Warriors of Faith Newsletter

Fall 2007

Volume 12, Issue 2

Dear Friends,

We hope you and your family enjoyed a blessed and refreshing summer in the Lord.

On behalf of our family we would like to express to you our hearfelt gratitude and appreciation for all of your prayers and generous support of our ministry in San Quintin.

As we enter into the Fall season we are grateful to the Lord for all of the open doors He has placed before each one of us.

For our children the new school year is a special opportunity for them to make new friends and to reach their peers with the good news of Jesus Christ.

It is also an important time for each of us to reflect on our priorities and draw closer to the Lord as we seek to serve Him in new areas of ministry.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength as you step out in faith to serve Him in this new season and await His soon return.

Love in Christ,

Basilio & Yolanda Nunez and Family

CHURCH MINISTRY BLESSINGS

September Baptism

On Sunday, September 9th, our church body enjoyed the blessing of baptizing 11 new believers as disciples of Jesus Christ in the San Quintin Bay.

The 7 adults and 4 youth who were baptized all recieved the Lord during the past year. Among the adults baptized was Yoly's father, Don Jose, who received the Lord last march after suffering from a detached retina.

It was a special joy for Yoly's family as they witnessed Don Jose's baptism after many years of praying for his salvation and deliverance from alcoholism.

Two married couples were also baptized together. A couple named Roberto and Marisela came to the Lord last year after Roberto lost his eyesight, and have been very faithful in their commitment to the Lord.

The other couple, Melchor and Christina, are in their late sixties and came to the Lord this past year as Melchor has been battling with cancer.

The four youth baptized are named Alejandro, Artemisa, Alma, and Christian. A school teacher named Sylvia was also baptized as her unsaved husband named Victor looked on.

Please pray for those baptized and for Victor's salvation. (Note: Pictures of the baptism can be seen on our church website at www.calvarysq.org)

Special Summer Visits by Former Church Youth Pastors

We are thankful to the Lord for the blessing our church received through the visit of two of our former youth pastors this past summer.

Brent Bowden and his family led a ministry team from CC Nampa, Idaho to San Quintin last June and he shared an inspiring message at our Wednesday night church service.

Brent and his wife Margot previously served as our church youth pastor from September 2000 to 2003 and he is currently serving on the pastoral staff of CC Nampa and as vice principal of their church's Christian School.

Chad Williams led a church team from Santa Paula, CA in a missions outreach to San Quintin in August that also included our special friends Tim and Jeannie Martin (Chad's father and mother-in-law). Chad also shared at our Wednesday night church service and many were blessed by his message.

Chad and his wife Janelle served as our youth pastor from 1997-1999 and Chad is currently serving as assistant pastor at Emmanuel Fellowship in Santa Paula and working on his Master's degree in church history.

Migrant Camp Kid's Outreach

by Little Basie, Age 16

For the past few months, church members have been going to visit a migrant camp called "Los Grillos" (The Crickets). Most of the members going there are part of the youth group.

Our part of the job is doing the kids VBS. We divide ourselves with different tasks. Some sing with the kids, others tell the Bible story, others act or try to act the story.

Some help with the arts and crafts. But the best part of it is that in the end, we all play games with the kids.

It's kind of funny, because we each "adopt" a group of kids. (In my case, I have 4 or 5 kids) and spend time talking or praying and playing with them.

We don't use our real names around them....they prefer naming us! They changed my name to "Basilongo". So pretty much everybody's got a nickname.

I talked to most of the guys who are going there, and they all agree the same thing: watching the joy and happiness in the kids' faces when we arrive or see them brings peace, joy, love for them...a lot of things and feelings we can't explain.

I can only describe it this way: the more we spend time with them, the more blessed and happy we go back home.

These kids are special, and we are doing our best to deliver God's love to them in a way they can feel and see.

Please remember to pray for these kids and for our young members who are giving their best efforts to help, and bless these boys, and also for more people to join us.

May God richly bless you.

The Youth Group

by Joshua Nunez, Age 14

The youth group has grown a lot in the last 2 years. There's around 40 youth coming every Saturday. The youth group loves going to a camp called "Los Grillos" (The Crickets) on Sunday afternoon to have a Bible study and play with the kids.

We ask you to pray a lot for these children and for the people in this camp.

We are also having soccer games with the youth of this camp and after every soccer game is over we share the gospel with them.

Please pray a lot for this youth group and for the youth pastor Joel and his wife, Goya, who's having a bay in a few weeks. God bless you.

Family update

We are grateful to the Lord for all of His faithful care of our family. We are also thankful for all of your prayers and generous support of our ministry in Mexico.

Our five boys returned to school during the last week of August. Our youngest son Joel turned 7 in July and entered the 2nd grade. Daniel is 9 and entered 4th grade. Benji turned 13 on August 17th and went into the 8th grade. Joshua entered 9th grad and Little Basie has begun his junior year in high school.

We were surprised that they all seemed anxious to go back to school. (maybe it beats doing yard work!)

Yoly continues to be active on our church worship team along with Little Basie and Joshua. She also enjoys our fruit trees and this year the Lord blessed us with a good grape and fig harvest. Dad enjoys running in the hills.

Passing on the Torch

by Basilio Nunez

One of the recurring themes we have seen during our Sunday morning teaching series through the Book fo Joshua is that of passing on the torch of our faith in Jesus Christ to the next generation.

As Christian parents, grandparents and role models, one of our greatest privileges and responsibilities is that of communicating our faith in Jesus Christ to the children and youth that God has placed under our influence.

In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua we see that God repeated a certain command to Joshua that was very important for him to follow if he was going to be effective as God's servant and the leader of a new generation of Israelites.

The simple but vital command that was repeated four times in the first chapter of Joshua was to "Be strong and of good courage" (see Joshua 1:6,7,9,18)

If we as parents and role models desire to be effective in our calling to reach the new generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we too need to be strong and of good courage in our commitment to Jesus Christ.

One thing we learn from Joshua about passing our faith onto the next generation is the high priority the Word of God was to have in his life.

God has told Joshua, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you may observe to do all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8)

Not only was Joshua made prosperous and successful in his mission to lead the Israelites in the conquest of the Promised Land, but he was also faithful to commit God's Words to the next generation.

"And afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Isreal, with the women, the little children, and the strangers who were living among them". (Joshua 8:34-35)

This reminds us of an important passage in the New Testament in which Paul the Apostle traces back the faith of a young man named Timothy to the teaching of God's Word he received as a child from his mother and grandmother (please see 2 Timothy 1:5 & 3:15-16)

As Christian parents and grandparents it is important that we follow these biblical examples and make th most of every opportunity to lead our little ones to Jesus and help them grow in their commitment to the Lord.

One final way that we see Joshua passing on the torch of his faith in Jesus Christ to the next generation was by his own example of a personal commitment to Jesus Christ until the end of his life.

It has been said that the most effective leaders are those that lead by their example and this can certainly be seen in the life of Joshua.

In his farewell speech to the nation of Israel he declared, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father's served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)

May God help us to be Christian parents, grandparents and role models who are "strong and of good courage" in our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ as we seek to pass on the torch of our faith to the next generation.

Praise and Prayer Requests Praise God for: His faithful care, provision and continual blessing upon our family. The Blessing of celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary on August 11th. The salvation of Yoly's father, Don Jose, and for his testimony to others and his recent baptism. The new believers baptized on Sunday, Sept. 9th and for their continued spiritual growth as committed disciples of Jesus Christ. His protection and blessing upon our church youth and outreach to the Los Grillos farm worker camp in Camalu. Prayer Requests: Yoly's sinus problems & Basilio's health and healing. The Lord's blessing on our church youth and plans for an Easter youth camp. Sister Raquel, Perlita's mom, who recently had back surgery. For the new believers who desire to be baptized on Easter Sunday. More rain for the S.Q. Valley and employment for families without work. Church outreaches to the migrant camp residents. A growing commitment of church body to prayer, bible study and evangelism. May the Lord richly bless you. Basilio 1 Corinthians 15:57-58