Because of Him
Mission and Outreach is not just another program at Malibu Pres. Mission is a way of life for those who call our church home. Mission and Outreach is a natural expression for those impacted by the love of Christ. In genuine encounters with the Holy and Living God, we can't help but turn our eyes, our hands, our checking accounts and our weekly planner to the hurting, the empty-handed, the hopeless.
While Malibu Pres continues to support over 25 individuals and families around the globe to spread this love and hope, we are also working to bring Christ locally, in our own neighborhoods, carpools, businesses and soccer games, to impact the very people we see on a daily basis.
From tutoring a child in a rough part of the valley, or sharing our own stories about Christ to an impoverished family on a dusty road in Baja, to sharing a meal with the homeless at Webster Elementary, we will stop at nothing less than presenting ourselves as holy sacrifices so that others may know the same hope in which we live.
In faith, humility and obedience, we seek and bring life. Not from ourselves, but only from our Father.
Looking Back on 2007
(A humble story of grace through us)
The night before our church burned down, I sat in a ballroom in downtown LA as Greg announced a gift of $500,000 to World Impact. For our church and leadership to make such a commitment was a staggering act of trust. But for God, it was an opportunity to not only deepen our trust in Him, but to give our world a glimpse of the Kingdom. And this is our mission: to make the Kingdom of God known by redemptive acts of faith in our world. For those outside, they would think of the unfortunate timing of such a gift. But through trusting eyes, the timing was perfect.
After a second fire destroyed 53 homes in November, Malibu Pres became incarnational in our community as we walked house-to-house, encouraging and praying for families shuffling through their own ashes. We also sent each of these families a Christmas ornament, a symbol not of superficial hope, but of home-grown hope, as we stood in the same, ash-covered shoes.
Our mission to be light not only continued after our fire, but raged with the breath of the Spirit and the kindle of our own adversity.
Three short weeks after the fire, 30 of us traveled to Tecate, Mexico and built a home for an impoverished family - the first sign of a re-building campaign not necessarily made up of bricks and wood.
150 boxes were sent around the world through Operation Christmas Child. Over 100 toys went to downtown LA so inner-city moms could buy new toys at low prices through World Impact's Toy Story. Member Bob Sheets started the rebuilding process by housing Joanne Robinson, a 71-year-old Malibu native who lost her house and everything she owned. Several women from the community also attended our women's Christmas "House Party" fundraiser, hearing the good news of Christ.
In an act of compassion member Gary Verboon donated his Ford Ranger to student Nick Mason, who had lost his car to fire in our parking lot. And hundreds of pounds of Thanksgiving food was collected at Ralphs and sent to Cloud & Fire and the inner city of Los Angeles.
From the inner city to around the world, we continued our support of over twenty-six individuals, families and organizations making Christ known throughout the world. Our missions committee worked hard to prayerfully consider new opportunities as well as support previous commitments. They are: Debbie Becker, Phil Dunn, Vicki Gardner, Kelly Gerhart, Matt Kalish, Becky Keller and Dorothy Lucey. Our church sent out over $164,000 from feeding the homeless in Malibu, to ministering and caring for refugees in Burma.
And as we step forward in obedience and perseverance, we move forward with intention to make even greater strides in not only serving our immediate community, the greater city of LA, Baja and out into the world, but remain resolved to make Christ known in all we do.
Fifteen of us will be traveling to Brazil to make Christ known among the riverside villages of the Amazon. Many of us will travel once again to the dust-filled canyons of Baja to rebuild the lives of those with nothing. We will work to take one homeless family off the street and into a new hope of permanent stability. We will roam the streets of Van Nuys under Cloud & Fire, where Jesus walks with families ravaged by gangs, drugs and poverty. We will tutor kids in the heart of LA and help World Impact build a teen center that will possibly reach hundreds of kids every year. And we will sit and drink coffee at Starbucks at the Country Mart and start a conversation with someone who looks lonely. We will begin a friendship with our neighbor. We will tell someone about our joy in Christ. And we will rebuild, not only of brick and wood, but with our breath and blood. And Christ will be known.