Logan's visit, Saturday night

Saturday night we went to Del Playa, the big party street. It was Logan, Jose, Kyle, and I This was a truly blessed night, and the enemy did a lot to stop it. We didn't leave the house until later than planned, we were tired, the Jesus Burger house wasn't doing anything (we normally start these nights at the Jesus Burger house), and the streets seemed fairly empty. There were a plenty of reasons to just head home and finish the movie (Braveheart, my favorit) that had sealed us to the couch for the previous hour and a half, but praise God we stayed. Before ministering I asked the Lord to give me a divine appointment, to keep me from vain arguments and to bring me someone who really needed to hear the Word. I was hoping I would speak to at least one struggling Christian. We started by ministering to Jacob, who had a lot of questions and eventually the conversation was going in circles. It ended however, with us praying over him, and I wait in expectancy for the prayer of revelation to be answered. Logan then went home to grab his guitar, while we witnessed to people in the street. After a planting a few seeds, Logan started worshipping in the middle of Del Playa. A guy who was previously mocking us, starting shouting Hallelujah with us as the Spirit worked. Different groups stopped by and saw us worshipping Jesus in the middle of the street. In one of these groups was Rachel, a girl I was blessed to talk to for about 20 minutes. She needed the conversation. It was a divine appointment, the one I had prayed for a few hours before, and we are still in contact. Please pray for her as she grows in the Lord. We witnessed to a few more groups, and one group of girls needed a ride home. We drove them home, while ministering. One of them, Jacky, knew that she wasn't going to heaven but thought it was too hard to get there. She didn't think she had the discipline to read her Bible before going to bed. We were able to explain that it's a work of God, not her own works to save her, and that this work will bring her to want to read her Bible all day. She left saying she was going to pray before going to bed, and keep her in your prayers as I'll keep her in mine. The night ended with Kyle crying on his walk to my house because it hit him that many people are going to hell. He was truly baptized in anguish, the Lord broke Kyle's heart, which was an answer to Kyle's prayers. Praise God that He answers prayers. The prayers that were answered this weekend (that I can think of):
I prayed for someone who would need a wheelchair, Shakey prayed for a wheelchair with the features of the one I had, I prayed for a divine appointment with a struggling Christian (ended up being Rachel), Rachel had been praying for help and the Lord sent me and gave me words to speak, Kyle on Friday prayed for anguish over the lost and ended up crying on Saturday night...
God is good, all the time
All the time, God is good
-Josh

Logan's visit

This past weekend was so awesome. It started on Friday night when Logan, Jose, Kyle, Bobby, and myself headed downtown. This night was different than most nights downtown. Normally the conversations are short and there are many. This night the conversations were long and there were few. First we stopped to visit Gator and Shakey, two guys living in a park. My roommate Mike brought up a wheelchair for me to give to any homeless in need. I'd been praying that I'd find someone who needed it, Shakey had been praying for a new wheelchair with feet support that could fold up so he could hide it in the bushes. Both prayers were answered and Shakey received a new wheelchair and a new Bible. Logan brought his guitar so we worshipped with Shakey and Gator. A man and a women stopped by and started worshipping, and felt the Holy Spirit through music. They started talking about how different they felt. They said "you guys are like shining lights", something supernatural was definately touching them. They asked us what church we belonged to, we said "this is it, welcome". Holy Spirit does a lot more than donuts and coffee. These people left but definately have seen the light. Our team then ministered to Gator and Shakey for over an hour, explaining to them that their life of alcoholism proves that the Holy Spirit isn't working, which is different than what is taught in church. Shakey ended up praying to God to confirm if my words were true or if I was a false profit. I know that the confirmation will come. We then went to State Street and had another conversation that lasted over an hour. We talked to Winton, a Marine. We talked to him for a long time, sharing stories of Pastor Rudy (former Marine) and what has brought him to the Lord. By the time we finished talking to Winton, it was about two AM so we headed home.

The Calm before the Storm.

Everyone, PLEASE pray for Isla Vista as much as you can. Starting tonight and going all the way to Sunday in the morning, Isla Vista hosts the biggest party they have always had...Halloween. This place becomes one of the most sinful places there is. Sodom and Gomorrah will even look better than Isla Vista this weekend. There is going to be TONS of people celebrating and doing sinful stuff. Please pray for this city, IT NEEDS IT.

Pray, before the storm begins.

-José

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Last night was good. We witnessed at what is known as the "Jesus Burger" house. It's simply a big house full of Christians, they make a bunch of burgers, and they hand out these burgers in the front yard to hungry drunk people and preach the Gospel. We had a good group of about fifteen Christians, and the Lord worked. I was able to witness to an agnostic, a Mormon, two girls who's dad was Jewish and mom was Catholic and only know what they have been taught in school, and a few people who think there is a God but have no clue what to say about Him. In every way the Holy Spirit was able to work and seeds were planted, and a few tears were spilled. Pray with me for each seed that was planted. For those at Jesus Burger who were bold enough to witness, I pray that the seeds they planted will be watered. For those Christians at Jesus Burger who couldn't share their faith, I pray for them, that God will anoint them with a Spirit of boldness. Next weekend Logan is thinking about visiting. A schedule is starting to devolop, so far it appears that we will be in downtown SB on Fridays, and at the Jesus Burger house, or somewhere else on Del Playa on Saturdays. If you have extra clothes as it gets cold, please consider donating, they will go straight to a cold homeless person. Praise God for what He is doing and plans to do in Santa Barbara. Pray that Logan will make it down here and that this week and next weekend will be fruitful.
-Josh

Tonight and Tomorrow Night

Tonight was awesome. Thursday Jose and I were doing a Bible Study in public, and a servant named Ryan stopped by. After conversation, I realized he's one of the few people I've bumped into who really "gets it". When I told him I wanted to do a homeless outreach tonight, he was EXTREMELY excited (If such things don't excite you, re-examine what the Holy Spirit is really doing in your life). So he met me in Downtown SB. Jose brought a friend Josue, Jose and I met a disciple named Nick who decided to go, and Ryan ended up bringing two friends Krissy and Dustin. So we had seven. Praise God. We had two bags of clothes, about ten Bibles, and a bunch of nutri-grain bars. In the park we were at, not a single person went to sleep without hearing the Good News. And Jose and I got the opportunity to witness and feed a couple of people on the beachside street. The last person we ministered to was the hardest. As soon as I started preaching the Gospel, he told me I was the ugliest thing on this earth and asked if I have a disease. This was awesome, because all day and night God prepared me for this. For some reason all day I watched videos of preachers who have people make fun of them, and how these preachers react. And I kept thinking about it all night. So this was awesome to see God equip me all day then consider me worthy to use me. Jose, Ryan, Josue, Krissy, Dustin and Nick all were extremely faithful and did a great job ministering. It was such an awesome and fulfilling night. It ended with everyone seeing a slow moving green shooting star in the sky. Whether or not that's a sign from God, it was cool. Tomorrow will be harder. We are witnessing on Del Playa, which is my weakness. On DP people see me and think I'm still a partier, and I hate to say it but that makes it harder to witness. God's pointing to DP though and we can either argue with him or just submit and go, so we're going. Pray!
-Josh

School Year

Haven't blogged in a long time, and it's time to start. A lot has been happening in Santa Barbara. I've done some outreaches, spreading the good news and passing out food/clothes/bibles. The Lord has filled me with joy and peace, but I'm never quite content. This is because His will isn't being fulfilled, people are perishing. Satan's winning. The score is lopsided, hell is so crowded. And God's sharing that burden with me, and it's a blessing that I get to serve him.
-Josh

Outreach

Tonight's outreach was obviously blessed by the Lord. Josh, Jose, Trevin, and Ben were the four Raven Team Members who went out and got six pizza's and set out to preach the uncompromised gospel. We set them on the table and people came, hungry for food and for the word. Send your prayers out to Kurt who accepted the Lord alongside his brother Rudy, and for the first time in awhile is no longer contemplating suicide. Their cousin James also asked Jesus to enter his life with tears in his eyes. Pray for Noah and Louie who will come to the AGO Christian Fraternity and shower on Sunday morning for the first time in a long time and will then go to Reality Church with Ben and Trevin in an effort to increase their faith. Pray for "Mom" who was baptized a year ago and has had trouble staying "on track". We promised to go back and help her read the Bible and understand how to stay on the path of righteousness. 6 pizza's were eaten tonight, about 10 bibles were passed out, and many clothes were handed out. Ben took off his socks and shoes and gave them to Noah, then walked home barefoot. Praise the Lord that ministry like this is possible in the party scene that is Isla Vista. God willing, this ministry will grow, more will join, and more will be saved. Among all things, there will be a Bible study and worship held tomorrow night in the Isla Vista Park, where all the local homeless people live. The best part is that at least 5 of the people we met tonight said as we left "see you tomorrow night". They are hungry for the word. Pray that we have the wisdom to say what the Lord wants these people to hear.

Raven SB Begins

Today Raven Westcoast expands as the Santa Barbara Ministry begins. Josh Rowden and Jose Valle will set up card tables with a few pizzas and twenty bibles and preach the uncompromised gospel. Our Mission is to pray and be an answer to prayers.
"The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Luke 3:9.
We realize that only by following the Word can we fulfill His true purpose for our lives. When we read:
"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder." James 2:18-19
We do not make excuses for why our faith lacks deeds we let the convinction inside of our hearts fire us up to do the will of God! We pray for boldness and we pray for wisdom as we go into the world to preach the Gospel!