Breakfast & Easter Egg Hunt

After the sunrise service we invited everyone back to our house for breakfast and an Easter egg hunt for adults...and yes for Samuel, Hope, and a few other little ones too. But truth be told, mainly it was for the adults.

It was a great time of fellowship, eating together, and watching some competitive older people try to win the egg hunt, which included prizes. Ah, it was a blast! Holly and I are so thankful to serve God in IV and be a part of the family He has brought together. The weekend was glorious and Jesus was for sure celebrated amongst us!

* the last picture cracks me up - it looks like they are calling upon God to be led by the Spirit to all the hidden eggs...who knows, maybe they were??? ha, ha

New Life

These pictures are of a guy named Matt who got baptized a month or so ago…his story is amazing, from his family history to his own journey outside the home here at UCSB – only the irresistible grace of God could woo someone like Matt into the kingdom of God. Matt said in my shed the other day that this is the happiest he has been since junior high – glory to God! Please be praying for our brother as he learns to walk each day with Jesus.

Isaiah's Baptism

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)

School of Discipleship Update

The Isla Vista School of Discipleship has been such a blessing this year to many students. These are some pictures of the women's class I took this last quarter - a Beth Moore Study called Breaking Free. It was a wonderful experience for many of us, and I know I grew a ton from it!

Our next set of classes just started and one of them is at our house this time! We are doing a class on the Kingdom of Heaven, where we are going through a book and watching a DVD series together. We have dinner together, watch the DVD, then have a discussion/sharing time. We had our first class this last week and it was wonderful!

There is also a class on Kingdom Community, going through Deitrich Bonhoffer's book "Life Together", and a class on Hearing God, at an older woman's house on Saturday mornings, who is a real mother in the faith and FULL of wisdom and insight on walking with God!

This Funny Generation!

One night Jason was having a meeting with the Del Playa House guys, and while they were waiting for a few more to show up, some of them were sending some text messages. The next thing we knew, they looked up and realized they were all on their phones separately, sending text messages to people!

Big Bear Retreat

The church retreat at the end of March to Big Bear was great! Most of us went up on the Friday and returned back late Sunday. We had a good time hanging out together, eating together, going for a hike on Saturday, playing games, worshipping, and being away in the mountains…God definitely refreshed us, not to mention that we woke up Sunday morning to snow! That was awesome, thank you Jesus…however, the snow did bring a funny panic to the group about how to get down the mountain – I guess this is what happens when for some people it was seeing snow for their first time.

Oh yeah, to give you an idea of our sleeping arrangement – the cabin had a maximum capacity sign out front of it that said, “8 people max”…we had over 20 people so bodies were everywhere . Fortunately, the cabin belongs to the parents of a brother in the fellowship so we had the a-ok.

And the major highlight of the retreat was this 12 year old boy named Isaiah, who has been hanging around the fellowship for the last year or so with his single parent mom, accepted Jesus into his life Saturday night after our time of worship together…it was amazing! We baptized him the following Tuesday and he has been in the Word and growing ever since!

This is becoming an annual retreat for the church, hopefully we can continue it again next year!

* a few of the pictures are of a progressive snow ball fight that happened on our hike, Isaiah is in the blue long sleeve shirt.

Some pictures that describe a few things...

Some pictures that describe a few things (the pictures posted in opposite order of the write-up):

The first two pictures are of these two cars that blew up at about 3am in the morning a several weeks back…someone thought it would be funny to throw an old Christmas tree under a car, which ended up blowing these cars up and almost started a fire on the house they were parked in front of.

The next two pictures are of two different adventures/hikes that people in Isla Vista Church went on – every Saturday beginning at 4pm people within the church go on different adventure/hike/bike ride/walk on the beach together around Santa Barbara. I have been on several and have had a great time of fellowship and exploring! The guy in the first picture is a good buddy of mine that I met 7 years ago at the Rescue Mission in town. We have been friends and brothers in Christ ever since.

The following picture is the house Holly and I lived at with 20 plus people for over two years (05-07)…it recently caught fire, fortunately no one got hurt and the damage was not too severe. This house was in many ways my two years on the job seminary teaching on what it means to be the church, not just go to church.

And the last three describe some IV culture.

New Life in Jesus & Baptizied

Last weekend I had the privilege of baptizing 3 guys...each of them have recently accepted the Lord, like within the last week to a month. Their stories are incredible - everything from drugs and alcohol abuse, to extreme violence, and other stuff I could not mention on a blog.

The picture is of a guy named David getting baptized (he currently lives in my shed/office in the back of our home). The other two guys' names are Mitchell and Michael. Please pray for these men, they are raw and need to be planted greater in the love & truth of Jesus (as we all do).

It is amazing what God has been doing in IV this last month! We have been blown away by His redemptive and restoring ways! :-)

I am not sure if you will be able to see the videos without facebook, but I wanted to post the 3 baptism's of David, Mitchell, and Michael.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503906557#/video/video.php?v=53994198786&ref=nf

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503906557#/video/video.php?v=53994448786&ref=nf

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503906557#/video/video.php?v=53994568786&ref=nf

A blog about IV and the DP house

http://blogwilder.com/2009/02/i-feel-like-i-just-stepped-into-red-moon-rising-2/

This is a post from a random gal who with another guy have been traveling University campuses encouraging prayer. They needed a place to stay for 2 nights so we housed them at the home on Del Playa.

"Be His" Valentine's Day Party

This Valentine's Day I had it on my heart to put on a small party in which the focus would be Jesus being our valentine, the true lover of our soul. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen, but the day before, the Lord worked it out for 7 ladies to be able to come over, 5 of whom are UCSB sophmores (a few of whom I didn't even know!). God helped me to be able to put together a whole slew of things to use at the party to minister the truth that He is our bridegroom and the One who loves us the most! It all came together and was a success! They all seemed so thankful, and several specifically had testimonies of how God used it to minister to them.

I really wanted to make them all feel so loved and special, and told them it was a Valentine's Day party from Jesus for them. They each got a red rose, a gift, a love letter from both the Father and Jesus, and a picture frame with the verse "I am my Beloved's and His desire is for me" (Song of Songs 7:10) in it.

We had cupcakes, appetizers, chocolate covered strawberries, sparkling cider in wine glasses, and tea. I shared a brief testimony from my own life of how God began revealing Himself as my Bridegroom some years ago, and of how even as a married woman with a great husband, I still can only find the true love, satisfaction, and romance my heart longs for in Jesus. I played a few songs for them that spoke of God's love for us, and shared something about some of the gifts God gives us from Isaiah 61. It was a very special time and I think the ladies were blessed and felt very loved by their Savior this Valentine's Day!

Winter Quarter 2009

Things in Isla Vista are back in full swing as the students returned to school 2 weeks ago! The school of discipleship is back on too, and there are some great classes being taught this quarter: Christianity 101, a Beth Moore Study (Breaking Free), and an Incarnational Missions Class. The Christianity 101 class has about 15 people in it (including Jason), and there are several people in it who have come to the Lord recently (anywhere from 18 months ago to 2 months ago, or are still in process!). So, it is such a blessing to be able to have these students have a way to get more grounded in their faith and really understand what it means to be a Christian and follow Jesus!

The Beth Moore study has about 8 women in it, and I get to take the class, which is such a HUGE blessing for me! Jason watches the kids that morning while I go for 2 hours to the class! It is pretty intense (there is a workbook with 5 lessons a week to complete on our own and then we watch videos and discuss questions from the workbook during the class time).

The Incarnational Missions Class is taught by a guy who does a lot of ministry in Santa Barbara amongst the unchurched - reaching out to the homeless (he has recently started a gathering with them called "Holy Chaos", and some of the poor hispanics in Santa Barbara). People have seemed really blessed by the class so far!

Jesus Burgers are back on and it seems to be going well. God has been richly blessing the prayer and worship time before the outreach as His presence shows up and people are ministered to by His Spirit. This last Friday Jason recieved several words of knowledge for differnet people, which led to some incredible conversations! It never ceases to amaze us how God continues to use the foolish things of the world, Jesus Burgers, as a way to bring people into the kingdom of God.

Please continue to pray for His will to be done in IV as many people are sensing an increase of reaping for what has been sown so far this year in the land. God is good, always in a good mood, always doing good!

Transforming a City One Life at a Time

This last quarter 6 people from the fellowship got baptized in the beautiful Pacific Ocean right across the street from the Del Playa house – all of them but one had a past with drugs and alcohol. Holly and I feel so honored that the Lord has allowed us the pleasure of seeing His hand of mercy and grace extended to people in such a pivotal time in their life. Jesus said it best when He affirmed to the disciples that He did not come for the healthy, but for the sick; not for the righteous, but the sinner. It is a humble realization that our righteousness before God and the love He fills us with after coming to know Christ all originates in Him. The one guy who did not come out of the party background was a guy who grew up Muslim and had a radical encounter with Jesus that compelled him to give his life to Him. It has been such a place of joy and encouragement watching God transform a city and a generation one life at a time!

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

(Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin)

Christmas in Isla Vista

Just wanted to do a quick post and check in with what is happening in this college town! Isla Vista is a very unique community in so many ways, and one of the unique things about it is that during the holidays it gets almost completely empty! Finals ended last week and now almost everyone is gone! The streets are empty and there will be plenty of parking for the next few weeks!

It is nice to take these slower seasons to just spend a little more "family time" together with the few IVC people who are still around, so we had a fun Christmas service in the prayer shed, complete with Jeremiah playing the baby Jesus :) We sang Christmas hymns, read the Christmas story verses, and even had a cello player! It was beautiful! This Friday we are having a Christmas party at our house with the few people left in town and then we will have a Sunday gathering at our house before we take off for Jason's parents' house in Monday! Should be lots of fun!

Isla Vista School of Discipleship

For the last 3 1/2 to 4 years God has placed in me (Jason) a burden to have a school in Isla Vista that would teach and equip the next generation in the things of God. This last year I strongly felt God prompting me to go forth with this burden and to begin to take steps to make this happen. Officially the school will launch at the beginning of the school year in September of 2009. By the grace of God, a lot of prayer, and work we have been able to put together a brochure and a website to begin to get the word out and enroll people into the Community Living aspect of the school. As of next year, the house that the church has had under its banner the last 7 years, along with the prayer shed and the Jesus Burgers, will all be under the banner of the Isla Vista School of Discipleship. The school will be interdenominational and multi-church affiliated - I have been able to bring in pastors and ministry leaders from all different denominations and backgrounds. I believe one of the main strengths of the school will be its diverse background of teachers and topics being taught.

If you want to check out the brochure for the Isla Vista School of Discipleship you can upload it by going to the website: www.ivsod.com

We are very excited, but a lot of work is still needed before the school officially launches. Please be praying for all the logistics and for the right people to move into the home July 1st, 2009 - people begin to sign leases as early as January for the next school year.

A Testimony of Friday Night Fruit

Here is a testimony from Jason of some fruit of the friday night outreach...

About 2 years ago I met a guy named Mike on a Friday night at Jesus Burgers. I still remember it very vividly: Mike was waiting in line with all the other partiers to receive a hamburger and when I looked at him from a distance, I instantly felt the Holy Sprit nudging me to go talk to him because God had been drawing His heart. When I walked up to him, I just introduced myself and asked him if he would want to hangout and talk about God sometime that week because I believed God has been talking to him about his life. He was surprisingly shocked I knew that and really wanted someone to talk to about it. Without going into great details about Mike’s life, he lived like most guys in IV. The first time I went over to Mike’s apartment he had a strip poll in the center, posters of women up, and empty bottles of liquor – you get the picture. Not to mention he lived with his girlfriend and smoked a lot of cigarettes. Over the course of the next year I began to meet with Mike and help him to hear from God and encouraged him to walk in the truth. I plugged him into a men’s group that I was leading and I tried to bring him around as much as I could. I even baptized him in the ocean in his Corona trunks one Sunday after church in the ocean. To make a long story short, Mike went to Europe for a study abroad program about 6 months ago and after he returned he moved back home to Anaheim. I was concerned for him, since his walk was very much two steps forward, one big step back. However, I knew God was responsible for him and that God had been growing him while he was living in Isla Vista. Then I received this email from him a week ago,

“…that set aside, i feel like i should let you know that the Lord has never been so evident in life before. Things are becoming a lot more clear and every day my mind is being renewed with the Holy Spirit. Along with some severe chastening i truly am starting to realize God has a special calling for me in my life and there is no time to be wasted in ungodly and worldly sins. After studying much more of the word and putting a lot more time in him i notice how it really starts to benefit me in ways that i wouldn’t expect to happen. Things like completely realizing the ignorance of false and worldly accusations and very lost people, and how our society is prevailing in many good ways but at the same time there is a huge black cloud of darkness and sin that completely engulfs some people, most of the people. I remember how you used to always tell me how this knarly and serious battle is constantly going on with us and Satan and i realize how true this is. I just feel a lot more free and happy and more independent. I really have you to thank ALOT for this. Yeah, i am a smart person but in Santa Barbara i could have gone straight down that path if i didn’t have someone like you there. Isn’t wonderful how God is there to help us in so many different ways and be a father to us at all times no matter what the circumstances are. gatta love our Lord!!”

Praise God! Please remember to pray for Mike – “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Settling In

Daddy being funny with Jeremiah -- We are enjoying this little baby!

Check out this cutie! He's a serious one :)

Our new Sunday meeting place -- Tropicana Gardens!

Baby Jeremiah getting dedicated last Sunday at church

Our family is doing well adjusting to three kids and baby Jeremiah! He is a good baby and we are so thankful for God's grace in this transition. We dedicated him at church on Sunday, which was a special time.

IVC is going well and we are enjoying our new meeting place. There was a baptism after the service on Sunday and Jason said it was a really blessed time. Four guys got baptized, one of which just came to the Lord a month or so ago and was a Muslim student that had a pretty radical conversion to Christ through a guy we know. Praise God for His work in these students!

Something we would love everyone to be praying for is the School of Ministry, which is actually going to be changed to the Isla Vista School of Discipleship. It has been going well so far this year, but Jason is the process of developing it further, especially for next school year. We will be communicating more about this as it comes together, but for now, we would ask for you to be praying that God would really guide us in how to establish this aspect of the ministry in Isla Vista.

Jeremiah & the School Year are Here!

We are going full speed ahead now! Jeremiah arrived exactly one week after UCSB started... He finally showed his beautiful face at 10:19pm on Thursday, October 2nd, and we are so glad he is here! He has been an amazing baby this first week, and we are hoping for that to continue to be so! Samuel and Hope are very fond of him, though they have also thoroughly been enjoying their grandmothers being here this last week and giving them lots of extra attention!

UCSB is in full swing too, and that means Isla Vista Church has officially kicked off our 9 months of non-stop ministry & fun (well, we do get a slight break during the holidays)! The Lord has so graciously provided a larger location for us to meet in for this school year -- it is a rec room in one of the off-campus dorms (Tropicana Gardens) and there is great favor there as the director and many of the RA's are believers.

Jesus Burgers has begun, and there is a lot of excitement this year for this ministry. A lot of people from different campus ministries and other churches are getting involved this year.

The Isla Vista School of Ministry classes have also begun and so far everyone seems to really be enjoying them. Jason is teaching one of these classes, going through Richard Foster's book "Celebration of the Disciplines". There are two other classes, one on relationships in the Kingdom (everything from the Trinity to relationships with our friends & the opposite sex), and the other class is on the Covenental Kingdom.

Gearing Up for the School Year

So, we have approximately 3 weeks left before our lives drastically change... it just so happens the beginning of the school year will also be accompanied by the arrival of Jeremiah, our third child, around the same time. So, we are kind of in a holding position right now, patiently waiting (and frantically preparing) for both of these major transitions.

Jason is finalizing the new School of Ministry that will be starting the week after school starts, and making sure everything is taken care of for the Del Playa Houses. Most of our students have moved in already, some just this past week, and there are a few who will be moving in this next week or so. Be praying for them all as they settle in to a slightly crazy environment, and that they can begin bonding with one another.

In addition, we are working to figure out the format for Sundays as far as a location, what to teach on for this first quarter, who all will be teaching, etc. We are also gearing up for all the students to return, for the beginning of Jesus Burgers (our outreach ministry), and for some strategic networking this year with different campus ministries. One of the main networking endeavors will be in regards to the House of Prayer that will be beginning. A girl who is involved with one of the campus ministries and has been around IVC a little bit will be running the House of Prayer this year (the prayer shed that is behind the Del Playa Ministry House). Please be praying for Tiffany O'Hara as she works to get vision for this ministry and to set up the House of Prayer and coordinate with all the different campus ministries in this.

We have completed some of our support letters and are excited to be able to start sending some out. Please be praying for the Lord to raise up a team of people who can really get behind HIS vision for IV and partner with our family in this.

Summer Recap

As you can see, we haven't done any updating over the summer, mostly because it has been crazy busy and filled with all sorts of special events such as weddings, family trips, retreats, etc.

The summer has been pretty low-key in Isla Vista... we've had a once a week "Family Time" at our house all summer where people come over for dinner and hanging out. It has been really fun and a blessed time of fellowship. The Lord has given us a good summer with being able to develop friendships amonst the Body in a deeper way.

Also, in July, we had a church retreat down to Orange County and all stayed at one of the guy's parents' house from IVC. It was a great time of fun and fellowship! We spent a good part of one of the days at the beach, and as you can see from the pictures below, the kids had a great time playing with everyone! They are big fans of all of their 20-something-year-old friends!



Jason has had to spend a lot of time this summer getting prepared for next school year -- finding people to live in the Del Playa Ministry Houses (which finally are filled as of last week! praise the Lord!); getting things together for the School of Ministry that will be starting this fall; finding older men & women of the faith to mentor/disciple the guys and girls in the house for the school year; etc.

As some of you know, I (Holly) have a party planning business, and this summer I had 3 weddings to coordinate all in the space of a month! It was quite a challenge being 7 months pregnant and doing this, but I am happy to report that all went well and our family was blessed by some extra income from them.

On the topic of income, Jason recently started a new job as a personal assistant for an 83 year old man. It is a great job for him and he only has to work 9 hours a week (3 mornings a week for 3 hours), leaving time for all the demands the ministry in IV places on him.

We are also in the midst of raising support to be able to raise up a team around us who can back us in prayer and financially. Please be praying for this process, that God would really bring together a team who can support the vision God has given us for IV, and that God would continue to provide for our family financially.

So, there is a little update on what's been going on over the summer for us! Now we are just gearing up for the school year to begin (City College just started, but UCSB will start later in September) and for Jeremiah's arrival sometime around the end of September!

A Fun Weekend!

God has been so good to us lately and is doing some amazing things in our midst... He has been bringing some amazing divine relationships and connnections with some freshmen at UCSB that are involved in Real Life (Campus Crusade for Christ). Jason has been meeting with some of them sporadically over the last few months, and a number of them have started showing up on Friday nights to the Burger Ministry. It seems like they have been really blessed by being around some of the slightly older people in our fellowship and having the chance to get poured into by them. I think they also see the depth in our people, and these freshmen are hungry for that same depth in their walks with God.

On Saturday night, we had about 5 or 6 of them over for a BBQ at our house, along with about 5 or 6 people from IVC that had already started building some cool connections with them. It was such a blessed night of fellowship and God doing some neat stuff. We had a time of prayer and worship and just enjoying the Holy Spirit towards the end of the night, and God was moving! Praise the Lord for the unity and divine connections He is building for such a time as this in IV!

Also, at church on Sunday (we now have a 4pm gathering in the front yard of the DP Houses), about 8 people from Real Life showed up, along with about 25 or 30 people from IVC. It was not a huge gathering, but God showed up powerfully nevertheless as we worshipped Him and shared testimonies of things He has been doing in our lives. We have been having dinner together after the service, and this has also proved to be a very blessed time of fellowship and building one another up.

We are so thankful for all God is doing in our midst. He is also continuing to connect us more and more with people from the Goleta Vineyard as a number of us have now been joining them on Sunday mornings for the last three weeks for their worship service. The work He is doing with bringing together the generations and the different fellowships and expressions of the Body of Christ is so exciting and something many of us have had a burden for for many years now. What an exciting thing to see it coming to pass in this hour!