TESTIMONIES

“He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.” (Psalm 78:13-14)   If there was one word to sum up what God is doing in the Gathering Table ministry lately, it is:  breakthrough. This is the word I (Jeff) left with after our Pop-Up dinner this past Sunday evening, as my Kristy wife and I reflected on what God was doing during a simple meal that brings people together from all over our community, to share our lives and stories with each other and the hope of Jesus. Here are some highlights, of some things that we see God doing recently in and through this ministry: -first and foremost, the gospel is being preached to the lost. Thank you Jesus! We are seeing God draw the unreached and gospel seeds being planted. -God has blessed us with an amazing team of people to help plan and implement the Pop-Up dinners every other month. We are currently having team meetings on the “off months” between the dinners. -we had our first translated testimony shared at the August dinner. This was spontaneous, as an older lady who speaks Spanish shared her testimony being translated by someone on our team. This could open the door for future bi-lingual outreach through the dinners. -the Bible study with the bee keeping and Veterans is going really well, and I think God might be starting something that may be a lasting ministry outreach to this community of Veterans, where there is a great need for the hope of Jesus. -we were recently blessed with over $1,000 of bee keeping boxes and equipment for free. Yes, this was a crazy unplanned blessing, which opens the door for possible expansion of the bee hives from 20 to around 30 hive next year. God is amazing! This is probably really only scratching the surface of what He is doing. We are humbled, especially in the light of how much of this year has been us being in a posture of waiting on the Lord (read our previous updates on Go Mission for more about that), and now we are seeing God’s hand move in power and wisdom as the ministry is starting to see momentum moving forward. All of the bullets points above are things that we need prayer for covering, guidance and wisdom as we move forward as a ministry. That the lost would continue to hear and receive the message of the Cross, our team would continue to grow and expand, and the Lord’s guidance and protection in general. We encounter some very real spiritual warfare with the dinners, because they are missional and outreach based. The devil doesn’t want the message of the Cross to reach the hearts of the lost. But our God is greater!   Pictures: 1) the table set for the Aug dinner at Papa’s Place in Old Town Clovis 2) we just added honey boxes to each of the bee keeping apprenticeship hives 3-6) highlights from the apprenticeship, we meet every other Saturday morning starting off with a Bible study together in an awesome car shop on the property before we check the hives together 7) a FULL load of bee boxes and equipment that the Lord blessed the ministry with in July.

Being a Bridge   Part of the Summer Internship Program was partnering with a local ministry to serve and bless them. It was also an opportunity for the interns to practice putting together an outreach, casting vision, and inviting others to join them in it! We had the opportunity to partner with University Vineyard Church to help run the Missional Outreach portion of a youth leadership camp called "Project Timothy," which brought together 50 youth from churches all across California. The goal of the outreach portion of the camp was to give the students a chance to help plan an outreach, serve their community, and practice sharing the love of Jesus. Leading up to the camp, the interns spent time praying about what the outreach could look like and came away with three potential outreaches: City Center, Poverello House, and Treasure Hunting (an evangelism activity we learned from our friends at Mountain View Church). These were all ministries or outreaches we had partnered with or participated in earlier during the internship. The interns paired off and created an outline for each outreach. When the camp arrived, each pair presented the outreach opportunities, and the youth got to choose which one they wanted to help plan and execute! The interns then helped guide the planning conversations, prayed with the youth, and led the outreach day.   Interns Presenting the Outreach Options at Project Timothy!   Each Youth student prayed about which outreach they should help with, then took a sticky note with their name and stuck it on the board!   Each pair did an incredible job presenting and shepherding their outreach, leading with confidence and relying on Jesus! The youth came back from their outreaches having had meaningful conversations that led to praying for people, opportunities to bless the community, and new ideas for how they could do something similar in their own local areas. The interns modeled for these youth kids, that they aren’t too young to do the things God has set before them to do!  One of the volunteer leaders for the youth camp, had shared with us that God had already been putting it on her heart, to go and serve at the Poverello House. She was able to go be a part of that outreach day with the youth and since, has gathered a group of other young people in her church to go serve together! The youth camp facilitators also needed help leading a "Girls and Guys Day," where they split the students up to have conversations around God's heart for love, relationships, and sexuality. Because of GoMission.Church's relationship with The Hope Team at Pregnancy Care Center, we were able to connect University Vineyard with The Hope Team so they could come and share on these topics.   Emily and Dorthy from Pregnancy Care Center's Hope Team presenting the "Girls Day" at Project Timothy!   After partnering with University Vineyard for the youth camp, we realized we were being a bridge between this local church and three local ministries! It was amazing to step back and see the Lord using us to engage the people of God at University Vineyard with the mission of God in our local area, for His glory.  We feel really blessed to be getting to serve the local church in this way, and are thankful for those of you who are partnering in prayer and financially. Please continue to pray with us, over the interns… that they would now also get to be a bridge between their local churches and local ministries!      Want to learn more about the three ministries we partnered with? Click the links below! City Center -  https://citycenterfresno.org/ Poverello House - https://poverellohouse.org/ Pregnancy Care Center - https://pregnancycarecenter.com/ The Hope Team at Pregancy Care Center - https://www.instagram.com/hopeforfresno/  

Being a Bridge   Part of the Summer Internship Program was partnering with a local ministry to serve and bless them. It was also an opportunity for the interns to practice putting together an outreach, casting vision, and inviting others to join them in it! We had the opportunity to partner with University Vineyard Church to help run the Missional Outreach portion of a youth leadership camp called "Project Timothy," which brought together 50 youth from churches all across California. The goal of the outreach portion of the camp was to give the students a chance to help plan an outreach, serve their community, and practice sharing the love of Jesus. Leading up to the camp, the interns spent time praying about what the outreach could look like and came away with three potential outreaches: City Center, Poverello House, and Treasure Hunting (an evangelism activity we learned from our friends at Mountain View Church). These were all ministries or outreaches we had partnered with or participated in earlier during the internship. The interns paired off and created an outline for each outreach. When the camp arrived, each pair presented the outreach opportunities, and the youth got to choose which one they wanted to help plan and execute! The interns then helped guide the planning conversations, prayed with the youth, and led the outreach day.   Interns Presenting the Outreach Options at Project Timothy!   Each Youth student prayed about which outreach they should help with, then took a sticky note with their name and stuck it on the board!   Each pair did an incredible job presenting and shepherding their outreach, leading with confidence and relying on Jesus! The youth came back from their outreaches having had meaningful conversations that led to praying for people, opportunities to bless the community, and new ideas for how they could do something similar in their own local areas. The interns modeled for these youth kids, that they aren’t too young to do the things God has set before them to do!  One of the volunteer leaders for the youth camp, had shared with us that God had already been putting it on her heart, to go and serve at the Poverello House. She was able to go be a part of that outreach day with the youth and since, has gathered a group of other young people in her church to go serve together! The youth camp facilitators also needed help leading a "Girls and Guys Day," where they split the students up to have conversations around God's heart for love, relationships, and sexuality. Because of GoMission.Church's relationship with The Hope Team at Pregnancy Care Center, we were able to connect University Vineyard with The Hope Team so they could come and share on these topics.   Emily and Dorthy from Pregnancy Care Center's Hope Team presenting the "Girls Day" at Project Timothy!   After partnering with University Vineyard for the youth camp, we realized we were being a bridge between this local church and three local ministries! It was amazing to step back and see the Lord using us to engage the people of God at University Vineyard with the mission of God in our local area, for His glory.  We feel really blessed to be getting to serve the local church in this way, and are thankful for those of you who are partnering in prayer and financially. Please continue to pray with us, over the interns… that they would now also get to be a bridge between their local churches and local ministries!      Want to learn more about the three ministries we partnered with? Click the links below! City Center -  https://citycenterfresno.org/ Poverello House - https://poverellohouse.org/ Pregnancy Care Center - https://pregnancycarecenter.com/ The Hope Team at Pregancy Care Center - https://www.instagram.com/hopeforfresno/

Spreading the Gospel of Christ “We sent you Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ…” (1 Thessalonians 3:2) The work and ministry of Timothy, one of the early church leaders and apprentice of Paul, was to spread the gospel of Christ. And this is still the “work” of the church today, including the Gathering Table ministry. Last month, we had the joy of getting to share this good news (gospel) about Jesus with 10 people during the June Pop-Up Dinner in Old Town Clovis. If you are not familiar with these dinners, we host dinners every other month in our community as a way for the community to come together, share our stories with each other, and ultimately speak the hope of Jesus in the dark, broken, hopeless places. The goal of the dinners is not to just “fill” the table, but to make space for people to come who God might be drawing. It is a lot of fun as we partner with the Holy Spirit in what he is doing in people’s lives. But this is also easier said than done, especially when it requires us to wait on the Lord and not get ahead of him. For whatever reason, we were not seeing very many people sign up for the June dinner. Last year almost every dinner was packed to the limit of 20 people, with most of the dinners having a waitlist if any spots opened up last minute. This “slow down” could be because we had a short pause on the dinners earlier this year (see our previous posts to see why). A week out from the June dinner, we only had 6-7 confirmed guests, which included a few of those helping with the dinners. Our natural urge was to promote, promote, promote and simply fill the table with people. We didn’t want the dinner to “fail” or “flop”! But we were reminded of who the dinners are for - God’s glory and his plans, not our own. Ultimately the dinners are for spreading the gospel, not filling tables. So we sat on it (no pun intended), doing nothing different than our normal promoting of the dinner and trying to keep in step with the Holy Spirit on any personal invites for the dinner. The day of the dinner we had 9 confirmed spots. While it wasn’t the 15-20 we have grown used to, we knew that those coming were who God wanted to be there, so we called it good and set one extra seat for a total of 10 in case there were any last minute guests. Wouldn’t you know, God had a plan for that extra seat! About one hour before the dinner, with everything set and ready, a man walked into the venue, that was closed, thinking the restaurant was opened, and asked if he could have a glass of water (we typically do these dinners “after hours” or during days when the venue or restaurant is closed to the public). I told him sure I’d be happy to, remembering Jesus’s words of ”I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” (Matthew 25:35), where he spoke of showing kindness and mercy to those in need. As we talked, it quickly became apparent that this man was likely homeless or in between homes, and that it was not his first time asking for water at this venue. (That’s another story) It became quite clear to me that the one extra seat at the table was for this man. No surprise that the theme for this dinner and the context in which the people’s stories and the gospel that would be shared was “belonging.” And here came in a man who likely felt like he didn’t belong, yet God ordained a seat at the table for him. What a beautiful picture of the gospel of Christ! That Jesus became a man and died for us who were outcasts because of our sin that separated us from our holy God, so that we can now belong to God as sons and daughters, co-heirs with Christ of his glorious kingdom. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The message for that man that night, and the good news for all of us, is that Jesus took our place on the Cross for the payment of our sins, so that we might be given the right-standing (righteousness) with God that he purchased for us in Christ. There is nothing we have to do to earn it, we just receive God’s beautiful gift of grace by faith. In Christ, we belong to God. That is the gospel! The good news that we get the privilege of spreading at each of these Pop-Up Dinners. Next time we hope to share about the bee keeping apprenticeship and what God is doing there! Thank you for your prayers and support.

This past June we celebrated not only the completion of an important academic milestone, but also the incredible journey that brought May and Rhonda to this moment. During their time at GFL, they have grown into confident, determined, and resilient young women who embraced every opportunity to learn, overcome challenges, and support those around them. Their time at Learn4Life has been marked by hard work, perseverance, and personal growth. They have demonstrated what it means to stay committed to their goals while developing the skills, confidence, and character that will continue to serve them well in the future. Watching them grow into the remarkable individuals they are today has been an honor, and their accomplishments reflect the dedication they have shown every step of the way. This fall, May and Rhonda will begin an exciting new chapter as they attend Fresno State. As they continue their education and pursue their dreams, we know they will bring the same determination, curiosity, and resilience that helped them succeed at Learn4Life. We are incredibly proud of everything May and Rhonda have accomplished and grateful to have been part of their journey. Congratulations on this well-deserved achievement! We can't wait to see all that you accomplish at Fresno State and beyond. Your future is bright, and this is only the beginning.

Hello everyone amazing update in Thailand!!!There was just a massive Christian gathering on the beach of Thailand’s largest sex tourism district and had so many people getting Saved & Baptized. God is moving so much here!!!!!Praying that it’s not translation error but it was claimed 800 people in total were either saved or baptized!!!!!Thai people are seeing Jesus now more than ever and I have been hearing people are curious about Christianity excited to see and hear more!!!!

Preparing in the Present We are off to a great start to the summer, with our church’s youth being sent out to Argentina, the GoMission.Church Internship, and some exciting ways we are getting to practically prepare for what God has ahead of us!    Youth group trip to Argentina Our church just sent out a team of youth to visit the church partners in Argentina! They will be gone for two weeks, serving and ministering to the church communities in three different cities. We are so expectant that the Lord will move in and through this group of young people. Click here to read daily updates from the youth, during their trip!   GoMission Summer Internship - Week 3 As we shared in our last update, the GoMission.Church Summer Internship is here! We are in our third week of sessions and have already seen how the Lord is speaking and meeting us when we give Him the space in our days. We have had the privilege to (already) have met with 9 different ministry leaders in our city, hearing about topics like Abiding in Jesus, College Campus ministry, The Glory of God and what that means, God’s design for work and rest, local evangelism efforts, speakers personal testimonies, and so much more! We are enjoying getting to know each intern and watch as the Lord invites them further into the plans He has for them. Please pray with us, over the interns, that God would draw them closer to His heart and show them how they can partner with His restoration work in our city!     Tour of Pregnancy Care Center!   Project to help Prodigal Church with their VBS signs!   Teaching on Work + Rest with Pastor Jeremy White!     Practicing at home As we think about preparing for Argentina, we have noticed how many opportunities God is giving us to practice the things we feel called to do there, here and now. God has provided us with a great little apartment, a wonderful community and family around us, and so many opportunities to disciple and walk alongside young people. We are enjoying these gifts very much, which also makes it hard to think about leaving for Argentina, at times. However, it is SO encouraging to look at our life and see how God has us in His training school, teaching us everything we will need for the next step. Here are some specific areas that God is teaching us in: Jared is inviting a small group of young men in our church to regularly gather together, and encurage one another in the daily realities of following Jesus. And the GoMission Internship is another opportunity that we have to, together, walk alongside young people in the mission of God! Right now we feel challenged to engage in prayer in a more radical way. You may remember one of Jared’s updates while he was back in Argentina, Starting with Prayer, where he shared about devoting time to prayer because of the reality that we can’t do anything without Jesus. God has been stirring our church here in Fresno to give an hour each morning to intercession, 6:30am-7:30am Monday - Friday. We felt an invitation from the Lord to go every morning for two weeks, to participate in what God is doing and practice starting everything we do with prayer. Hospitality is something we want to prioritize in our marriage, welcoming people into our home and sharing life together. This is something we anticipate getting to a lot of in Argentina! People are very hospitable and open their homes to each other, which is a part of the culture we are excited to participate in! What this looks like now is inviting young people from our church to come, have a meal, and fellowship together. We have been on the receiving end of some really generous hospitality lately that has blessed and inspired us to do the same with others! How you can join us in prayer:   That the Lord would continue to stir our hearts and the church to press into prayer! That Jesus would help us to be faithful with the things we have going on in this season, that we would steward it well!  

Preparing in the Present   We are off to a great start to the summer, with our church’s youth being sent out to Argentina, the GoMission.Church Internship, and some exciting ways we are getting to practically prepare for what God has ahead of us!    Youth group trip to Argentina Our church just sent out a team of youth to visit the church partners in Argentina! They will be gone for two weeks, serving and ministering to the church communities in three different cities. We are so expectant that the Lord will move in and through this group of young people. Click here to read daily updates from the youth, during their trip!   GoMission Summer Internship - Week 3 As we shared in our last update, the GoMission.Church Summer Internship is here! We are in our third week of sessions and have already seen how the Lord is speaking and meeting us when we give Him the space in our days. We have had the privilege to (already) have met with 9 different ministry leaders in our city, hearing about topics like Abiding in Jesus, College Campus ministry, The Glory of God and what that means, God’s design for work and rest, local evangelism efforts, speakers personal testimonies, and so much more! We are enjoying getting to know each intern and watch as the Lord invites them further into the plans He has for them. Please pray with us, over the interns, that God would draw them closer to His heart and show them how they can partner with His restoration work in our city!     Tour of Pregnancy Care Center!   Project to help Prodigal Church with their VBS signs!   Teaching on Work + Rest with Pastor Jeremy White!     Practicing at home As we think about preparing for Argentina, we have noticed how many opportunities God is giving us to practice the things we feel called to do there, here and now. God has provided us with a great little apartment, a wonderful community and family around us, and so many opportunities to disciple and walk alongside young people. We are enjoying these gifts very much, which also makes it hard to think about leaving for Argentina, at times. However, it is SO encouraging to look at our life and see how God has us in His training school, teaching us everything we will need for the next step. Here are some specific areas that God is teaching us in: Jared is inviting a small group of young men in our church to regularly gather together, and encurage one another in the daily realities of following Jesus. And the GoMission Internship is another opportunity that we have to, together, walk alongside young people in the mission of God! Right now we feel challenged to engage in prayer in a more radical way. You may remember one of Jared’s updates while he was back in Argentina, Starting with Prayer, where he shared about devoting time to prayer because of the reality that we can’t do anything without Jesus. God has been stirring our church here in Fresno to give an hour each morning to intercession, 6:30am-7:30am Monday - Friday. We felt an invitation from the Lord to go every morning for two weeks, to participate in what God is doing and practice starting everything we do with prayer. Hospitality is something we want to prioritize in our marriage, welcoming people into our home and sharing life together. This is something we anticipate getting to a lot of in Argentina! People are very hospitable and open their homes to each other, which is a part of the culture we are excited to participate in! What this looks like now is inviting young people from our church to come, have a meal, and fellowship together. We have been on the receiving end of some really generous hospitality lately that has blessed and inspired us to do the same with others! How you can join us in prayer:   That the Lord would continue to stir our hearts and the church to press into prayer! That Jesus would help us to be faithful with the things we have going on in this season, that we would steward it well!  

From Fear To Hope   B was one of the first girls I connected with this term. In the second week of school, I walked into class and found B with her head on her desk, silently crying into her folded arms. When I pulled her aside, we talked in the church for an hour. Her mother is not mentally stable and cannot hold down a job. Her father left and refuses to provide support. As a result, B was forced to drop out of school and find work at a young age to support herself and her mother. She felt abandoned, defeated, and afraid of the future. We recently did an activity in class to help us remember God’s character in times of suffering. B drew this picture of a stump from her Bible into her notebook and wrote Job 14:7 beside it: “At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.” B said, “When difficult times come, I know I will be okay. It will be hard, but God is with me. I will not be defeated.” God is transforming her fear of the future into hope. B has gone from crying herself to sleep at night to finding friendship, joy, and hope in Jesus. What a blessing it has been to watch the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of the girls here, building up their resilience and faith.  

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin..." (Matthew 6:28) Photos: Local yellow Canola wildflower; The first day of the BKA setting up 3 bee hives together; first harvest of honey of the year being sold at the Collective 103 shop in Old Town Clovis to support the ministry; Gathering Table's 20 bee hives at our main yard in Clovis. Have you ever stopped and taken a look at the wildflowers in our area? When you start keeping bees you start noticing all the wildflowers. With all the spring rain we've gotten, it has been an incredible year for wildflowers. Right now the yellow Canola wildflower is blooming in the valley, which is an excellent pollen and nectar source for bees (nectar is what bees use to make honey btw). In this passage in Matthew 6, Jesus is pointing our attention to how God provides for all of our needs. If he provides for the birds and the wildflowers in nature, as stated in verses 25-32, how much more will he provide for his children? Instead, we are not to worry about getting our needs met, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and trust that he will take care of the rest. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:33-34) Both individually and as a ministry, we have to continuously surrender our needs to the Lord. Really, I believe this is a way of life for the Christian in general. And each time we do this and focus our attention on seeking God first (His will, His desires, His plans, His purposes, His heart) before ourselves and our own needs, something funny happens... God provides for our needs as well. I (Jeff) have seen this to be true in my own life over and over, and also in the Gathering Table ministry, over and over. One testimony of seeing God's faithfulness this year with Gathering Table, is when we stepped out in faith to do the Bee Keeping Apprenticeship (BKA), before having a location lined up yet. We felt like God confirmed the direction of opening up the apprenticeship to veterans and first responders by partnering with an organization called Hives for Heros. This is a great organization that connects bee keepers with our nation's heroes, many of whom battle with trauma and PTSD. They have found that working with bees can help alleviate the trauma. As great of a mission as this is, we know they are missing the key to finding true healing - Jesus. For it is "by his wounds that we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Our plan was to invite 3-5 men into meeting regularly through the summer to learn bee keeping hands-on while also doing a Bible study together each time we meet to learn about what the Bible says about agriculture and farming as a way to discover Jesus together. We opened up the apprenticeship and had 3 men sign up... still before having a location set. This was "seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness", trusting that he will provide for our needs as a ministry, which one of the biggest needs at the time was a location for the BKA, as we are currently not able to do the apprenticeship at our main bee yard in Clovis. Well, as we shared in our last update, God did provide a location. It is actually the perfect spot for what we are doing in the BKA with 3 bee hives. It even has a really cool car shop on the property that we are using to do the Bible study portion of our meetups. The apprenticeship launched in May and started off great. We are excited to see what God has in store! What is an area or need in your life that God is asking you to surrender for his purposes? And how can you trust him to meet your needs as you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness? We should all take heart the encouragement that Jesus gives us in Matthew 6: "Consider the lilies of the field"... "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"