A month has past since our initial post. In the future I will be more vigilant in managing this blog. Let me take the opportunity in this post to recap the last 6 months in the process of planting Real Life Church.In July we began a fund development campaign by communicating our vision in a letter to friends and family. That same month we also relocated in the middle of July to Turlock. Our stay in Turlock is a transition phrase in our church plant project during which we are making necessary preparations such as; selling our house, raising support, incorporating, etc.
My in-laws, Henry and Patty Sagayno are wonderful people. I will be eternally grateful that they allowed us to spend these past few months in their beautiful house.
We didn't spend much time in our new home because as soon as we moved in, we preached a junior camp in Section 11 and then went from there to Camp Meeting in Santa Maria. Senior Camp subsequently was next on our agenda. We came back from Senior Camp only to live out of a suitcase for another week in Madison, Mississippi. There we attended the Apostolic Conference primarily sponsored by Parkway Pentecostal Church. This conference was specifically tailored for home missionaries. I thank Bro. Jerry Dillion for his vision to host this event. We definitely left Mississippi inspired to reach San Rafael for His glory!
The week we returned from Mississippi, we visited a contact, Robin, in San Rafael who works with the homeless. We arranged to have a meeting on September 30th which was the next day after I returned home from General Conference in Tampa, FL. The image in this post is of a sign hanging in the room where we conducted our first meeting.
Our first service in San Rafael was one of the proudest days of my life. It was a small group of people. We didn't have an elaborate building or a powerful choir, but we had church. My message was on Jeremiah 29:11 and I spoke about God having a plan to build a church in the city of San Rafael.
Since this first meeting, we have had 7 more meetings. Our next one will be on Sunday, January 20th the day after I return from St. Louis where I will be at mid-winter board meetings for the General Youth Division of the U.P.C.I.
As I continue to post to this blog, I will fill the many details that complete the mosaic of our experience that I have just outlined.
