New Planter Spotlight: Efrain Garcia
Efrain Garcia
How have you seen God working in your life?
I believe that the maximum expression of God's work in my life can be seen through the Salvation that he gave me in Christ. But even after that I can see how God has been transforming my heart by changing my character and being able to fulfill the call that he has given me.
How have you seen god working in your family?
The work of God in my family, can be seen through the restoration of our personal relationships and being able to have better communication between us, but above all, God has made it possible to help one another to know Christ more.
How have you seen god working in your church?
As I start this new church plant, I can see firsthand the way in which God works in the lives of the seekers and nonbelievers. I have seen people who have been in church for a long time but who don’t understand the gospel. I also get to see new believers growing in the knowledge of Christ and can witness how the good news of the Gospel transforms them. It is wonderful to see God at work!
church Name
Comunidad Zona Oriente
church Email
efragarcas14@gmail.com
What is your church’s mission/Vision?
Mission: To be a church that shares the gospel with the people around it, but also to work for the well-being of the eastern part of the metropolitan area of Mexico City, through serving it with the gifts that God has provided us. For this we seek to train and find ways to partner with individuals, churches, and different ministries that are already working for the good of the city.
Vision: We want to be a church that reflects the hope we can find in the gospel, using the gifts that God has provided to each person, so that we can see a transformation in people’s lives, and in the culture of the community that surrounds us. We also long to see future church plants that are gospel-centered and mindful of the nonbeliever so that we can exalt our God in all areas of life.
New Planter Spotlight: Evani Vazquez
Evani Vazquez
How have you seen God working in your life?
The Lord has worked in my life, giving me salvation and his promise of eternal life. I can see how God is transforming my character every day and has awakened in me the desire to be more like Christ.
How have you seen god working in your family?
Showing us that we are sinners and that we need God's help everyday, to love us each other, despite our faults. The Lord works in our character helping us to be tolerant, loving and in turn gives us the strength to seek the sanctification of our lives.
How have you seen god working in your church?
Adding to the church, those who are to be saved. I believe that the greatest sign of God working in "Zion Church" has been seeing new converts, people being discipled and baptized.
church name
Iglesia Cristiana Zion
church email
iglesiazion10@gmail.com
church Website
https://www.facebook.com/I.C.Zionn
What is your church’s mission/Vision?
MISSION: Go to the places where society needs to know the Gospel, disciple and integrate a congregation that does acts of love and does every good deed by the grace of God.
VISION: Help the people of Tláhuac to know God and come to have a deep and personal relationship with him. To be the first church that impacts our community through mercy and justice ministries.
New Planter Spotlight: Steven Gilchrist
Steven Gilchrist
The Gilchrist Family
How have you seen God working in your life?
I have watched God soften my heart to his mission as revealed in the Scriptures. Now my understanding is to keep the great commission in the forefront and be a faithful disciple who obeys.
How have you seen god working in your family?
I have watched God give my wife and kids, at different points, a fire and zeal for the mission of God that they all, at different points, have verbally expressed to me and others. Now they would rather see people walk alongside one another in following Jesus more than just showing up once a week.
How have you seen god working in your church?
I have watched God put the hunger and thirst for this new kingdom work on the hearts of those willing to pray and those willing to give. We have leaned on prayer heavily since landing on a target area, and to have faithful prayer warriors of God lifting up this work is nothing short of wonderful. Those who give have been giving cheerfully, so no question the Lord is pleased.
church name
Jubilee Fellowship Church
church email
okcgilchrist@gmail.com
church Website
https://www.jubileefellowshipatl.com
What is your church’s mission/Vision?
Jubilee's mission - {Jubilee Fellowship exists} to be a joyful reflection of Jesus’ work in our lives so that we can build bridges of hope into yours!
New Planter Spotlight: Daniel Naberezhny
Daniel Naberezhny
The Naberezhny Family
How have you seen God working in your life?
I was born into a large Christian family in the Soviet Union. My father was a pastor, and all our family was actively involved in ministry. When I was 16, God touched me in a very special way, and I consciously gave my life to Jesus. Soon after, I was baptized and became a church member. Since then, I've always been involved in ministry in Ukraine and Russia.In 2014, God brought me to Florida, where I graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with an M.Div. In 2020, Istarted the ministry to Eastern Europeans in Boca Raton. My main goal is to bring people to Christ through sharing the gospel and relief work. Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, I've been heavily involved in relief ministry to hundreds of refugees in South Florida. We distribute food and assist with documents, housing, transportation, and other things for the neediest. We see that God is working on the hearts of people during these difficult times in their lives, and we're excited to witness new salvations!
How have you seen god working in your family?
I thank God for my family - my wife Galina, Ariella, 11, and Aaron, 9. Galina has been in ministry since she was a child and has fully supported me in my studies and ministry work. I think we are a perfect pair, as we both come from large families and our fathers were pastors. We have a common vision to serve the Eastern European and Slavic community in South Florida. Galina is our worship leader, and she heads the women’s ministry. We do many things together, and we also pray and read the Bible together every day. We are very happy with our children, who are both active in Sunday school and go to a Christian school. We gather every night to read the Bible and pray before bed.
How have you seen god working in your church?
I learned that the church belongs to God, and he is the lead church planter. He does the work and I assist. I would never be able to do even a small part of the work that was done since we started the ministry. God brings the right people who share your vision, he builds the team, and he guides you during the times of storm and spiritual warfare. We started our church from three families and this number multiplied many times. We see regularly how people who have no Christian background are being transformed by the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. Also, we came to the obvious conclusion that God wants us not only to preach the gospel but also to be practically involved in the ministry of the poor and refugees. Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine we have helped thousands of Ukrainian refugees in South Florida through food distributions and other ways of providing help. We have seen how God was beautifully working in the hearts of the people during these difficult circumstances.
church name
International Bible Church
church email
daniel@ibcnow.org
church Website
http://ibcnow.org
What is your church’s mission/Vision?
Mission: Our church exists to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the Eastern European people in South Florida, and to serve them with compassion and love as they face the challenges of displacement, poverty, and integration. We partner with local and international organizations to provide practical and spiritual assistance to the refugees and to advocate for their rights and dignity.
Vision: Our vision is to see the Eastern European community in South Florida transformed by the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit, and to become a vibrant and diverse part of the body of Christ. We envision a church that is growing in faith, love, and service, and that is reaching out to other people groups with the same grace and mercy that we have received from God. Based on our community needs assessment, the population of Eastern European and Russian-speaking people is estimated at over 400,000. Despite this large population, there is a significant lack of evangelical churches and ministries specifically serving this group. Many individuals who relocated from post-Soviet countries do not have a Christian background, making them one of the least reached groups by the Gospel, according to multiple reports. My goals as a church planter extend beyond planting individual churches. I also hope to train leaders who can continue this vital work, empowering them to reach their own communities with the Gospel.
Looking five years ahead, our vision is to establish three local churches – in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Miami– each serving the Eastern European population. These churches would operate as a unified force, sharing a common vision, mission, and commitment to relief work.
New Planter Spotlight: Phil Tadros
Phil Tadros
How have you seen god working in your family?
Lindsay and I enjoy our mornings of quiet and devotion in the Word, communing with our gracious God, and sometimes our kids will join spontaneously. Lindsay and I are blessed with a wonderful friendship as husband and wife, and we engage not only in the daily business of life (chores, kids, responsibilities) but there is a wonderful sense that we care deeply for each other. I, Phil, am blessed with a wonderful wife who has a sense of high calling to the ministry and is my one great and sympathetic supporter. What a blessing! Our children are growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Pray that they would continue to respond to the gospel as they grow and make it their own. Pray for our homeschooling.
How have you seen god working in your church?
God has been slowly adding members from outside our mother church who are local to our area of ministry (StoneyCreek, Canada). Some have come through outreach connections (our recent food drive & Christmas party), some through Lindsay's homeschooling cooperative (some unchurched, some between churches), and some who commute to church and looking to worship and serve where they live. These are exciting times. Lindsay and I make it a priority to seek the Lord together with all our hearts so as to ground our identity, not in ministry success or approval, but in the Lord's astonishing and gracious love toward us. At the end this is what it's all about. We pray and trust that this devotion and commitment to his gospel will transform us and be the fountain and strength of a lifetime of ministry, and also serve to strengthen and nourish the faith of his saints, and to attract others to the Lord Jesus Christ.
church name
Mission to Stoney Creek (temporary name for our mission church)
church email
phil@newcityhamilton.com
What is your church’s mission?
Our vision is to see a church overflowing with the type of disciples that will multiply the type of churches that will reach Stoney Creek, the city of Hamilton and all of Canada with the good news of Jesus Christ. Our mission will be to invite and guide those living in East Hamilton/Stoney Creek to make Jesus their highest priority.