God is calling home the Teleqan tribe, a Jewish group that converted to Islam in the 12th century. The Bible is being translated into their language and there is an openness to the Gospel. Enlist with the team and be a prayer warrior for them. We raised the funds for a much-needed water source and had locals dig it. Next we are sending a small team to bring medical training and medicine and meet these new friends in Christ and others.

May 1, 2012 UPDATE: We can tell you now that 220 families got bags of grain from our latest effort … thank you to many of you who gave and prayed. None of our workers were hurt in the process even though they went into an area in the news with violence.
Our “Teleqan 2012 Team” of eight people is now preparing to go make personal contact with these tribal folks. We will also be helping a local hospital that is a benefit to a large region, Galmi Hospital.

March 15, 2012 UPDATE: We have good news and bad news. The good news is that the first 50 of the 50 kilo bags of rice have been delivered with 30 sold at half price and 20 given to families with no resources at all. Two more truck loads like this are in process. The bad news is that “Samuel”, one of the Teleqon Daoud had invited to be trained by our medical mission team in July, has died in the violence. Samuel was a gentle soul with a wife and children but in the wrong place at the wrong time. Such is the real world over there we are hoping, by God’s grace, to change. Keep praying … keep helping.

February 26, 2012 UPDATE: We learned from our contacts that the Tuareg uprising in Mali was hurting many in the area of our well. With our partners there we developed a plan to open a new supply line to avoid the violence. We teamed up with Christian Family Fellowship in Santa Rosa to send $8,000 to start this relief. Send us a note and we will give you more details and how to get involved.

January 13, 2012 UPDATE: We made direct contact with Daoud via Skype® to hear of the condition of the Muslim-Followers-of-Jesus he is helping along. As noted below there are quite a few who need our prayers and Daoud’s pastoring. He has been able to use recordings of Scripture to distribute to some and this has led to many others listening and hearing of Jesus for the first time from their own people in their own language. A few of us are traveling to West Africa this summer to meet with Daoud and others he knows to encourage them and pass on some medical supplies and training.

God has a message for us and He packaged it in His Word, the Bible. And so we spend time Sunday mornings digging into His message with a new series running from April 29 to May 20 … “Titus: Exercise Faith”. Please come join us or follow us by listening from our catalog under “Sermons” at the top of this page.

April 29 – “Work to See the Invisible” – Titus 1:1-4

Sunday, May 27 from noon to 3 PM you are invited to ‘stay local’ and join your neighbors for a picnic at The Gazebo.  Everyone is encouraged to bring anything that flies (kites, rockets, RC planes, etc.) and show it off to the rest of us.  Bring your own picnic or enjoy Hot Dogs being sold to raise funds for Africans needing Medicine.

Preparing for Disasters
Saturday, April 21

This day is planned in two stages …
1) Individual skills – be a support to anyone in crisis
2) Group Response – what to do to be a center of help to the rest of the community

Part One: Jim Uhey, president of the Santa Cruz County VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster), is coming to our community to present this four-hour workshop. Subjects include what to expect when serving people who have experienced a crisis as well as how to operate within the National Incident Management System requirements. Jim brings his personal experience at the World Trade Centers after “911”, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Indonesia.

Workshop is 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Register by contacting Mountain Bible Church at 408-353-2302. Cost is $25 per person before April 18 or $30 at the door. Make checks payable to “The Phoenix Project USA”.

Part Two: Lunch at 12:30 with Information and Planning Workshops until 3:30. We start with tips on personal preparedness from a local Red Cross Instructor, Leon Milburn. This will lead into developing your plan for your group on what need in the community you will focus on. (For example: our church has found that being a Respite Care Center for First Responders is needed and we are perfectly located to do this.) Groups are encouraged to bring their “team” to find your place in your community.

Contact us with questions and to register … 408-353-2302 / mountainbible@gmail.com

Why don’t Catholics and the Protestants who accept the Apostles’ Creed do more together?

We will join with Christ Child Catholic Church for a 7 AM “sunrise” service. We have moved the Egg Hunt for the children to later in the day, noon time, at the Gazebo. Our regular services at our building will be held at 10 AM with Special Music and a special welcome to visitors that day. Then all are invited to go over to the Gazebo with their picnic lunch where the children will hunt for eggs and join in some games.

We meet in the perfect place for such an event as it is between our two properties and in the community park with the Gazebo built by volunteers from all backgrounds. And there we will be, as Protestant and Catholic followers of Jesus, celebrating the key truth of both our groups … Jesus rose from the dead!

This is the type of important action our church focuses on taking. Jesus asked us to unite around Him, not around those who do everything just like us.

Doxology (a new arrangement):

Peacemakers:

Set to the Tune of “Do Not Destroy”:

Performing with Katreen Fenton (vocals) and Rob Iniguez (drums).

Original posting:

Mountain Bible Church is hosting a dinner and concert to benefit Africa in the summer of 2012. The date is Saturday, March 3. The dinner is $10 and starts at 6 p.m. The concert is free (though donations are encouraged) and starts at 7 p.m.

All the dinner funds will go to purchase much needed medical supplies for people in a part of Africa where we have made personal contacts.

This summer, several members of Mountain Bible will venture out into Africa, serving at the Galmi Hospital and working also, on the second leg of the trip, with the Teleqan. The team includes Mark Adams, who will also visit Central African Republic, Lori Batten and Sydni Denues, who will offer medical assistance at the Galmi hospital, and also John and Kim Haak, who will be offering their unique services, particularly in the field of education.

The concert will feature several local performers including Mark Adams, Katrine Fenton, Lukas and others (TBA). Please come and enjoy the show.

Katrine Fenton singing “Up to the Mountain”:

Mark Adams and the Mountain Bible worship team singing “Do Not Destroy”:

Mark Adams singing “Holy One” at Mountain Bible Church:

Lukas and Mark Adams singing:

Lukas and Manika singing:

Members of Mountain Bible Church and Christ Child Catholic Church invited the community to make care packages. MBC Youth Pastor Mark Adams posted a few of last year’s pictures at his Flickr page (press here).

On Sunday, February 19 at 11:30, we joined with Christ Child Catholic Church at their place to gather our donations and form gifts to our soldiers. We ended up with 372 gallon bags stuffed with useful items from the list you see below. Thank you to everyone who pitched in!

One local “Blue Star” mom, Mary Billingsley, has let us know about her daughter Shannon being freshly deployed in the Middle East in the past.

We use a Red Cross list of items that ship well and are desired by our troops. Here it is …

Troop Care Package Needs for Feb. 19

Food and Snack Items
NO CHOCOLATE AS IT MELTS OVER THERE … Individually wrapped hard candy (Twizzlers, Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Skittles, lollipops, Life Savers, Sweet Tarts, etc.), chewing and bubble gum, mints, breath strips
Small packages (lunch box sized) of nuts, seeds, pretzels, cookies, chips (Pringle type containers best), Cracker Jacks, crackers, Corn Nuts, fruit snacks and fruit leather, Gardettos, microwave pop corn Trail Mix, energy bars, protein bars, breakfast and granola bars, nut bars, instant oatmeal, Kraft Easy Mac, ramen, Cup a Noodles, Powdered, sweetened drink mixes (Gatorade, Crystal Light, Kool-Aid), ground or instant coffee, tea bags, hot chocolate, cider mix, sugar, sweetener, Coffee Mate, and condiment packets, Canned meats (NO PORK!), stews, chili, ravioli, soups, fruit, beef jerky, non-refrigerated microwavable meals.

Hygiene, Entertainment, and Miscellaneous
Hotel/travel sized gel deodorant, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste and mouthwash, toothbrushes, dental floss, Sanitary Pads and Tampons, Disposable Razors, Eye drops, Nose Drops, Unscented Baby Wipes, Wet wipes, Small Hand Sanitizer, Mach III Turbo Razor Blades, Small Kleenex Packets, Q-Tips (Large packages are fine), Anti-Fungal Creams, Band Aids, Medicated Foot Powder, Sunscreen.
DVDs, AAA and AA batteries, pens, pencils, blank greeting cards and stationary, stickers, disposable cameras, AT&T phone cards. Hand and foot Warmers, Dark Knit Caps, Gloves, Gallon, Quart, Sandwich, and Snack Sized Ziploc Bags (to make care packages).

We stop in our lives to recall that our freedom is not free. Thank you to all the families that have suffered … …separation from loved ones and even their deaths. Thank you.

Here is a link to download the PowerPoint® slide show we have of the veterans connected to our members.

MBCVets

Starting January 8 we will be studying the life of Moses on Sunday mornings in our worship.

The Jewish Torah is our basis for getting God’s message for us from what He did with Moses. We will use the book commonly called “Exodus” to listen for God’s word to us today.

The subtitle is “Since the Maker Makes No Sense”. We will honestly look for the ways God’s ways challenge our thinking and grow our faith. This life-giving process often happens, like it did for Moses, in ways that at first confuse us. But then they become part of an adventure full of good surprises as we walk forward.

If that sounds interesting to you please join us or download the messages in our Sermon section on this website.

Join us at 6:30 for singing, congregational handbells for all to share in and a personal story of adventure from a local resident, who moved to Jamaica to work with the children and youth. He will speak to us “Live” from Jamaica on our Big Screen. We end with a candle light circle at 7:30 sharp so you can go on to your family events.

We will sing the traditional Christmas carols, hear the ancient texts’ account of Jesus’ birth and the prophecies about Him. We include a time of handbells passed around the audience for all ages to join in … and it actually sounds very good!

If you joined us Sunday, November 13 you learned just how much suffering many Followers of Jesus face each day in our ‘civilized’ and ‘modern’ world.

We partnered with Open Doors to take action to support those suffering persecution for their beliefs around the world. This year we raised $400 to send to help them.

More on the specific ways we will help can be found at Open Doors’ web site.