Dear Friends,
I thought that I would take a few minutes to give you a family and ministry update.
Meeting in the Park
When the Lord burdened our hearts to move to California and plant a church, we “got all of our ducks in a row” – so we thought. We had a place to meet, a place to live, and work lined out to support the ministry. Things did not work out that way, as each of those provisions had hidden “strings” attached – strings by which I could not Biblically abide.
Yet, as each of these “ducks” fell out of line, the burden that God had given us grew stronger, and the need for a Biblical church here grew more evident. I spoke with my sending pastor (Steven Harper, Grace Baptist Church in Cle Elum, WA), and we determined to continue, while seeking the Lord’s direction and provision.
These circumstances led us to search the Scriptures more, and we found again and again how that Jesus’ ministry was carried out very much in public – the seaside, the plains, the mountain – places that we might call parks. We began meeting weekly in Mill Creek Park in Los Molinos, CA, and have had the opportunity to meet and work with about two-dozen families who have shown interest in growing in the Lord with our new church. They don’t all show up at once, and some are elderly shut-ins to whom we go and visit regularly. We have been meeting as a church every week, and Grace and Truth Baptist Church became an autonomous church on September 17th, 2023 (nearly one year ago).
We have been told that if we meet in the park, the weather will shut us down. Yet, even through the rainy season, we did not get wet even once. On more than one occasion, God held off the rain until immediately after services were over.
We were told that a building is essential for a church (Jesus evidently did not know this) and that our ministry would be limited without one. Yet, we have had all sorts of opportunities to reach the folks who live in the mobile home park next door, whom we would not otherwise have met. We had the opportunity to reach a group of Hispanics who played volleyball next to us every week for several months. In spite of a language barrier, they were receptive to receiving Spanish Bibles that we gave them, and instructed their children to listen and interpret for them several times.
I believe that one day, God will give us a building. We almost had one a few times. Renting a building has proven unsuccessful, because public halls have told us that they cannot rent to a church in California because of “separation of church and state.” Privately-owned buildings that are available have also declined to rent to us, because, as they put it, they have “no desire to rent to a church.” Until God provides a building, however, we will continue to meet publicly in the park; and, so far, that has not hindered the ministry at all.
Baptism, Salvation, and Baptism
One of the advantages of meeting openly in a park, and baptizing in the nearby river, is that sometimes people end up in church without realizing it.
One of the first folks to begin attending is a man by the name of Randy. Randy grew up Greek Orthodox, but trusted Christ as his personal Saviour as a boy. While in the Army, he jumped out of an airplane with a broken parachute, and decided that it was a great time to get right with God. He survived the fall, and has spent some years recovering. He has been attending church faithfully since we began meeting.
Due to his religious background, we spent several months going through what the Bible has to say about salvation, and then baptism, to make sure that he understood the truth outside of his religious upbringing. He became convicted that he needed to be Scripturally baptized, which we did in the river near the park. That baptism allowed me to present the Gospel to several families who “just happened to be there.”
One man who was there was a friend of Randy’s. He began attending services the following week, and trusted Christ as his Saviour the week after that. His name is Marcos. As I began to work with him on the subject of salvation, and later baptism, I came to find out that Randy had already began to witness to and disciple Marcos. Unknown to me, he had been taking my material on salvation and baptism that I had shared with him, and began teaching it to Marcos outside of church services. What a blessing this was!
Marcos had planned a time to be baptized when his kids and mother could be there. However, he called me one Sunday night and told me that he had read in the Bible about the Philippian Jailer, and how that he was baptized at midnight after getting saved. He told me that as much as he wanted his kids there, it was more important to him that he obeyed the pattern of the Bible, and wanted to know if I could baptize him the following day. So, we had a service that Monday, and had some more unsuspecting visitors in church.
One young lady who was there began asking questions about salvation and baptism, almost faster than I could answer them. By the time we left there, she, her mom, her siblings, cousins, and aunt, committed to coming to services, and were inviting other strangers at the park to join them. I believe that, in time, this group will grow as folks get saved and baptized and added to our church.
Pray for John and Mary
Another challenge that we needed to overcome was finding a long-term place to live. As we began to pray about it, the Lord laid on our hearts the idea of a farm for many practical reasons that have to do with the cost of living in California, as well as family and ministry-related reasons. Yet, it seemed impossible. We took it to a God who does the impossible, and He opened an opportunity for us to become the caretakers of an 80-acre farm that meets all of our needs and desires. God loves to answer prayer!
One of the first times we drove up to the farm, we met a neighbor (named Mary) who greeted us by saying that they “don’t want a preacher up here.”
Soon after this, a man (named John) got a cattle-grazing lease from our landlord, to bring cattle on our property. As the caretaker for the property, it was my job to make sure that John was following his lease, which did not set well with John. John began stealing from my landlord, and invited me to help him. I refused, which started a bit of a war. John was removed from the property, and he sued us (and lost on all counts). In retaliation, he has caused a lot of grief – from sabotaging the property, to poisoning our well tank, to vandalizing our vehicle, and more.
John and Mary became good friends, with a united vision of seeing us move off the land. Mary let John move onto her property, which gives him practical access to ours (not legally). We are praying for the salvation of John and Mary’s souls, which is the real solution to the problem. Please pray with us for this, and for the protection of our family and farm.
Laborers, Not Leaches
Jesus prayed for laborers. There are so many ministry opportunities here in California for whoever God will call, if they will determine to be laborers, and not leaches.
Dozens of churches have packed up and left California for various reasons (some economical, some political, etc.). Others have “given up” and gone in an unBiblical direction in order to draw a crowd and pay the bills. As a result, there is more ministry here than we can ever accomplish on our own.
Regularly, I have people seeking me out concerning Biblical and spiritual needs. One man came up to me in a park where I had taken my family for a picnic. Even though that is not the park where we meet, he said that we looked like ‘church people’ and that we might be able to help him. He told me how that he had trusted Christ as His Saviour, but the church that led him to the Lord had packed up and left, and he wanted to know if I knew where a church that used the King James Bible could be found. I could tell you story after story like this.
The job of planting a church in California will not be accomplished with college text-book solutions. I have been told that “if you are not running 200 or more in 6 months or less, then God hasn’t really called you there.” This won’t work for the small farm towns where God has called us.
This is one of many reasons that we did not go on deputation before coming here. To spend 2 or 4 years on deputation to get 2 or 4 years of support will net us nothing, when what is necessary is to put down roots, work, struggle, and pray with people on level ground with them, and build long-term relationships with folks who will eventually listen to the Gospel.
We have been convinced over and over that God will provide. He has directed some to support our work here from time to time, for which we are grateful. We have many needs and goals, but the same Lord Who instructed us to pray for our daily bread, delights in daily meeting our needs if we but ask.
If you know anyone who needs graphics or website work, please pass my name along, as we use such work to support our ministry. More importantly, please pray with us that souls will be tender to hearing the Gospel, and that God will raise up obedient laborers to reach the many spiritual needs that surround us.
In Christ,
Jared & Krysta Watkins
Enoch, Ezra, Ezekiel, and EdWord