This update is from church planter and district and church pastor Heber Ticas concerning the GCI church that he and his team planted two years ago in Los Angeles. For an earlier update, click here.
On October 20 we celebrated our second anniversary. We are grateful for the Lord’s grace—we had 116 in attendance including 14 from the mother church. Our journey has been one of great joy, fears, hard work and a lot of faith. I thank the Lord for the team he has given me. They have joyfully participated in the Lord’s mission to our community.
Through our participatory ministry, we have been privileged to help many people encounter the risen Lord. Not all have responded positively, but many have and in that we rejoice. Loving our community with no strings attached has been our ministry model. One example is a sister who sheltered an abused mother in her home. Another is the care we gave to sister Julia who was drawn to our church through our outreach of passing out free bottles of water on the street. Julia attended our initial launch service and has been part of our church family ever since.
Last February, Julia was diagnosed with stage-three stomach cancer. She had to endure difficult surgery that included removal of her stomach. Several weeks later I was privileged to accompany her to an appointment with her oncologist. Her doctor informed her that they were not able to remove all the cancer and that they felt that it was fatal with only six to twelve months before the cancer claimed her life. God’s love for Julia has been unwavering, but he allowed us to be the bearers of that heavenly love. We share that love as we pray with her, have fellowship, encourage her and provide financial support to purchase her expensive meals that are fed through a tube. We have witnessed her most difficult moments, but we thank God for his grace as we have seen her recover most of her weight in the last six weeks.
We ask that you join with us in mission to our community by keeping us in your prayers. Please pray for our team, in particular for Enoch Palacios, our associate pastor, and David Chicas, one of our ministry leaders. I have delegated most of the everyday ministry duties to these men. Please pray that the Lord gives me wisdom to recognize the right time to release the ministry fully to these leaders. I plan to do so by our third anniversary.
My sister Julie was named after her great grandmother Julia, and at the young age of 43 was diagnosed with menstrual dysphoric disorder exacerbated by alcoholism, which led to her suicide right after her birthday four years ago. It is good our living Julia is getting the physical and spiritual help today so she can experience The Good Lord firsthand. Thank You to the close-knit team of believers on her behalf!