{"id":28147,"date":"2025-04-30T12:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/?p=28147"},"modified":"2025-04-30T12:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:16:10","slug":"ivans-monthly-newsletter-april-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/news\/ivans-monthly-newsletter-april-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivan\u2019s Monthly Newsletter | April 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greetings from Orange County!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited to share a quick overview of the ministry work I\u2019ve been involved in this past month. For more detailed stories and regular updates, feel free to visit my blog aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CSUF<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the spring semester nears its end, we\u2019ve continued a range of gospel-centered initiatives at Cal State Fullerton (CSUF). One of our most effective tools has been our whiteboard, which sparks meaningful conversations around questions, this month about the identity and message of Jesus of Nazareth. We\u2019ve had numerous powerful conversations with students from a wide variety of beliefs and backgrounds, as well as many clearly answered prayers!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also had multiple ongoing interactions with members of the RCW cult. Surprisingly, we\u2019re seeing what appears to be growing openness\u2014both among individual members and leadership. Please pray that God continues to soften hearts and prepare the soil for his word to take root.<\/p>\n

Alongside outreach, we\u2019ve also had the joy of discipling Christian students on campus who are eager to grow in both their walk with Jesus and their boldness in evangelism. Unexpected opportunities have led to encouraging and equipping these students to actively join in ministry. Please pray for continued fruit in our remaining time on campus this semester, and that God would bless ministries that proclaim the Gospel while hindering those that distort it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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DMCs (Disciple-Making Communities) and Bible Dialogues<\/strong><\/p>\n

This month, we\u2019ve continued meeting with several ongoing DMCs and launched a few new ones. I recently began leading a DMC of young adults who are walking through the Sermon on the Mount as we explore what it means to follow Jesus as his disciples.<\/p>\n

Nick and I have also started training members of my home church in Hutchinson, Kansas, on how to lead Bible Dialogues\u2014a tool that helps people engage others meaningfully in the scriptures. We\u2019ve just begun this training, but we\u2019re excited about how this will equip people to witness in their own everyday communities.<\/p>\n

In addition, I helped lead a prayer-walking training with Friends Church Fullerton, and we\u2019re looking forward to more outreach-focused training opportunities as we head into the summer months. Please pray that God would continue to strengthen and equip those participating in these groups to step boldly into the works he\u2019s prepared for them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Other Ministries<\/strong><\/p>\n

This month, we have continued serving the community of Fullerton City Lights in our time delivering food donations, praying with residents, assisting with various tasks around the facility, as well as helping provide a Bingo and BBQ! It\u2019s a wonderful blessing to serve this community and see the increasing openness to Jesus that our time and relationships appear to be cultivating!<\/p>\n

I have also been engaging with a handful of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses who set up in my neighborhood. Through conversation, I\u2019ve learned more about them and their personal beliefs about the Bible and have sought to provide them clear and thoughtful responses to their objections towards some of the key issues, such as the nature and identity of Jesus. Despite claiming superior knowledge over me, they were resistant to address any of the evidence that I provided using only their approved resources. Since our last discussion, where I provided the responses that I had promised from our prior conversation, I have been unable to find them to continue the conversation. I deeply desire for these people to come to the realization that the Watchtower is a cult and teaches doctrines contrary to the Bible by providing clearly corrupted resources and Bibles. Please pray that God will grant me further opportunities to converse with these sweet people and that they might come to a saving knowledge of who Jesus is and how we are saved!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Partnering- I am Fully Funded!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am excited to share that I am now fully funded financially for this apprenticeship! Thank you so much for your generosity and support for the ministry that we are doing out here! Your generous giving makes it possible for me to participate in this ministry with more freedom and flexibility to operate full time! Thank you for your continued partnership in prayer for our team and the ministry we are able to participate in!<\/p>\n

With love and peace,<\/em><\/p>\n

Ivan Penrose<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings from Orange County! I\u2019m excited to share a quick overview of the ministry work I\u2019ve been involved in this past month. For more detailed stories and regular updates, feel free to visit my blog here. CSUF As the spring semester nears its end, we\u2019ve continued a range of gospel-centered initiatives at Cal State Fullerton […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"full","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[470,426,475],"class_list":{"0":"post-28147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"tag-470","8":"tag-apprentice","9":"tag-penrose-ncp","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28158,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28147\/revisions\/28158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendsmission.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}