Once again Luz y Vida participated in the Escondido Christmas Parade. It was a rainy day which kept many people at home, but those of us who braved the weather had a great time. Here are some photos of the day.
Nov
08
This morning while we were feeding the day laborers in Escondido I met a man who asked if he could take some sandwiches home to his family. You see he came to Escondido from Fresno because of a promise of work. That work has not materialized and therefore he, his wife, four children and two grandchildren are doing what they can to survive. They are mainly living off of what they can collect in recyclables. I sent him home with a bag full of sandwiches and some bottles of water and offered to meet him later at the Light & Life Food Pantry.
The whole family came to meet me this afternoon at the Food Pantry. It seemed this was a special outing for them. The children were so excited about the food. You would have thought they were in a toy store rather than in a room full of canned and dry food items. What a blessing it is that Light & Life has put together this amazing ministry. Luz y Vida is so blessed to be a part of the Light & Life family.
Oct
16
I haven’t posted lately, but here is a monthly report I just submitted to our Mother Church Light & Life to catch those who are interested up on what has been happening.
Greetings from Luz y Vida.
We praise God for the celebration of our first anniversary! We commemorated this occasion with a special worship service celebrating what God has done at Luz y Vida during the past year, and with a neighborhood party. The neighborhood party was a lot of fun and brought in great attendance from the neighborhood.
With the beginning of school, our after school tutoring program “Homework Helpers” resumed. We are currently assisting approximately 20 children with their studies. We also began a new Bible study on the Book of Mark which is proving to be very insightful.
The Saturday morning soup ministry has evolved into a sandwich ministry. We now distribute 80 sandwiches on Saturday mornings to the day laborers in Escondido and to some of the homeless population. We also received a generous donation of sleeping bags, 20 of which we were blessed to distribute this past Saturday. With the cold weather having set in, many of the day laborers who are homeless find sleeping bags indispensable. God’s provision is good!
In our times of worship we have continued to share about spiritual disciplines. We have been discussing giving and began taking offering at the beginning of October. The response has been very positive and we are excited about being obedient to the Lord in our finances. The monies given will be held in account by Light & Life and we look forward to setting this up. Our worship last week was particularly exciting. Luis Ortiz shared his testimony. God is working mightily in his life and it was exciting to have him share.
In terms of future plans, we are praying about the possibility of moving our worship service to the Light & Life Fellowship Hall. Pastor George has offered the space and there are certainly great benefits to this resource. There are also benefits to remaining at Rock Springs. We are seeking God’s will for His people at Luz y Vida. Prayer for God’s wisdom and guidance on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Grace and Peace,
Michelle Quezada
Pastor, Luz y Vida Ministry
Aug
25
The theme for this past week’s VBS lesson was compassion. In the midst of this, I was blessed with many lessons on compassion I would like to share.
While taking photos of neighbors for a Super Friend skit, I came across a group of homeless people. I was blessed to have some sandwiches with me from our morning ministry to the day laborers. I offered some sandwiches to the group. They gladly accepted and were very interested in my Super Friend costume. I was invited to join their group and talk for a while. I felt honored by their willingness to accept me and show me hospitality. They didn’t ask me for anything, just some conversation. I got to see photos of some of their children and we talked about the things they like to do. When I got around to explaining my Super Friend costume and that I was creating a photo slide show about compassion and neighbors from all different walks of life, one of the gentlemen responded: “You know we need more compassion in this world.” As I looked into the eyes of each one in the group, I could see Jesus. I pray that maybe they saw a little Jesus in me to. I’m looking forward to another visit.
Compassion lesson number two also came in the form of a homeless person. A homeless woman whom I often see around, and talk to on ocassion was at her usual place near a Starbucks. I brought her some sandwiches too. I found Jesus again. You see, this woman who people pass everyday with little thought other than that she is the neighborhood homeless person, had just recently lost her husband of many years. He had suffered a protracted illness and she spent as much time as she could with him until he died. In order to be with him, she was forced to give away her beloved dog. On some level it seems like an extravagance for a homeless person to have a dog. But as we talked, I realized that the dog provided much needed companionship in this woman’s life. I had never thought of this before. Again I was in my SF costume which required explanation. When I told her about my love for children, she shared with me her past experiences of running a children’s home on an Indian reservation. She also told me about how she used to take in the children of women who were going through recovery so that they could get sober. So interesting and beautiful.
Lesson number three occurred on Sunday afternoon. We received a phone call in the morning from some of our Luz y Vida members. There were people setting up for a party on the tennis court where we have been doing our Vacation Bible School. Robert went over to see what was going on. He learned that it was not a party that was being prepared for, but a wake. A 23 year old man who was a resident of Rock Springs had died in a car accident. He left behind an 18 month old and a child on the way. His mother, grandmother and other extended family all live at Rock Springs. So Robert and I asked ourselves what should we do? Having VBS in another area of the neighborhood didn’t seem appropriate while so many were mourning. So we decided on another course of action. We brought an Igloo full of Jamaica for the family to enjoy. Then the Luz y Vida family met in the club house. We talked about compassion and how we might show the love of Jesus to this family. We made beautiful crape paper flowers. (Gina was particularly amazing at this.) Then we prayed over the flowers and brought them to the family. It was a quite gift, but it seemed very well received. As I hugged the grieving mother and felt her pain and exhaustion I was so grateful for the opportunity to show her love. There he was again, Jesus, teaching me about compassion.
I have been reading from Mother Teresa lately who talks about “doing little things with great love.” Some sandwichs and paper flowers – little things. I pray that they conveyed the love of Jesus. I have been blessed.
Aug
05
Our first night of Vacation Bible School was this past Sunday evening. We are learning about how to be Super Friends! We talked about encouragement and how Paul and Silas encouraged each other and others when they were in prison by singing hymns to the Lord. (Acts 16:26-40)
We acted out the story by standing in a pretend prison made of boxes while we sang, the walls tumbled down. We also practiced using encouraging words with a pair of limp floppy overalls. We used news paper and put crumbled pieces in while saying encouraging words until the overalls were filled to overflowing! It was so fun to watch the kids get so excited about saying encouraging things. We are so filled up when people encourage us.
We also made pencil toppers that when flipped back and forth looked just like Paul and Silas in prison and we played “Honey Do You Love Me”. We sang fun songs, including a Super Friend theme song. Super Friend and her evil nemesis Captian Doubt showed the importance of encourange and how it can change a person for the better. A little over 35 kids joined in on the fun!
All are welcomed to come join us Sunday evenings in August at 5:30 p.m. You can also check out the Super Friend video and www.lightandlifeescondido.com.
Jul
15
This past Sunday was a really great day. We had an uplifting time of worship. We have been learning about spiritual disciplines and took the opportunity to share with one another our experiences during this past week with fasting. We also began talking about serving and flexing our “heart muscle”.
After worship we headed to the beach for an afternoon of fun and sun and then a bon fire. Here are some pictures from our time at the beach.
Jun
24
Sorry I haven’t posted lately but here are some of the things that God has done at Luz y Vida during the past month.
-The Wednesday night Bible Study completed it’s study on Ruth. Much love and appreciation was gained for this beautiful book of the Bible. The group opted for a New Testament study next. We will begin a six week study in Galations on Wednesday July 1st @ 6 p.m.
-Our brother Ramon has moved to Texas. He was blessed with an offer of employment. Although we are sad to see him go, we are very happy for his new opportunity.
-We shared a blessed time of worship with our Mother church Light & Life. We were asked to come and share music and a message on June 14th. It was an interesting experience for both the Luz y Vida and the Light & Life family. Robert and Isaac lead music in both English and Spanish. I shared a message in English about the Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed and our responsiblity to plant and harvest but to wait upon God for the growth. Julieta provided excellent Spanish translation. It was a joyful time of worship. Thanks L&L for the invite and receiving us so graciously.
-We shared a picknick in the park this past month also. We ate pizza, the kids played on the playground, gathered sticks and there was a competative but fun game of flag football. A really great time of fellowship.
May
13
Last Wednesday we began a new Bible study on the Book of Ruth. It is exciting to learn about how God worked in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. We meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Rock Springs club house to read, study and share with one another. All are welcome!
May
06
We recently moved our worship time to 1:30 p.m. on Sundays so that we could have more fellowship time together. This past Sunday, after service, we took advantage of this. A bunch of us went to the park to fly kites together. We didn’t have a lot of wind, but we did have a lot of fun. Many of the children had never flown kites before. For most of the adults, it had been years since they had flown kites. It was so great to enjoy fellowship with one another in this way. I highly recommend it. My vote for our next group effort is kickball! Any takers?
Luz y Vida Ministry 