with three other couples who are seriously considering coming to Menifee. These big decisions for young families, especially as they wrestle with the financial uncertainties.
We don’t know what God is up to, but we are excited about continuing to reach and build people here while pressing forward toward another church plant when the Lord allows!