Looking back...

There is nothing too big for our God...

How do you measure a life or a ministry? Has the measurement already been set in place for these things? Is a ministry defined by one's willingness to "take care of widows and orphans" (James 1:27) is the measurement of a man's life in his ability to believe in Jesus, the One sent by the Most High God? (John 6:29) I would submit to you that these are exactly the scales by which we, as Christians, measure ourselves and the world around us. However, is that really the ideal motivation for us as believers in Christ?

Or does a life deserved to be measured for something so much more special than just its own ability? Does a ministry begin in action, or has its beauty been placed in it already by a third party? The Bible does command us to take care of orphans and widows and to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior- there is no doubt. These things, however, are not what give us worth.



The truth is that GOD gives us worth! When John tells us in the Bible, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16) we understand that when we are on our own, away from God, we are worth nothing. Apart from God, there is nothing and no one that truly values us nor values our lives. The Lord made you and me to be beautiful and valuable, and even though we sometimes live lives that are openly offensive to God, He saw through it from the beginning! He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins, and the Bible says He did that because He LOVES US!

Now I would like you to look at the pictures of these children that are on this page- they cannot give you anything in return for your ministry and time and prayer, but with all of my heart, there is nothing more valuable! In the same way, we have absolutely nothing to give God- the only Being who ever placed any true value in us while we were filthy sinners, stained with hatred towards Him. Let me ask you some questions, "Did the fact that the Lord would never get anything comparable in return stop Him from sending His son to die a bloody cross?" "Does anyone think that it was anyone other than all of mankind pounding nails through the hands of Jesus- the very same men and women to whom He came to give eternal life?"



When you think of how much God has loved you and loves you, what is stopping you from loving everyone else in the same way? I would ask you to stop valuing yourself and others by your abilities; start looking at yourself and others through God's eyes! Don't just think about the children and the families and the poor in El Salvador, look at your coworkers! Do they know that the Almighty God places value on them? Do they know that He gave His Son with the purpose that they would be cleaned from all sin and stain? Think of how freeing that would be for them. Think of the millions of lives that coworker could touch with that same message!

Now we see the worth of ministry does not begin in action, but in the realization of the extreme worth that the Lord places on ALL people from ALL places in the world! There was one time here in El Salvador when we visited the hospital, and it was especially horrific. I remember one of the young women who came with the missionary team was experiencing frustration because she couldn't see how God could allow it. I couldn't believe that someone could go through that entire experience without realizing one thing: we WERE the hand of God on those children's lives that day! It might have seemed so small to us to have decorated cribs and beds, to have praise and worshiped the Lord with them, or to have prayed with each and every one of them for health and peace for their families. Nothing is too small for our God, because NOTHING IS TOO BIG FOR OUR GOD! To whom do you represent the hand of God? How are you allowing the Lord to work through you in another's life?

My prayer today is that you would know that God loves you SO much, unconditionally. Let all of us pray together that the people of the world would know the same- the salvation of God is available regardless or race, class, background, or anything else! Pray a prayer next time you think of the people in El Salvador, but let us constantly be falling on our faces at the remembrance of our Heavenly King's great love for all us! He took our place and gave up everything that He had for our wellbeing; slowly but surely, we are fighting to do the same for the others in our world.

Prayerfully, I would like to let you all know that I have been given the opportunity to return to the United States for some more ministry training, and I'm very excited. There aren't words to describe how much I will miss this country.

I thank God for each and every one of you all! Thank you SO much for all of your prayer and support!

For more information on what's going on here in El Salvador or on the missions training course that I'm going to be taking, please feel free to email me at brennandavis@ccsv.net

God bless you all! I pray that the Lord would give you all the gift to be able to see the people of the world through His eyes! I know that the Lord will bless you all in return for all of your prayer and support in a way that you can't even imagine!

May He to whom belongs all of the power and the glory be forever praised by His people!

Amen,


Brennan

Look What the Lord has Done!

I promise that you won't forget a beautiful face like this
as long as you live!

How do you think she and her family feel about what God's doing in La Angostura?

The truth is that the Lord has turned a church that was once forsaken into an oasis in the desert. A pastor moved his six-person family from a comfortable life in San Salvador into a shack made out of aluminum; he is now father to hundreds of children and pastor to a people that only the Lord cared about before. Let's ask ourselves- would we have even heard of the people of La Angostura if the Lord had not purposed in His will to do a miraculous work in their lives? Would we have invested our time, prayer, and finances in this village of fishermen and farmers if the Lord had not invested His love and amazing grace into that community first? Most of us can't even point out its general area on a map- God knows the count of every single hair on the head of every single man, woman, and child there!

The story is actually really funny if you think about it; of course, it's only after you imagine the despair of the people who were involved in the church from the beginning- getting kicked around, forced out of meeting places, being abandoned by former leaders, persecuted by various cults in the area- that's not funny. The thing that makes us all laugh is the fact that even when there were only seven people left in the church, the church was still praying, and the Lord sent us good-old American citizens! So often we as human beings can be so focused on our own little world that we forget God's warning: "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."- Matthew 25:41-43.

Even though the Lord used us (and that completely blows our minds!), I beg you with all of my heart to come and meet the people of Calvary Chapel: La Angostura! Look in their faces... do you see extreme poverty? hopelessness? hunger? Nope... what you will see are two eyes beaming with love and excitement! I promise that when I first arrived here most of the children who you see in the pictures below were reserved, some of them were beggars, some of them would mock us and laugh at us. Now they are our guides when we hand out tracts in the community! Now they try to offer what little they can to bless US! Now they practice the few words and phrases that they've learned in English with us! The Lord is powerful to save people, to change lives, and to exceed everything that we could ever ask for or think of in His complete power and goodness!

We forget sometimes that, by nature, we don't deserve even to have a roof over our heads or food to eat. That goes for the people of La Angostura as well. Without the Lord's intervention, they are sinners just like you and me. The fact that they now praise the Lord with shelter over their heads from the rain should bring us to tears! Do you remember the last time that you were forced to sit out in the torrential rain or blistering sun- not because man had forced you to- but because you were compelled by a heart that wanted nothing more than to praise and worship the God that created you?

So far, a complete sanctuary has been built and is the largest and tallest building around for miles. I foresee that in only a few months we will see a big sign on top of it during the service that says, "Standing room only". Praise God!

There are also restrooms on the facility now. From the back of the bathroom, they are planning to build classroom after classroom until they can build no more! In time, we'll see a beautiful children's program open up that will minister to hundreds if not thousands.

Calvary Chapel Spring Valley from Las Vegas, NV had the honor of being the first missions team to minister in the new building.

Wouldn't you know that this baptismal was built even before the sanctuary itself!!

David and Edwin... best of friends! They forced me to take this picture of them... but I doubt they ever imagined that it would end up on the world wide web :-)

Thank you so much everyone and God bless!

Please remember to pray for La Angostura, Pastor Manuel and his family, and healings in the church.

Love you all!

Brennan

CC Spring Valley Summer Youth Team Status

Hello everybody!


God bless you all! This is Brennan, and I've had the awesome pleasure of having with me your Calvary Chapel Spring Valley youth team! I believe that most of you have heard that many of the kids on the team had experienced some sickness; thank you so much for your continued prayers and support for them!

Because of the confusion that various reports on the kids health might bring, we have decided to go directly to the source! The kids wanted to each write a letter to everyone- family, church, everyone. Please enjoy hearing their individual perspectives on this week- the difficulties and the ministries in which they took part.

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Dear Friends and Family,

Most of our missionaries are becoming sick and taking many tests including a shot in the butt! "Holy snakes people are parking and dumping every hour!" But I'm one of the only ones who aren't thank God! But that doesn't stop me from preaching the Good News, but I sure am nervous about what's going on around me. I sure am going to miss the excitement around me, but it will be great to be home.

Spoken by,

Dominic

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Dear Family,

Thank you for all your prayers. The Lord is definitely watching over us. We all are feeling better. It's been an honor to serve alongside of these precious young brothers and sisters. I'm impressed with their great attitude.

Mike I'm missing you, and can't wait to see you

Love,

Claudia

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Dear Family & Friends,

I miss you guys so much. But I just want you to know that I am blessed that the Lord brought me to El Salvador. If you could see the boys here you would all fall in love with them. It will be hard to leave them. I'm fine and in good health. The team is doing better now. Keep us in prayer still. Hugs & Kisses to all. We'll see you guys soon and tell you guys everything the Lord has shown us through this trip.

Jesus Loves You & So do I,

Adelina aka "Mama Juan"

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You're all probably enjoying yourselves without me being there. That's ok though, because I'm enjoying my time with my team members. Here in El Salvador we were able to do some ministry work like worship and a skit at the Central church in El Salvador. Which was a blessing to them but more to us. Where were all staying is in San Martin at an orphanage. Its gorgeous. And we're always busy because there's 21 kids we can play with like wrestling, playing soccer, and doing crafts. Until most of us started having issues in the restrooms. Soccer became a problem and a lot harder to hold it in. But we're all doing a lot better now, even though we were never in any real harm because we're in God's hands.

Pray for us,

God bless you all,

Kaman

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Hey everyone

God is continually pouring out His grace over us as we experience the mission field. We are learning that God will provide for our needs continually! Its a blessing to see everyone's desire to serve as the Lord hears them. Please continue to pray for us. We love you and miss you all and can't wait to see everyone again!

Philippians 2:17

Zack

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Hi Everyone!

It's been such a blessing up here in El Salvador! Playing with the little kids is so much fun I can't get enough of it! I'm fortunately one of the blessed ones who didn't get sick :) God is truly amazing seeing the love of God in these little kids is so beautiful. Well its all good down here no worries!

God bless! I love you mommy & daddy!

Rachel

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Hi Everyone!

Although these last few days have been spent in sickness, God has been so faithful to us! If anything, we have been drawn together in unity and have praised the name of Jesus together. We have been reminded of God’s eternal goodness in our lives, especially when we praise and worship Him and receive a spiritual refreshment of our souls.

Personally, I am so blessed to see the love of Christ being exemplified through the people here at Potter’s Field Ranch. They have been so loving and considerate to us to us while we have been here. I have learned so much from them and am excited that I will continue to have the opportunity to work alongside them for the next 5 weeks. Overall, with all the ministries we have been able to serve in, we have been so blessed and are ready for more ministrative opportunities!

Continue to pray for our health, but most of all the joy of the Lord to radiate itself in our lives while we are here.

Love you all. Especially you, dad!

In Christ,

Milena

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Dear Family & Friends,

First off thank you so much for your prayers! We are all doing much better. This experience has bonded our team together. We’ve learned to care for each other and by the grace of God we’ve been able to worship and praise Him in this storm. I have been blessed so much by Mrs. Katz and Violeta who have faithfully taken us to the hospital and loved on us. Brennan has also been such an encouragement. Despite the sickness, God has still been able to use us here.

I love you all.

In Him,

Annie

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Dear Mom & Dad,

This trip so far has been an eye opener for me. Most of has been to the hospital which most Salvadorians aren’t able to do. I am doing a lot better than I was. Stomach just hurts right now. Even though Zack and Mrs. Katz have been also sick they have still helped us. Brennan, Momma Juan, Mike and Violeta “a person on staff”” has been helping us. The base is so pretty. For the most part the trip has been fun. I miss you guys.

See you in a few days.

Love,

Cody

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Dear Everyone,

First off, it’s been a real blessing to be able to come to El Salvador to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Even though I have been very sick and have had diarrhea since Easters. God is good, so now I’ll only have it ‘til Christmas! Just kidding (That’s a line from Nacho Libre). But seriously it’s been amazing the people here treat us like royalty and they seem to always put us before them. There is a lot we can learn from these El Salvadorians.

Mom, stop worrying I’m fine! I love you mom and dad, and everybody, Please continue to pray for us.

Love,

Blake

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Dear you,

Sometimes suffering for the Lord means diarrhea, headaches, diarrhea, throwing up, and more diarrhea, but God has taught us to praise Him always and is using us down here. The people down here are awesome and we are truly blessed to serve here. Please continue to pray for us and send us some In-N-Out if you can

Love you,

Jesse (José now)

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Dear Family and Friends,

First off I want to thank everyone for praying for our team, but let me assure you we are all doing well and are in good hands. It has been a blessing to have Zack and Mike as our head leaders for the trip. This trip has been a lot of fun and I am so thankful God brought me here.

Love,

Corinna

PS: I miss you daddy!

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These guys have been such a blessing to us here! It's such a testimony that a group of young people would come, become sick, and still depend on the Lord for their recovery! I pray that this experience would be something that they would take throughout all of the difficult experiences in their lives!

While the original purpose for this trip was to do construction work in La Angostura, the Lord had other plans for them. Today, instead of La Angostura, the team got a chance to spend time with these boys here at the orphanage; who knows what the seed that they have sown will grow into! All that we can do is sow the seed, pray for water, and expect the Lord to grow it into a harvest. After seeing what the Lord has brought these kids through, I'm proud to call them workers in the Lord's missionary field!

Please continue to pray for the orphanage boys, the PFK program, the kids in the Hospital Bloom, and the construction in La Angostura...

God bless everyone!

Brennan