Churches you may like

From time to time in your travels, you may be interested in attending a church somewhat like Tomoka Christian. I put together a list of possibilities for you here.

• Christ's Church in Mandarin/Jacksonville
• Celebration Church in Jacksonville
• Northland in Orlando
• Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale
• North Point Christian Church in Alpharetta, Georgia
• Northridge Christian A church in Milledgeville, Georgia, led by our former teaching pastor Mike Waers
• Southland in Lexington, Kentucky
• Southeast in Louisville, Kentucky
• Harvester in St. Louis, Missouri
• Granger in South Bend, Indiana
• New Spring in Anderson, Indiana
• National Community Church in Washington, D.C.
• Menlo Park in the San Francisco, California, area
• New Life in Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Willow Creek in Chicago
• Reunion Christian, a church plant we support in Boston

God can do it!

Below is a note we received from a member of the Tomoka Christian family that shows how God can make things happen just as we read in Ephesians 3:20

"I just wanted to share with you how incredible our God is. He is able to do more than we can imagine. After listening to Lindsey and Rob talk about going to Egypt with Joe, I knew I wanted to go on that trip.

Well, the reality was that I had to raise $2,000 by the end of March. After talking to Joe, he said we would not have time to do any fund-raising work and asked that each person going send 10 letters out for prayer/donations. So I remember going home worried about whom to send letters to. I have gone on many trips and have exhausted my resources.

All I could do was pray and ask for some kind of miracle if He really wanted me to go on this trip. So after much prayer, I came up with a list of people that I would send my letters out to. I prayed over my letters and sent them.

I went to work the next morning and my boss asked me about my hours at work. With so many budget cuts at school, I thought they were going to cut my hours. But to my amazement, my boss said payroll made a mistake and didn’t pay me all year for some hours I worked in the morning at school. I was skeptical about the whole thing. I told them that if it was wrong, I would not be able to pay them back later. But then I received a letter from payroll showing a breakdown of what I would be getting and also an increase in my paycheck for the remainder of the school year. Again I prayed and asked God that if this money was to be used for my trip, show me by letting it be the exact amount that I would need.

The week after, I was told two more people supported me. A third person I sent a letter to decided to go on the trip, and yet he is supporting me. Later, a lady came up to me and said she’d be praying for me, then told me “I just felt like I needed to give you this” and handed me an envelope with money! I was just amazed how God was working.

After adding it all up, my trip is paid in full, with the exact amount I am getting from my job! God even left me an additional $3.02 — probably to cover the cost for postage and printing my letters! I am learning that truly we are not able to, but He can.”

Serving "the least of these" in Guatemala

Below is a report from Judy Davidson. She and several others from Tomoka Christian ministered last week to the spiritual and physical needs of those living in the ghettos of Guatemala City.

The Guatemala mission team returned Saturday, March 7, after a wonderful week in Guatemala. The first part of the week was spent in La Limonada, a ghetto in Guatemala City that is so desolate that even the police refuse to enter. La Limonada is divided into two sides because of gang activity. Tita, who has an established school on one side, just purchased a building on the other side and already has 100 more kids enrolled. Much work is still needed on the building. Our construction team built needed shelves for school supplies. Our medical team treated 400 to 500 people that live in the ghetto there. Two surgeries were performed, needed antibiotics were dispersed, and vitamins, toothbrushes and toothpaste were handed out.

One day was spent at Momma Carmen's house. She is a 68-year-old woman who takes in children off the street whose parents have abandoned them. Currently she has over 60 children. All the children were given medical care, toys, balloons and love.

Our last visit was to another ghetto, Santa Faz, in another area of Guatemala City. The construction team built a bridge over a large ravine in an area that was heavily traveled and very dangerous. Now the villagers can travel safely in that area. Our medical team treated 400 to 500 of the people in the village. We saw gunshot wounds from gang activity and several severely infected hands and feet. We also performed two surgeries in Santa Faz, gave out lots of medication, vitamins and smiles.

This was genuinely a community effort. We had many donations from our Tomoka family as well as donations from the greater Daytona Beach area. This trip could not have been so successful without all the donations of school supplies, medicines, toothbrushes, toothpaste and many other valuable items that we take for granted here in the United States.

Most of all, this trip would not have happened without our prayer partners. Seven of us went to Guatemala — but all of us made a difference for the Kingdom.