Mexico Missions Week

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to share with you some of the pictures from Missions Week when we went to La Gloria, Mexico with the Calvary Chapel Christian School kids. We also would like to tell you a little bit about what the Lord did each day.

Day 1- The team worked on a tire wall to reinforce the hillside against landslides to protect the home and family of a local woman, named Carmen. While constructing the tire wall, some of the girls got the opportunity to play with Carmen's children and to learn to how to make a traditional Mexican Meal(yum! Homemade tortillas!).

Day 2- The team went on a scavenger hunt in a local Mexican Supermarket. They were given a list of items in Spanish and were only allowed to ask the locals for help to find the items. It was so much fun!

That night we all participated in a Bible study that takes place at the base weekly. The Calvary Chapel kids presented a drama and some puppet shows for the children and parents attending the study. Afterward, they were able to give the items they had collected on the scavenger hunt to a few local families while playing with the kids.

Day 3-The team set out early to serve at a bathing clinic held by Spectrum Ministries, in Tijuana. At the clinic, local boys were able to get baths and new clothes, and little girls were able to get their hair and feet washed, and new clothes as well. Parents were able to get fresh vegetables, and there were haircuts for all. We got to help with the bathing, as well as face painting and playing games with the kids (they are really good at soccer).

Day 4-In the morning we worked on the base, helping to construct the beginning phases of a basketball court, as well as planted flowers and weeded. In the afternoon, each team member was assigned a child from the after school program, and we all went to a museum and a 3D movie! For some of the children, it was their first movie theater experience ever! It was such a blessing to have one on one time with all the sweet kids.

The trip was such a blessing! It was awesome to see the high school kids minister and even see our new home-to-be. We look forward to sending you more pictures after we officially move on March 24th!

We can hardly believe we're moving in less than 2 weeks; praise God for His faithfulness!

We love you all, thank you so much for your prayer and support. Hopefully we'll get to see some of you tonight at our commissioning at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley.


Talk to you soon! Please email us with any questions or prayer requests.

Love and God Bless,
Brennan and Angelina

 

A Belated Update :)

Hello everyone!

We just wanted to update you all on what's been going on since our last blog post... a lot! The Lord has blessed us with an awesome Christmas, a beautiful wedding( yay, we love being married!), and the opportunity to serve at our home church here in Las Vegas while raising support for Mexico. We're praying that these first months of 2010 have been a blessing for you all as well :).

While here in Las Vegas, it has been such a blessing to serve at CC Spring Valley. The Lord has really been stretching us by giving us the opportunity to serve in different ministries at the church. Angelina has been helping wherever needed, whether it be in the childrens' ministry, accounting, or at the front desk, and Brennan has been serving on the facilities crew learning a lot of new things like patching roofs and fixing toilets. It has really been such an awesome experience for us both and we're excited to see how the Lord may use all the things He has been teaching us(maybe there will be roofs and toilets needing to be fixed in our near future? :D We can't wait to see!)

 

(Update: We did actually have to fix our toilet at home! Thanks Lord :D)

Praise God! We're still moving forward with the plans to move to La Gloria, Mexico in mid-March, and in the next few weeks we are so excited to get to be part of a trip there that the Calvary Chapel Christian School is taking for their missions week. We can't wait to update you all with pictures and stories of what the Lord is currently doing there. 

During this short trip we will actually be staying where we hope to be living soon- at the Calvary Chapel Training Center in La Gloria. If God wills, in mid-March we will moving there to serve as students, learning how to eventually direct the base ourselves. The current ministries at CCTC include housing and planning for the short-term teams, providing space for churches and Bible studies, and facilitating an after school program for children where they can get help with homework, have a small meal and, most importantly, learn about Jesus. We're so excited for the blessing it will be to be a part of what the Lord is doing there and to get to know the children and people of Mexico.

We are still praying, however, for those whom God has prepared to send us. While the most valuable support is prayer, there is a need for a certain number of people to give $10, $15, $20 or more a month to support us as we seek to do His work. This will fund our living on the base and ministering while in Mexico. Please pray for His guidance and our obedience to His will for which we know and trust that He is so faithful to provide.

Love you all and God Bless,

Brennan and Angelina

(this picture is at one of Spring Valley's awesome home fellowships :D)

1 Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

"Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." - Bishop Phillips Brooks

Hi everyone,

We can hardly believe that it has already been four months since we began the Global Impact Program here in Montana, and already this Friday we'll be heading home to Las Vegas. We're so grateful for the amazing blessing from the Lord that our time here has been. This has been such a time of growth in Him. We're so excited to be a part of His plan!

This last month we focused on the historical perspective of missions work. It's so amazing to study the lives of the “great cloud of witnesses” that have gone before us. Men like David from the Bible or William Carey in India, Pioneers like Hudson Taylor or Cameron Townsend- these are men who have all seen the faithfulness of God and His love for His people.

Something so precious about our Heavenly Father is His care for each lost sheep. We want to have that same yearning in our own hearts to see every people group reconciled to Him, and we know that He can and will reach out to them. What an awesome thing it will be in Heaven to see every nation speaking in every language praising the Lord before His throne! Our prayer is that we would all live our lives helping to fulfill this beautiful picture.

Outside of the classroom this week, you'll never guess what we learned- electrical wiring! (That's what you were going to guess right?) One of the awesome staff members here- Billy Greel- taught us how to theoretically wire an entire house. Then we got to put it into practice by wiring our own power outlets, light switches, and light fixtures. We're excited to see how the Lord will use this in the future. If you would like us to wire your house, let us know (just kidding).

Saying goodbye here has been so difficult, especially leaving the children's ministry at CC Whitefish. It was a blessing this last month to be able to help them with their Christmas choir and to teach our little kindergarten Sunday school class. We're going to miss them SO much! The thing that makes it easier is to know that we leave them in the capable hands of Jesus who loves them so much more than anyone else ever could.

Yesterday, was our commissioning from Potter's Field Ranch. Every month God has been so faithful to provide for us to be here, and it's so incredible to see how He is using this program to send out so many missionaries. While it is so difficult for us to leave, it's funny to think that the whole purpose of this program is to teach interns to “GO!” We're excited to go on to what the Lord has next for us.

In Him,
Brennan and Angelina

"To reach people that no one is reaching you have to do things that no one is doing.”

 Hello Everyone!
The past two weeks have been lots of fun and full of some really cool experiences and teachings. This month of the program is devoted to the Biblical perspective of missions work and has taken us on a journey throughout all the times in the Bible where the Lord has commanded His people to "Go!" out of their comfort zones to shine His light. How awesome it is to have a God who is the Missionary God!

During this time we've had more interns come into the program, and seven leave to start their required missions practicum. For three, that meant staying here as senders(Sean, Sarah, and Jay), two were sent to the field right away(Patrina and Alex) and have safely arrived in the Phillipines, and two are here at the ranch preparing to go to El Salvador(Andy and Riley). Please keep them all in your prayers as they seek to serve and fulfill the Lord's call on their lives. Every October 31st, there's nothing more fun than the Calvary Chapel Whitefish Harvest Festival! The interns were asked to serve by dressing up like farmers and manning all of the games- giving candy liberally to all the participants.

 Angelina and I had the pleasure of running the cake walk, and, let me tell you, there's nothing more hilarious than watching a child's face light up as you hand them an entire homemade cake as a prize. The event ended with a Gospel presentation, a hayride, and plenty of hot chocolate for everyone. I wonder if any of those sugar-loaded kids got any sleep that night!

 This week my past experience in El Salvador came in handy when Michelle Cunningham, one of our ranch chefs (the most wonderful chef in the world), gave us the opportunity to teach her how to make the famous El Salvadoran "pupusas". Ms. Michelle has cooked so many delicious meals over the past months, how could we refuse? With my lovely assistant, Angelina, I tried my hand at making them. The results were eight lovely pupusas (well... the "gringo" version). To be honest, I wasn't sure that they'd turn out right, but by the grace of God, they were delicious and so much fun. 

 Note: Michelle wouldn't let us take her picture, but this is her with a paper plate face.

Last weekend Creationfest came to Montana and we were so grateful to Pastor David Halan of CC Whitefish for providing all the interns with tickets. Creationfest is the nation's largest Christian music festival, and it included rock bands from FM Statik to Audio Unplugged to Jars of Clay. During their performance, the band leaders from Audio Unplugged (formerly Audio Adrenline) taught the Gospel message, and there were hundreds who raised their hands to accept Jesus into their lives! There was also a huge emphasis on missions work all around the world. Praise God for all the people who are so dedicated to the task of reaching our nation's youth through music!

 We can hardly believe that we only have five more weeks left as
interns here at Pottersfield Ranch. At this halfway point we're
praying that God would continue to grow and teach us what it means to
live like Jesus lived, always evaluating life in the light of
eternity.

 We hope that you're all blessed and are making plans to spend the
upcoming holidays with your families. Thank you again so much for
your prayer, its truly invaluable and means so much to us. Please
know that we would love for you to email us with any prayer requests
that you have.

Love you all and God bless!
Brennan and Angelina

"Missions is not what we do, but who we are." - Pastor John Michaels

Hello Everyone!

God bless you all! We really hope that you've enjoyed these past couple of months! We can't believe that two months have already passed since we first came up to Montana! Before we know it, it will be December and we'll have graduated from the Impact Program. There's not enough space in all the blogs in the world to write down all of the things we've learned and experienced even just so far! 

I know it's hard to believe it, but it is possible to take 12 interns and 2 staff members, corral them into a 15-passenger van, and drive from Whitefish, Montana to Las Vegas, Nevada. I would say that there are only a handful of reasons why you would even attempt something like that, and the best one is the annual Send the Message Conference. 

The conference was an enormous blessing! One by one men of God from all over the world took the pulpit to challenge our perspective on God's Great Commission,  we were so blessed to have the opportunity to serve and take notes! My personal favorites were Pastor Don McClure's study of Abraham as a missionary and David Guzik's teaching on the main job of the missionary to "draw out the faith" in people. Potter's Field Ranch blessed us beyond what we could ever ask by even considering to transport us all half-way across the country at no additional cost to us, in faith that the Lord would speak to each and every one of us about His plan for His world. 

For our outreach this week we got the honor and the pleasure of serving at the Whitefish Christian Academy auction. The auction was in support of  the students and families of Flathead valley to make tuition for the school more affordable for all. Since the school's curriculum is Bible-based, they receive no funding from the government, so they annually hold a banquet and auction to lower the cost to attend. This formal event was a major outreach for donations and resources for the wonderful work of the school, and the dinner was run completely by volunteers which meant a huge weight lifted off of the shoulders of the school's administration.

The event was very professionally done and very beautifully decorated. For us, the event meant white shirts, black pants, smiles, filled water glasses, and learning how to properly fold a napkin. God blessed it so much even though the majority of us had never waitered or served food in our lives! One of the volunteers accidentally dropped a small "fingerling" potato onto the floor which then proceeded to bounce into a lady's purse! He quickly informed the lady of the incident and she laughed and laughed.

In reality, after everything that we learned about food service and professional dining, what a blessing it is just to serve the Lord! My prayer is that He would accept everything we did as a pleasing sacrifice to Him, as we strive to do every task set before us for Him. 

New "Meet the People" Section:

For your entertainment and to honor some of our fellow workers we've decided to include a biography section entitled "meet the people". Because we don't want to bore you with our lives, we would like to introduce you to some of our friends.

Name: Halley Marie Trestain aka "Hales"
From: Cheboygan, Michigan
Position: Head of the Potter's Field Ranch kitchen
Began: As a Potter's Field Ranch student in 2006; taught 1st and 2nd Grade at Christian School for two years then returned.
Favorite Thing about Working Here: The students.
Goals in Life: To know the Scripture more/ exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit more
Vision: To one day have her own ranch where girls who had never had a real home could come to be restored.
 Her Message:  Finish the race, persevere, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.
Prayer Requests: Stress relief; a change of heart. Her deep desire is to love other people the way that God loves them. She wants to see other people through His eyes.

 God bless you all! Please know that you're all in our prayers! 

We love you!

Brennan and Angelina

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them"- Ephesians 2:8-10

Hi everybody, hope that you're having such a blessed week!  It seems like it was just yesterday that Brennan and I wrote last, time here seems to pass so quickly. Especially this week I think because we had a different schedule than usual. Since our focus this module is on Cross-Cultural Missions, it seems that we were extra- blessed because in the mornings we got to go through the book of Nehemiah with Pastor Don McClure, and in the afternoons we got to really get in depth with Pastor John Michaels about making sense of different cultural worldviews in a practical way and applying it to missions work.

It always blows my mind how incredible and alive God's word is and it was amazing to see how He spoke to all of our hearts so clearly through the book of Nehemiah.  Brennan and I have been praying about what the Lord would have us do next after completing this internship; and we can really relate to Nehemiah as he was fasting and praying for the walls of Jerusalem to be built. We feel that the Lord has called us to Mexico, and we are praying and fasting for His vision and provision. While we pray that He would make His plan clear to us, we also are praying for obedience and that we would trust Him completely. It's so encouraging that we never have to ask, "Are we able to do this?" because, when it's the Lord's investment, the answer is always yes. Our prayer is that we will truly internalize and trust that He can and will qualify and shape us for His work to bring Him glory.

Outside of the classroom this week, we were really blessed to be able to serve at the Harvest Festival for the Lighthouse Christian Home.

Lighthouse Christian Home is a non profit organization here in Montana that provides life long care for adults with developmental disabilities. Since they are a Christian organization, they do not receive any governmental funding, and have a couple of fundraisers annually to support their home.  We were truly blessed to get to work with them, running their games for the festival, and helping to raise support for the awesome work they do as they extend their arms out to people on Christ's behalf.

Recently one of our pastors asked us a basic question, but it was so moving to us, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" Because we do, we understand how urgent it is to share His love to the ends of the Earth. I pray that our hearts would all be so broken for the lost, and that God would strike an incredible urgency in us to tell others about Him. We are so excited that next week at this time we'll be in Las Vegas for the Send the Message conference. Please pray with us that hearts will be stirred to attend and opened to the Lord's call and plan for each and every life.

God bless you all, See you soon,

Love,

Angelina

First Month at Potter's Field

 

                                                                                                                                                                              

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the new blog set up for Angelina and me! We've just finished our first month of the Potter's Field Ranch Global Impact program in Montana. The Lord has really blessed us to be able to come here and serve as interns, learning about how to spread the love of Jesus all over the world! Thank you all so much for your prayer and support. The lessons that we are learning here have been really life-changing, and we know the Lord is truly growing us and equipping us for His plan.

 

This last month has gone by so fast! During the week we have classes in the morning taught by different pastors from all over the US. The teachings are generally based on international missions work, and each month is a different theme; this month's was missions strategy. In the afternoon, we have jobs assigned to us that bless us and really challenge us as well. Angelina's job is in hospitality where she gets to clean and clean and clean. Its really cool because they try to use products that can be found inexpensively, everywhere in the world-- which means they use vinegar and water to clean almost everything. I work in facilities where I'm learning how to do everything from chopping wood, to shucking hay, to fixing things around the property. We are praying that the Lord would use this time to really expand our work ethic and to mold us into better servants of Him.

 During the weekends, we are so blessed to be involved with different outreaches, and on Sundays Angelina and I are involved in the children's ministry at Calvary Chapel Whitefish. We started out doing the puppet ministry, but recently we received the blessing of being able to substitute teach in the kindergarten class which was an awesome experience! The kids are so sweet, and we pray that the love of God would transform their lives.

One of the greatest lessons that the Lord has shared with us this last week is communicating better with all of you we love so much back home. Prayerfully, we are working on getting a hard copy newsletter together that we would be able to mail to everyone. Anyone who would specifically appreciate a newsletter with pictures and prayer requests, etc. please email us your mailing address. We're also planning to update this blog weekly with all the Lord is doing and how He is moving and training us here.    

It's absolutely gorgeous here in Montana, and it's such a reminder that the Lord is an artist! Not only has He made this beautiful world, but He has given us each a purpose that glorifies Him in the most beautiful way. Our prayer is that all of us would always be fully surrendered to Him and to His will every day of our lives!

 I Love you, and God bless you!

Brennan