Our church is committed to being like Christ for the sake of others, to be a safe place to heal and a brave place to grow. The heart of our local, domestic, and overseas ministries is to be a loving presence where Jesus is embodied in everything we do and say. We hope you will find an expression in one or more of these opportunities so that together we can love others as we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Local
Unidos
Unidos South OC was founded in 2017 by John and Heather Chapman with a mission to strengthen under-resourced neighborhoods in San Juan Capistrano. The neighborhood of focus has the lowest incomes, the least leisure time, the highest overcrowding and the highest rates of poor mental health in all of South Orange County. Yet in the midst of this suffering, God is demonstrating love to these residents! Direct services like homework club and youth group help to meet felt needs, while other programs focus on empowerment and long-term change. Our church has a growing opportunity to engage in a mutual exchange where we listen and learn from each other. Volunteers can make a profound difference as we get to know and love our neighbors.
To learn more about Unidos South OC, click here.
Friendship Shelter
Friendship Shelter is a 501c non-profit organization serving individuals experiencing homelessness in Laguna Beach and South Orange County. They provide outreach, shelter, and permanent supportive housing with a goal of ending homelessness one person at a time.
Our church continues to partner with Friendship Shelter in many ways. During the Fall, we raise funds to purchase gift cards that go directly to Friendship Shelter guests that are moving from shelter to housing. Another way our church partners with the Friendship Shelter is by providing meals at one of their two local Laguna Beach shelters. This is a wonderful way to provide an essential need for the shelter and an easy way to engage with the guests of the shelters. For example, this would be making a meal for approximately 30-40 people depending on the specific shelter. This can be done individually, or we recommend making the meal together with a group of friends.
If you’re interested, please contact Megan Tambio at the Friendship Shelter at mtambio@friendshipshelter.org or (949) 549-1875.
Domestic
Steve and Marie Krantz with Wellspring Christian Ministries
In 1996 Steve and Marie Krantz prepared to move to Costa Rica as missionaries with Latin America Mission. For medical reasons, those plans had to be shelved. A door opened for them to serve in Los Angeles with Harvest Bible University. Steve and Marie have been teaching courses on the Bible, Church History, and Spiritual Formation at Harvest for 25 years. The university provides biblical training that is practical, accessible, and affordable. It is a multi-ethnic school which helps each group develop its own approach to reaching its people for Christ. Harvest is designed to develop character, relationship with God, Bible knowledge, and ministry competence in a way that is respectful of the ethnic and socioeconomic background of each student. Steve is one of the school’s international coordinators and in this capacity he has taught courses at extension campuses in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Ukraine. In addition to teaching at the LA campus, he is the Theological Mentor of the Doctor of Ministry program and coaches graduate students in the dissertation-writing process. Steve & Marie’s work with Harvest is financially supported through Wellspring Christian Ministries which they formed in 1996.
Carl and Lauretta DuBois with Wycliffe Bible Translators (retired)
Carl and Lauretta are retired career members with Wycliffe Bible Translators now living in a retirement community in Turlock, CA. In 1962 they were commissioned for missionary service by our church. They sailed to the Philippines and translated the New Testament for the Sarangani Manobo people of Mindanao. After 25 long years, this New Testament translations was finally finished and distributed. In 1987 Carl and Lauretta moved to another community and stayed another 25 years to translate the New Testament for the Tagabawa people. The completion and distribution was cause for great celebration.
In 2005 Carl and Lauretta returned home to Central California and actively served their home church community. While officially retired from Wycliffe, Carl continued to do some more translation work.
Then in 2015 they moved to a retirement community in Turlock and transferred their church membership to Crossroads Church, an Evangelical Free Church, where they have been involved in various ministries.
International
Billy and Oana Miller with Assured Hope Ministries in Romania
Billy’s miraculous encounter with Jesus after struggling with drug abuse lead him to his now wife Oana who grew up in Romania. Billy recognized God’s pull in his life to minister in Romania and have now been there in full-time ministry with Oana since 2017. They have a heart for reaching out to the children and their parents who have very little knowledge of Christ’s love for them. They have summer camp for children and teenagers where they play games, learn about Jesus, and are provided with two healthy meals a day, which is a huge blessing as many of the children come from extremely poor families. Many parents are also touched by what they hear their children learning.
Billy and Oana have a vision to reach out to those in distress: widows, orphans, and the lonely. Our support goes to their ongoing ministry that includes weekly Bible Studies, Sunday School, sponsoring kids to go to camp, providing school supplies throughout the school year, providing gifts to children at Christmas, and helping the poor. Our investment in the children impacts the future for Jesus there in Romania.
Currently Billy and Oana are actively engaged in helping with the refugee crisis in Ukraine and Romania and surrounding countries impacted by the war. Continue to give as God leads you in this desperate situation.
To find out more about their ministry, click here.
Open Doors
Our church recently heard from John Mathews about the ministry of Open Doors that was started by Brother Andrew, a brave soul who took Bibles into countries where Bibles were not allowed. Today there are many countries where the church is persecuted and Bibles are prohibited. In February 2022, our church chose Afghanistan as a country to share God’s Love Letter, the Bible. For $8.00 a Bible, people received a precious gift! We will be able to make more contributions in the future to support our brothers and sisters who are eager to have the written Word in their hands.
To learn more about giving Bibles through the Open Doors ministry, click here.
Pam Capone with IMA (International Medical Assistance)
Since 2008 Pam has been the sponsor coordinator for the IMA school for Mayan girls in Guatemala. She has connected our church to three young girls at the IMA School in the rural area of Guatemala City where many families live in poverty. With our monthly support, we sponsor the elementary education cost for Lizabeth (4th Grade), Ashley (4th Grade), and Genesis (2nd Grade). The staff encourage the girls to “take charge of their own education by having them set educational goals, working independently through online platforms along with teacher support, and following passions.” The school helps the girls become independent-driven learners which is a forward-thinking model. The private school education gives the girls Intensive English classes, Bible Studies, health care, and nutritious meals. Equipping these girls with an education and God’s unconditional love will change their future and the community where they live. It will break the chain of social poverty, give the girls greater opportunities, and help them know their God-given worth.
Pam eagerly welcomes those interested to travel with her to Guatemala to build and deepen our relationships with the girls.
To learn more about IMA and connecting with Pam, click here.
Bruce Camp with DualReach
Considered one of the top missions experts in the United States, Bruce Camp founded the organization DualReach in 2001 to help churches in the USA, Cuba, and Pakistan to be more effective and strategic in their outreach efforts locally and globally. His two passions are the local church and world evangelization. He has assisted several thousand churches with their mission endeavors and really enjoys taking teams to Cuba to minister alongside house church leaders. DualReach offers practical, specialized help to develop strategy, train staff, and serve churches. It has developed practical tools that help churches unleash their missions potential through strategic initiatives, unreached people emphases, better missionary preparation and more effective missionary care.
To learn more about Bruce’s ministry with DualReach, click here, or contact him directly at Bruce@DualReach.org.
Paul Ai and wife Ruth with Paul Ai Ministries: Vietnamese Outreach International
Raised in Vietnam, Paul studied to become a Buddhist monk but became disenchanted with the “hopelessness of Buddhist doctrines.” He explored black magic and became a witchcraft doctor. Then in 1970, missionaries introduced Paul to the power of God. He became a Christian and his family forced him to move out of his home. He decided to attend Bible school. Paul was ordained two days before Saigon and the entire nation fell to the communists in April 1975. He was imprisoned eight times for spreading the Good News of Jesus and planting churches. By the time he was deported from Vietnam in 1999, he had established 175 house churches. Today he continues to plant churches among Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and Burmese throughout Asia and in refugee communities throughout the US and helps them grow and share their faith. He travels extensively to other countries like Pakistan, Malaysia, North Vietnam, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Nicaragua training and teaching leaders.
Horizons in Lebanon
Did you know that when the children at our church tithe in their Sunday School, their beautiful gifts are sent to Horizon’s School of Hope in Lebanon to sponsor a Syrian refugee to go to school? Watch a 3 minute video so you can learn more about this wonderful ministry by clicking here.