“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
We have been in The Old City, Jerusalem, in Israel for nearly 2 months so far. Thank you for all of your prayers over our journey here. We live, serve, and have classes in The Old City, and as well have been touring all over Israel. We have been blessed to have toured all over The Old City, Galilee, Capernaum, The Dead Sea, and many other special places where we learned about the significance biblically and historically. We wanted to write up another newsletter sharing our hearts with you all and updating you also on our future plans so you can continue to join us in prayer!
From Ashley:
I was about to leave to come to CCBC Jerusalem, I had few people ask me why I
would go to such a dangerous place and if I was crazy. Being a young girl and leaving the comfort of California to go to a war torn country from an outsiders perspective probably did seem a little crazy. However, something I have been learning since taking a step of faith and coming out to Jerusalem is the importance of the hand of the Lord. One thing I am confident of is that being in the palm of the Lords hand, the place he has called me to be, is the safest place that I could be and is a place where I can fully rest. Jerusalem has been such a blessing to me. I love wandering around the old city and seeing the same people everyday. I love saying good morning to the same old Arab man that sits outside his shop every morning as I go to get groceries. I love that the little children get to walk on their own to school because its so safe for them here. Israel is not only so special because it was the place where Jesus walked but also because of the people here.
When I arrived here at Bible College, I was asked to be the dorm steward for the girls. This has been a super big blessing and privilege to me to be able to practically serve the girls I get to live with for this short time. I had been praying for a while that God would use my experiences and my heart for women to serve the women around me. God has really answered my prayers with being here and having this opportunity as the dorm steward. God has also blessed me with being discipled with the director of the Bible college, Elizabeth. She is not only a mentor but a wonderful friend. Being in Jerusalem has been such a mountain top experience for me so far and I could definitely write a lot more about my experiences here (send me a message if you want to hear more!). However, some of my highlights have been the touring weeks where we’ve been able to visit a lot of the historic biblical sites such as the Temple mount, Caesarea, the Mount of Olives, the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb. One of my most recent highlights was on Easter when all of us students woke up at 4:30 to go to the Garden Tomb (the site believed to be where Jesus rose from the dead) for their easter Sunday sunrise service. The line of people to enter the garden tomb was so long that it took us about an hour and a half to get in but it was
such a great, once in a lifetime experience!
Thank you friends so much for following along with Cassie & I on our adventures in where the Lord has been leading us. Your prayer means so much to us!
From Cassie:
Throughout my time in Israel, God has been teaching me a lot about His word. We have had classes that we have learned so much from teachers that have come from all around the world. But God has been speaking to me, and teaching me the most when I spend time with Him alone in His word. It has been such an amazing experience to be able to read God’s word with an experiential visualization of where Jesus was talking about, and where He was teaching things to His disciples. This has been such a blessing spiritually and just practically to be able to experience this. I think the most special part of my time in Israel so far is when we traveled to Capernaum. It was so beautiful to sit by the Galilee, and to pray. We got to see the house of Peter’s mother in law, and the synagogue, and market place, where Jesus would’ve done most of His ministry. Just being able to imagine healings, and miracles, and even just Jesus being there was super incredible and a very important experience for me.
Before coming to Israel, and even whilst I’ve been here, I experienced lots of warfare, as to if I was meant to come, and why I was here. I felt unworthy to be where Jesus was, but God has been reminding me that its not about me. That everything God was bringing me through was for His glory, and that me coming here to Israel was for His glory as well. I have learned so much being here, about serving, about myself, and about how the Lord sees me. He has been revealing to me lies that I have been believing that I didn’t even realize. As we have 2 weeks left I have not yet realized everything God has taught me but I am excited to see over time what He has been doing and has done. I don’t know what comes next after Israel but I trust that in time God will reveal that to me.
We are really thankful for everyone who is covering us in prayer in this season!
Please pray for:
Direction for both of us to know what God is calling us to in this next season as we go back to California
Financial provision for the remainder of our time in Jerusalem and for some flight expenses
Continued protection physically in Jerusalem, and protection from spiritual warfare
Living in Israel is more expensive than we expected. If you feel lead to give financially to support us, please give on: Venmo: @CassieBailiff
Love, Ashley and Cassie
(Cashley Lol)
“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Luke 1:45
Bonjour!
We hope your Easter Week and April were a refreshing time for you. It was also for us; it has been an incredible whirlwind. For example, I’m writing to you this month on a train (quiet time on the go), and I’m going to meet a friend (blessed!) who used to go to our home Bible Study back in 2003.
Let me begin by filling you in on our Resurrection Week. This year, we tried something different. Rather than fight the cultural habits of the unofficial annual Paris Easter Exodus, we decided to aim our outreach for Palm Sunday, the weekend the city is full! As we spoke about last month, we developed a new outreach idea based on “what does the Bible say about…”, and we went out on Saturday and Sunday. The first day began and ended with prayer over the neighborhood while we sought to talk with people. We had some good contacts on that first day, maybe better quality than the second. The second day was just more fun. We had a better turnout and put together some music that got people smiling. This is a major feat for this city. Songs included Oh Happy Day, and indeed it was! The next, the Resurrection Sunday, was calmer, per usual. But having taken the pressure off of hoping everyone would stay, we had more of a quiet moment filled with sweet conversation. Thank you for your prayers; it was blessed.
Another big moment was when one of our elders stepped down from an active role. This has been a long time in coming, and much of our administration and some ministries have suffered because of his holding on to a position he could no longer fulfill. The good thing is, we were able to walk him through it graciously. In the end, though he was sad, he knew it was the right move and offered to be available if we ever needed his insight. Through the experience, we learned something precious about good leadership and teamwork. Please pray for us as we move forward and look for new leaders to raise up!
As you may know, one immense blessing was watching Becky walk across the graduation stage at Western Seminary last week. This has come after much hard work. She also saw our daughters who live in the States, our granddaughter, and most of her family. She was also blessed to share at Mountlake Church in the Seattle area and meet with friends and supporters there. One thing was clear: we missed her here in France, but we also need to return soon and visit our friends and supporters in the US. Please pray about how we put that together.
There is more to say, but we’ll save it for the bullet points. Thank you for staying with us and supporting us. We pray for you and are so thankful.
For those interested, here is a link to an article I (Mike) wrote for Calvary Chapel: https://calvarychapel.com/posts/when-love-took-shape-how-the-cross-became-the-ultimate-expression-of-beauty/. The article was published in French at Evangile 21.
We hope your month of May is truly blessed. We thank God for you and all your prayers and support!
Love in Jesus
Mike and Becky
Mounir, one of our elders, shares before Communion
The musicians and singers after our outreach
Mike and Michel are hanging out after church
Becky is getting ready for her graduation ceremony
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Please join us in praying for our administration. As we are looking for a mission to cover us, we are also trying to fix years of errors by the elder who stepped down.
- Please pray for our contacts in April and new outreach ideas !!
- Please pray for our friend Pasteur Blaise Bolembo in the RDC, who lives in the Goma region and lost his father in the war. The rebels attacked and gutted their Calvary Church. Our church has been praying for him and will send him a gift to replace some equipment. This is massive for us. Please pray that we will grow in generosity as a church family and in numbers so that we can do more!
- Our website was hacked on its server. As it is a bit old, we lost the website but not its content. Please pray for us on this one. There are a few more urgent needs at the moment, but we will eventually need to replace our website.
- Please also pray for our family’s provision, the power of the Spirit to use us for the Kingdom, and the safety of our children!
Hello Everyone!
We hope you are doing well and that your month of February was blessed. Ours’ was packed, and we’d like to share the highlights and challenges with you.
We began this month with an outreach based around the Chinese New Year. It turned out to be quite a sweet time. We shared testimonies, great food, and fellowship. The idea was born out of our month of prayer and was pretty much organized by people in the church. We were encouraged by the community effort, and even if we had no non-Christians attend, it became a moment of strengthening, especially for the growing Chinese community in our congregation!
On strengthening, we’ve had some significant moments with the ministry team. Becky is exceptionally gifted in administration, and her schooling has brought this out in some powerful ways. For one of her assignments at Western, she used our team to do some analysis that taught us a few things and identified a few of our challenges that we were aware of but didn’t have words to put to it. Having seen these areas more clearly, we can begin to work through them. This is exciting because this month, we will start addressing some of these issues to reorganize as a team and work more on our strengths rather than our weaknesses. Everything begins this Thursday evening with a meal at our apartment. Please keep us in your prayers.
Speaking of our weaknesses, our accounting and treasury have become bottlenecks. Thankfully, we discovered that one of our worship leaders holds an MBA and teaches accounting! This could be a game changer because we were much farther behind than we had realized last month. We’d talked to a recommended contact who wanted to charge us 4000€ to fix everything… With the discovery of these new gifts from a person in our congregation, we hope to catch up in the following months at a much more accessible cost. This, however, also requires much prayer; please join with us!.
One of our greatest blessings was the timely visit of an old friend, Brian Campbell. Brian is a worship leader and songwriter who maintains an active home business. He doesn’t always make it out this way, so we jumped at the occasion when he told us he’d pass by! We initially thought of organizing a workshop with our worship team. Unfortunately, we couldn’t gather everyone together in time like we’d hoped. Still, we had instruction, worship, and time praying together, which we can implement in the next few weeks and months.
Perhaps the most unexpected blessing of Brian’s visit was that it coincided with a critical vote with Calvary Chapel France, determining how future and current Calvary Chapels become and maintain membership. Though the vote did not go in the direction we’d hoped for, having a friend to pray with was timely. Ultimately, Mike and our elder Max will step down from the board to allow other members to better represent the organization’s current direction. In the meantime, we need to pray as we look to the future of our local church.
On a more positive note, we will begin planning our Easter outreach this Sunday. For the past few weeks, we’ve invited all our creatives and organizers to a meeting after church to find out who is available. Typically, Easter is one of our lowest-attended Sundays because it’s a three-day weekend. In the culture of Paris, most people leave town for the weekend because that period of the year has some of the best weather. There is a reason for Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s version of April in Paris. If only we could get the Parisians to stay and evangelize! Easter, like Christmas, is an amazing open door for announcing the gospel. Mike will also begin preparing “the terrain” this year by preaching through Psalms 113-118, the Egyptian Hallel (“Hallel” from the Hebrew verb that gives us “Hallelujah”), and the Psalms traditionally sung during the Passover Seder. Please pray for our church and city so that we can put together something impactful for our community.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We are so thankful for you and hope your month of March is blessed!
In Jesus,
Mike and Becky
Ventura Fall Family Update 2024
As usual, the past few months have been a whirlwind. Ricardo has been busy working as a project manager on many different undertakings in the church. They have made repairs to the roof, installed security cameras in all of the school and church areas, and the latest, is the much needed remodeling of the church bathrooms. In addition to these specific projects, he also manages the daily maintenance of the church/school and handles all the logistics of the volleyball ministry (which I will go into more detail later). Oftentimes I call him while he is out buying material or organizing the arrival of different construction workers or making sure the security guard gets his lunch. I admire the dedication he puts into making sure everything is done to its best, from setting up events for 500 or 50 people to spending late nights on his computer organizing the 100+ person volleyball tournament. Oh, and he is also the best husband and father.
Samantha and I have a bit of a different schedule. Sometimes she comes along with me and other times I leave her with my mother in law. I started teaching English conversation classes at the church high school, covering for someone who was moved to be full time at the Discipleship program on property. The experience has been really edifying for me. I love to work with high school and to be able to have a somewhat open curriculum making my classes fun. My goal was to make the classes interactive so that the students would apply their English knowledge and get out of their comfort zone, all the while trying to create a welcoming environment. I felt more like an older sister to them than an actual teacher. There were various times when the girls would come to me and share things going on in their lives, always seeming to deal with boys or family. I was able to encourage them to first have a relationship with Jesus, and allow that to steer them in their lives, not their circumstances.
As Jesus says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these thing shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:33
In the book club at church, we just finished (well I am just starting) a book called Control your Emotions, by H. Norman Wright. He says that when we worry, we look with a pessimistic perspective towards the future and we imagine the worst consequences that could result from situations in our lives. That, worry, focuses primarily on the future (pg 8). No wonder why Jesus tells us to first seek Him, in other words to focus on Godly things and all these all things will come together. (Did you know that most things we worry about do not actually happen?)
If we trust that God is a good Father, and as a parent, wants to give His Children good things, then why do we worry? It would be silly for Samantha to worry whether or not she is getting her blueberries in her oatmeal tomorrow morning (unless the store runs out again!). But my point is, and what I try to encourage the young adults with, is that when we have a relationship with God (read the bible, listen to teachings, read related books, go to church and hear teachings, spend time with like minded people, serve and share what we are learning, pray), then we will find no need to worry about the things of this world (boyfriends, money, future), because eventually it will "fall into place". With that being said, and in lieu of Samantha's second birthday, I would like to share a testimony to that truth.
The pictures above are of a single missionary, unsure what exactly God had her doing living in a third world country, littered with gang violence and poverty. One thing I did know, this is where God had called me and this is where I would be. Every week was busy and filled with kids. Teaching English or teaching bible or teaching how to tie a shoe. Hanging out with the teens and telling them that having it all in the states actually is not a soul filling experience. Meeting other Salvadorian christian living in poverty in shack homes, with the basic necessities but a true joy for Jesus. It was a wild and fun ride, but I always longed to be a wife and mother. The picture you see above is a handful of what I would call "my first kids". I loved them as if they were my own.
At the end of 2019, Ricardo and I started dating, then in 2021 he proposed to be in the most romantic magical way, and in January 2022 we were married. God had provided. Of course, our desire was to start a family without knowing when (due to some health issues we were not even sure it would be possible). But on November 26, 2022, Samantha Abigail came into our lives. Her name is from the book of Samuel, where Hannah, a childless woman, prayed and prayed and one day she became pregnant and decided to name her son Samuel, saying "Because I have asked for him from the Lord" and God gave him to her. The name Samuel means "Heard by God" and of course, if you have not guessed, the feminine version is Samantha. God heard my prayer. And we got Abigail because it means "Joy of the Father" and boy has she been the joy of Ricardo.
I had the opportunity to live out the verse in Matthew 6:33, seek God, and just serve Him until the rest of the pieces of the puzzle fell together. For that we are grateful and like to share these truths with other young adults here when given the opportunity.
Additionally, I've been coaching at our after school sports academy. I was challenged with the middle school girls volleyball group and then moved on to teach soccer to the 8-10 year olds.
Once again, focusing on relationships more than anything has revealed a lot of what these kids carry in their hearts. Even though our school is christian, it does not mean these children are growing up in christian homes. A Lot of my sports training would turn into question and answer sessions and music and game time. I had to make it fun for everyone right?!
You might be thinking and what about Samantha? Well, if she was with me, she would be playing with the kids or being loved on by one of the teachers while I gave class. Thankfully, she is so adored and cared for by everyone, including the preschoolers who are just a few years older than her (but look enormous in comparison). The days Samantha goes to my mother in laws, she spends some sweet time playing with her Uncle Dani, and of course with her "abu elsy" learning all the Salvadoran Spanish from an authentic tongue.
Discipleship Program
Once again we have another Discipleship term. It really is amazing that twice a year, around 10 young adults will make the decision to leave all of their comforts with the goal of learning more about Jesus. This group has had some radical stories in the way they arrived, and have been thriving in their time separated from the world (no phones, no computers) studying the bible. One of the girls waited until the day before to tell her mom that she was coming to the program because she knew her mom was not going to approve of her decision (she did not like her going to church or even serving in the children's ministry). Through much prayer and lots of conversations with her parents, her father finally agreed (mind you, she is 18 years old and was working). She came to the term with a lot of emotional baggage that she wore very clearly on her face. It almost always seemed like she had bags under her eyes, and had a downcast look. She was soft spoken and hardly answered if you spoke to her. Now, after two months studying the bible, being challenged in her character; we have a completely different woman. She has found her identity in Christ and that she is a daughter of God who she can go to at any time for help. She no longer looks down while she walks but has a new glow upon her face. Joy has replaced the grief she held. And to top it all off, in the last phone conversation she had with her mom, her mom said that she wanted to start going to church with her and that she supports her decision to change studies and focus on Early Childhood Education instead of Civil Engineering. A passion she only discovered when she started serving at church.
Another one of the girls has also had a radical change. She comes from a broken home (at 11 she discovered her dad had another family with children) and spent the first weeks of the term doing everything to grab the attention of the staff. She was disrespectful, prideful, and always had something to complain about. It was a tough few weeks for the staff girls living with her because she was not 'easy' to love. Then it was as if one day it clicked. The pride and attention seeking faded. The stress in her face disappeared. She said that God had allowed her to be broken so that He can make her into the person He wants her to be. Now she is full of love and compassion for others. She serves with joy and a grateful heart.
Above you can see the picture of the group and also a picture from one of our women's groups. I do not get to spend as much time with the students as before (having a family does take a lot of time haha), but I am blessed when I get to sit down to eat with them or show up at their rooms and chat about what they are learning. Recently we had the middle and high school end of year retreat here at the property and the Discipleship students were in charge of the small groups (about 80 students total separated into groups of 5-6). It was amazing to see how they loved on those teenagers during their stay here and we rejoice at the 8 who gave their lives to Christ during the event.
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Volleyball
Volleyball has taken off at our church. Between the afterschool sports academy and the Saturday tournament, you will always find someone playing volleyball on church grounds. The kids all play volleyball during their recess and after school they are playing again. Ricardo has manned up the logistics of the coed volleyball tournament on Saturdays. Which means he coordinates the games for the 12 teams, using the three courts, assigning referees, receiving scores and updating the system ect. In order to play, you must go to one church service and contribute whatever you can towards the $5 reff payment per team per game. We have been amazed at how through this sport we have met an entire new community here in El Salvador. What has been even more exciting, is that many of these people now come to church, have been baptised or are serving in ministries. They prefer to play at the church instead of at their clubs or other places. We attribute this desire to the welcoming, healthy environment we strive to maintain. Although we can be competitive, we try to stress the importance of maintaining a good attitude. In our team alone, we have really seen incredible growth. The kids are teens, and they have grown in their discipline while playing and also in consistency attending church.
Last Saturday they even brought new friends. Our team has grown so that we have had to make another one! Ricardo will coach it so that we can maintain the family we have created. In the picture I posted, you can see that not everyone has the same shirt on. That's because we had only invited our team to go eat pupusas after the game, but on the way out of the church, one after another tagged along. Even a few showed up at the restaurant we were at. All the kids in the picture are under 20 years old. Half of them we drop off after eating together. We consider it a blessing to be able to be part of forming their community as young adults.
The Church
There are so many ministries and events going on at the church it's difficult to contain it all in one update. We are studying the book of Revelation and it's quite incredible to see the amount of things going on in the world that point to the coming of Jesus. It really could be soon!! This has pushed our church towards evangelism in whatever way possible. One of the ministries that has started up is the marriage ministry. Last month was a couple's dinner which we did not get to attend but this month we did attend the movie date night. The church rented out a theater at the movies and we played Fireproof, a 2008 Christian film about a couple on the verge of divorce. The husband decides he wants to fight for his marriage and with the encouragement of his father, decides to start a 40 day love challenge. Everyday, for 40 days, he does some act of kindness for his wife, without hoping for anything in return. For example: make her a cup of coffee, do the dishes, buy her a gift, prepare an elaborate dinner etc. It is both comical and heartwarming to see how the husband fights for his marriage when the wife is already done. I won't tell you the end, but we were definitely encouraged by watching the ways we can improve how we love and serve each other at home and keep the love alive!
Our upcoming events include the 35th anniversary of the church (Thanksgiving week) and of course December, where it's a month full of celebration and collecting toys for the kids at need in our children's ministry.
Pictures! Please scroll below and enjoy what I cannot put into words above.
Marriage Ministry date night at the movies!
English conversation class outside playing a game.
Above: Ricardo teaching a class to the Discipleship group and the students being presented and prayed for at the Eikon young adults service.
Above: Sam hanging out while I cover a class and Sam visiting the kindergarten classroom.
There was a women's retreat at our property and I got to lead the women into the community and talk about service.
We held a retreat for Pastors in October (left) and the Discipleship group debrief after an activity (right).
One of our current Discipleship staff members is getting married to another alumni of the program next month. We were able to celebrate her with a little Bridal Shower and here we were praying over her future marriage.
Sammie with her daddy at one of the retreats and as we leave the church after a long day of work and play.
Our family outing to the new library, sponsored by China and built in the Historic Downtown of San Salvador.
If I could summarize in a few pictures what God has us about here in El Salvador it would be those below. First and foremost, we are trying to raise our daughter to know Jesus and reflect His love in an ever so corrupt world.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Psalm 127:4
Secondly, Ricardo does all of the logistical work regarding the functioning of the volleyball 100+ person tournament and now he will also be in charge of the volleyball club we are opening to the public this Thanksgiving week. There will be training three nights a week for ages 15 and up with professional coaches and with the hope of growing a healthy community where people can play a sport, grow in their character while also coming to know a loving God.
The bottom picture is me with the staff girls of the Discipleship program. I have the great opportunity to share with younger girls how God has been faithful to me, and has given me the family, home and life I have today. Ricardo gets to use his leadership skills to also influence those he manages and works alongside, encouraging them that there is more to life than just what we see.
How can you be part?!
First and foremost, PRAY and or send encouragement, we love to hear from you!
Prayer requests:
For the Discipleship group to finish strong (graduation is December 7)
For all the volleyball games and practices, that God would provide the necessities and we could continue to grow our community.
For our family to balance work, ministry, rest and play!
For the church's anniversary event, for December's Christmas activities and for my trip with Sam to Florida on Dec 8th! (Ricardo cannot travel with us yet =(
Practical ways to help our ministries:
Sponsor one Saturday's worth of volleyball games ($60 pays for all the games to be referred).
Sponsor a pupusa party for 150 people that play in our tournament (Christmas celebration) $450
Sponsor volleyballs for the club: $45 each
- Sponsor 1°, 2° and 3° place trophies and medals for next tournament: $50
Sponsor our volleyball team's Christmas party: $80
Donate a volleyball (average $35) or whistles $5.
Do you know and love volleyball? Plan a sports focused mission trip with us! (Please write me for more information)
Sponsor a student for the Discipleship program (amount varies, see link below).
ALL donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
When donating, you can select specifically Alex and Ricardo Ventura, La Capilla, San Salvador and we will distribute as the needs arise or you can add it to the general fund and then specify in the notes section.
Have you thought of another way to help that is not listed above? Please send me an e-mail, we would love to hear new ideas!!
Partner with us now! Click here
Praise
Lastly, I would just like to share a few praise reports for things we have been praying for or asking for prayer.
1. My brother, Mark, is in COMPLETE REMISSION from cancer!! It's been on and off for over 5 years.
2. Many of the kids playing volleyball have started serving at church or have brought friends along to attend and play. The community is growing!
3. My dad's heart surgery last August went well and he is fully recovered.
4. There are 25 people confirmed for our church's volleyball club.
Thanks for taking the time to read and talk to you next time.
"And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8