Greetings from California, I hope that you are well!
Here is my monthly newsletter to provide you with some insight into what I am involved with currently in Orange County! I have reached the end of phase one in the NCP Disciple-Making Apprenticeship, which focuses on learning and practicing tools that aid in evangelism and disciple-making, and I will now be moving into phase two, which focuses on learning and practicing the impartation of these tools to others. For more detailed updates, please visit my blog site at https://sites.google.com/view/ivanpenrose-ncp/home.
This month, Nick and I had the opportunity to share about evangelism with multiple different churches and groups. We had the pleasure of joining the Personal Evangelism Seminar teaching team at Barclay College, sharing at Hutchinson Friends Church, and sharing at East Whittier Friends Church. We are also preparing for future training and workshops, as people desire to become more equipped to imitate Jesus in their witnessing. These trainings are designed to demonstrate and strengthen your ability to engage with others through different practical and effective tools. We have used all of these tools in our ministry and have found them to be very effective in considerate and gentle evangelism. We are currently planning workshops for the Friends Church Fullerton community, as well as for others interested in growing in these practices.
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A few pictures of our time at Barclay College for the seminar and the seminar teaching team (minus Matt Macy).
Nick and I have seen God at work in many ways this month, whether in formal teaching settings, Bible dialogue, disciple-making communities (DMCs), CSUF whiteboard evangelism, or unexpected bonus conversations. Here are a few highlights from the above-listed categories, but it is by no means an exhaustive list!
- Nick and I have had many Bible-dialogues this month, and we’re excited to see the ways that they are engaging all sorts of people with the Bible! As we engage with people leaving cults, confused by false prophets, sorting out unbiblical theologies, and those hurt by the malformed church, we see that a sober investigation of Jesus as described in the gospel accounts is one of the best ways to make healthy progress. I have realized that most people we encounter and converse with have an improper perception of who Jesus is and what he taught. It’s a terrible shame for someone to reject Christ because of a misperception of who he is, and I’m almost equally concerned for the many who accept a false perception of Christ that contradicts the life and teaching of Jesus. In our Bible-dialogues, we work to uproot false perceptions of Jesus and Christianity by examining and discussing what is presented in the ancient gospel records.
- One unexpected conversation that led to further Bible-dialogues was when we were meeting in public with someone for lunch, and were approached by a young man who overheard our conversation. He shared that he had come to believe in Jesus after seeing him in a dream, but was looking to learn more about the Bible and discipleship. We’ve met with this young man multiple times since for Bible-dialogues and have addressed other teachings that he has heard from a false prophet on YouTube. While this YouTuber has caused a lot of confusion for him, dialogues over the gospel records have appeared to address many of these false ideas for us. We are planning to involve him in a DMC with some CSUF students who just got out of one of the more intense cults on campus.
- These students, who left the Fellowship cult at CSUF, have decided to become involved with Nick and I through Bible-dialogues and a new DMC. We learned about one young man who left the Fellowship cult and were amazed at the way God removed him after four months of involvement. He has a wonderful heart for evangelism, as many people caught by cults do, and he has joined us with our whiteboard when we are on campus. We are now praying for, and miraculously seeing, more people leave this destructive cult and pursue Jesus! As can be expected, the Fellowship cult leaders are not pleased to see their previous members talking with Nick and I, but we are excited to hear about and pray for the freedom of more cult members!
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A few pictures from our times on campus this month with our whiteboard and praying with Christian student evangelists!
There are so many more things that I could say about this past month of ministry, but this is a brief insight into what we’ve been doing, and I hope that it blesses you!
Thank you so much for your generous prayer and financial support for me and this ministry! I am blessed by your generosity and sacrifice to provide me the freedom and opportunity to engage in this ministry in this capacity!
I am currently 87% financially funded and have 163 prayer partners! As I continue support raising, I ask that you join me in prayer as I look for those God wants to have join me in financial and support. If you, or someone you know, would like to partner with me, you can sign up here to become a prayer partner and sign up as a financial partner through the options below!
With love and peace,
Ivan Penroseorder
There are four ways to partner with me:
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