Memorial Day Outreach

Psalm 133:1 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

The Psalmist said it 3,000 years ago, there is strength in numbers.

Most people won't preach the Gospel because of fear. From May 27th-29th, UCRAVEN and Raven Westcoast will bring together a team of evangelists from all over California to stand together to reach the Santa Barbara area. If you've been waiting for a chance to step out of fear and step into obedience for Christ, this is it!

What to Expect
-Hands-on evangelism experience, fellowship with seasoned evangelists, and evangelism training through seminars and Q&A sessions.
-Dynamic, on the ground, inner city ministry including witnessing, open air preaching, intercessory prayer, and feeding the homeless.
-A place to stay (Shoreline Community Church), meals from Friday night dinner until Sunday morning breakfast.

How to Get Involved
-We welcome any Christian who would like to get their feet wet in evangelism. There is no cost to attending this outreach. We are believing God will provide the funds needed to feed the group. You can stay with us Friday through Sunday or you can meet us out at Del Playa on Friday or Saturday night.

****RSVP by Sunday, May 22nd if you'd like to spend the weekend with us. RSVP by emailing Josh at Joshua@Biggrace.com (leaders email me a list of the group you are bringing)*****

Who You Will Meet

Pastor Rudy Gonzalez

Rudy Gonzalez is the director of Raven Westcoast, a pastor, an evangelist, and a missionary. From running a college ministry out of his own home to preaching in the jungles of Indonesia, Pastor Rudy has lived to take the Gospel to the nations and has testimonies that will bless either the beginning evangelist or the experienced leader. (Pastor Rudy is currently not allowed in Indonesia for committing the crime of converting Muslims to Christianity).

Rich Donaghy

Rich Donaghy serves as assistant director of Raven Westcoast. Rich has had experience in leading evangelism teams into the Tenderloin of San Francisco (AKA heroin alley), Bourbon Street of New Orleans, and Guadalajara, Mexico. Holding a wealth of practical advice and biblical knowledge, Rich will bless and encourage aspiring evangelists.

Pastor Young Su McCann

Pastor Young Su is a graduate of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and current Pastor of Journey Christian Fellowship of San Luis Obispo, CA. Pastor Young Su is a shepherd who leads the sheep by example rather then using the pulpit to push them in a direction he refuses to go. Even when he leads early morning bible studies, Pastor Young Su will spend late nights on the streets of SLO preaching the Gospel of Christ. Pastor Young Su is a leader who can encourage not only in word but in deed.

UC RAVEN Team

UC RAVEN is a team of college students who have either been saved or inspired through Raven Ministries (some of us were saved in Pastor Rudy's living room). The team has members on campus' across California at UCD, UCB, UCSB, Cal Poly SLO, and San Bernardino State. The team has been open air preaching and witnessing on campus' and in college party areas. UC RAVEN is a group of saved college students who have dedicated their college careers to reaching college students.

***SUNDAY MORNINGS SPEAKER****
Pastor Patrick Ersig

Pastor Patrick is founder and director of Skid Row's Jonah Project. After being radically saved, Pastor Patrick began doing ministry in Detroit's most dangerous areas. His reason: he read the Bible. God eventually put LA's Skid Row (Home to thousands of homeless) on Pastor Patrick's heart and he literally has given his life to reach the area. Pastor Patrick delivers an amazing testimony of a life of sacrifice and obedience. Don't miss his message on Sunday morning to wrap up the outreach.

Ways You Can Help
-Prayer. As Paul said, we covet your prayers. Details will be worked out by prayer. Funds will come in by prayer. Souls will be saved by prayer. Pray for us.
-Finance. I want to feed every soul winner that comes into my city. If you would like to help us financially you can make a donation on Paypal (send it to raven@biggrace.com and include in the message that it is for the Santa Barbara Memorial Day Outreach). Or if you would like to donate a different way contact me at Joshua@Biggrace.com for details.

Del Playa Street Church

Storke Plaza Pulpit January 12th

Weekly Schedule Winter Quarter

Wednesday 10:45 Storke Plaza Pulpit with Jason and Josh. Contact Josh (7073276343).

Thursdays 7:00 (Starting January 20th) Bible Study at 6679 Abrego #3 Contact Josh (7073276343) Daniel (8057294023)

Fridays 11:00 (or later, depending on when Reality Adorn gets out) Del Playa Street Church

Storke Plaza Pulpit January 5th

Halloween Outreach

On Saturday, October 30th, we had by far the best outreach we've had in over a year of regular ministry in Isla Vista.


First we gathered at Daniel's church in downtown Santa Barbara. We had a worship service, shared communion, a meal, and listened to a few words given by Pastor Rudy and a few other team members.

After a few hours we were filled up and ready to go. The team consisted of various people UCRAVENSLO has met, including Pastor Young from Kenneth's church and about six or seven members of his congregation. From Santa Rosa (RAVEN WESTCOST) we had the Gonzalez family. From Santa Barbara we had the regular team that hits DP with a few guys who went out to evangelize for the first time.

We split up into two teams, one team was a team of drivers, the others were basically the "army" who got dropped off on the outskirts of Isla Vista and headed to Del Playa on foot. Amidst all the choas, we were able to drop everyone off, park the cars, and reunite both teams on Del Playa without too many problems. Once on Del Playa, we held up signs with simple messages. A direct quote from an individual that repented: "The sign convicted me, and the person holding the sign convinced me." The Gospel works, you don't have to sugar coat it.



TESTIMONIES:
1) Michelle
As soon as we held up the signs and started witnessing, preaching, and standing for the truth, a young girl named Michelle found us out there. She was lost, not only away from the Lord, but unsure of where she was and afraid of the intense party scene. She came into Maddie's (15 years old) arms crying. The Gonzo women huddled around her and comforted her and preached to her. They explained the truth of being a new creature in Christ and Michelle cried out to the Lord. After over an hour of sharing with her and praying with her we got her to my house, gave her a Bible, some food and water, and got somebody to drive into Isla Vista to pick her up and take her home. I can't help but wonder what would've happened to Michelle not only on that night but eternally if we weren't there.

2) Dale
Anthony was holding a sign about repentance, and Dale, a young man who had graduated from UCSB a few years earlier, was convicted by the sign and talked to Anthony. Dale had fallen away from the Lord and knew he needed to come back. After talking for awhile, the team huddled around Dale and prayed for him. We spent a long time witnessing to him and helping him with some issues. He broke out in tears and confessed his need to get right. On the streets his Sin started manifesting itself as he lashed out on those mocking the Lord. We were able to minister to him for most of the night and he's now in contact with one of our Raven team members on the East Coast.

Here we are praying for Dale.

Dale and the team after tears and prayers.

3) Jay
Jay spent some time with Gracie filling her in on his story. He had gotten back from Afghanistan, and overseas he was doing well with the Lord. As soon as he got back to the States, however, his friends became a negative influence in his life. Gracie called me over and I spent some time telling him about the darkness he's allowing himself to adjust to and told him that the Word would be the light to open his eyes. He completely agreed. I told him he needed to do something bold in front of his friends and get on his knees and pray with me to get right with the Lord. His direct quote was "Can't we do that at Church on Sunday?" I replied by saying, "If you're not willing to get right with God in this kind of environment you won't stay right with God in this kind of environment, you need to stand for him now." He then agreed and we got on our knees in front of his friends and prayed.


There were numerous other testimonies, I'm sure there were some I don't even know about. Logan shared a story of two girls repenting as soon as he held up a sign. Pastor Rudy had a story of a kid who started out argumentative eventually repenting and coming to the Lord. In addition, many people were witnessed to, many heard open air preaching, Gospel tracts were handed out to people. Seeds were planted everywhere, and a harvest of souls was also reaped.

At the end of the night, the team gathered together and prayed in the middle of Del Playa


What is the secret to successful ministry?
Faithful preaching of the Gospel

October 22, 2010
I’m on the train to SLO, and it’s a perfect time to blog. This weekend I’ll be with ucravenslo.blogspot.com while the rest of the crew stays in Santa Barbara and continues the work on Del Playa.

A few Testimonies:
1) Last Friday, a guy talked to Phil briefly and then spent over an hour talking to Ian. Ends up the guy was the son of a preacher and knew he wasn’t living right. In the middle of the party street he was convicted by the cross. The following night he was out on the same street, but preaching righteousness rather than living in unrighteousness.
2) Last Saturday night, a group of guys I don’t even think I’ve met decided to set up a cross on the opposite side of Del Playa (near the Del Sur intersection, right outside of Jesus Burgers). Some Westmont students joined us at our intersection, bringing our number of evangelists to around 15. So Phil and Daniel decided to check out the other cross and ended up witnessing there all night. What is so amazing about this is two things. One, that enough harvesters are coming out that we are getting too crowded at one cross, sending guys elsewhere. And the second is that a second cross has been raised up on the other end of the street. For those who don’t know, the vision from the beginning has been to have a cross on every intersection of Del Playa…
3) On Wednesday I preached in my usual spot and while preaching, a guy named Kevin stopped and listened. After preaching I talked to him, and it ends up he’s 28 years old, been with the Lord for about 10 years, and currently trying to get his life together. All he’s really got to work with is that he thinks he can find a job and a place to live up north, and has some friends in the area. He told me he will be sleeping in the bushes that night. I invited him over and to make a long story short, he stayed with us for two days. We were able to get him some food, a couch to crash on, and this afternoon he hopped on a bus to head north. The entire time he was there he and Kyle were constantly discussing the Lord and his Word. Kevin attended a Bible study with Ian and the Real Life meeting with Kyle in his two day stay at our house, and now he’s on his way to Arcata. It’s amazing how things work. The Lord sends me to open air preach, and as a result I meet Kevin and my roommates and I were able to give him a hand and he got two days of solid Christian fellowship before heading north. You never know why the Lord sends you to preach.

Ministry Opportunities:
1) Del Playa Street Church: Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men”. DP is full of fish just swimming through life and we bring a cross out there to chum up the waters and attract every hungry person. Come stand for the Gospel with us and catch a soul for Jesus and a testimony to share with your grandkids. Contact: Josh (707-327-6343), Daniel (805-729-4023), or Paul (805-455-4242).
2) Storke Plaza Sanctuary: UCSB is a ripe harvest field. On Wednesdays two brothers from Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara spend a majority of the day witnessing on campus and hold a Bible study at 1:00 PM at the Ucenn. In addition, Chris Comstock and Real Life witness on Campus from 12:00-2:00 every Wednesday. And finally, I open air preach, on Wednesdays starting at 1:45 PM to the passing bikers. Wednesdays are a busy day for Jesus. For witnessing, contact Chris (805-451-4387), Nate (909-638-6792). For an on campus Bible study, contact Nate. And to open air preach, learn to open air preach, or listen to some open air preaching contact me (707-327-6343).

Upcoming Events:
1) Halloween Outreach: Next weekend is the big outreach, with teams from SLO and Santa Rosa coming to preach. If you want to get involved call me (Josh Rowden) as soon as possible at 707-327-6343.
2) Homeless Outreach: In the next few weeks, we will spend a day with food in our backpacks and good walking shoes and march around Santa Barbara looking for homeless to feed, pray for, witness to, and encourage. It might become a regular thing. Call me if you are interested in donating homeless gear (toiletries, clothes, food) or if you’d like to join us.
3) Skid Row Outreach: It’s not for sure, but it’s a possibility that we might go to Skid Row and do an outreach. It’s still in prayer. Call me if you are interested in going to Skid Row.

Our Needs:
1) Prayer
2) Harvesters (people willing to witness and/or street preach)
3) Homeless kits
4) Material to build additional crosses.

Update

Testimonies:
The last few weeks have been amazing. Here are a few brief testimonies:
1) A few weeks ago a guy caught my attention because he was making loud comments about the "South winning" in response to the cross. By the end of the conversation, we were both on our knees in the middle of Del Playa, in front of the girl he was in a fornicating relationship with, and he prayed to get right with the Lord. He will be moving here in January and sounds enthusiastic about doing ministry.
2) The same night, a freshman girl was on her way home and I stopped her to tell her about Jesus, she ended up convicted and prayed to get right with the Lord. She might be attending our Bible studies.
3) Two weeks ago, an atheist approached the cross and told Daniel "You have one minute". The "atheist" walked home with Daniel's Bible in his hand, crying and praising the God that he came to believe in on Del Playa.

The Team:
As of now, our team consists of myself (Joshua), Kyle, Daniel, Phillip, Paul, and Joe. Many others have gotten involved, but as of now these are the names of those who are consistantly on the streets.

Ministry Opportunities:
We basically have two ministries currently happening for those interested:

Del Playa Street Church: On Friday and Saturday nights, anywhere from 5-15 believers gather on Del Playa with a big cross and sometimes a speaker and open air preach and witness. Amazing opportunity to learn how to witness. We meet at my house 6679 Abrego before going out, times are inconsistant, so call me (7073276343), Daniel (8057294023), or Paul (8054554242) if you are interested.

Storke Plaza Pulpit: On Wednesday's at about 1:45 PM, I open air preach on the stairs in front of Storke Plaza. Kyle stands by to witness to those who approach. Interestingly, the past two times I've preached, as soon as I'm done Kyle's managed to spot somebody with a hurt leg, and he's prayed for them each time. So it's a good spot to hear the Word, preach the Word, or receive some healing.

Our Needs:
1) Prayer
2) More laborers (The harvest is PLENTIFUL!), God wants availability, not ability
3) Literature (Bibles, Gospel Tracts, Gospels)
4) Homeless Kits

Upcoming:
1) Halloween Outreach: The entire Raven Westcoast team (coming from LA, Santa Rosa, Berkely, SLO, Davis) will be in Isla Vista for Saturday night (October 31). Lodging is provided by Daniel's church. Please join us, you will learn A LOT just by being around these folks!
2) Bible Study: Most likely next Thursday we will start a Bible study at my house. Stay posted for details.
3) Homeless Outreach: We don't have a set date, but our team has been talking about packing our bags with food and clothes and spending a day seeking the least of these (Matthew 25:40).
4) Skid Row Outreach?: SLO and SB might unite and head down south. It's still in the air, pray that we attain knowledge of God's will on this one.

How can YOU get involved? BY GOING

September 11th 2010

On the anniversary of 9/11, we were not protesting Islam or burning Korans, we were lifting up the name of Jesus. At 11:00, Logan, Ben and myself headed to Del Playa. This time we brought “John the Baptist”, and a camera (videos and pictures will be posted on Facebook and our website). We decided that instead of worshipping we wanted to step up the intensity and open air preach while holding up a wooden cross. Three people would have been a small group. One would have had to hold the cross, another would have had to hold up the speaker, while a third preached. We would’ve had few to witness to those reeled in by the audible word and the cross, and if people tried to persecute the preacher we would have had no one to help the preacher out. On the walk to AGO (the Christian frat that allows us to bring their wooden cross to the Del Playa), we were talking about how the Lord will meet our every need. As we approached AGO , we looked down the street and noticed a big wooden cross moving in the direction of Del Playa. It was the AGO cross! We followed it and realized that three guys were carrying it to Del Playa. Instantly our numbers doubled and their numbers doubled. Groups of three became a group of six. God provides every need doesn’t He? Philip, Paul, and Daniel were the names of the three men (good names). As we talked to the three, we found out that they weren’t part of AGO as I expected, they were simply a couple of local Christians who want to reach out. I eventually found out that the reason Daniel brings the cross to Del Playa is because last year Jose invited him out one night while I was gone and Daniel caught the vision. Jose’s obedience to hit the streets alone has raised up another who is willing to lead others to the harvest field. That’s fruit. When he reached Del Playa we turned on “John the Baptist” and the Word collided with Del Playa. Some people cried, some got angry, some shook our hands, some pushed us, the reactions were all over the board, but the time has come for Isla Vista to encounter the Gospel and take it or leave it. Many were witnessed to and prayed for. Lift up Paul, Daniel, and Philip in prayer, their obedience pays off, they were a HUGE encouragement to Logan, Ben and myself. We have videos of Logan preaching and some pictures of the scene. A few people want to stay in contact, said they’d be looking for us on the street in following weekends because they want to hear more. The night didn’t end until after 4:00 AM, too many people were hungry for the Word. I was told by one individual, that last weekend they noticed Daniel and his crew on Del Playa for four hours on a Friday night holding up a cross. He didn’t even talk to them but he realized there must to something real to what they are preaching because of how bold, zealous, and dedicated they are. Jesus told us to GO, obedience pays off!!! We never know the impact we are making! Join us on Fridays and Saturdays. We need preachers, teachers, worshippers, people who can witness, people who can pray, people to video and take pictures, people to hold up the cross, there’s a place for everyone, the body is hurting because so many of its parts are sitting inside and not following the head (Christ).

September 10th 2010

This was the first night doing ministry in Del Playa Drive since last school year. It was a long summer for all of us. Ben truly found the Lord in mid July, and has been on fire ever since. Logan went through some up’s and down’s and some trials but now he’s dedicated once again to seeing souls restored. I spent the summer traveling the country preaching with Operation Impact www.operationimpact.info. Kyle spent the summer in Santa Barbara seeing the Lord move and catching a vision for how he wants to serve Jesus full time. The four of us headed out to Del Playa at about 11:30. We brought “John the Baptist” (A wireless mic and speaker to make some noise on party streets) and Logan’s guitar. When we got to Del Playa it wasn’t too crowded and there wasn’t a lot of noise, so “John the Baptist” wasn’t necessary. Logan started playing worship with his guitar while Ian and his brother Brendan showed up with a drum and joined Logan in worship. People flocked to the praise and worship and many were witnessed too. A lot of people from the Jesus Burger house came out to see what was going on and a few of them witnessed. It’s good to have Christians getting involved in reaching Del Playa. My pastor, mentor, and soon to be father-in-law Troy Bohn has said “We reach the multitude with the multitude”. In Matthew 9:36 Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw the multitudes and he prayed that the Lord of the harvest would send WORKERS into the fields. Immanuel (God among us) prayed that more of us would hit the harvest fields. God’s answered enough of our prayers now we’re given an opportunity to answer his prayer if we just GO. Kyle brought out a “Free prayer” sign and that attracted people like chum in a pond of fish. By the end many seeds were planted and a lot of people received prayer. Keep praying for us and if you are a Christian living in Santa Barbara don’t miss out, get to Del Playa with us! GOSPEL starts with GO.