Ivan Penrose | EFM and Orange County Project
Here is a brief insight into this past month of ministry! There’ve been some significant shifts in my ministry focus this month as I’ve begun training and equipping the new EFM/NCP disciple- making apprentices! For more updates and insights into our ministry, check out my blog-site here!
This month, Cassi Coleman and Thomas Moore joined our team as EFM/NCP disciple- making apprentices. They have begun the same apprenticeship which I participated in this past year, but they are stuck with me as their primary “trainer and organizer”! I’m kind of the assistant to the regional manager (The Office reference). There’s probably a better way to describe my role regarding them, but I am essentially learning how to lead people in a structured process of being and making disciples of Jesus. This is a more intensive engagement of this “muscle group” from what I’m used to, so I’m very excited to work it out and get stronger in it! Here are a few things from our ministry this month!
Cassi and Thomas have started their training in Bible-dialogue, prayer walking, conversational evangelism, DMC 1, as well as various hands-on opportunities to grow as disciples of Jesus as well as making disciples of Jesus. We’ve jumped back into ministry on campus and, as you can see in the whiteboard photos above, we have had a great engagement with students – new and returning. We’ve also had the opportunity to join Noah Granger, a part-time NCP apprentice, for evangelism at the Orange Circle on MLK day. In the photos above, you can see Colt (CSUF student who ministers with us) and me talking to some Jehovah’s Witnesses who set up in the Orange Circle. They were not open to honest conversation, but it was nice to be able to talk to them with Colt for the first time. Cassi and Thomas have done such a great job at jumping right into ministry activities, immediately starting up conversations with
students on campus as well as making the best of strange surprise-situations interacting with moderately unstable individuals on the streets. You can read more about some of these interactions in my other blog posts this month!
This month, we also had the opportunity to lead another Archways workshop – learning how to witness through common conversations in everyday life. Above you can see a picture from that as well! This was such a great time of teaching and fellowship with Bell Friends Church, who are a primarily Spanish speaking congregation. Because my Spanish is “no bueno”, we utilized translators as well as an AI translation device that broadcasted a translation to individual headsets-pretty legit, if I do say so myself. However, the AI didn’t even compare to the degree of profundity that the food had!
There is so much more that I could share about what has taken place this month, but these are just a few glimpses into our ministry activities!
Thank you so much for your continued support and prayer for me and this ministry! Your generosity and faithfulness make my training and ministry possible!
With love and peace,
Ivan Penrose
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