Come adventure our local beaches and mountains!
Surf, mountain bike, and explore

Dates:

- July 10-13 – grades 9-12

- July 17-20 – grades 7-9

- July 24-27 – grades 7-12

Times: 8am-2pm

Cost: $175 ($25 discount for registering before June 1)

SIGN-UP by emailing Jon Bancroft (JOURNEY DIRECTOR)

A few weeks ago I asked one of our volunteer leaders (Lang) to share during one of our after school group outings. We were mountain biking at a local trail. When we got to the top of the mountain, Lang pulled out a memory verse and challenged each teen to memorize the verse on the spot (either in Spanish or English). The verse was John 3:16. It seemed that no one in the group had memorized, or even heard the verse before. That day each kid memorized John 3:16. In the past few weeks it hasn’t been uncommon to hear, “For God so loved the world...” repeated at least a few times during each of our subsequent outings.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to talk more in depth about what that verse means with those students. It has been so exciting to see these young people begin to grow in their understanding of God. I see them being drawn to Him!

I’ve often heard that the life of discipleship is a marathon, not a sprint. Yet so often I want immediate results, both in my life and in the lives of others. It seems that God has been reminding me recently of His amazing faithfulness in my life... His faithfulness to grow me, change me, and make me more like Jesus. I have so far to go though! Today let’s once again make a renewed commitment to abide in Jesus, to pour out our lives for others, and leave the results to God. He will bear much fruit!

      Discipleship is a process. It’s a life-long pursuit following Jesus. When I look back on my life, I see how God has placed a great number of people in my path to help encourage me in my walk with God. My hope is that Journey Ministries serves as one of many avenues in a great number of young people’s lives, to encourage them, love them, and point them to Christ. 

The last two weeks have been very eventful. It seems that God is continuing to link Journey Ministries up with many opportunities to serve alongside other ministries (YoungLife, The Village, Santa Barbara Rescue Mission). I’m hoping that God is creating some long-lasting partnerships. 

As always, thank you for your continued prayers. I was reminded recently how God truly protects us. As I was on my way up the 5 freeway to lead a YoungLife crew on a mountain biking adventure, a window blew out of an RV in front of me and came crashing down on the hood of the van I was driving. It punched a hole right through the hood! I was so thankful that it didn’t come right through the windshield and hurt someone. God is good and definitely watching over us! The day ended up being one of the highlights of my month. None of the students had ever mountain biked before. I was able to lead them on an 8-mile ride with 3,000 of decline! All were safe, and all were stoked at the end. What was so great was that Journey was able to come alongside the YoungLife leaders and be another voice in the lives of the students, pointing them to a life surrendered to Jesus. 

Another highlight was our time at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. A small group of us served dinner, then led in a short chapel service. I know that God blessed many of the people that came to the service. They were encouraged to surrender to a God that loves them more than they could know. Many allowed us to pray for them one-on-one, and many were given Bibles. We pray that God continues to bear fruit through what took place that night. I know our group was blessed to hear the story of a man at the mission that is now on staff there. He shared in detail about his many years on the streets, in and out of prison, struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. But God grabbed a hold of him a few years ago and did a major transformation. He is now walking in freedom and leading others out of lives of addiction and into lives following Christ. 

Thank you for your continued love and support. 

           Serving Christ Together, Jon Bancroft

A few highlights:

- YoungLife mountain biking trip

- Westside guys mountain biking

- Westside guys adventure hike

- Homeschool discipleship group

- San Marcos High guys discipleship group

- Rescue Mission - served and led chapel

God truly blessed us with amazing weather, and a safe and adventurous time together. Here is a rundown of some of the things we did.
- 3 surf sessions (the surf was perfect each day!)
- 7 Fall adventure hike (team building exercise)
- Red Rock (10 mile bike ride, cliff jumping, and swimming)
- Night hike at Lizard's Mouth
- Night hike to Knapp's Castle
- Paintball at San Marcos Christian Camp
- Bike ride along the Santa Barbara boardwalk
- Serving lunch at Casa Esperanza
- Serving the homeless dinner at Alameda Park with Westmont students
- Serving dinner at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission
- Leading the chapel service at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission

Needless to say, there wasn't much downtime. The night at the Rescue Mission had to be one of the main highlights for me. It was amazing to hear students share their testimonies and watch them truly love each person that was there. A student named Alex especially blessed those that came by sharing his powerful testimony of how God has walked with him through many trials in his short life. Shortly after he and his dad were baptized as followers of Jesus, his father passed away from cancer. Soon after, Alex had one of his eyes removed because of cancer. In the following years he has battled many serious medical issues. However, he continues to exhibit real and deep joy from God. The following is an excerpt from an email I received from his mom.

“I wanted to let you know that Alex had an amazing trip! We had dinner last night and he recapped moment by moment everything that he experienced. It was fun hearing about all the adventures and how God worked in him. I believe he grew a lot in faith and also in confidence.

He told me about the night that the group led the church service at the homeless shelter, and his ability to participate. Here is what I got from him "I read a verse then shared my story". As you know Alex has a long story! I'm so thrilled that he shared, it's really the first time, and I know as his confidence and faith grow he can make an impact for so many. He sort of chuckled when he told me that one of the homeless men came up to him afterwards to tell him how sorry he was for Alex and what he had gone through. He also told me how cool it was that he was able to pray for that man.”

I praise God for the good things He is doing!

Praises and Prayer Needs:

- Praise that Lang Riley and Michael Ishimaru were able to help lead the Impact group. I couldn't have done it without them.
- Praise that everyone stayed healthy and safe on the trip.
- Praise God that all the details came together beautifully.
- Praise God for His continued provision for the ministry.
- Prayer that God would continue to develop and grow this ministry into
what He wants it to be.
- Prayer for a female Journey leader (both for weekly discipleship
groups, and for periodic out of town groups).
- Prayer for continued financial provision for the family and ministry.

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." - Matthew 4:23

The other day April and I were out on a very rare and much appreciated date night (thank you babysitter friend!) While we were walking through Paseo Nuevo Mall, April decided she wanted to try on sunglasses at one of the stores. As we entered the shop, a very nice woman greeted us, saw little Elias (who was with us on our date) and began asking questions about our little one. It turns out she has a brother with Downs Syndrome. She was able to offer us great encouragement regarding Elias, and an instant connection was made between us. As the evening progressed, and after many pairs of sunglasses... (which by the way... what's going on with sunglasses these days? Am I getting old, or are the early 80's back in full force?) ...anyway, we began sharing about our recent transition back to Santa Barbara. As we shared about the church we serve at, and the ministry we feel God is calling us to, this woman began to beam with excitement. She wondered if our church is full of imperfect people, and if they are accepted and loved. She quickly expressed her desire to come this next Sunday! We hope and pray she does. 

I must confess that too often I don't live like I'm on mission with Jesus 24/7. So often I'm self-absorbed, rushed, and frankly too uncaring to stop and interact with people about the things that are most important. Jesus seemed to make the most of every situation. As I read the Gospels, it appears that Jesus' ministry was wherever He was at the moment. I don't know about you, but I want to live that way.

As we begin "Journey Ministries," it really is the start of a new journey for us. One of the main goals of Journey is to provide young people with both teaching and opportunity to live out their mission in everyday life. I'm convinced that great transformation not only happens in the church pew, but on the street corner, the coffee shop, or maybe the sunglass shop.