By Keaton Wong

Near the end of November, I had a dream that all my friends at school and I were giving out gifts to people in need. This dream actually happened right after Operation Christmas Child. Throughout my life, it hadn’t really occurred to me that after all the years I’ve been at church, this Operation Christmas Child event hasn’t gone past our church boundaries; all our boxes and gifts were all being donated and packed by our church community. I felt like that this opportunity of gift giving should be available to everyone and not just our church. This actually became a reality on December 18, 2020 with our first Healing Grove Christmas outreach. During that event I saw a lot of people…people who brought their own friends from school and just in general, a lot of people I didn’t know, which was really good because I was able to work with people of all backgrounds to give to people in need, which was really cool.

What I learned about God through this is that He can do anything. I didn’t know that one simple dream could bless over 500 people! I thought I needed months to plan this but you know, through prayer and the right connections, it worked out really well in the end. In addition, what I learned about myself that day, is that if you ever have a dream, big or small, you should never keep it to yourself because you never know that it could actually bless multiple people in just one day.

by Betty Young

Our ESL ministry has been serving the Rockspring community for many years. I speak on behalf of every ESL teacher when I say that our most pressing desire is to share the Gospel with our students. As we teach our classes, our foremost thought is the salvation of each and every student. Yes, we can teach English, help them become US citizens, help tutor their children and even befriend them, but our best gift is and will always be salvation. Salvation is the most precious and costliest gift we can give our students. It meets the greatest need, brings the greatest blessing and has the most lasting results.

Pre-COVID19 we often saw our students every Tuesday and Thursday evening nine months out of the year. Some of the teachers saw them more often than their own family members. No wonder that we care so much for them. And now, during these COVID19 times, teachers have continued to keep in touch. We have provided our students free food boxes provided by our church and we hope and pray that we will one day be able to serve again as ESL teachers. Read more →

By Derrick Duong

I felt so blessed to be able to participate in the Convoy of Hope event. The coordination of the humble team, the willingness to serve of our church, the spirit of joy and the energy of excitement were so high and strong since the first day of flyers distribution. Not only serving on the actual day (11/23) was an act of kindness; also distributing flyers from door to door to the neighborhood was an act of blessing. I was so moved to see more than a thousand volunteers walking from the parking area to the stadium in the early morning with great joy, getting ready to serve. All the prep works that were put together by the 50 churches was more than amazing! It’s indeed the work of the Holy Spirit! Some people who came for prayer looked helpless and lost; others admitted their brokenness, facing difficult situation. After prayer, tears of hope and joy appeared in their eyes. A lady even reminded us to call her for the follow up! It is a humbling experience to reach out to the community and see the work of the Holy Spirit.

By Dean C.

Last fall, my wife asked me if we should sign up our 5 year old for the SJCAC missions trip with YWAM in San Francisco. My immediate reaction was, “Are you sure the minimum age is 5 years? That must be a mistake. Isn’t YWAM located in the Tenderloin? The infamous neighborhood with prevalent drug use and crime? Maybe they meant a 15 year minimum age. I don’t know how little kids would be able to serve on this missions trip.”

Well, we confirmed that it was not a mistake. They really were allowing 5 year olds to register! I was still hesitant to sign our child up, but we saw this as an opportunity to take a step of faith and allow God to work wonders. Read more →

by Betty Young

Last month we celebrated an ESL student’s 80^th birthday. This student, like many others, returned year after year and in time, became like a friend to our teachers. There was much love as we gathered with other students to celebrate a significant birthday of a cherished member of our Rockspring community. Teachers, as well as students, shared delicious food while serving and honoring one another above themselves. Read more →