POST by JED: California Dreamin (Part 11)

Capital on the Edge, performing at Davis Christian Assembly

It’s always tops to start on a good note and that’s literally what happened for us at the beginning of Californian tour, week four.

Davis Christian Assembly PUT ON the RITZ for our troupe, measuring us from head to toe and later giving us gifts of brand new clothes and shoes. Quite necessary, and completely welcomed. In fact, as I type this post, I look down with fond memories at my fancy-pants, Jarman shoes – so comfy!

The Church made sure that every meal was a spread fit for royalty with pastries, fruit and coffee for breakfast, and every tantilising delight available in mountainous form, for din-dins. My mouth was watering, at all times, on account of savoury and sweet fumes wafting throughout the building.

They drove us around their gnarly little town, from east to west and north to south, without any concern for the cost of gasoline or their own time.

They cut our hair, gave us tips for our production, helped with marketing our tour, loaded us up with cash and counseled, BOY DID THEY COUNSEL us!

Liz was treated to day-spa appointments, our girls were taken out for ice cream, the Brien boys went on play-dates and this little compilation I’ve delivered now, doesn’t even scratch the surface of their nonstop give-a-thon!

They prayed over our boys one-by-one, wrote letters and spoke with immigration officials on our behalf, organised covert evangelism events in public schools, universities and secular places we shouldn’t have dared step foot in.

They showed us every Christian kindness, with grace, mercy, compassion and unity, and all out of a Jesus-heart for their world – they were love to us. We’d come to be a blessing and whaddayaknow? The tables had been ferociously overturned!

And so from the very start, we knew that Davis Christian Assembly had our backs. Sunday morning was a great way to start our week, with Church consisting of prayer in small groups, praise and worship that was not trying to go somewhere super-dooper, but rather just focused on praising Jesus, and touching God’s heart, and then we performed our street theatre production, "Created."

Capital on the Edge, performing at Davis Christian Assembly

Our troupe was magnificent: high energy, correct form, good acting, the works. The Church was very supportive and really gave the boys something to get excited about. There were small bloopers, there always are, but nobody made mention and all was simply groovy-baby.

Pastor Jonathan, you’ve never met anyone like him. Quirky/hilarious sense of humour, strong leadership ability, musically talented, gifted speaker, hands-on approach, Greek ancestory, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, a businessman, husband and father to a beautiful family, a true pastor’s heart – I s’pose he really was an all-round AWESOME bloke…

Pastor Jonathan, left, with the lads of Capital on the Edge

And Bensie – Darling Bentz! The girl who dances in your shadow, always making certain that EYES are permanently dotted and TEAS are forever dashed, never seeking the spotlight and so articulate. She makes everything beautiful and the wheels definitely go round, not on account of anyone’s great work, but because she’s there pushing that bandwagon with everything she’s got! (and possibly with her darling little kiddies watching on!)

Bentz, an incredible exemplification of the love of God! This gal was the BEST communicator for us, from the Church’s side, of our entire Californian trip. So much thanks goes to this Treasure Pot, for all she did to make our lives simply Heavenly…

Bensie, far left, with (mostly) Capital on the Edge

But, I’m still not doing this Church justice. And why? Well because it’s a bargain basement, two-for-one jobby! They have a Spanish arm, which is more like a foot!

Again you ask “Why?” Because, during the week the Spanish Church utilises every inch of that Davis Christian Assembly building, pacing up and down it’s corridors, and walking around and around that Church’s sanctuary room, praying into the Heavenlies and giving praise, worship and all glory to God.

So at 2pm we enjoyed the Spanish service.  The music had a gigantic wow-factor attachment (saxophone and all!), and the announcements almost sounded like a sermon - lots of gusto and fanfare, totally Latino – I was in smitten.

Spanish Church at the Davis Christian Assembly

Then once again we presented our street theatre production, though on this occasion we were down 3 people. No matter, the crew soldiered on...

In the evening the Spanish Pastors, from Guadalajara no less, cooked up a storm and we all ate lots of great food. I told the boys to savour every mouthful, unaware that these kinds of meals were to be the norm for the entire week.

After our feed, the Latino pastors graciously took us to their homes where we each were able to have a well needed shower – two performances in one day – peeeeeYOUUUU!

We were also prayed over for about the 10th time that day and what a hoot! The lads have experienced Spanish prayer meetings and English prayer meetings, but never the both together. In fact, some of the second generation Latinos from Davis, prayed in both languages within the confines of the one prayer – ha ha SENSATIONAL! We had a good laugh – it was TOPS!

More presents of lotions and bathing stuff, and we were then brought home for a great night of R&R.

Spanish Pastors (The Montoys)

Now my old childhood pal from YWAM, Laura Larson (then "Rediger"), did a bit of a brag about the Davis Christian Assembly before we came to the pretty inland town (she used to attend the Church in her husband’s masters days). However, I was like “yeah, yeah, I’m sure it’s probably the best Church in the World.” (not really believing her…)

But truly, it may not be the BEST Church in the World, but it’s most certainly in the top 10, and considering there has to be some 10,000,000,000,000 Churches on Planet Earth, I’d have to say, and I’m no mathematician - so correct me if I’m wrong, that Davis Christian Assembly is in the TOP 1 percentile band of Best Churches in the World. That being said, I’d also like to go so far as saying that I think they’d probably make the TOP 1 percentile band of the Best Churches in the entire UNIVERSE!!!

The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn and off to an elementary school in downtown Davis. The school we visited had implemented a Spanish Immersion program, which I thought meant that it was an educational institution for Mexican kids, desirous of acquiring the English language. Nuppo muchachos, incorrecto. Other way around.

The kids at this school were everyday American kids (African American, White, Asian, 3^rd/4^th generation Latinos) whose parents thought it would be beneficial for their children to learn in Spanish.

Jed & Capital on the Edge, in an American public school

Hence, the kids were being completely immersed in the Spanish language and learning it really quickly, suffering only a wee bit of English instruction per day. The kids at this school were fully bilingual!

Anyway, the point of my story is that we were able to perform for 50 minutes, in two assemblies, in a CALIFORNIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL! To-date, this has not been possible. But I’m here to tell you that con Dios, no hay nada impossible!!!

Capital on the Edge performing in a Californian public school

I had a ripper of a time, stepping back into an American School, and was able to freely share the Gospel message through our street theatre production. We had the kids and teachers singing praise songs, were able to invite kids to other venues to see the production again with their families, and generally had a hum-dinger of a good time!

The kids of an American public school, sat still, sang loudly, and applauded with all of their might

Of course there were a few tears, but only from tincy-wincy kids who were afraid of the Devil (Jonny, otherwise known as Bad Choices), and Stivey.

In our street theatre production, Stivey gets REALLY angry and taunts his audience. We hadn’t prepped Stivey, assuming he would not go up to 6 year old kids and eye-ball them, smacking his fist.

Stivey, eye-balling his audience

Funny thing to me is, he didn’t think the little preciouses would be scared! Most Nicaraguan kids would laugh, having already been exposed to all sorts of horror, gore and physical abuse, and from the earliest of ages.

Our boys were really touched too, being able to come in as “teachers” to American kids. The little darlings looked up to our big boys because of their excellent Spanish language skills and athletic ability. And so the relationships blossomed, as did the dialogue in Español.

The boys, with their adoring fans...

Every bit of thanks to Elaine, from Davis Christian Assembly. This woman was NOTHING SHORT of phenomenal. She organised the public school events, offered us her home, organised for us to meet the director of Acquire the Fire, and nearly matched the Church’s love offering! She knew we needed the help (and we did – thank you Elaine!).

And so, after the performances, Elaine hosted our boys at her house. They were blessed by being able to sit in a spa for two hours, and desperately needed it due to our mounting injury tally – by now we’d been on the road for three and a half weeks, and the boys were getting sore and injured, mostly because they didn’t warm up or cool down properly – there’s only a certain amount that caring benefactors can say/do. At some stage, the boys needed to take ownership of their own bodies! Bah, the youth of today… ha ha

Thank you Elaine for the spa... Relaxed bodies ALL around!

In the evening the Church facilitated a time of openness and brokenness with both the Spanish and English speaking Pastors. It was something else. They prayed for every one of our boys and even Lorenzy. Their words of prophecy were completely SPOT on!

Pastor Jonathan prayed that Lorenzy would be able to maintain her innocence. You have no idea how difficult it is as parents of teenage girls, to welcome teenage boys into your home. We do it, because we believe that God wants us to do this work for him.

However, pastor after pastor questioned us on this. “First God, then your family, then your ministry.” They all say the same thing. It’s not Biblical. It fits in with our selfish Western lives, but it isn’t Biblical. How would that philosophy have worked for Jesus? For Moses? For Abraham? No, serving the Lord is an honour, and we do it together. Our work is not a burden, it’s a privilege.

With God first, everything else will fall into the correct order. But, we do need to be wise. And this is where Elizabeth and I have fallen short, because we’re human – yet, that’s not an acceptable excuse, either. And therefore, it was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME to hear Pastor Jonathan pray over Lorenzy, speaking words of truth and encouragement into her heart. She’s a changed girl! And for the better…

Lorenzy LOVES to dance - and she does it with ALL of her heart

They prayed that Stivey would realise how precious he is to God. Stivey has about a hundred brothers. He is loved by his family, but he’s not special to anyone. He’s special to us, but he doesn’t know that. We try to show him and tell him, but he doesn’t hear us. He’s so used to not being special, that he’s sort of immuned to words or actions of specialness towards him. Stivey was touched, really touched.

Stivey, the special one... (of many)

They prayed that Rene would find his strength in God. Rene was sold by his parents. He’s ALWAYS had to fend for himself and fight in order to get ahead. Rene doesn’t trust anyone and is in a sense, “self-made.” This word was 100% spot-on.

They prayed that Yordy and Jonny would know that they are loved.

Yordy’s Dad left him at the moment he was born. He came back with a stack-load of presents when Yordy was eight years old – all the dads in Nicaragua do this. “I love you, I’m sorry…” They all say the same thing, like they’ve read it from the same script. Yordy started smoking Marijuana at this time – the hole in his heart just too great a magnitude...

Yordy’s mum, we believe, is a prostitute. She has lived with him for a total of 3 months in his entire life. She currently resides in Costa Rica.

Yordy’s first job, before he was ten years old, was to kill cows and cut off their heads.

We consider Yordy to be our son. Just a couple of weeks ago, Yordy cut himself. It all comes back to love. “Don’t you care that I have blood all over me?” he wrote to Liz, desperate for a display of affection from her.

Yordy has attempted suicide countless times. I have spoken thousands of words of love, have shown him fatherly physical love, have doted on him. It’s almost worthless. He needs to know his Heavenly Father’s love for him. Praise God for Pastor Jon’s words…

Jose, Elizabeth and Yordy

Jonny’s family lived in a seriously rough neighbourhood, dominated by gangs. His father was an alcoholic and ruled with an iron fist. Jonny has never touched any drugs or alcohol for fear of his father’s wrath.

When I first met Jonny’s father, I made him laugh, but even I could tell that his face nearly cracked. “Gosh” said Jonny when he got in the car, “I’ve never seen my dad smile before.” Jonny has a parent, but he lacks a father. Jonny’s father is now busy with another woman and a new adorable little bub – and so the cycle of poverty continues. Jonny doesn’t know love.

Sezni & Jonny performing

They prayed that Yader would keep chasing God. This was cool, because he’d been deeply impacted when the pastor’s of a Baptist Church in El Salvador had taken off our shoes and washed our feet. They’d prophesied over us. They gave Yader their own, very well used, Bible.

Yet, since arriving in the USA, we’d also somehow arrived in attitude city. We’d had several run-ins with Yader, he’s terribly proud and never admits fault – that’s quite an obstacle for a missionary. Breakthrough time for Yader!

Yader

They prayed that Beycker would know that he is not the answer to people’s problems. Beycker’s Dad is a terrible man. He is a lawyer and attends Nicaragua’s biggest church – an Assemblies of God Church. My very own denomination! However, Beycker’s Dad has two different sets of children, from who knows how many women (it’s not just 2 as previously though). He has a girlfriend, and brags to his son that his girlfriend is younger than Beycker! He visits prostitutes regularly.

Beycker’s Dad, as I write this, is trying to evict Beycker’s mother, the mother of his children, from her house. Beycker’s father charges his mother rent. I cannot, as a Christian fellow, tell you how cross Beycker’s Dad makes me.

Please pray for Liz, at the moment Beycker’s Dad is furious with us. Many reasons there, but the main thing is that we support his mother, and have gone to lengths to make sure that she is safe and cared for. Her, a mere woman, the garbage of Nicaraguan society…

Woops, lost the point of my story. Beycker is the go-between for everyone in his family and their problems with each other. Poor lad, he cannot shake the shackle.

I’m telling you, the Pastors of Davis Christian Assembly were SPOT ON with EVERY WORD that came out of their mouths. Lizzie and I sat there and just watched and laughed. INCREDIBLE! They were specific, without a word wasted. Usually I “oh yeah, sure” these types of moments. But as I knew, for a fact, that they had no idea about these lads, I could do nothing but sit there in stunned amazement. God, using Davis Christian Assembly, to affect the lives of nothing-people, who were somehow going places (and fast).

Then the food… Of course, the food… I thought I’d died and gone straight to Guadalajara… The Mexicans cooked up YET ANOTHER storm and the youth, intercessors and pastors just kept pouring into our boys, filling them up with food, prayers, wisdom, love, etc. It was INCREIBLE! I’m telling you, Davis Christian Assembly – remember that name. It mightn’t be in this life, but you’ll DEFINITELY be hearing about them again….

Please watch the following clip of a Davis Christian Assembly super-star. This kid was encouraged by our dance troupe and is going to do GREAT things for his Jesus. Just watch and see...

If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please watch our latest update,CLICK HERE

If you would like to learn more about who our Nica-Youths are, or to support them, please visit their page, SUPPORT Nica-Talent

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about Davis Christian Assembly, please CLICK HERE