Weekly Update 10-14-22

October 14, 2022

Happy Friday to you, Grace Vineyard and Friends of Grace!

I feel like I am in the starting gate of a race that’s just about to begin.  I suspect some of you ladies might feel that kind of anticipation as we get ready for our retreat in a week.

Can you believe it’s already here?!  This is going to be such a great retreat, and one way we can help make it even be greater is by supporting our ladies with prayer. Prayer is powerful!  Please pray for everyone who is presenting talks and everyone who is leading worship, and everyone who is leading the creative experiences.  Pray for life changing encounters with the Lord and with each other, and pray for safe travels.  You can click here for all the information and even to register online.  Note that the last day to register is this Sunday, October 16th.  Also note that the ladies are invited one more time to our home on Saturday, October 15, to help with final preparations for the retreat from 9am – 1pm. Our address is 4965 Calle Sobrado, Oceanside.  Call/text Kim Ohst at 760-519-4558 for more info.

Another reason I feel like I’m in the starting gates is…Zambia!  First, on Sunday night we are having our annual Breath of Heaven Banquet in Fallbrook at 4pm.  I believe there’s still time to sign up if you’d like to join us.  Just click on this graphic:

I’ll be one of the speakers at the banquet, and I’d love to have you join me.  You’ll hear a lot more about the incredible story of Breath of Heaven Children’s Ministries, and all the new progress that’s taking place this very moment.  For example, building on the new Secondary Campus and Vocational Skill is well underway with an opening date in January, 2023!  Sponsoring a child at Breath of Heaven has been life changing both for him and for my entire family.  I’d love for you to experience the same joy we have.

Probably the biggest reason I feel like a race is about to begin is because this coming Monday, just before midnight, Michael Aplikowsky and I are scheduled to begin our flights to Zambia!  Our first destination is in a city called Ndola, where I have been honored to be one of the speakers for the Zambia Vineyard National Conference.  I’ll be speaking at 3 different sessions.  I thought you might be interested in seeing the brochure….

I’ll be joining another speaker from the U.S. along with folks from Germany, South Africa, and Zambia.  What an honor for me personally and all of our Grace Vineyard family who I’ll be representing!

After the 3 day conference we will take a 45 minute flight to the capital city of Lusaka, where Breath of Heaven Children’s Village is, and I’m thrilled to be back there again.  While there we’ll spend a lot of time with the kids and the staff, plus we’ll be ministering at the Bridgepoint Vineyard again, and we’ll be joining Breath of Heaven Worship Center’s pastor Katongo and his team to do an evangelistic outreach in one of the “Compounds” (Compounds are like super slums where the poverty is extreme and the hopelessness is heavy).

Michael and I need your prayers!  Please pray that we would be the Lord’s extended hand of love, encouragement, hope, and healing, everywhere we go!  I could also mention that some of you have wanted to partner with us financially to help cover the costs of this ministry trip.  I won’t say no!  (We could still use about $1000 more to fully cover our costs). If  you have it on your heart to make a donation, you can click here to do that.

This Sunday – “Ever Increasing Glory”

I’m excited to get to open up the Word with you this Sunday before we leave for Africa. I’ll be talking about the prophecy that many of you already know fills my imagination with longing and joy  — the promise that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  That promise drives my life and hope, and it’s part of a series of Biblical images and principles that find significance in the words of 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  I want to speak on this theme: “Ever Increasing Glory – how encounters with God’s Presence empower us to bring hope to our world.”   I hope you’ll make it a priority to be with us this Sunday morning.  For those who need to join the service virtually, here’s the zoom info:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/153112432?pwd=WlJjbWZNeHo0NXBKM0VvbDkrYXV2QT09, Meeting ID: 153 112 432, Password: 684814.

The following 2 Sundays, October 23 and 30, I have invited some great speakers to minister here at Grace Vineyard.  First we’ll have our own Steve Rogers bringing the word on the 23rd, and as you know, Steve always has a timely word that comes from such a humble, authentic heart.  We will be blessed.  The next week we have the wonderful privilege of welcoming Lynn Cerullo.  Lynn has been a great friend of our church for many years, speaking on Sunday mornings, speaking at retreats, speaking at the amphitheater for our outreaches, and more.  And for those who don’t know, when I was new in California, at only 19 years of age back in 1984, I started going to the church that Lynn helped lead with her husband who was the pastor.  Those were very formative years for me, so our church shares some deep roots with Lynn.  She has an amazing history with the Lord, and is highly gifted in evangelism for the world and exhortation for the church.  You won’t want to miss her.

And that’s it for this week’s update email.  Have a wonderfully blessed Saturday, and I’ll see you on Sunday morning!

With much love and blessings,

Ron Ohst