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| Alaska and Northern Canada |
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 Stories I had the chance to speak at the SEND North Missionary gathering in Anchorage, Alaska this past month. I was there to speak to them, but throughout the week, their stories encouraged me. These missionaries are working hard to bring the gospel to some of the least evangelized communities in Alaska, like Hooper Bay, Aniak, and Bethel. Summer days are long, winter nights are long and cold. There are lots of empty and lonely places in Alaska and northern Canada. Some fly into Anchorage once every three for four months just to buy groceries from Costco. We met one couple that flies in once a year! They are planting churches and sharing the gospel as they interact with people in these isolated communities. One missionary had so many people accepting Christ, she didn't know how she would have time to disciple them! God works even in the midst of very hard circumstances and many of these small communities feel like inner cities, with drug, alcohol and sexual abuse, along with high crime rates. Praise God for these missionaries. Many of them are young, some single, and many married with small children.
Sometimes seeing what others do, their sacrifice, attempts, experiments and successes are a big encouragement to me to keep "running the race" that God has given me. Stories are a wonderful way to inspire others. Share what God is doing through you to encourage others. What's your story?
"and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God's co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith." (1 Thes 3:2 NLT)
Jim Smith
Executive Director
CB Southern California
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National Day of Prayer  As pastors and leaders, you know well the power that God's people experience when they pray! On the first Thursday in May, our nation pauses to observe a National Day of Prayer, and on that day, we as the church in America, have an opportunity to emphasize the importance of PRAYER as a testimony to who God is, what we believe, and the fact that our Nation was founded upon the truths of God's Word. We would like to invite you and your congregation to join with thousands of other churches across our nation to participate in this year's National Day of Prayer! |
Empower A Pastor CB Southern California is working with Missions Door and the church planting efforts going on in Central America by helping to fund church planters and pastors in their work. Just $50 a month is enough to support a church planter and allow him to focus his efforts on reaching his community for Christ. Here are a few of the opportunities to get involved; the possibilities are limited only by your imagination and the agreement of the supported pastor:
- Have your church pray for the pastor, his family and his ministry.
-Participate in a building program. Send a team.
-Provide for the needs of the community in the name of the pastor's ministry.
-Send a team to hold a VBS, a sports clinic, or some other event that will draw the unreached into the church.
-Provide the pastor with resource books or training materials at their request.
Click here for the brochure and info on how to begin your support.
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 Broken Tiles in San Marcos
Our CB Church Plant in San Marcos, Mission 316, launched their church last year when they held their first public service on Easter. This year, they had their first-ever GOOD FRIDAY service with about 70 attending. Everyone was given a broken piece of colorful tile as they entered. Following a message about Christ taking our sins, attenders took the tile and wrote the "broken" part of their life they wanted to give to the Lord (i.e., insecurity, pride, abuse, etc.) and placed it at the foot of the cross. A meaningful communion service followed. An artist then spent all day Saturday grouting the pieces into a cross that was placed on the stage on Easter. It was a moving experience to all at both services. Mission 316 almost doubled their attendance from last year on Easter with 216 people in 2013--a good indication of the church's growing reach! The most exciting part was seeing one person indicate their desire to accept Christ and be baptized! Visit their website.
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Expanding in Bonsall 
Inland Hills, the second campus of New Song Community Church in Oceanside, went to two services on Palm Sunday and has seen eight people come to Christ in the last three weeks. Campus pastor Frank Cortes is doing a great job there along with teacher Wilmer Pena, an excellent worship team led by Tommy Welty, and a growing youth group led by Brittany Adams. The youth have to meet in a hallway during church, but as of last month, they have begun renting a space in the business park across the way for the youth to meet midweek. The new space will also be used for small groups. New Song Inland Hills is currently meeting in the Bonsall Community Center, but they are actively looking for a home. Inland Hills campus webpage.
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 Good Start in Ventura
CB Southern California is helping plant a new church in Ventura. Pastor Shaun Garman launched "SEED" on Easter after months of planning and prayer. 185 people came to the rented Armory on Tower Square in Ventura for the Easter service. Christ was exalted as five people accepted the Lord as their Savior. Shaun is the primary visionary and communicator for the local work o f Seed and also has help from Josiah Morris, who assists in the community connection. Pray for Shaun as he leads and encourages the Seed family to believe the gospel and live on mission for Jesus. Visit their website. |
New Pastor in Los Angeles 
Please join Iglesia Bautista Fundamental (IBF) and CB So Cal in welcoming Pastor Marcelo Bustos (pictured), along with his wife, Norma, as he becomes the Full-time Senior Pastor for IBF on June 2, 2013. Pastor Bustos will be replacing Pastor Martin Medina, who resigned as pastor at IBF for family related reasons. Pastor Bustos can be reached at (310) 696-3272.
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 Smooth Transition in Lompoc On April 1, Bob Robison became the Pastor Emeritus of North Avenue Baptist Church. His cousin, Joey Robison, who has been the youth pastor since 1999, was trained and mentored by Pastor Bob until he accepted the call to step into the role of Senior Pastor, also on April 1. The church searched for a new youth pastor, and found Jared Clark who stepped into his new position at NABC on the following Sunday, April 8. Pastor Bob was asked to fill the pulpit back in 1983 for a small church with only 16 members meeting in a rented lodge. By January 1984, he was the senior pastor. His nearly 30 years of ministry in Lompoc have been fruitful with the church relocating and growing to a healthy 200 plus. He and Christine, his wife of 43 years, will continue to live in Lompoc, opening their beautiful home to young pastors as a retreat for a time of refreshment and encouragement. The local newspaper wrote an excellent article on the transition. Read the full article. |
Warm Farewell
Mapleview Baptist Church in Lakeside said goodbye to Ron and Connie Thomas on Sunday, April 7th. Ron was a beloved staff member at Mapleview for 30 years, 15 as the senior pastor. Ron's wife Connie, will also be missed, having served as the church manager for many years. A church-wide luncheon was held in the Thomas' honor, and then an all-afternoon farewell service with open mic's to allow people to publicly express their love and appreciation to both of them. Ron and Connie will be renting their home in San Diego and moving to Arkansas to care for Ron's brother who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. They will be missed. CBSC has worked with the leaders at Mapleview to help place an interim pastor at the church to assist through this transitional time. Pastor John Miller will start as their interim pastor on May 5th.
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CB Provides Interim Pastors
CB Southern Cal has helped two of our churches find Interim Pastors. Dan Blied will start in May at Sun City First Baptist while John Miller starts as the Interim Pastor at Mapleview Baptist Church in Lakeside, CA. John had been the Interim Pastor at Sun City First Baptist for the past four months. Originally asked to serve for only three months at Sun City, John continued for another month until Dan Blied could take over as Interim Pastor at Sun City. Dan served as pastor at Whittier Hills Baptist years ago, and has been in the business world as well. He currently lives in Murrieta and teaches a few night classes at Talbot Seminary.
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 Leaving Guam
Eleven years ago, Greg & Terri, along with their four kids, moved to Guam to serve on staff at Bayview Church. Now they feel it is time to move back to the northwest to pursue a new ministry. Greg has served as senior pastor at Bayview for the last 6 years. Greg writes, "We began a journey that brought us to the beautiful Island of Guam and the loving people of Bayview Church! We had no idea what God had in mind for us other than He affirmed to us that He would use us to help share His Love and Hope with others here on Guam, and that He would somehow bless our family in leaving the "familiar" and "family" of our "Home"in Oregon. We love the island of Guam and deeply love Bayview Church whom have become family...We will deeply miss our friends and family here on Guam, yet now we are looking forward to reuniting with our family in the States. We will say our hard goodbyes to Guam in June and search for our new home and opportunities landing in the Northwest in July. We wanted you to know and appreciate your prayers in this time of great transition for each of our family." Bayview's web site
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Pastoral Search Teams 
Pictured here is the hard working pastoral search team from Fallbrook First Baptist Church. They are one of a number of teams diligently looking at resumes, visiting websites, listening to sermons, writing emails, and constantly praying as they look for their next pastor. Churches currently looking for pastors are Fallbrook First Baptist; Trinity Baptist, Barstow; First Baptist, Sun City; Bethany, Long Beach; Mapleview Baptist, Lakeside; and Shorelife, Huntington Beach. CB Southern California assists these teams along the way, but the bulk of the work is done by these faithful members of their respective churches. Pray for them.
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Palm Springs Easter 
Pastor Dave Hotelling said they had a great Easter at Palm Springs Baptist. Their day included a Sunrise Service, breakfast, and a 10 a.m. service all combined with their Spanish church congregation. The Sunrise Service was led by the Hispanic church and the breakfast was wonderful. Dave wrote, "Fire Marshals should only go to the outdoor Sunrise Services. The ushers continued bringing in chairs until we couldn't jam them in any longer! We really didn't do anything unusual for Easter. We had a normal service with a mix of styles of music....the joyful spirit of the congregational singing was contagious, no matter what language one was singing in. For some reason, God sometimes blesses with a larger attendance." Also near Easter time, Dave's wife, Arlene, made it through her 11th surgery. She is doing fine, but will not be able to walk for at least three months.
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Celebration Weekend at Fullerton
On the weekend of April 6-7, Temple Baptist Church of Fullerton celebrated their 60th anniversary. They postponed the date for a month since the actual date was the same as the Annual CB Meetings in Huntington Beach. Guests from as far as Arizona came to remember the past and look forward to the future. Special Guests included Larry Maib, former youth pastor in the late 70's; and Jim Smith, CB Executive Director; who joined many others to share what God has done through their ministry. Pastor Joe also celebrated his 32nd year as pastor, thus making him the longest currently tenured pastor in all our CBSC churches. Congratulations to Temple Baptist, Fullerton.
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Easter at Sunrise
Sunrise Church in Rialto and their campus locations around Southern California had multiple services throughout Easter week, including a Good Friday service pictured here that creatively offered five different crosses to symbolically nail your sins to during a reflective song set. Attendance was a combined 16,823, and praise God for 50 salvations.
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Help Wanted 
Temple Baptist Church in Perris, CA needs help to get their youth group to Northern California for camp this summer, August 4-9. They anticipate needing transportation for 40-50 people. If your church has a bus or van/s that Temple Baptist could borrow for this purpose, they would greatly appreciate the help. Please contact Connor Smith at 910-224-8119 or smitty2200@yahoo.com. Thank you!
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Contact Us
CB Southern California
2520 N. Euclid Avenue, Upland, CA 91784
909-944-5900
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