Although it has been a couple of weeks since the team left Calaveras, we are all still reflecting on the awesome week that we had there. It was such an incredible experience to be able to work alongside such amazingly passionate young people in order to reach their community with the love of Christ. Over the course of the week, the Faith Club hosted 5 rallies on their campus in which about 120 students intentionally attended the rallies to hear about Christ, and at least 29 students indicated that they made the decision to trust in Christ. Praise God!

The students, the team, and community members came together at Calaveras High School in support of the Faith Club rallies

One very unique aspect of the trip was the community involvement. 6 churches came together during the week in order to support the high school students as well as to partner with the greater cause of giving people in the community the chance to hear about Christ. The team had a chance to meet with the youth pastors from each of the churches to talk to them about campus ministry as well as to brainstorm with them about how they can continue to help the students. I am very excited to see what happens in the Calaveras community going forward.

One theme of the trip that the team got to see was the incredible growth in the students. We got to see and be a part of the growth in boldness and passion in the students as they continued through the week. It was amazing to see the students step into their leadership roles more and more as the week went on. Their boldness is such that two of the leaders went to the mall last week in their bright pink “I agree” shirts to intentionally share about the love of Christ!

Although the trip is over, God’s movement in Calaveras is not. Please continue to pray for the students as they close out their year, that they would develop leaders to step into leadership roles next year, that they would continue to demonstrate Christ’s love on their campus, and that the community would find more and more ways to come alongside the students in support.

Thank you for all of your prayers!

–The Calaveras Team

The faith club hosted their fourth rally yesterday during which a local youth pastor shared about the validity of the Bible with a crowd of about 70 students. It has been rewarding for the Calaveras team to see the growth that is happening in the Faith Club members. Where on the first day, some Christian students felt too shy to invite people to come into the gym for the rallies, groups yesterday eagerly went out to invite their peers to come in and boldly stood at the door, giving Gospels of John to students as they entered the rally.

Mr. Lambert, the Faith Club advisor

The team had an opportunity to talk to Mr. Lambert, the Faith Club advisor, about the week’s outreaches. Mr. Lambert became a Christian when he was in high school. He told us that as a student, he became interested in a girl who would meet with her Bible club outside during lunch. He would come up to talk to her and end up having conversations about God with one of the boys in the club. Over the course of a week, he had many great conversations with that boy and, at a free Christian concert that Friday, he made a commitment to follow God.

Today is the Faith Club’s last rally, and the theme is Purity. Please pray for the students on campus to be receptive to the message, for the speaker as he speaks to impact the students, and that students would come and hear the message. Thank you for praying!

–The Calaveras Team

The rally yesterday at Calaveras was very encouraging, both to the faith club and our team. Dean from Radical Reality, a well-known performer who demonstrates his strength at rallies, came to share about the topic of love with a crowd of about 100 students. “Jesus didn’t come to take away your fun,” Dean explained. “He came to take away your pain.” Dean’s message was an explanation of how human love is imperfect, but God’s love is perfect and has power. Students had the opportunity to fill out response cards at the end of the rally in which one student indicated putting faith in Christ for the first time. In addition, four other students indicated that they wanted to be contacted by members of the Faith club for more information.

CJ, a Northern California youth pastor and Christian rapper, gave an invitation to the crowd toward the end of the rally asking people to come and hear his rapping and his testimony at the Unite service last night. During the Unite service, Dean again came up to speak in front and invited students who wanted to begin a relationship with Jesus to the front to pray. Four people rushed to the front, overjoyed to accept the gift that is found in the relationship with God.

Lacy and her brother, excited about what God has done in their lives

After the Unite service, the team found out that one of the people who had gone up to the front was the brother of Lacy, one of Calaveras’s Faith club leaders. She met us with tears in her eyes, overjoyed and rejoicing about what God had done in her brother’s heart. During the Monday service, Lacy had asked for prayer for her family, as none of them are believers in Christ. She explained her heart for her brother, and Kellee was able to pray with her for him. What an answer to prayer, to see her brother changed within the course of a few days!

Calaveras is hosting another rally at lunch today to talk about Truth. Please continue to be in prayer for the Faith club today, that they would have boldness and would clearly proclaim God’s truth to their friends today. Please also pray that their peers would be receptive to the message and that the speaker today would speak God’s word well. Thank you for partnering with our team in prayer!

–The Calaveras Team

Monday, April 9

Our team went witnessing for the first time this afternoon at both Pacifica High School and Oxnard High School. We had three high school students with us at Pacifica High and four high school students with us at Oxnard. It was the first time witnessing for all seven of them! And God rewarded their faithfulness, because 13 students came to Christ! God has already answered so many prayers and encouraged the high school students so much. Another round of witnessing tomorrow afternoon and we could not be more excited. Our very own Ciara bore witness to six students giving their lives to Christ at Pacifica High, and she’s got quite a story to tell:

Yesterday I witnessed at Pacifica High School with a high school student named Zyra. Two girls sitting at a table caught my eye and told us how they pray to God to protect their families from jail and dangers. The Holy Spirit began to speak through me about how they see that God is good, like a beautiful gift; but that they need to open the gift of Jesus and invite God in because He wants to be close to them in an amazing way! They said “Yes!” and we were able to lead them in the sinner’s prayer as they gave their lives to Jesus. Next we went to a table with four students from different walks of life. One boy was a homosexual and had problems with how the church views homosexuality, and another girl had an issue with the idea of God condemning her to hell. We told them both that God wants their hearts and doesn’t count one sin above another. They were moved by Jesus’ death and feeling significant in His eyes. They all ended up seeing how God wanted them RIGHT NOW! They all said the prayer of Salvation, and we rejoiced with hugs and encouragement.

Our prayer and our war cry for this week has been: “Spring break! Do something crazy!” It is spring break, and the world does get one thing right about this time: it is a time to do crazy things. Where the world goes wrong is that they fail to realize that it is not a time for us to do something crazy, but it is a time for God to do something crazy, for the name of Jesus Christ to be declared around this time of the celebration of his death and resurrection! God has already answered that prayer, and we have faith that he will continue to answer it. We praise God for his faithfulness and the miracles that he has wrought already in these two high schools. But, as the song goes, “Greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done in this city!” Praise God with us for the things he has already done. Be praying also that as witnessing continues on Tuesday, God continues to work on the hearts of those who need Him. And continue praying for the rallies, which begin on Wednesday. 

Youth leader Kristyn spoke with us about her excitement in working with the Calaveras High School students.

Kristyn is a passionate youth leader from Valley Christian Center church in Calaveras County. She has been involved in planning with the high school students at Calaveras High School from the very beginning. The Calaveras team had the opportunity to sit down with her and talk to her about her involvement.

During the weeks leading up to the outreach, Kristyn met with the students on weeknights to plan and even helped the students understand the different roles that needed to be filled in order to cover the various aspects of outreach. In the team’s absence, she really helped mentor and equip the high school students.

Kristyn told us that the youth pastors at Valley Christian Center were her youth pastors when she was in high school and they really influenced her life. “They really became like my spiritual parents,” she told us, adding that they helped develop in her a heart for youth ministry. “Without youth ministry, [the students] are going to do everything that the world has to offer and so I want to make sure they know everything that God has to offer.”

Excitement was bubbling over in Kristyn when we talked to her. She told us that she was encouraged and inspired by the students’ hearts for outreach. The students don’t just want to reach their peers, but people that they don’t even know, and especially their teachers. Kristyn is a Calaveras High School alumnus and told us about the growth that has happened in the Christians on the campus since she graduated in 2006. During the week, Kristyn plans on praying with the students every morning, coming to the rallies, helping in the continuation of planning, and being at each unite service that the churches host. We really appreciate her heart and her partnership in ministry.

Today marks the first day of outreach at Calaveras High School this year. Please be praying for the students to have boldness, for hearts to be open to hearing about Jesus, and for the speaker as he talks about Faith. Thank you!

–The Calaveras Team