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It is great to be back from an extremely fruitful trip to the Middle East and North Africa! I wanted to extend my thanks to you all for praying for Isaac and I. Our families were loved and taken care of while we were away, and our time in the two countries we went to was much needed. I’ll be honest, I really don’t like traveling. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love getting to see our missionaries on the field, but this trip included 8 airplanes, with flight lengths ranging from 1 hour to 11 hours; we barely made our final connecting flight home (unlike our luggage, which had to be shipped to us the next day!); and, as is typical, I got a stomach sickness in the middle of our trip that hindered some of the ministry we planned on. But when I think of what our missionaries go through and what they have given up to get the gospel to the unreached, those things all become minor inconveniences. ...

Hello Friends! I pray you are all doing well! I wanted to use this update as a time to both ask for prayer, and to extend my gratitude! Next week, I am traveling with my friend Isaac (who is a pastoral intern at our church) to two countries that will remain unnamed, as they are “sensitive countries” (countries that are not open to the gospel). Our goal there is to visit with our SGWM workers in those countries, get a good firsthand look at the works there, and minister to them in love. This is what we call a “missionary care” visit, and something I love to do as the Director of Missionary Care with SGWM! ...

Hello Friends! It has been a busy summer for us! On top of holding the fort running the SGWM and CCSG home office and staff in the absence of many of our leaders during the summer School of Missions, the focus for Joel has been teaching and preaching. Since returning from Israel, which was the focus of our last newsletter, Joel’s teaching schedule has consisted of: Co-teaching a class in June with Pastor Trent through 1 Timothy Young Adults group every Thursday night through the book of Romans Teaching the church through 1 Peter every Wednesday night during this July and August A monthly Bible study for our church’s husbands and fathers through the book of Proverbs Teaching a couple of our internship classes Filling in on a Sunday morning for our pastor who became sick on Saturday night Teaching a session at our church’s youth camp in July Teaching for the young adults group and then three Sunday morning services the following weekend at Calvary Chapel The Rock in Santa Rosa, CA at the end of July In the midst of this, Joel and Amy got to help with our church’s VBS in July, which was a major success! ...

Hello Friends and Family! We pray you are all doing well. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our updates, pray for, and support us! It means the world to us. I (Joel) returned from a fruitful trip to Israel a couple of weeks ago. It was great to learn from our trusted guide and my pastor, Trent, getting a better grounding on the locations where the Bible took place. There is new significance to every story we covered as we receive greater context for the stories of Scripture. I also had the privilege of leading a LOT of worship at various locations, as well as doing some teachings. ...

Hello Friends & Family! These last few months have been a sweet time of ministry. The Lord has really been confirming what I believe to be His main calling on my (Joel’s) life: to teach the Word of God! This specific calling plays into every role He has me in, from leading worship to being Director of Missionary Care here at SGWM. The opportunities for me to teach have been plentiful. Right now, I am teaching our young adults group weekly through Romans. I was privileged to preach for three Sunday mornings at our church through the book of Jude recently. I am co-teaching a class at my church with our Senior Pastor through the prison epistles right now. In a couple of weeks, Amy and I will join a young adults group in northern California as I teach all of the sessions at their retreat; this group is led by Bond and Heather Gaona, who is a fellow SGWM board member with me! I will get to teach a session at my church’s youth camp in a few weeks, and I will also get to teach a Sunday morning at the church of a friend I met on my recent Nepal trip in just about a month. Notice that some of these teaching opportunities have come through missions connections! This has all taken a lot of hard work studying, but it is so awesome to walk in what God has called me to. ...

Hello Friends & Family! It is hard to explain how amazing the experience I had in Nepal last month was. I met the men I know and pray for constantly who are my modern-day heroes of the faith. They serve the Lord is South Asia and the Middle East, I read their stories, I pray with them on Zoom, I talk about them all the time, and I finally got to meet with them in person, many of them for the very first time. It was an incredible feat for my friends Bond and Heather to get all of these men to Nepal for a conference, but it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of. ...

Hey Friends! Thank you for taking the time to read this update! It has been awhile since I have sent out an update, and the Lord has been doing a lot in our lives and ministry, so below is a short video as well as some bullet points for you all to pray over. Thank you so much for your Gospel partnership! https://youtu.be/kTymHJTyW6Y Praise God that He has given me new roles and increased responsibilities and opportunities to serve Him! I have taken on the role of Ministry Pastor here at our church, Calvary Chapel Saving Grace. Please pray for wisdom and vision as I oversee the ministries of our church! Praise God that He is giving me opportunities to teach! On top of teaching our Young Adults group weekly, I have the opportunity to teach at our upcoming Men’s Retreat, multiple times during an upcoming trip to Nepal, and a couple of Sunday mornings at the church after that filling the pulpit for our Senior Pastor while he is away on a trip to Peru. Pray for the anointing of the Spirit for those times and for the time and diligence to study. Praise God that He is opening doors to travel again! Along with one of our SGWM board members, Heather Gaona and her husband Bond, SGWM missionaries Aaron and Jena Garcia, and my friend and church’s Youth Director Isaac Douglass, I am traveling to Nepal in mid-October to represent SGWM, meet ALL of our national workers from South Asia and the Middle East, and put on a conference for all of them to encourage them in their ministries! Pray for strength, guidance, and the Spirit’s filling to represent Him and His Word well on that trip, and for Amy and the kids as they will be home without me for 10 days. We also would love to keep you updated on our ministry via our newsletter email updates if you are interested. You can sign up for those by clicking the link below: ...

Hello Friends and Family! We have been provoked lately regarding the power of prayer in our lives and the lives of others. Prayer is so powerful, the most powerful weapon we have as believers. As various trials have popped up in the lives of loved ones, we have been reminded of this reality. A few weeks ago, Amy’s dad was in a skiing accident that left him in critical condition. Through the prayers of many, he is on the road to recovery. Though things are coming along much more slowly than we’d like, we are so thankful the Lord saved him from an accident that could have been so much worse! ...

Hello Friends and Family! I put together a short video for this month’s update to re-introduce our ministry. A lot of people aren’t fully aware of my role as Director of Missionary Care with SGWM and what that entails, so this video gives a short glimpse of what that means and why it’s so important! https://youtu.be/1MLS54brcVo We also would love to keep you updated on our ministry via our newsletter email updates if you are interested. You can sign up for those by clicking the button below: ...

Hello Friends & Family! Sick-mas I pray you are all doing well! As many of you know, for many this holiday season was a little different with Omicron sweeping through many communities, including our church community. This is the second year in a row that we didn’t get to see any extended family on Christmas due to COVID; I came down with COVID 3 days before Christmas! It was rough on the family as it spread through the house and kept us cooped up over holiday break, but fortunately symptoms were mild and everyone recovered quickly. ...