Messages of Hope
We entered the last set of large metals doors and heard the clang of the closing door, followed by the jingle of keys and finally the click as the lock fell into place. It was my first day back in the prison after being gone for the month of September. Excitement pulsed through my veins. And then I saw her, Official Erica. She’s the toughest, meanest, strictest guard I know. She comes complete with hair cropped short, eyes of steel and to make her look more menacing; she’s dressed in military garb. But wait, there was something different today. Official Erica greeted our Prison Ministry team with a smile. I was blown away! God is changing her heart through prayer. When she used to lead the shifts in the prison “Our Girls” looked down trodden and fearful. Today her jokes and smiles brought great joy to our Prison Ministry team and “Our Girls” as we gathered together. Maybe one day official Erica will come to know Jesus who can help set her free from her hurts, habits and hang-ups. Keep her in your prayers.
Our Girls opening the event with worship
In October we hosted a retreat at the prison for “Our Girls”. No, we didn’t spend the night! We did the event with some amazing worship led by "Our Girls" and then heard from some powerful speakers sharing incredible messages of hope about a God that loves us so much that He calls us His children. Some of “Our Girls” didn’t have fathers as they were growing up to show them love. Learning about the unconditional love of a Father and finding out He has a purpose in making our lives worthwhile, purposeful and meaningful was a new concept for many. Please pray that the truths shared will penetrate the hearts of those that heard these powerful messages.
Deanna shares about the Father Heart of God
Sara shares about the gifts and talents God gives his children
The day was marvelous! In addition to the dynamic speakers our team performed a powerful skit, distributed crafts, served a luncheon and handed out personal gifts bags to each inmate on the way back to their cells. “Our Girls” are so thankful to the many that sent personal gift bag donations from churches in Canada. Our Prison Ministry team was so thankful for the volunteers that graciously took part in making the Retreat event a great success.
Volunteers Alejandra and Sandra were a great blessing to our Prison Ministry Team in numerous ways
Rod and I are very excited to be back in Mexico jumping back into the ministries God has allowed us to take part in. Rod has graciously taken on the position of leading the Celebrate Recovery Program in Calvary Chapel Rosarito (our home church in Mexico). Our church body was at a mere 40 people when we first attended in the spring of 2004. Today it has nearly 1,500 attendees. Needless to say, there are probably a few that will benefit from the CR program. We are blessed to have a great team of folks joining us in training, preparing to launch the CR program in January 2014. Keep us in your prayers!
Dedicated leaders helping start Celebrate Recovery in Calvary Chapel Rosarito
Please also pray for the Rosarito Outreach Center as we invite churches, groups, and individuals to partner with us in accomplishing a new project. This project is a 55' x 70' steel building that will be a huge blessing for teams, local churches, and more. It will house our new indoor dining hall and chapel, which will seat about 200 people at tables or over 300 in chairs. This building will provide a warm, dry place for teams to gather and eat meals (they eat outside on picnic tables at present). It will also give us more opportunities to host larger groups, hold retreats and conferences, and more. If you know of a team that wants to come and help us build, fell free to contact us.
