Pastoral Ministry
Sheila and I provide ministry support to Community Christian, in Campbell, CA. Sheila serves in the Children's Ministry and Dave provides preaching support.
Dave has provided preaching support for several area churches, such as Cathedral of Faith and Open Bible Church.
Pastoral ministry to former church members, and their families, still continues. It isn't unusual to find us visiting church family at the hospital, or for Dave to officiate a wedding or funeral.
Mission Partnership
We have the joy of being in partnership with several other ministries and enjoy the opportunity to serve them as part of their leadership. Two of these ministries are Italy for Christ, and California Family Council.
ITALY FOR CHRIST:
Italy for Christ is the premier evangelical outreach and leadership training ministry in Italy. The ministry also provides leadership training to Serbia and Malta. It is amazing to see the influence and favor God has given this ministry throughout Italy. God is reaching thousands of youth through the distribution of the Book of Hope and major youth and evangelistic outreaches. Italy for Christ is teaming up with American churches to help plant new and vibrant churches in Italy.
The ministry of IFC is a major resource of leadership training and development with the Italian Christian community. Hundreds of emerging church and business leaders are being trained and mentored.
CALIFORNIA FAMILY COUNCIL:
CFC is the California leader in issues of Faith, Family and Freedom. If you live in California, you are well aware that the state government has lost its moral compass. CFC is helping support Godly family values in the public arena. For several years, Dave has served this ministry as Chairman of the Board.
We are working alongside State Legislators who are willing to stand for Judeo Christian Values. CFC has a person, working fulltime, at the State Capital for the purpose of making our Biblical values heard. We have also challenged egregious legislation by holding rallies, write-in and call-in campaigns and law suits.
Faith - Family - Freedom
Phyliss Schlafly writes, "A total separation of church and state, in the sense of separating religious/theological/moral views and values from civil law and government is impossible and deadly. The worldview in which the Constitution is moored is the Judeo-Christian worldview. Therefore, the ultimate foundation of the Constitution consists of Judeo-Christian religious/theological/philosophical values and views, revolving around a theistic God. Our constitutional republic will increasingly malfunction and eventually collapse if it is severed from it Judeo-Christian foundation."
Psalm 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
Plato said the two most important questions in society are;
1. Who teaches the children and,
2. What we teach them.
The Spread of anti-Christian Persecution
Dr. Ben Carson writes, "The images projected across our television and computer screens throughout the day...is sobering. I am referring to those around the world persecuted by a group of religious zealots whose behavior is difficult to comprehend. Their intolerance against Christianity is beyond horrible. People being beheaded for their faith. Women and young girls are being sexually violated and whole families are being wantonly slaughtered in cold blood. Perhaps just as abhorrent is the profound silence of the American government ...
We have an obligation as Americans to denounce these acts of persecution. Even those who don't worship a higher deity should be concerned. For when we stand up to such intolerance, we are defending the root of freedom. We are defending choice - the ability to worship and call on the name of a heavenly being without fear of torture and abandonment.
In our own country, we must become more reasonable in the adjudication of disputes about religious symbol. For instance if a Christmas tree or manger scene has been a long-standing tradition in a community, and one or two people come along and claim that it offends them and must be removed, should those few individuals have the power to interfere with the season joy of thousands who rejoice in the viewing of those symbols of the holiday season? ... When we reward unwarranted hypersensitivity surrounding religious ceremonies or beliefs, we add fuel to the hatred and intolerance that subsequently produces religious persecution.."
Baja Kids Feeding Centers
Either Sheila or I, or both, were in Baja seven times last year and the plan is to do the same in 2019. While we are in Mexico, we meet with the local ministry leaders in order to help in the yearly planning and activities.
At present, there are twelve kitchens and feeding centers serving 100,000 meals a year. Thanks to your generous gifts, we are doing maintenance work on several kitchens. Hopefully, we will complete the construction of a new kitchen during this year.
This last year, we were able to provide hundreds of pieces of clothing and several hundred food bags for distribution at the food kitchens and the surrounding community.
The feeding centers are finding more favor in the local community and several local groups are helping meet the needs of this expanding ministry.
A few times during the year, we provided pizza and cake for the children. They were delighted.
BAJA, MEXICO Outreach and Teaching
1. We had teams travel to Mexico in March, May, October, November and December. Thanks to these wonderful people, we were able to bless the lives of hundreds of children and prepare for our annual Christmas Outreaches. In 2018 we were able to provide over 1600 Christmas gifts for the children. So far this year, we have purchased almost 1200 gifts for the 2019 Outreaches.
2. Working in partnership with other outreach groups, we have worked on several construction projects. Recently, we were able to construct a much needed retaining wall, new water project, new patio, and new bathrooms. At present, we are working on several maintenance projects to keep the kitchens up and running.
3. We have also provided food, equipment and supplies for the kitchens. There is always a need for eating utensils, pots and pans, stoves or refrigerators and cleaning supplies.
4. A vital part of our mission is to teach Bible lessons to the children. Food without salvation doesn't go far enough. Our teams assist with the feeding program and the Bible teaching. The children love the crafts they can take home with them.
The hope of Jesus in the life of a child will change his or her life and lives in the community and nation. We are confident that God's Word will not return void, just he He has promised.
Mission Travel and Events
In 2018, DS Ministry worked alongside Church United to help host a hundred Pastors in Sacramento. We were pleased that several State Legislators took the time to speak and encourage Pastoral participation in the legislative process. On several occasions, we were told that the State legislators needed to hear from the Christian community. Senator Mike Morrell and Assemblyman James Patterson have been very encouraging.
Past travel has taken Dave to Italy and Atlanta to work with the Italy for Christ leadership and to Chair the Board meetings. Dave also traveled to Southern California to meet with the Board of California Family Council.
In November, Chris Brady, author of the book "Leadership Revolution" and Pastor Ken Foreman from Cathedral of Faith, San Jose, CA, teamed up to provide outstanding leadership training for the Pastors, business leaders and political leaders in Naples, Italy. We were able to piggy back these training sessions with our annual Board meeting in Italy.
In September, Dave participated in the Voters Value Summit in Washington, D.C. This is the foremost conference of its kind bringing together Christian conservative leaders from around the nation. Speakers included Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, Congressman Mark Meadows and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
