On Saturday, June 14^th, Calvary Chapel South Bay sent a team of brothers and sisters on a one-day backyard mission trip throughout several communities in the Los Angeles area.

This outreach was special in that it consisted of everything we normally do on a backyard mission trip (which is three days), packed into one full day that started from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The planning, preparation, and outreaches, for that day, were led by some of the brothers in our church who take part in the Ministry Leadership Training (MLT).

MLT is a group of men who are going through training in the area of ministry leadership by Pastor Dennis.

These men were responsible for leading the backyard team on this one-day mission trip, which consisted of three main outreaches.

Calvary Chapel Echo Park

For our morning outreach, we went to Calvary Chapel Echo Park and teamed up with their Saturday morning evangelist team.

We separated into four groups and walked in and throughout the surrounding neighborhood sharing with people the gospel message.

God provided us with several divine appointments.

One team approached a girl who was waiting to get her car washed.

At first, she didn’t want to receive a gospel tract and when asked if the team could pray for her, she said no.

Then one team member shared with the young woman that everybody, including herself, goes through hard times and experiences pain in our lives.

She explained to her that that is one reason why we pray to God. It is through prayer that He comforts us. Immediately, the girl asked the team for her prayer.

Another team met an elderly woman and her grandson outside on their front lawn. They were believers in the Lord and we were able to offer them words of encouragement.

We encouraged them to keep their eyes on the Lord and to finish the race He has set before them.  We also had the opportunity to pray for them and asked the Lord to watch over them and protect them.

From there we headed to Calvary Coastline.

Calvary Coastline

For our midday outreach, we met Pastor Randolph at his church, Calvary Coastline, in the city of Venice.

Once we arrived there, we separated into teams and cleaned the whole church facility which is a recreation center.

Some of the cleaning we did included: scrubbing the bathrooms, chairs, walls, and cabinets.

We used a floor buffer to clean the floors. We also deep cleaned the room that’s used for the children ministry.

It was such a blessed time to be able to come alongside and help Pastor Randolph. It was also awesome to see that we all came together as a team to accomplish what the Lord had set before us.

Everyone worked together with servant’s hearts.  It was a great reminder that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve others.

As the Word says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  1 Corinthians 10:31.

Our last outreach was at Third Street Promenade.

Santa Monica Promenade

One of our favorite outreaches of the backyard mission trips is performing on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

As in the past, we were given a spot on the promenade to perform our dances and dramas.  We use the dances and dramas as another way to convey the gospel message.

At the end of each drama, a team member shared the gospel and gave a brief testimony of how the Lord has changed their life.

The Lord uses the dramas in a powerful way to minister to the crowd watching them.

We also did one-on-one evangelism by passing out gospel tracts to the people walking by and watching the dramas.

A Muslim Man and His Son Have a Change of Heart

One divine appointment occurred at the beginning of our outreach. A devout Muslim and his family on vacation from the Middle East approached our team members.

At first, the man and his son were very intense and passionate about sharing their Muslim beliefs with our team.

But as the conversation went on, the Lord softened their hearts. They became very open to hearing about what we believe and why.

Throughout the course of over 2 hours, several different team members had the opportunity to share with this man and his son the love of Jesus Christ and why we believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

Towards the end of the conversation, one team member told the man that he believed the Lord brought him and his family to the Santa Monica Promenade to hear the gospel message.

The team member also challenged the man and his son to seek Jesus and told them that if they did, they would find him. The man and his son told our team member they would.

We were all blessed to know that this family left the Promenade hearing the gospel message of Jesus Christ and the love that He has for them.

God Surprised Us and Continues to Do Amazing Things

This was my sixth backyard mission and I’m still amazed to see how the Lord works so differently on each trip.

But as always, the Lord prepares the hearts of the people we encounter, His word goes forth, seeds are planted, prayer is received, and salvation happens.

So if the Lord is speaking to you about taking a step of faith and joining us on the next backyard mission trip (in October), I would encourage you to do so because you will truly be blessed by experiencing the Lord’s work firsthand.