Monday, October 29, 2007

RBBC e-update for Monday, October 29, 2007

Dear Friends and Church Family,

On Saturday evening we breathed a sigh of relief! We were ready! God had helped us complete the two day cleaning efforts of our temporary worship facility. Over a hundred volunteers worked tirelessly distributing bottled water, cleaning supplies and boxed meals into the neighborhood. They also rearranged chairs, power-washed patio areas, cleared fire-blackened scrubs, cleaned restrooms, threw out clutter and assisted the ServePro crews.



I was up again at 3 AM to let the CNN camera crew into our fire-damaged auditorium on our upper campus. They were conducting live filming and interviews for their “Faces of Faith” Sunday program airing on the East Coast. I did my interview at 4:50 AM before Tim Nellis, our Student Ministries Pastor, did one with his youth who had helped with our relief efforts in Rancho Bernardo.
Our 9:00 and 10:30 AM Sunday services were great! It was a little intimidating for us having it taped by CNN, CBS radio and ABC news. But God helped us to relax and be ourselves in spite of all the media attention. There were lots of live and taped interviews by CNN and other network affiliates throughout the day. We weren’t pros but it got easier after a while. Our volunteers did a great job providing lunch at 11:30 AM for guests and everyone who came! Our Adult Gathering leaders reported great times of sharing stories and praying together.

Our schedule is full this week dealing with more clean-up, the Harvest Festival, relief work and meetings with area churches coordinating aid. We're rookies at all this but we’re trying to think ahead on how to serve and love the community of Rancho Bernardo. We feel honored that God would choose us to represent Him at this unique time!

Thanks for partnering with us in these ministries through your prayers and support! We have read and treasured every email and phone call that we have received! Thank you for extending your love and support to us at RBBC! We know we couldn’t do this without you and our partnership together for the cause of Christ!

I was encouraged by this verse. I wondered how many of us have experienced this truth in southern California: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” - Psalm 50:15

Walking through the Fire with you,

Dan Maxton, Lead Pastor
Rancho Bernardo Baptist Church

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi this is Stephanie - The photographer was not from CNN. He was with the Veteran's Administration taking photos for their paper.