July 20, 2024

Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends.

It’s time for a Grace Vineyard Weekly Update, Africa Edition! Disclaimer – I am very pressed for time, so sorry in advance for typos and perhaps less than perfect photographs!

Hello from Zambia.  I just wanted to send a quick note to say we arrived in Lusaka on Wednesday morning!  Here’s some photos: from the upper left, going clockwise- Reuniting with my son Mika; Delivering Medical supplies to the staff at the Hope Medical Clinic; Special lunch with Matt and Sharon Evan’s son Morris (on Matt’s left), Katongo, and Ted Lawler; Mika, Memory, and Morris (some of the very first Breath of Heaven children, now all grown up), a group photo with most of the children and their house mothers; and (diagonally) Matt, Mika, Ron, Elvis, Morris, and Sharon.

This is a video clip of the House Mothers greeting us when we arrived at Breath of Heaven Children’s Village.

I thought you’d be interested in what we’re doing here, so here’s a quick run down: Next week Matt will be doing a Q&A in a tech class at the secondary school, Sharon will be doing some music lessons at the Breath of Heaven Academy with the students next week, Sharon has a special gift to bless each of the house mothers that she will be delivering and then bringing prayer ministry to them, Matt and Sharon will be gathering with the kids tonight (Saturday) for a special movie night.  I will be leaving for Bridgepoint Vineyard church this afternoon; I’ll stay with Pastor Siseho Minyoi and his family tonight and preach at his church Sunday morning.  Next week I’ll be flying to a city in the North called Ndola with one of the young men I met 2 trips ago when I spoke at the Zambia Vineyard National Conference, meeting another young man and Damas Kamfwa (national director of Vineyard Zambia), and we will be driving to 3 different areas where we will hold schools of ministry for leaders in the Vineyard churches plus put on evangelistic outreaches and give away food in each of the regions.  We’ll have lots of prayer opportunity when we do the outreach.  Thank you to all who contributed the money to put on these schools and outreaches!

That’s all for now about our trip; I’m sure I’ll be telling you more in the future. And just know that there’s a lot more going on in personal interactions with the approximately 100 orphans living here and a very large staff.

Sunday’s Message with Charissa Ohst “Patience in the Lord”

I’m very excited to introduce a special young speaker to you this Sunday.  My daughter Charissa Ohst will be bringing a message she has called “Patience in the Lord”.  She’ll be telling you a little about her journey combined with some  Biblical teaching.  I asked her to give me a 1-2 sentence blurb about the message and she said, “Based on some personal experience, this is a message aimed towards long-time believers who may be facing some stagnant moments in their faith. According to scripture, we are to be patient, not praying for signs and quick results, but instead discipling those around us in their potentially long, gradual journeys of faith.”  Expect to be inspired and equpped both for your own journey in the Lord and for the journeys of those around you for whom you are praying and caring in the Lord. If you are not able to be with us in person this Sunday, you can always join online via the Zoom app with this info:  Zoom Meeting ID  153 112 432, Passcode 684814. You may also join us on Facebook Live at facebook.com/gracevcf.

Here’s a few things that I want to remind you of again that are coming up in our life together:

True Valor Men’s Conference

Here’s something cool for the men to put on their calendars.  On August 23-24 we are joining with Men from all over North County for a Men’s Conference at Oceanside Calvary Chapel.  If you don’t know, we live in a county that has unusual levels of unity and relationship amongst churches.  In fact I was just with a pastor from New York who is working with a multi-church outreach we are planning for July, and he mentioned how unique it is here in San Diego.  So men, we’re going to get together with men from churches all over our county for a conference designed to help us confront the deadliest manslayers of our times.  Here’s the details from the webpage for the conference:

North County Men’s Conference
August 23-24, 2024

Friday 5:00pm- 9:30pm (Includes Dinner)
Saturday 8:00am – 3:00pm (Includes Lunch)

The Men of North County will be rallying for a two-day conference called True Valor: Confronting the Deadliest Manslayers of Our Times. This conference will intentionally address the most common vices and evils that attack men, while offering an armory of practical tools and weapons to equip you to be the Priest, Provider and Protector you are called to be.

This conference will be many churches, but one brotherhood. This is a charge to every man, and to neighboring and local churches to confront these manslayers with us as a united force. This is a call for men to stand and fight. This is a call for True Valor.

For more info, contact Snake (Richard) Ertel at 760-622-4572, or check out the conference website at: https://www.calvaryoceanside.org/truevalor.
Also, check out this video for the conference:
If you didn’t recognize them, those men speaking in the video were all local pastors from San Diego.  It is going to be so inspiring to gather with these pastors and men from churches all over our county to worship, learn, and get equipped to more fully pursue the Lord in our time.  Let’s see how many Men of Grace will come together in August!

On top of all those opportunities,  I want to make sure you know about the annual Marriage Getaway coming up.

Come away with your spouse for a weekend of encouragement, relaxation, and worship!

Our 14th annual Marriage Getaway returns in 2024, August 23-25, to the gorgeous La Quinta Resort & Club. The 45 lush acres of the La Quinta Resort feature 7 restaurants, 41 climate-controlled pools, 21 tennis courts, eight pickleball courts, and a spa. Your Couple Weekend Ticket includes a two-night stay in a King Bed Casita, self-parking, resort fees & taxes, Marriage Getaway event admission for all three days, and Saturday & Sunday continental breakfast. Each couple has the opportunity to extend their stay up to 3 nights prior and 3 nights post the Marriage Getaway Weekend for an additional cost.

For more information, please go to https://www.therelationshipresource.org/marriage-getaway

Mexico Vineyard National Conference

This next event I want to tell you about  is for our Spanish speaking sisters and brothers.  Did you know that there is a Mexico Vineyard association of churches just like there is one in the U.S.?  There are actually 15 associations of Vineyard churches in various countries and regions around the world (check  out our international Vineyard family at https://vineyard.org).  Well, Steve Rogers and I were able to go to our U.S. Vineyard national conference in Denver last month, and it was so wonderful!  I was super excited to learn that the Mexico Vineyard National Conference is coming up October 16-18, and it’s very close – MexiCali.  Right now I am planning on going and I want to take as many Spanish speakers from Grace Vineyard as possible to go with me.  The good news for me is that they’ll have English translation available to help me out.  The worship from our Mexican Vineyard family is AWESOME! Please check out the details right here:  http://vinamexico.com/   Here’s an excerpt (in Spanish, of course):

Estimados Pastores y Líderes,
Estamos tan emocionados por lo que Dios ha preparado para el movimiento Viña este año. Creemos, y hemos visto, como Dios ha estado construyendo a través de una de las temporadas más difíciles en el país y en la iglesia. En Su carácter como Constructor, el Espíritu Santo ha traído sanidad y unidad a un movimiento que muchos pensaron sería deshecho. Pero Dios . . . pero Dios, es Quien edificó la casa y Quien la ha sostenido.
Este año, celebramos Su fidelidad y Su amor por construir uniéndonos a lo que está haciendo en México: Construyendo. Seguimos el modelo de Jesús cuando dijo en Juan 5:19, “Les digo la verdad, el Hijo no puede hacer nada por su propia cuenta; solo hace lo que ve que el Padre hace. Todo lo que hace el Padre, también lo hace el Hijo . . .” Y si Dios está CONSTRUYENDO . . . nosotros construiremos también.
Invitados y Sesiones
Te invitamos a ti y a tu congregación a acompañarnos en Mexicali, B.C. del miércoles 16 al viernes 18 de octubre para nuestra Conferencia Nacional Viña 2024: Una Reunión de Constructores.

Registro
Te puedes registrar en www.vinamexico.com por solo $150 M.N./persona depositado en BBVA BANCOMER a la cuenta 4555-1130-1242-4125 a Nombre de NOEMI GONZALEZ RUIZ. Les pedimos que una vez hecho el deposito manden por favor una imagen con la ficha de deposito a NAOMY

Make and Bake Sale August 25 for Women’s Retreat

We’ll have a Make and Bake Sale for Retreat costs and scholarships on August 25th.  If you need a scholarship for the women’s retreat please contact Kim Ohst at kimohst@gmail.com or call/text at 760-519-4558

And with that, I’ve run out of time!  Pastor Siseho will be picking me up soon so I’ll have to send this off to you.

Please keep us in prayer for all the things we are doing in the next week.  We long to be a blessing to the precious people of Zambia, and your prayers will empower that vision!

With love and blessings to you each,

Ron Ohst

Ron Ohst


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