Welcome to Our New Blog!

Hi Everyone!

We’ve been living in California for almost a year now and there’s so much exciting news! In an effort to keep everyone in the loop with all that's happening in our family and ministry, we decided to start a blog together. We will be posting our monthly updates here. 

(Here's our "We're so excited you visited our new website that we're about to break out in song and dance" picture.)

First things first, thank you for your continued support through prayer and provision.  The Lord is at work in our midst and we are seeing beautiful stories unfold. The following are just a few…

First up, The Church Gym Renovation:

Well, it's no secret that our church building is a bit of a dinosaur. Thank God the Holy Spirit is at work regardless of the condition of our architecture. However, we are constantly running into to the challenges that come with an old facility. One of those challenges was our church gym. The floors were falling apart and lifting up in many areas. It was a total lawsuit waiting to happen. In spite of the obstacles at hand, we have been dreaming BIG about opening the gym regularly for youth outreach events. 

Of course our biggest obstacle has been the financial need. So we prayed. And God answered!! 100% of the amount needed to renovate the gym came in, and we got started right away! Volunteers gathered to tear up the old floors, and paint the walls to give the gym a little D.I.Y. love. The new floors have arrived and we hope to have them installed sometime this week.


More on that to come. But in the meantime, here's a quick glimpse of the progress (with commentary by Pastor Dave):

(If you cannot see the video above, click here)

Secondly, Discipleship Groups:

Our church’s vision and mission is to Make Disciples of Jesus Christ. In an effort to be about what we talk about, we recently launched a new small group model with Francis Chan and David Platt's  Multiply Movement. (Visit www.multiplymovement.com for more information.) This new curriculum has been so wonderful. Our small groups consist of 6-8 people each. We meet in homes and gather around the table to discuss what it means to follow Jesus, grow in our understanding of the word, and spread the Gospel to all nations (starting in our own backyard).

(Francis Chan in a session video for Multiply Movement)

True to its name, the Multiply Movement has already been spreading around our church and more people desire to join small groups. At this time, we don’t have enough leaders to facilitate all the people who want to join. Now that’s a GREAT problem to have! We're discussing the possibility of having some of the current leaders facilitate multiple small groups while we train up new leaders to take over in the future. But it’s all good! People are hungry for growth and change in their lives and in our city. It’s beautiful.

Third, A New Job for Monique:

Another exciting tidbit of information is that I just got a new job with Abolition International! I will be working as a public advocate and church partnership coordinator for the organization. It’s part time, which is perfect for me in this season, and it’s something I’m passionate about.

Abolition International works to end human trafficking and stop the exploitation of women and children around the world. Not only do we raise awareness, we have partnered with international safe houses to help in the healing process. We have an accreditation program, which helps  these homes to keep the highest standards of quality for former victims, restoring hope and rebuilding dreams. You can learn more about this organization by visiting www.abolitioninternational.org. Also, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/abolitionintl. 

Lastly, God is Calling Out More Missionaries!

We are so excited to announce that our good friends Reggie and Kim Gillespie, along with their precious-little-model-of-a-baby, Enoch, have been called to join us in ministry here. It has been incredible to watch them walk in faith, believing God for every provision as they obey Him. God has equipped them with amazing gifts that will be vital to our work at Living Hope Neighborhood church. Woohoo!!   

Whew! That was a lot of updates! And trust us when we say there are more to come! Feel free to subscribe to this family/ministry blog if you wish.


P.S. To view our July prayer requests and praise reports, please visit the right hand column of our blog. Thanks for joining us in prayer!  


Until next time, 

The Zackery's