Dear friends,
From March 8th through the 15th, LCI personnel joined with a larger team of individuals traveling to El Salvador for the purpose of learning more about Aguas de Reposo (“waters of rest” or “still waters”). The focus of this particular ministry is to care for and honor elderly Pastors and their wives. These are men and women who helped evangelize El Salvador decades ago, but are now either too old or too frail to continue their ministry. And to make matters worse, many of these elderly brothers and sisters must provide for their own needs using very limited resources. In a sense, they have become orphans, looked upon as having little or no remaining value. The ministry of Aguas de Reposo is committed to caring for these elderly saints by providing food and medical assistance. Eventually, the ministry intends to provide housing, allowing these pioneers of the Church to live out their final years with a sense of dignity and worth.
At first glance, Aguas de Reposo might not seem like the typical ministry partner for LCI, but the more we got involved, the more we were shown how God was using this ministry to build unity in the Church and to revive both El Salvador and Los Angeles. Keep in mind that Los Angeles represents the second largest concentration of Salvadoran people outside the nation of El Salvador itself, so whatever happens in El Salvador will no doubt have great impact on the City of Angels as well.
While enjoying the beauty of El Salvador and the hospitality of the people, we connected with local pastors, business leaders and government officials, sharing the both the vision of Aguas de Reposo and God’s heart for unity. And as we did, we were absolutely blown away by the presence of the Holy Spirit and the many other opportunities that opened up before us. Not only are we planning future trips in partnership with Aguas de Reposo, but God has also opened doors that might help sustain the LCI ministry.
We have returned home invigorated, excited about our new relationships, and looking forward to another trip El Salvador in the very near future.
Balance Life
We just completed our second Balance Life Event with local Pastors from the Los Angeles area. After a two-hour stand up paddle lesson, we enjoyed lunch at Duke’s in Malibu and a teaching by Jim Kermath of Quest Coaching. The focus of Jim’s teaching was on the cycle of personal renewal, a subject of great interest to the pastors. Not only were they refreshed physically, but they were challenged by Jim to make balance and personal renewal priorities in their lives.
From LCI’s perspective, one of the side benefits to these gatherings is the development of relationships between pastors and ministry leaders, thereby providing opportunity for shared ministry and the building up of unity within the Body of Christ.
What’s coming up?
Japan
Life Connections has been asked to facilitate several trips to the tsunami-devastated portions of northern Japan. The first trip is scheduled for May, with tree other trips to follow: two in July and one in either September or October.
It is our hope that these trips not only form spiritual bridges with those who have suffered so much since the quake and tsunamis of March 11, 2011, but that these trips will also become opportunities to build bridges across cultural divides here in the United States as well. We firmly believe that the Lord is showing us a model that will constructively serve those in need while bringing together portions of the Church that might not otherwise come into contact with one another.
National Day of Prayer
LCI will be coming alongside other churches and ministries to help facilitate a National Day of Prayer event scheduled for May 3rd at 7:30pm. As in past, this will be a time to focus our prayers on the entertainment industry as well as our city and nation. If you live in the LA area and would like to join us, the event will take place at the CBS Studio Center located at 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA, 91604.