Dave & Sheryl Gehrls

2012-02-01T10:02:00.000-06:00

Isn't amazing how you can read a verse many times over the years and then the Lord opens your understanding to insights you never saw before. Well that happened to me this morning from Psalms 5:12: "Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." (NIV) I had never thought of "God's favor" as a shield of protection...and I have been chewing on it all day.

Last week the Lord laid on my heart an old Wesley hymn:
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.
Click here to read the entire hymn...it's loaded!

The Spiritual Battle in and for our culture is intensifying to a new level in the days just ahead and it is time to armor up. In the fall of 2010 an Omaha ordinance was introduced that would have made LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people a protected class in employment. There are plans to re-introduce it in the next few weeks under the title "Equal Employment Ordinance." My concern is not that a person has the freedom to live this lifestyle in our country, but that this ordinance is part of a larger agenda strategy that will eventually circumvent our 1st Amendment freedoms to live our faith outside our church communities. In a few years we could be where Canada is right now, where if a person speaks or quotes certain Bible verses through any form of media outside their church or home it is "Hate Speech" ...against the law and punishable.

I am part of a team of leaders who have been preparing to oppose this ordinance in ways that we believe are Biblically redemptive. In the 2010 battle over this ordinance I was offended as many who claimed to be Christ followers bludgeoned the city council with Bible verses and clearly demonstrated a hate-filled extreme of Christianity. My Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood...people are not my enemy...Satan is my enemy. A pastor who is part of the group in favor of this ordinance made a statement that I am in agreement with: "Did you know that before most LGBT persons can really hear that God loves them, they must first hear that God does not hate them."

As we move into this local battle in the weeks ahead those of us leading need the Body of Christ to stand strong with us in prayer and action. Sheryl and I have already come under significant spiritual oppression in our health, finances and emotions. Part of putting on God's armor is when we each take up the Sword of the Spirit and pray into the Spiritual realm, praying for each other for protection, wisdom, grace, provision, favor, and more...

One of the realities of communication in these days is that no email is completely secure. If you are ready to put on your Spiritual Armor and join us in this battle through prayer and/or action then send me a personal and I will add you to a more private email list which will also give you access to the documents and resources we have assembled for this campaign. I have a special email account for this purpose: pastordavidnathan@gmail.com

We had planned to be back in Tijuana in February but because of this ordinance will reschedule a trip in March or April...pastors and friends there have committed to mobilizing prayer for us and Omaha in February.

More than ever we appreciate the privilege of serving the Lord as our vocation…and that would not be possible without your partnership. Together we are able to do what none of us could do alone. Our support has been down the last two months and Sheryl and I are facing some higher medical bills in February. Would you take a few moments to pray for us and about helping with our support? Our information is just to the right.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T12:01:00.000-06:00

Thank You so much for partnering with us
through prayer, support, time and encouraging friendship!

More than ever we appreciate the privilege of serving the Lord as our vocation…and that would not be possible without your partnership. Together we are able to do what none of us could do alone.

Here is a brief slideshow of family and ministry pictures from 2011

Like many others at this time we are facing some significant needs.

Would you take a few moments to pray for us and about a year end gift?

Donation information is in the column just to the right.

Your prayers, love, support and friendship are appreciated more than we can fully express.

We pray you will enjoy a Wonderful Christmas and know God’s Blessing and Providential Grace in 2012.

Dave & Sheryl

Tijuana Ministry Fall Trip

2011-11-22T16:32:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful trip to Tijuana at the end of October where the Lord opened up a new work in the oceanside city of Rosarito in addition to our work in Tijuana.

Please click on the Report link just below to read the report...
Then on the video to see the slideshow in YouTube

Tijuana Ministry Trip Report

Click on YouTube Icon to see full screen in YouTube.

Update from Tijuana

2011-10-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

Dave reporting this time...Sheryl is currently sitting down by the pool working on her notes for the women's conference tomorrow.

We just got back from an amazing teaching & ministry time with about 20 pastors & spouses in one of the poorest and gang active areas of Tijuana. The lady pastor who's church we met at is the one in this picture below taken in February of 2010 as we were ministering to her about a month after her teenage son (and ministry helper) was caught in gang cross-fire in front of their church and killed. Today, in this pastor's prayer group she leads, we saw some of the wonderful fruit of her faithfulness and sacrifice.

I always come back from groups like this humbled by their faith and commitment in the face of unbelievable hardship ...there is something almost indescribable about worshiping in these churches...many with dirt floors...if I could just take their joyous faith and sacrifice and import it back to Omaha...

Not only did God move mightily as we ministered to them but when they prayed over us we were broken to tears...Our meetings with pastors/wives so far this trip have had some of the strongest anointings both in speaking and in ministry we have ever had down here...we are feeling so firmly supported in prayer, Thank You So Much.

Tonight Steve and I will be in a totally different environment as we minister to a home group near our hotel in Rosarito...also tonight the weekend party noise starts on the beach and I am already feeling that spirit from my hotel room...Sheryl and Mary will be at a local church here in Rosarito that worships and prays into the heavenlies every Friday night...no preaching...just worship and warfare prayer.

Tomorrow morning, Sheryl and Mary do the women's conference she shared about in yesterday's update and Steve and I will be ministering to another key Tijuana pastors group we have a long-term relationship with. Tomorrow night I have been asked to speak at a large youth rally and our team will be ministering...I am believing God to speak His Destiny into their generation in Tijuana.

Blessings, Dave for the team

Greetings from Rosarito Mexico.....actually Rosarito, Baja California!

2011-10-27T18:44:00.000-05:00

We're enjoying a little down time this morning, so thought we'd get an update out to you. It's been an interesting week thus far for us, as we're working primarily in an area that's new to us, getting acquainted with a new community and meeting many new pastor friends here.

The flight down was long and fairly uneventful, except for a rather bumpy landing in San Diego...going through Chicago adds about 2 hours in the plane. We weren't able this time to connect with the CFCI Base people in San Diego/Ocean Beach, due to a little different schedule. Pastor Jesús & Rosa Rodríguez picked us up at the airport, and we headed almost immediately for the border crossing. There is a great deal of construction going on at this, the primary border crossing in the southwest. There are two smaller crossings a few miles from here, but then one must go to Juarez area and cross into Texas. Therefore, you can imagine the density of the traffic using this crossing daily, as many Mexicans work in San Diego and must make the crossing on a daily basis. The typical wait in the lines at the border is now 3-4 hours....yes, in your vehicle! Many of the regular crossing lanes are now closed for reconstruction. A new pedestrian crossing has been constructed over the checkpoint into Mexico, which allows a great deal more foot traffic, but even the wait in the lines there is over 1 1/2 hrs. long. From our perspective this is all rather interesting as the route heading into the border from Mexico is lined with little shops and all kinds of vendors working through the vehicles selling everything you can imagine, and providing all kinds of entertainment.....for a donation, of course! Every kind of food and drink is available, including my personal favorite...the very decadent sugar and cinnamon deep-fried churros! But, bearing in mind that we're never doing the driving!!

Rather than staying in Tijuana, we're staying this entire week in a beach town called Rosarito at the invitation of a pastors alliance and then driving back into Tijuana for our scheduled meetings there. We're finding it to be a very interesting community. You might ask, "How so?" The first thing thing we discerned was a very different kind of spiritual heaviness over the entire town, whose population is about 90,000. They are located approximately 30 minutes south and a little east of Tijuana right on the ocean...which means that it's very much a "party" community and this weekend it will get very noisy with their main beach day/night club right next door. What is over this area is a very different feel from the spiritual activity in Tijuana proper. It feels much more like something that is assigned to block a move of God here....not oppressive in a heavy way....much more solid spiritual resistance. However, there are some very interesting things going on here!

The history here has been one of extremely active involvement with the occult and witchcraft. Without going into great detail, I've had some in-depth conversation about this with the pastor God has moved here to begin to mobilize some things. He is particularly anointed with a Psalmist/Worship anointing, and leads a meeting every Friday evening (which Mary and I are begging to attend!) that is ONLY worship, warfare, and a subsequent victory/praise celebration! I believe God has called him here to stand in the face of the satanic worship which is very much a part of the community. Just south of where we are, there is a satanic temple that is connected in several ways with the satanic worship center in San Francisco....ponder on that for awhile.... Pastor Fernando Pina tells me that there are a number of active covens in the area. Additionally, there are three pastoral alliances in this city who have never been able to come together to work on pretty much anything! He has just recently been elected as the president of one of those alliances, and is called of God to try to bring them together for the sake of the Kingdom.

Dave taught yesterday morning, and the Lord gave favor and anointing with them. His presentation was a clear, concise overview of how to penetrate the city, and what it will cost them. The 12 pastors present were very much on board and looking forward to additional time with us on future trips. They normally pray for 2-3 hrs. together weekly for Rosarito, but gave us that time to share. At the end, we spent a significant time in prayer, and we had opportunity to minister personally to the pastors and wives who were present. Wow! It's hard to put into words the depth of the anointing that the Lord sent during that time....haven't felt anything that strong for several years!! God is definitely doing something significant here that is in the infancy stages. And we will definitely continue to work in this community, as there is a very clear sense that it might be what Ed Silvoso calls an "igniter" city for this whole area of Mexico, including Tijuana.

We're staying in a lovely hotel here directly on the oceanfront....and I do mean directly! We can walk out the end of the game room right onto a pier about half a mile out into the ocean. It's really rather breathtaking! Our rooms face the ocean, and we can look out the walkout doors onto a tiny patio (about 2 feet wide!) to watch the surf, the beach, and the awesome sunsets over the ocean....well, we would if we were here! The gigantic sun was just turning red as we left yesterday evening. As I write this, I'm watching the surf rolling in with the tide and wondering when the surfers will begin to appear! Jesus felt led of the Lord this time that we needed to have some downtime just to enjoy and rest, so we have breaks of several hours at a time built into the week....like little mini-sabbaths. We can walk directly out of the hotel onto miles of sandy beach, and I think Dave, Mary, Steve, Jesus, and his son have just gone down to rent horses to ride on the beach. I've opted to skip that part for the present, as I'm thinking I need to be able to stand and walk on Saturday!! They also are equipped with 4-wheelers for driving on the beach, too, so who knows!? If they're anywhere near as much fun as jet-skis, I may take a spin!! An amazing thing that God did is to make all the connections for us through a man in Pastor Fernando's church who is on the executive staff at this huge hotel, to get 1-bedroom suites for us at $29/night!! Yes, you heard me correctly! It's a bit of a drive for our "taxi", but still works well for him, and allows us to stay right here in the community long enough to get somewhat acquainted.

Last night, Steve spoke on "Hearing God" in a church where we've all ministered many times. We have made wonderful relationships within the congregation there, and have watched as their children have grown from babies into toddlers, and eventually into teenagers serving the Lord in their own right. We've had opportunity over the years to pray over many of them, and to encourage them on a regular basis. Steve did a great job, and again, the Lord gave great favor and words of encouragement for the people.

This afternoon, there is tentatively planned a meeting with Pastor Fernando, Jesús, Dave, and Steve, with the local police officials here in Rosarito to share with them some things about the cooperative efforts of Omaha 360, and pose some thoughtful challenges to them about how they can begin to partner with the faith community here to effect change in their own city. Please pray for great favor with that, if you read this in time. We're two hours behind you, and we're hoping that meeting will take place about 4:00 p.m. PST (6:00 PM Omaha Time). It will be a first penetration for the faith community into the government/law enforcement agencies.

Tomorrow we meet with a pastors' cell group led by Pastora Conchita. You may remember that we ministered to her a couple of years ago when her son had recently been shot and died in her arms just outside her home in the street. God has so transformed her that I did not recognize her when we once again met last April! Now she leads an entire group of pastors, and we have the privilege of sharing with them in the morning. Tomorrow evening, Dave and Steve will be attending another small group....and Mary and I are hoping to get to go to the worship/warfare time at Pastor Fernando's church.

Saturday morning, Dave and Steve will go to Pastor Raphael's cell group of pastors (which I'll sorely miss being there!), but Mary and I will be at a women's retreat, where I'm scheduled to speak to somewhere around 75-100 pastor's wives, and women pastors. That will be quite a challenge, as they have given me barely any information to work with....including no timeframe, no number of sessions, and barely any topic...."We are queens!" I still need to finish fleshing that teaching time out, so am thankful for the time to sit in the breezy sunshine on the pier and work on it this afternoon. Saturday evening Dave will be speaking to a large youth rally and the team will be ministering.

The rest of the schedule we are keeping flexible for connecting to local pastors, their families and churches. Dave will be speaking to the Pastoral Alliance in Tijuana on Monday evening just before "dashing" across the border for a 6:40 AM flight home . Please pray for anointing and continued favor for him.

We are so thankful for all the sacrifice and provision that has been made to allow us to be here, including the way that the Lord has reduced expenses for us this time, while providing a beautiful, restful place for us to recuperate between times. I believe that may be because of the significant contact with the witchcraft and what's in the spiritual realms here. He's watching and guarding over us, and aside from Steve having a bout of "Montezuma's Revenge" the first night, we've all been sleeping well and experiencing good health and energy, and lots of spiritual energy. It is also true, however, that we are still about $500 short of covering what we had hoped to raise for expenses for the trip. What this means in practical terms is that we will be limited in what we will be able to pass on to bless the pastors here with dinners, personal financial gifts, etc. If God moves on your heart to help with that, you can still send contributions to Christ For the City or online in the column to the right... designate "Gehrls-Tijuana" then emial us so that we can plan accordingly over the next few days. Thanks so much for your love, your care, and your prayers for us as we minister here.

More to come....

Sheryl for the Team

2011-10-06T13:41:00.000-05:00

We are excited and anticipating our next trip to come along side Pastor Jesús & Rosa Rodriguez and care for pastors, ministry leaders, government officials and their families in Tijuana, Mexico

GOALS & ACTIVITIES ON THIS TRIP

Dave will be speaking to at least four pastors’ cell groups and the team will be ministering.
Sheryl will be speaking and ministering at a women’s retreat Friday evening & Saturday.
Our team will be ministering personally to several pastoral marriages and/or families in crisis.
Steve will be speaking and ministering at several churches.
On every trip our team teaches and ministers to the staff at our CFCI orphanages.
Dave will be speaking at the monthly meeting of the Tijuana Pastoral Alliance and we will be meeting privately with core leaders.
Dave will be doing follow-up and support relating to Step Up To Life and FreshStart initiatives and planning for future team trips.

Prayer

Prayer is our most important need in advance of and during our time in Mexico. Over the last 12 years, these church and city leaders have become close friends, and we are honored to be invited again to minister to them…Please pray for safety, health, ongoing favor, open hearts, and God’s anointing.

We will be sending Ministry & Prayer Updates during the trip to our ministry partners, if you have not received these updates on previous trips and would like to, please send Dave an email at dave@cfci.org

Finance

Please consider providing a financial contribution for this mission trip. Our cost will include: airfare, lodging, local travel, meals, and several meals with local leaders. We also like to leave a generous gift with Pastor Jesús & Rosa Rodriguez.

The Rifes and Gehrls are each taking responsibility for their part of the trip (Budget $2,000/couple)

Gehrls’ Support: Tax deductible gifts may be sent to CFCI, PO Box 390395, Omaha, NE 68139-0395

or Click here to Donate Now quickly and securely online

(Click on picture of child, then follow instructions at top of page…on the review page designate Gehrls-Tijuana)

Rifes’ Support: Tax deductible gifts may be sent to Carpenters Touch, 8834 Sprague Circle, Omaha, NE, 68134.

Thank you for going with us in prayer and provision,
Dave & Sheryl Gehrls, Steve & Mary Rife

2011-07-25T20:13:00.000-05:00

Omaha 360

"Stop The Violence" Community PrayerWalk

Tuesday, July 26th ~ 6:00 -7:00 PM

at 42^nd & Bedford
Meet at the parking lot east of the JNJ store

The Omaha 360 Violence Intervention and Prevention Network has been requested by OPD and the Gang Unit to focus our PrayerWalks again in the 42^nd & Bedford area.

Following a series of PrayerWalks in 2008-2009 this neighborhood saw some measurable peace for a while but is again a hotspot of mostly gang related violence with frequent gunfire, several homicides and shootings that have included several innocent children.

Lasting peace in this neighborhood requires a strong and sustained local presence on these streets. Turning Point and local churches are working to organize strong Adopt-A-Block groups in this area and partner with neighborhood associations.

Tuesday night join us in coming alongside the churches, neighborhood groups and caring families of this neighborhood:

Letting them know they are not alone in the battle against violence
Helping give a strong, visible message to this neighborhood that the righteous are taking back their streets…block by block.

Join with area pastors and believers from all over Omaha as we stand together as one body…the body of Christ working together to help “Stop The Violence.”
Bring the kids. They make great prayerwalkers... We will also have police presence in the area during the prayerwalk.

The owner of the J-N-J Grocery said he will bring out cold bottled water and some snacks to thank us for coming!
Please forward this email to your Christian friends and announce in meetings.

For more Information Contact
Dave Gehrls (dave@cfci.org
Gail Ross gail@turningpointomaha.org
Femi Awodele (femi@christiancouples.org)
Bruce Williams pastorbruce@hogcf.org
Femi Awodele (femi@christiancouples.org)
Willie Barney (wilbunited@aol.com)
John Ewing (johnewing@co.douglas.ne.us)

Harmony Week 2011 May 19-27

2011-05-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

Sunday, May 22: 2:00 – 6:00 pm Harmony Sunday

Omaha 360 - A City United - Memorial Park

Speakers, Prayer, Music, Food, Inflatables, Rally
Bring your chairs, blankets, etc.

3:00 pm Safe Summer Rally, Prayer, and Activities

For more info and full schedule go to

http://empoweromaha.com/2010/node/49

Tijuana FreshStart Team Prayer Update -Friday...Urgent!

2011-04-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

Friday morning…About 3:00 AM Sheryl started throwing up/diarrhea with rotating cold-clammy/hot-sweats…really nasty stuff. About 8:00 AM with her head over a wastebasket she said to just let her die…NOPE! We think is viral and I will focus on keeping her as comfortable as I can and from getting dehydrated. The rest of the team prayed for her before leaving and she seems to be sleeping a bit more between rounds.

Please lift her up in prayer… especially she says for the nausea right now…also that this does not spread to the rest of us… The team can function without Sheryl and me today but tomorrow is the FreshStart Training for Steve and the team and I will be teaching SUTL at another location. I will send brief updates on Sheryl as this progresses.

Yesterday (Thursday) we started with a breakfast here at the hotel with about 10 key leaders, then ministered to our hosts, Pastor Jesús and Rosa in their home, followed by a wonderful time at one of the orphanages where Pastor Steve taught about the orphan spirit to the staff before we ministered to them. A young volunteer psychologist at the orphanage heard we were coming and canceled her afternoon appointments to attend…It was a Divine appointment as our FreshStart team was privileged to help her Step Up To Life in Jesus! See pictures below.

As I write this the team is ministering at a pastors cell group and will have meetings with individual leaders/spouses this afternoon.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is training day: It looks like there will be a good turnout for the FreshStart Training and we also hope to see the beginnings of a FreshStart Tijuana Leadership Team come from this time.

A year ago Pastor Jesus Tierrablanca Penet came to the training with Pastor Elmer Murdoch and has been using SUTL in his own church. He also oversees 12 other churches and he has asked each church to send 10 people to tomorrows SUTL training in preparation for a united outreach they are doing later this month. Pastor Penet and his wife also have a jail ministry here in Mexico, particularly working with women in the prison system and are using SUTL there.

I usually have Sheryl proof my updates, but I am on my own this time so please give grace if there are any mistakes…

Blessings, Dave for the Tijuana Team

Tijuana trip update - Thursday

2011-03-31T19:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning from beautiful Tijuana, MX!

Beautiful? Yes, this morning it’s beautiful from the 7th story window of the hotel where we always stay. The early morning view out this window has become familiar to us over the years….the mountains in the distance, the sunrise coming up behind them, the mist slowly fading from over the city, the traffic and sounds….and always the people everywhere. The sun is up and doing its assigned duty of shining brightly…part of the original creation that still brings God glory!

We arrived safely about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, exactly at the right time to connect with Brad, arriving from Atlanta. How amazing is that! A few minutes later, we connected at the car rental place, loaded up, and were on our way. Whenever we’re in Ocean Beach (San Diego), we stay at a rather small hotel right on the ocean front, so those are wonderful times to sit on the patio and just stare at the ocean – internally processing all that God is saying and doing as it relates to the trip. The pounding of the surf provides really great “white noise” for sleeping, and over the years we’ve built some relationship there with the management, too.

After unpacking at the Sunset Cliffs motel, we headed over to meet with a men’s small group at the church where our CFCI San Diego Base Director and his family attend. His father-in-law, Pastor Louie, has been here for years, and we also know him well. The guys were an interesting mix of bikers, and old retired guys who have done things like work with children in Awana for years! Ingrid and I were treated as “honored guests” – maybe because we aren’t guys?! These men – about 15 of them – meet every week, and cook their own dinner, share the meal together, and spend time discipling in God’s Word. I must say, the spaghetti was great! ….and the fellowship fun.

They had Pastor Steve share briefly about Fresh Start, and Dave & Ingrid shared much of their family story and how Fresh Start has impacted them. As always, a great time of connection, and nuggets of truth passed on. These guys are starting a beach outreach next Saturday morning, where they will be mixing and mingling among the homeless and the beach crowd, sharing Christ with them. Lots of ideas and plans are flying with them right now, and it looks to be a pretty exciting summer. The guys were really pumped about the opportunity to hit the streets and beaches to share about Jesus! Honestly, it was refreshing!

Yesterday morning, we met early with the Ocean Beach team that meets for early prayer service and encouragement at the Ice Cream Shop….you may also remember that we generally make a stop there! Some sad news is that the manager, Janice, who we’ve known and prayed with for years, passed away from a very aggressive cancer just last week. The Lighthouse Ice Cream Shop is truly that….a lighthouse in the artsy, somewhat directionless, downtown area of Ocean Beach. These people are frontline warriors in what may well be the homeless capitol of our country! Amazing ministry opportunities, but constant spiritual warfare. This group meets weekly to pray over requests that have been dropped in the prayer boxes at Christian businesses all over the town. They also sometimes share answers to those requests that have also been dropped into the boxes! Dave shared some encouragement and further prayerwalking ideas with them, and challenged them to really take prayer ownership for their area of the wall in that city. Please remember to pray for the present owner of the Lighthouse Shop….the husband is in his late 80’s and presently in the hospital. His wife runs the shop and is probably in her 50’s. They’ve been married nearly 30 years, so this is an extremely challenging time for her.

Around noon, we met up with Pastor Jesús and crossed the border into Tijuana, arriving and settling in at the hotel here. As always, it was great to renew contact with the wonderful manager here, Carlos, who serves us in so many ways every time we come. Last evening we, of course, hit our favorite taco stand…..initiating Ingrid for the first time, to the REAL Mexican concept of “tacos”! Brad let Jesús order for him, and, being a little uninformed about the hot sauce, had quite a “burning coal on his lips” experience,….straight out of Isaiah! We spent some time planning out the week with Pastor Jesús, and headed out to a Wednesday evening service at an area church.

Pastor Steve shared in the service, but turned the bulk of it over to Brad, who spoke about his story and how God had worked in his life and that of his family. The group was quite captivated with him…..as he can be pretty entertaining! We also know many of these people by now, in spite of the fact that we still don’t share a common language. Many came up to share stories of what God has done in response to ministry the last time we were here….which is always encouraging! We didn’t spend a lengthy time in ministry there, but there were several that we will continue to minister to at the Fresh Start conference on Saturday.

And, so another day begins. This one is packed full already of meeting with ministry leaders in the city, making a visit to the orphanage later this afternoon, and not sure what all else. We will be spending some time in prayer with Jesús and Rosa later in the day. Her health is still quite fragile, and impacts what they are both able to do in ministry. I’ve brought a prayer shawl with me from the team there in Omaha, and will be giving it to her as we pray.

Please keep praying for strength and stamina. The week looks to be pretty full, and already the guys have had a few little curves as to what, when, and how they will be sharing. I’m kind of along as the “scribe” this time, and filling in with ministry wherever needed. Will try to get you a video out later tonight with some pics to keep you in touch and updated as the week moves along.

Thanks so much for your friendship, your support, and your many, many prayers on our behalf!

Sheryl for the Team in Tijuana.

FreshStart Tijuana Trip March 29-April 5th

2011-03-17T21:53:00.001-05:00

Our next trip to Tijuana will be a FreshStart ministry team with

Pastor Steve Peterson, Brad Thomas, Sheryl & Dave, Dave & Ingrid Songster

Pastor Jesus Rodriguez has our week full with ministry to church and government leaders and thier families. Pastor Steve will be leading a FreshStart training and I will be doing a Step Up To Life training...plus our usual ministry to the staff of our orphanges.

If you would like to track with our trip and support us in prayer, please send me an email at dave@cfci.org and I will add you to our daily prayer update.

Dave

Friday Update from Tijuana

2010-12-05T00:03:00.003-06:00

Click Here to see Higher Res You Tube Version

Time to update you all with what’s been happening during the past two days of our stay here in Tijuana. In our last email we told you Steve had his passport in hand and we were on the freeway headed towards the border. He was told to appear at the Federal Building at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday to pick up his passport, assuming it would be ready that day. We arrived early, dropped him off, drove around the block, and he phoned to say he already had it and was headed towards the parking lot to be picked up! …..at 12:50…. Have you ever known government processing to be done ahead of time!

Long story shortened, we arrived back in San Diego, dropped off the rental car, and Jesús picked us up and took us to check in at the hotel in Tijuana. Within half an hour we were at the church service scheduled for that evening and back on the track from which we had been temporarily derailed. We didn’t miss anything in our schedule except the prep time with Pastor Jesús for the upcoming week, so have just had to adapt as we go. Steve preached that evening on difficulties, problems, and the faithfulness of God. We ended the evening with about two more hours of prayer ministry for those desiring that. We split up and ministered to the people…both with and without interpreters. We have seen God do some truly amazing things as he has given words of knowledge, words of wisdom in counsel, and prayers of healing – both emotionally and spiritually.

Thursday morning, we drove way up into the hills in Tijuana to meet with a Pastoral couple on the verge of separation. Additionally, she has recently been diagnosed with a breast tumor that is likely cancer. The biopsy report was due back today, although we haven’t heard the results. The doctors had told her that it was likely she would only have 6 months to live, based on what they thought they saw. As we ministered to them, the Lord began to build trust and transparency, and we were able to speak and pray into some deep wounds and heart issues. The Lord was very present and touched them in some precious healing ways. Now we continue to wait for the manifestation of the physical healing.

Last evening Dave met with a pastor and his wife who have been using Step Up To Life since Pastor Murdoch was here in February. He oversees 12 Baptist churches, and is putting together a training time for all twelve of those pastors, asking them to bring 10 people each from their churches to be trained in using SUTL! All this in preparation for an outreach they are planning to conduct in April. The Pastor and his wife also have a jail ministry here in Mexico, particularly working with women in the prison system…..also using SUTL there. It was a very encouraging time for Dave to meet with them and to water the seed that was planted some months ago.

This morning we met with a group of elders and the pastor of a relatively new and rapidly growing church in La Playa just a little ways from central Tijuana. That was a very exciting time! They are looking for ways to engage their church, and were very receptive to the three primary tools we bring to this city: Fresh Start, Step Up To Life, and Prayerwalking. They already do a number of kinds of model outreach programs, and SUTL will fit into them beautifully. Probably will be back here to do more leadership development with them.

Another service and ministry time tonight, and Dave will be preaching and tomorrow morning (Saturday) we will be ministering to a group of pastors and wives. Please continue to pray for health and strength. The trip has been somewhat stressful physically for all of us in various ways. We are convinced, though, that we were to be here. God has been confirming that over and over in the ways that he has touched people. We have yet to meet with several pastoral couples in marriage crisis, so pray for wisdom. Even one of those situations can potentially affect hundreds of people here in the Body of Christ in Tijuana. We’ve had opportunity to reconnect with old friends, and met a number of new ones.

Sunday Dave and Steve will be ministering in two different churches and we will leave to come across the border again early Sunday evening, meet with the Base team in Ocean Beach/San Diego if we can, and be back in Omaha Tuesday.

Blessings to all and thanks for all your continued prayers!
Dave & Sheryl
Steve & Mary

2010-11-09T13:36:00.001-06:00

Tijuana— City Leadership Ministry & Care Trip

Nov 30th -Dec 7th, 2010

Here is a 3-minute slide show from recent trips:

Since December 2006, more than 28,000 people have died in Mexico as a result of cartel-related violence….1,200 of them were children. Some towns no longer have any police protection due to resignations of the entire police force.

The violence in Tijuana peaked in 2008 at 800 homicides. In February 2009, Steve and Dave had the privilege of leading PrayerWalking training for the Tijuana Pastoral Alliance. As congregations began prayerwalking their barrios that year, homicides dropped to 695; but, much more prayer is needed.

On Sunday, Oct. 24th, fourteen clients at a drug rehabilitation center in Tijuana were murdered execution-style….apparently in retribution for the seizure and burning of 134 tons of marijuana. The signal being sent by targeting drug rehab centers is clear: you cannot leave the system.

For a number of years now, God has given us great favor with key leaders in Tijuana. Several years ago, a Christian political party was formed and became active in combating the cartels. Many Believers were elected to government offices, and we were invited several times to pray with the pastors and leaders of the party -- the first Christians ever to pray in Tijuana City Hall with elected leaders!

In the 2010 elections, more Christians ran for office, but the cartels are so entrenched in the culture and economy, and have engendered so much fear, that the popular majority decided the efforts to control them were not worth it. Every candidate for the Christian Party lost last July, and those already in office will leave at the end of this year.

Ministry Focus:

These pastors and civic leaders have become close friends, and we are honored to minister to them as they pray, process, and regroup.
We plan to meet with pastors who are using "Step Up To Life" in order to resource and encourage the seed that was planted by Pastors Lincoln and Elmer Murdoch nearly a year ago.
Pastor Jesús Rodriguez’s term as President of the Pastoral Alliance is ending in December, and he is praying about planting a church in Tijuana….Possibly an All Nations Church.
We will be ministering to orphanage staff, some new pastoral groups, individual leaders and their families, and preparing for a FreshStart trip in March.

Would you consider partnering with us in this exciting opportunity to invest in the lives and hearts of the city leaders of Tijuana at this crucial time? Our budget is $3,200 for this trip (including airfare, lodging, meals, and transportation, etc.). We are committed to go, trusting that the Lord will supply, as you participate according to His leading.
Gifts may be sent to either CFCI, PO Box 390395, Omaha, NE 68139-0395 (earmark Gehrls-Tijuana) or Carpenter’s Touch, 8834 Sprague Circle, Omaha, NE 68134.

Click here to Donate Now securely online:

(Earmark Gehrls-Tijuana)

Please begin, even now, to pray for us as we go, that the fruit of our investment into the hearts of the city leaders of Tijuana will eventually produce city-reaching revival proportions!
Blessings from the Team,
Dave & Sheryl Gehrls
Steve & Mary Rife

2010-02-25T21:36:00.002-06:00

Tijuana - Step Up To Life/CFCI Trip Report

2010-02-25T21:21:00.005-06:00

We arrived home Tuesday afternoon and are starting to get back to normal from this remarkable trip. We are convinced that the enemy is very threatened by "Step Up To Life" in Tijuana. We all came under attack in various and multiple ways before, during and following the trip... weather, scheduling, health and finances. For example every time the team was in ministry sessions Pastor Rodriguez wife, Rosa, was attacked with severe headaches.

There was heavy rain the night before the SUTL Training, which would be like an ice storm in Omaha. We scheduled it on an open day, and then three major pastor's events were scheduled on top of us... One was the government announcing on Wednesday a pastor's seminar for Saturday morning on how to bring donations across the border...

We had targeted this training for senior pastors to give them the Biblical basis for Conviction, Repentance and Lordship to help counteract all the easy believe-ism most had been taught over the years.

We were disappointed as only about a fourth of the key pastors could make it, but the Lord had a surprise for us. Unexpectedly about 50 college age city youth leaders showed up and we were amazed at how excitedly they devoured these deeper concepts. It seems the Lord wanted Pastor Murdoch to invest into the future generation of Tijuana leaders.

The team also had some wonderful ministry times to leaders and the slideshow below tells the story better than words. You can click on this link to our Picasa Web Album then click on any picture to enlarge or click on "Slideshow" for a full-screen slideshow.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and partnership.

Blessings,
Dave, Sheryl, Steve, Mary, & Pastor Murdoch

Friday afternoon, Feb. 19th

2010-02-19T20:04:00.004-06:00

Wow! Time to get caught up here with all of you. Pastor Murdoch arrived safely in San Diego Thursday afternoon, and is here in Tijuana with us now. Many of you know that his health was in quite a severe state Wednesday evening, but because of many, many prayers, he is running nearly full-speed ahead! Last evening, he was introduced to the infamous Tres Salsas taco stand, and from Dave's pics, it looks as though his response was favorable!

Our time here has been full, but well-paced. The spiritual resistance has been heavy, but we have a deep sense of God's presence. Thanks to those who prayed for our safety and protection over the past couple of days. We've had a couple of close calls with potentially serious traffic accidents, but PTL are still in one piece! God certainly must have angels traveling with us.

Wednesday afternoon, we had the privilege of praying with a lady pastor whose only son was shot and killed in a gang shooting just about a year ago. This was only one of many grief situations in her life that God was so incredibly touching for healing and freedom. It was a precious time, but a very intense ministry time.

Later that evening Steve spoke to a congregation who have just bought a new piece of property where they will be starting a building project soon. They have put up a "temporary" church building, so we were working with a very basic situation, complete with dirt floors. Following that service, we prayed with people for another two hours.

Yesterday morning, we had a couple of appointments to handle some rather "business" aspects of the visit down here. But then, Mary and I got to go shopping with Pastor Jesus' wife, Rosa! We had a great time, and found that Mexico has worse potholes than Omaha! Believe it, because we know it's true! We didn't actually spend much money, but we had a LOT of fun laughing together.

We've eaten so many tacos that we are just about ready for Chinese or Italian or just about anything else! Don't get me wrong....the tacos are great, but pizza is beginning to sound tempting! Oh, did I mention that the taco stands also make tacos out of tongue and brains and intestines! I do have my limits, though, so stopped at the tongue.....

Tomorrow, Pastor Murdoch will be sharing with some of the city pastors regarding the Scriptural foundations for Step Up To Life. He has been very well received thus far, and we're looking forward to another amazing time with these men. We'll probably have more to report on that tomorrow evening.

This morning Dave led an interactive city pastors workshop on ministry ethics and we spent much of the afternoon today at the orphanage, and learned that Pastor has a few tricks up his sleeve that were extremely entertaining for the children there. I think they found a new Grandpa.....and we got some adorable pictures.

That's about it for now. Please pray the forecasted rain stays away on Saturday, rain over ½ inch almost shuts this city down… like an ice storm in Omaha. Keep praying, as we keep working here, and we'll look forward to debriefing with you all when we get home.
Blessings,
Dave & Sheryl, Steve & Mary, Pastor Murdoch

Upate From Tijuana

2010-02-18T00:51:00.001-06:00

TIJUANA – Wednesday, Feb. 17th :

Here we are once again in the beautiful city of Tijuana, Mexico! Beautiful, you ask? Yes, beautiful through the lens of God’s destiny for this city. As I stood in the 7th floor window of the hotel early this morning watching the sunrise, I looked out over the city towards the mountains in the distance. A light fog hung over the city – or was it the air pollution? I could see thousands of homes, literally one on top of the other, and was reminded once again of the hundreds of thousands here who do not live in the peace of the Savior, not knowing of His love for them.

The trip here yesterday was uneventful with one notable exception – the hydraulic fluid leak they found in the plane scheduled to take us from Phoenix to San Diego! The good news was that we weren’t in the air yet, and that they were able to swap out another plane for us instead of sending us on to San Diego on that one!

It has been wonderful to begin to reconnect with friends in the ministry here who are faithfully working to bring the Gospel to this city, and to care for the hearts of God’s people here. Because of your participation with us, we now have relationships with pastors and their families (as well as government leaders) that encourage, sustain, and support all of us in the Body of Christ. They welcome us with open arms, and are always eager to receive the Kingdom tools and resources that we bring. Fresh Start continues to be used in healing the hearts of the people, Step Up To Life is gradually taking root in their hearts, and PrayerWalking their areas of the city is something that the churches are really stretching into at the present time. Seeds that have been planted relationally for the past 10 years are beginning to grow and bear much Kingdom fruit here.

A couple of fun notes – we went from the airport down to Ocean Beach for a little while before crossing the border into Tijuana. For all you water sports people, the surf was rolling in and it was a good day to be out on the waves if you are into that stuff.

This afternoon we have lunch with Gerardo and get an initial update on Marked For Life. Later this evening, we will be at a local church where we’ve been other times; Steve will speak, followed by team ministry.

Tomorrow we visit and minister to the leaders at our two CFCI orphanages before heading up to San Diego to pick up Pastor Murdoch.

Based on spiritual attacks we’ve all encountered the last two weeks, we feel Satan is really threatened more than usual by this trip. Yesterday Pastor Murdoch was hit with two health issues.

Please pray for the Peace of God on the trip. We’re looking forward to amazing things with Pastor here teaching and spending some times with us. We look for God to also bring fruit from seeds being planted by SUTL this year…lasting fruit for the Kingdom.

Also pray that finances will continue to come in to CFCI for our part of this trip. As of today we have received just under a $1000.00 towards our $3200.00 trip budget.

Support info is on our blog http://gehrlsministry.blogspot.com

Please send any thoughts or “words” you have to dave@cfci.org

More tomorrow,
Blessings,
Dave, Sheryl, Steve & Mary

Tijuana Step Up To Life Pastors Training with Pastor Murdoch, Steve & Mary Rife

2010-02-04T19:21:00.005-06:00

Last November, Pastor Lincoln Murdoch trained over 100 of Tijuana’s pastors and church leaders in SUTL. (See pictures and reports in this blogs back posts.

Many pastors in Tijuana are frustrated with the lack of lasting results in their ministry. During this trip, Pastor Murdoch will train senior pastors and trainers in the scriptural principles of SUTL, i.e., Conviction, Repentance, and Lordship.

The arrival of a point team to prepare for a good training event has proven to be crucial. God has given us great favor with Tijuana’s Christian leaders precisely because we visit the many small pastors groups...ministering personally to the leaders, building and maintaining relationships.
In November, Sheryl and I went a week ahead of Pastor Lincoln, and the Lord gave a wonderful response of over 100 participants. This time, Steve and Mary Rife will be joining us to meet with and minister to a growing list of leaders before Pastor Murdoch arrives Thursday night. On Friday, Pastor will join us in personal ministry to some key leaders and lead the SUTL Pastors’ seminar on Saturday.

Sunday, we will minister in separate churches before returning to San Diego late that afternoon. Pastor will fly home Monday morning, and the Rifes and Gehrls will celebrate Steve’s birthday a day early before flying home Tuesday morning.
Step Up To Life is covering Pastor Murdoch’s expenses; however, Rifes and Gehrls need to cover the rest. Would you consider partnering with us in this exciting opportunity to invest in the lives and hearts of the city leaders of Tijuana at this crucial time?
While we covet your prayers, our $3200.00 team budget for this trip (including airfare, lodging, and meals, etc. for the four of us) is part of the “reality.” The Gehrls and Rifes have committed to go, trusting the Lord to supply. Your participation would be a great blessing and answer to prayer.
Please begin now to pray for us as we go: for prepared hearts, for our safety and fruit of our investment into the hearts of Tijuana’s city leaders. Come along with us online and in prayer by subscribing to this blog. We will be posting daily updates from Tijuana.Thank-you for investing in our ministry,
Dave & Sheryl and Steve & Mary
Donations may be made online at http://www.cfci.org/

or sent to:
CFCI, PO Box 390395, Omaha, NE 68139-0395
Earmark: “Gehrls - Tijuana”

The Winters of our Lives

2010-01-21T09:11:00.001-06:00

Finally! We're through the holiday season, and the flurry of activity has begun to settle back into a routine. For those of us here in Omaha, we've seen snow like we haven't seen in many, many years! One after another, the storms have swept through, leaving behind enormous drifts, which gather into even more enormous piles when the plows are finished. Leaving our neighborhood has been like driving through a maze of snowbanks with walls about 10 feet high...quite an eerie experience, I must say!

I (Sheryl) happened to have time to look at our blog this morning, and realized we haven't even updated since our November trip to Tijuana, so I guess it's about time to do that.

Recently, I was reading through some old journals and came across a meditation that the Lord had given me about 15 years ago when I was walking through a time in my life that felt like death in many, many ways. Because I've read so many facebook posts lately from people talking about winter, and the cold, and the snow, and wishing it were Spring, I decided to share this with all of you.

The location was a beautiful park in the city where we lived, that had a river running through it, and walking trails several miles long where I often went to walk and pray. I was sitting in the car reading and praying one beautiful winter morning, just watching one of those snowfalls where the flakes are so big they just mesmerize you as they gently fall to the earth. There, in that quiet time and place, the Lord began to speak into my heart:

Today I sit at the park watching a beautiful snowfall. Haven't been here in weeks. Sometimes our lives are like a winter landscape – seemingly dead and bare and no fruit...only a few dead leaves hanging on as reminders of a better season. And yet, there is a special beauty about it....the quiet, the stillness, the sense of everything having come to a stop for a time. The peace and lack of activity present here during the other seasons is overwhelming. It's almost as though God has put everything to rest for a time and in the stillness is doing a new creative work which will burst forth at the proper time in the Spring. All the beauty and energy and fruitfulness and life of the past seasons has been buried under a pure white blanket of snow. None of the scars left by the traffic of the summer remain. The snow, which continues to fall, covers, protects, seals, waters, and restores all that will bring forth life and beauty in the seasons to come. Without this time of rest and repair, the park would die. The flowers and grass and trees would continually pour their strength into what is visible outwardly to the human eye. They would continually be trampled and picked and vandalized by the unthinking people who never cease to come to this place to "take advantage" of the beauty – never stopping to see where the source is.

It's almost as though God brings the winter to stop the drain on His creation. Everything here has a time to sleep and catch its breath and restore and replenish the internal places not seen with the human eye. And thus it is that the park is once again ready to offer beauty and comfort and solitude to those who seek it in the new season as well as to those who come only to take advantage of it.

And so it seems to be in our hearts and lives. The winters, the alone times, the times that appear barren and useless, are in essence the most important to us. Without the times of ceased spiritual activity outwardly, God is unable to do the inside works we need. He covers us for a time – buries us carefully – and gives us a fresh, new clean beginning. Without the down times there could be no season of life and fruitfulness.

Even when the outward man shows absolutely no sign of life, God is at work restoring and refreshing the inward man in the deep places of the heart where only He has access. So, the winters of our lives become needful and essential to our spiritual walk.

"Be still and know that I am God."

Genesis 28:16 – "When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it." How often this is true in our lives...we slumber and miss God's presence.

-Sheryl

Tijuana: Step Up To Life Training

2009-11-07T21:31:00.001-06:00

Over 100 were trained with Step Up To Life

Thanks for your prayers!
The Pictures say it all...

Blessings,
Pastor Linc, Dave & Sheryl

Tijuana: Wed-Thur

2009-11-06T01:32:00.002-06:00

Sheryl reporting...

What an interesting week we’ve had thus far! It’s been very different from other trips in that we’ve not had a lot of large group meetings. Rather, we’ve had time to spend with individual couples continuing to develop friendships and relationships….to hear what’s been happening in their lives and families, and to speak words of encouragement to them.

I just love telling you about the people and all that comes with them. We may have inherited a beautiful 15 yr. old daughter of a wonderful pastor friend! She has a deep desire in her heart to study in the States, so we have offered the option of living with us in Omaha when she’s ready for the University. Her wish is to study in the area of Criminal Justice, which she could do there at UNO. She loves the Lord profoundly, and would be a joy to have living with us….although we’re not sure we really want to parent teenagers again! Fortunately we all have 3-5 years to pray on it before any decision would be made.

We spent yesterday morning with Pastor Raphael and his wife Juanita. You may remember him as the former president of the Ministerial Alliance here, or as the friend who held the “carne asada” picnic in honor of Dave a couple of years ago. We were privileged to be with them about a year ago when they renewed their wedding vows on their 25th anniversary. This has been a very challenging time for them both spiritually and financially, so we were thankful to be able to meet with them. Dave will tell you more later, I’m sure.

This morning we spent some time with Pastor Cuco, director of Operation Light – the Halloween outreach his church does here in Tijuana every year. This year they had well over 1,000 individuals in the church for 5 separate “programs” during the evening. People started lining up an hour before the doors opened….all dressed in an amazing array of costumes. We’ve seen the pictures, and it was totally organized chaos!! They closed the street off, and no one even objected! Many people gave their lives to the Lord, and there were 250 new visitors in the service Sunday morning. The big project now is how to organize discipleship for all these new Believers. They’re very encouraged with the results, and haven’t even heard from the other churches yet as to how things went. Pastor Cuco’s church is also establishing a 24 hr. house of prayer here in Tijuana at the church. We saw that today, and heard the vision for its operation. Totally amazing vision from God! They hope to have it operational by April.

In the midst of all of that, the Alliance has a variety of huge concerts, events, and outreaches going on all at the same time. It’s really pretty exciting to watch! Next weekend will be a concert with about 3,000 tickets sold already. In order to get the most out of the rental for the facility, they are also holding a youth purity conference earlier that day….expecting well over 1,000 kids at that. And then there’s the SUTL training going on in the city, in conjunction with Marked For Life, and Fresh Start workshops, and initiating a police chaplain corps, and a pastoral training school that begins with a course in theology next Wednesday evening. All of this and more in the middle of an extremely challenging economy, community health issues, political corruption, and violence! God is definitely at work in this city! Please continue praying for our brothers and sisters here as they try to get the Tijuana harvest in.

Because the economy is so difficult here, many of the pastors have not been able to get together as much as they used to do. It’s been good for us to be here because it has given them opportunity to get together, and to connect with Pastor Jesús again. The problem is that all of our “friendship events” tend to focus around meals, cafecita, lunches, breakfasts, food, food, and more food! Dave still sticks mostly to carne asada with rice and beans….but I’ve been eating some of the strangest things ever this week! I can have rice and beans at home. Jesús and I had a seafood “chowder” of some kind at noon today that appeared to have come directly from the sea! In addition to the zucchini, carrots, onions, potatoes…..there was everything imaginable in it in a bowl the size of an ice cream pail! We’re talking clams (complete with shells), half of a crab (yes, bringing its shell along and hanging over the side of the bowl), shrimp, and four other seafood items which I preferred not to ask about!! Last night we hit the taco stand two blocks away, and oh, my goodness! Dave was absolutely right that this is the best one ever! I’m sure the Health Department in Omaha would have been aghast, but the tacos and mulitas were the best!!

Our health is holding up well, (although Jesús has been somewhat sick all week with a bad cold), and we prayed for a girl this morning with the flu. You should have seen Dave hesitate at that one when they told him what she was sick with! Guess it comes in the category of drinking poison and picking up snakes! Hand sanitizer has become a very good friend these days. We’re sleeping very well, and Carlos (the hotel manager) is taking very good care of us. We’re looking forward to having Lincoln join us tomorrow afternoon, and then the marathon weekend begins until we return home about 11:00 p.m. on Sunday evening. Pray for the training time on Saturday with Pastor Linc. There are approximately 100 pastors and leaders planning to come. Each of them will return to train their own leadership teams in SUTL. The new “Marked for Life” edition in Spanish is being overnited hot off the presses at Woolverton Printing Co. yesterday afternoon.

Thanks for caring and praying!
Dave and Sheryl
http://gehrlsministry.blogspot.com/

Tijuana: Day Three

2009-11-04T10:31:00.001-06:00

Dave reporting this time.

First, Thank You for your prayers we feel wonderfully covered.

Yesterday we had good meetings with some core leaders and made some new friends. We had the honor of sitting with two pastors in their 70’s or higher who we know suffered much for the Gospel, yet were so full of the joy of the Lord…

We enjoyed being with Jesús and Rosa as they went about their day…taking care of a precious granddaughter…talking with Rosa, Abel and Manuel as we waited at the border on the way to do some errands in the US and a weekly Bible Study.

Today we have breakfast with Raphael, the past President of the Alliance, then lunch with Eduardo and Ana Mendez, the founders of our two orphanages followed by a follow-up ministry session tonight.

We continue to be amazed with the favor God continues to give us in serving these precious brothers and sisters…They have adopted us as their own. Please pray that we clearly hear the Lord’s heart and speak His words in every opportunity.

Blessings,
Dave & Sheryl

Tijuana: Day Two

2009-11-03T10:14:00.001-06:00

Greetings!

The morning began very early on Monday with a Pastors’ morning prayer group. They were mostly all known to us already, so we were incorporated right into the prayer circles rather than having to be introduced first. That was kind of special as it allowed us to minister with them to each other as peers instead of being set apart as the unique visitors from the States! Interesting note was that they separate men and women into two different prayer circles. Dave at least had a translator or two among the men, but I found myself surrounded by pastors’ wives who spoke almost no English! Thankfully, I can understand a bit of Spanish, but it was stretching at best! We found an amazing thing, though, as we prayed. When I prayed with the women, I just prayed as the Spirit led, and Rosa (Pastor Jesús wife) prayed right along with me in Spanish. We’re still not sure whether or not the Lord was giving her interpretation of what was being prayed! The only thing we know is that we could see the Holy Spirit moving on the women and bringing peace to their hearts….in the midst of great physical, spiritual, and emotional challenges for them.

Another lunch followed that meeting, as is the custom here. The twelve-alarm chili was good when you could get past the choking, burning lips, and gasping….all done discreetly, of course, while declaring “Muy Rica!!)!! One could say it was “tasty”! This church meets in a lovely building that also contains a rather sizeable Christian bookstore – all Spanish, of course – where I couldn’t resist buying a new travel-sized Spanish Bible….and two new worship CD’s…Dave thought I was a bit crazy, but it made sense to me! If you can find the reference, they can read the verse, and it makes sense to the one who needs it!

We met with Gerardo Espejel later in the early evening at his office near the beach in Rosarito. Unfortunately, a dense fog had rolled in, so there wasn’t much visible of the beach THAT day! Many of you may remember meeting Gerardo when he was with us in Omaha earlier in the Spring. He is working among the churches here to plan the “Marked For Life” campaign during this next year in Tijuana. There are a number of events leading up to that on Easter weekend 2010, that will be building outreach and evangelism training, particularly into the youth of the city. Although there have been unanticipated obstacles in the timeline of this program, it would seem that the Lord has been adjusting it so that it will fit His plan better than ours. There will be well over 30 churches initially represented at training, and the official permission has been received just this week to begin to hang the banners on the overpasses of the highways around the city. They are being allowed to put them into what is normally a “restricted zone” where no one is allowed to post any advertising! This is nothing short of a miracle! The target area initially will include one of the most traveled loops in the city, so they expect to be adding churches continually who wish to sponsor another banner in a different location in the city. Those can be sponsored for approximately $75 – which represents a very large sacrifice for many of these congregations. Gerardo and Jesús are very encouraged with the progress being made, as there are doors opening that will last far beyond the specific “Marked” event. Continue to pray for increased unity among the churches here…that is a big issue at the present time.

Today will include a morning meeting with another group of pastors, a prominent businessman in the city, and the Orphanage Director for CFCI (Eduardo Mendez). We are being allowed to attend primarily as guests, and likely to announce the SUTL training scheduled for Saturday with Pastor Lincoln. It already appears that there will be over 100 pastors and youth leaders here for the seminar. We’re passing out sample booklets in Spanish (both adult and childrens’ versions) to all the pastors we come in contact with, and giving them a spare copy to use as an invitation for Saturday. Pray that this training time is a huge advancement in the equipping of the Body of Christ here in Tijuana. Later this evening, we’ll cross the border into Chula Vista again to spend the evening with Gerardo and his wife Rosa.

Not quite sure what tomorrow holds yet…. Pray for continued strength and energy. We both slept like rocks last night, and Dave has been doing quite well physically. We can sense your prayers, and although the people seem tired, there also seems to be a “lightening” of the spiritual atmosphere here. Please continue to pray that darkness will be pressed back and that this city will be transformed….along with our own!

Blessings,

Sheryl and Dave

Tijuana, MX

Tijuana: Day One

2009-11-02T13:49:00.004-06:00

Greetings Faithful Ones!

We arrived safely yesterday morning in San Diego, having left home MUCH too early Sunday morning! Seemed like an entire day had passed, and we weren’t even at noon yet!! Great flight, no problems with connections or luggage, or even bumps in the air. Jesús and Rosa picked us up about 1:00 and we went over to their church with them for service at 2:00 p.m. Jesús pastors a small CMA church in Chula Vista in order to supplement his support through CFCI. Dave shared in the service regarding appropriating the blood of Jesus – the Great Overcomer – and the message was well received, followed by a time of praying with several people whose hearts were really hurting. The Hispanic congregation has a large number of single moms, and the economic system out here has been particularly hard on them as they try to raise families alone.

For those of you who have been here with us, the service was followed by the usual time of eating tacos together, and as usual, the food and fellowship were great! We love these people. I wish I had more Spanish (I’m sure Rosetta Stone would help!), but we communicate how we can – and with many charades and one-word sentences!

Jesús and Rosa send their love. She is doing much better healthwise, for which we are all thankful as it allows her to be more involved in ministry with Jesús. They will be picking us up shortly for a morning meeting with a Pastors’ prayer group where Dave will be speaking this morning. The work that we do this week will be twofold in nature.

Frst, the people here need a strong word of encouragement. The financial situation is not good, and many are seriously struggling to have the means to support their families, let alone have any funds to travel about the city to minister to their people. Many are very discouraged, so it is important that we bring the comfort and encouragement of the Holy Spirit in order to lift their eyes to Jesus who waits for us all at the finish line of this endless Marathon called life!
Second, we will be planting seeds in preparation for Step Up to Life training among pastors and churches here in the city. Pastor Lincoln Murdoch will be here with us next weekend to do a day-long pastors’ training time, and the hope is that nearly 100 pastors will attend. They will then be able to take SUTL back to teach their congregations, followed by Pastor Elmer Murdoch coming in January with a follow-up seminar. A new SUTL pamphlet using the Marked For Life logo, and done in Spanish, is nearly hot off the presses from our son-in-law’s company, so everyone is excited about getting this striking new tool!

The week will include a number of meetings with pastors’ groups, and several individual times with specific pastoral couples that we need to connect with while down here. Please pray, as some of them are experiencing great spiritual opposition, and other difficulties that can be very discouraging.

We have brought with us the newest “Transformations” video regarding the amazing work of God among the police force in San Paulo, Brazil. There is a great deal of interest here in developing a Chaplain Corps for the Tijuana Police Department. The time is not quite ripe yet, but Jesús and I will be meeting with some individuals later in the week to talk about what resources CFCI might be able to bring to the table for that. (Stand by, Dennis Flohm!) Pray for clear communication and open doors into that segment of the city.

The other area where the pastors are beginning to move has to do with Pastoral training. They are presently beginning a theology/discipleship course taught by a man from Phoenix (I think) who is a Mexican himself. There is great enthusiasm among the pastors here, and a good number have already enrolled for this course. I will be meeting more with Jesús and some of the pastors to determine what other areas of pastoral training would be helpful to them, and maybe beginning to look at developing that more with them.

Dave sends his greetings! Please continue to pray for strength, energy, endurance, wisdom, safety, our families at home, and much revelation as we move through this week. The night was strange last night with very little sleep. Because of the time difference, and Daylight Savings time, we’re operating at a 3-hour shift right now. Just enough to make eating and sleeping weird! Dave tells me we’re running out of time if we still want morning coffee! So, we’ll be in touch again tomorrow.

Blessings to you all,
Sheryl for Dave
Tijuana, MX

Tijuana Step Up To Life Ministry Trip, November 1-8

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For nearly ten years I’ve been making ministry trips to Tijuana several times a year, staying a week or more each time -- teaching and building relationships with our CFCI ministries and the many pastors’ prayer groups in that city. Pastor Jesús Rodriguez and his wife Rosa have become very good friends, and in the process of helping to train their church, I shared with them the underlying principles and applications of Step Up To Life (SUTL), developed by Pastor Elmer Murdoch www.stepuptolife.com. Today Pastor Jesús is President of the Pastoral Alliance of Tijuana, and we have been invited to share SUTL, partnering with the Alliance in a citywide youth evangelism mobilization called “Marked For Life”. The plan for this outreach was given by God to Tijuana businessman Gerardo Espejel, leader of the youth part of the Pastoral Alliance. (More on “Marked in future updates.)

In recent years, Evangelicals have become the leading religious influence in Tijuana. The first-ever citywide outreach was conducted in conjunction with the Franklin Graham Association about five years ago. “Marked For Life” will be the first citywide outreach that is fully their own.

Early Sunday morning, Nov. 1st, Sheryl and I will be flying to San Diego/Tijuana to visit as many pastors’ prayer groups as possible during the week. Pastor Lincoln Murdoch will be coming in for a SUTL training day on Saturday, Nov. 7th. As usual, Sheryl and I will also be ministering to the staff of CFCI orphanages and to key church/government leaders by appointment. For many years I made these trips alone, and then the Lord started sending teams. This is the first time just Sheryl and I have gone, and we’re thankful to be able to make this trip together. Pending future trips will include SUTL training with Pastor Elmer Murdoch in Jan/Feb and another Fresh Start trip with Pastor Steve Peterson in April.

Pastor Jesús tells me that the economy in Mexico is so bad that it’s difficult for pastors to attend any event. Many literally don’t have money even for essentials. Please pray that God will provide for His servants in Tijuana in the midst of this economic crisis, which is part of the spiritual battle to hinder their citywide efforts.

One reason Sheryl will be able to make this trip with me, is that she’s transitioning from the CFCI International Office to the position of CFCI Omaha Ministry Base Planter/Director. We’re very excited about this, as it allows her to move more fully into her gifts and calling. In addition, it frees me to focus more around my calling to coach ministry leaders and to oversee the growing Prayer Mobilization here in Omaha (We had another remarkable prayerwalk at a homicide site last night where God answered prayer within minutes…please go to http://prayerwalkingtheheartland.blogspot.com for an exciting update with pictures). However, this ministry change is also a big faith challenge for us, since at the beginning of each month until the end of the year, she transitions one more day a week to the Base, and loses 20% of her paycheck at the International Office.

Step Up To Life has committed to provide training and materials for Tijuana and has generously assisted with my travel and administrative expenses for this nine month outreach, but we’ll need to raise an additional $1000.00 to meet the rest of the expenses for this trip.

We need lots of prayer during this trip, and you can travel with us online! Just reply to this email, and we’ll update you every day or two during our trip. We also have a new personal ministry blog you may subscribe to at http://gehrlsministry.blogspot.com that will be kept updated from TJ. During the last two trips, we have received wonderfully encouraging words and scriptures…several that were exactly what we needed in ministry the next day. Please join us on this trip through prayer and by considering a financial partnership.

We’d love to have you be a part of what God is doing in Tijuana!

Blessings, Dave & Sheryl