Posts Tagged ‘Hispanic church planting’

Edgardo Avila, Dave Diaso and Stephen Phelan (from left to right) announcing Edgardo's ministry transition

Edgardo Avila, Dave Diaso and Stephen Phelan (from left to right) announcing Edgardo’s ministry transition

Change on the Horizon for Harbor Mid-City

There were many tear filled eyes on Sunday during the church service when we announced that our Hispanic pastor, Edgardo Avila will be making a transition from Harbor Mid-City. Edgardo and his wife, Elizabeth have served faithfully at Mid-City for six years. They worked with pastor Stephen Phelan to launch the church.

We celebrate Pastor Edgardo’s and Elizabeth’s sacrifice and service to Mid-City for 6 years. It is a bittersweet moment celebrating what The Lord has done in and through them and we will be celebrating their faithful service on May 17th.

Praise God for what they have done!

Many have come to Christ, and many lives have been changed through Edgardo and Elizabeth’s ministry. Dawn and I along with many at Harbor count them as dear friends.

Seeking the Lord’s Guidance

They believe the Lord is leading them on. As Elizabeth and Edgardo have come before the Lord they sense that God is calling them to serve in another ministry. They are still seeking clarity as to where that new calling will be. Edgardo said he felt like Joshua in the book off Joshua, where God was calling them to a new place, but there where many unknowns as they entered the promise land.

Join us in prayer for the Avilas’ as they seek clarity for their future.

New Leaders for the Hispanic Ministry

Along with the announcement about Edgardo and Elizabeth moving on, we announced that Roberto Shim will be leading the Spanish-speaking ministry at Harbor Mid-City. Roberto and his wife, Mana also need our prayers as they step into this new role. We pray the Lord will use them to take our Hispanic ministry to a new level.

Dawn and I will greatly miss Edgardo and Elizabeth. We love them, and the Lord has used them in incredible ways.

Despite our sorrow over seeing the Avilas’ move on, we are excited about who the Lord has provided to take their place. Roberto and Mana are wonderful servants of the Lord, and we have a growing relationship with them. They are special friends, and we look forward to ministering side by side with them.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Dawn and I are excited to have Ray and Michele Call working with us on the San Diego – Tijuana border. In my last post Ray shared about some of their background. It was great although we had some noise issues with all the wind. In this interview Ray expands on the first interview sharing more about their background, and how the Lord has lead them to the border. The sound quality is much better in this video! There is still some wind at the end, but it’s much better. We think you will enjoy meeting Ray. Pastor Stephen Phelan from the Harbor Church Mid-City sent me a text last week after a lunch meeting with Ray that read, “I think you have found a great team member and I look forward to seeing what Jesus has in store for them.” We wholeheartedly agree with Stephen. Join us in praying for Ray and Michele and their family as they adjust to living on the San Diego – Tijuana border. 


In His Grip, David

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org

Ray & Michele Call

Dawn and I will be connecting with a number of ministries over the next week and a half while we are in the San Diego – Tijuana area (June 3-14). We will meet Ray and Michelle Call, our new team members. Ray and I have met, but Dawn and Michelle haven’t met yet. We are looking forward to getting to know them, and ministering side by side with them as we crank up the Chula Vista BEAMM (Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministry) team. Ray and Michele just moved from Mexicali to Bonita, CA near Chula Vista. We appreciate your prayers for them as they make this transition. The Calls have six children so this move is no walk in the park.

Stephen & Bradford Phelan

We will hook up with with Stephen and Bradford Phelan. Stephen leads the Harbor Mid-City church. This is a great, young bi-lingual church that is making an impact in the city. Stephen pastors the English church, and Edgardo Avila pastors the Spanish speaking church. Later in the week we will also be able to interact with Dick Kauffman and Russ Kapusinski from the Harbor Network about partnering together on the border to see Hispanics reached for Christ.

On Sunday, June 12 we will be at New Life Church in La Mesa. New Life is a key partner church with BEAMM. We are interested in how we can maximize our partnership with them. Pray with us that the Lord opens doors, and lead us as we work together.

Dave with Daniel Nunez

We will also have the opportunity on this trip to connect with Daniel Nunez, who has planted 12 churches in six years. We are excited about exploring ways we can partner with Daniel. I was able to go to Tijuana in March, and see his ministry, “Lo Mejor del Trigo,” first hand. They are reaching out into the community, and feed up to 700 children breakfast at their various church sites. The Lord is using them in significant ways.

We will meet with churches and individuals on this trip to build our ministry support team. We are at about 78% – 80% of our monthly need. We are getting to the home stretch. Pray with us that the Lord will bring in this final 20%.

On the home front, David has decided to go to San Diego Christian College. Thank you for praying for us about this need. We are still working out all the details, but we are excited about this choice, and glad to have him near us. We appreciate continued prayer for Jonathan and Hannah as we try to decide with them about schooling options. Also, pray the kids do well while we are gone.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org