Pastor Randy’s Top 10 Things You May Not Know – August 2022 Edition

#1: Random Question:

What is significant about the number 80?  (see answer at the end)

#2: Staff Highlight: Jasmin Bonilla 

If you have ever called the church, you have heard her sweet greeting. If you have ever come into the church office, you have seen her smiling and welcoming face. I am referring to Jasmin Bonilla. She has been a critical part of our church staff for many years. She not only answers the phones, and greets our office visitors, but she does just about every other administrative task that we ask her to do. All of this is mostly behind the scenes, and she does it all with a smile!

One of Jasmin’s most important jobs is critical to our church family. Every week she enters all the prayer requests that have been submitted to make sure that our prayer warriors are able to lift them up before our Lord.   

Jasmin is a wonderful member of our Hispanic Congregation, along with her husband, Juan, and her two kids, Andy and Rebecca.

The next time you see Jasmin let her know how blessed we are to have such a wonderful administrative assistant who loves Jesus and loves His people! 

#3: Amigo Property  

We are currently in escrow in the sale of our Amigo property, located on the corner of Amigo Ave and Gault. The buyers are a local Vietnamese church. It is exciting that we have an opportunity to sell the property to another like-minded church. If all goes as planned, the escrow will close at the end of September. Here are a few things to be praying about:

  • Pray that the lender for the Vietnamese church approves their loan.
  • Pray for Efrain Galdamez, who lives in the house behind the Amigo building and is part of the sale, as he will need to find a new affordable place to live for his family. Efrain is a valuable member of our Hispanic Congregation, who has served for years on their worship team.
  • Pray for the East/West Community Church, who currently meets in the Amigo building. Pray that we are able to find a suitable place for them to meet on our main campus. 

#4: Youth Camp at Hume Lake!  

Our youth have returned from a great time at Hume Lake Christian Camp. One of our teens accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior! This Sunday, there is going to be a nice video highlight of the camp. You won’t want to miss it! 

There is so much to be said about the youth’s time at Hume Lake Christian Camp! The scenic views of a sparkling lake set against the mountain backdrop, the crazy-intense yet laughably enjoyable rec games (look up kajabe), the friendship building moments during free-time, the heart-warming conversations during small group and one-on-one time, and the clear and bold preaching of God’s Word combined to make a week the teens will never forget. 

#5: Pastor Tom on the Move  

Pray for Pastor Tom as he is wasting no time getting onto our local college campuses! In the past two weeks, he has made some great contacts with coaches at Pierce College, and he has already started a Bible study for their football team! CSUN and Valley College are two other locations where Tom is looking to build some relationships. If you want to find out more about Tom’s ministry and how you can pray for him, please email him at tom@bridgebible.church. 

#6: Annual Meeting 

This Sunday as part of our Worship Service, after Pastor Paul preaches his sermon, we will have our Annual Meeting. You will not want to miss this!

#7: We Love Our Deacons!  

Over the course of the past year our Deacon Ministry Team (composed of men and women) have been meeting monthly, led by Gary Meier. This ministry is critical for the ongoing smooth operations of The Bridge. There are countless ministries that they lead, participate in, and troubleshoot, so that the pastors and elders can focus on the ministry of the Word of God and to Prayer (see Acts 6:4). Please pray for them and appreciate them whenever you can. Who are they? At our Annual Meeting on Sunday, we will be introducing these men and women who are serving the body of Christ as Deacons. 

#8: Free Logos Bible Software 

Did you know that if you are a “Member” or “Regular Attender” of The Bridge you can download and use the best Bible software in the world – Logos Bible Software for free? All you need to do is send a request via email to jasmin@bridgebible.church and she will send you everything you need to get started. If you want to know how valuable a resource this is, just ask Pastor Paul or me and we will give you an earful. 🙂

#9: Missions Highlight: Mika & Fabi Kaltoft 

Do you remember that we sent Mika & Fabi Kaltoft back to Denmark a little over a year ago to plant a church? Good news! On August 7th, they had their 1st official church service in the city of Aarhus. They had 15 adults and 27 kids! How exciting!

Please continue to pray for them as they reach out to the people in their community and invite them to this new church! Susan and I will be going to visit them in October to speak in their church and encourage all of them. When we come back, we will bring pictures and more updates! 

#10: Ministry Highlight: Missing Person Follow-Up  

Some of you probably wonder what happens when you check-in to the service on Sunday morning, either by card or by the Church Center App. A better question to ask is this: What happens if you don’t check-in to the service, for four weeks in a row?

Answer: You will get a phone call from Don Rohde or his assistant, Pete Stegenga. These faithful brothers come into the church office every Monday and make calls to every “Member” or “Regular Attender” who has not checked in for at least four weeks in a row. Why? Because they (we) care about people who are missing!

They faithfully call to find out why you have been missing. Have you been sick? Is there something wrong? Do you need prayer? How can we help? This follow-up ministry is meant to provide a way of showing the love of Christ to those who are missing.

Some of you have not been missing! You simply did not check in! If so, then after four weeks you can expect a call from one of our faithful brothers. 🙂  

Answer to Random Question: What is significant about the number 80? 

The Bridge Bible Fellowship (previously First Baptist Church of Reseda) was started 80 years ago, in 1942!

That’s it for the August 2022 edition of “Pastor Randy’s Top 10 Things You May Not Know.

Have a GREAT Month!

Pastor Randy

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