Kyle Houlton and his family are moving here to lead a church plant (Lord willing) in Santa Ana. You can read about it here. Hopefully you met him and his wife Kelsey last Sunday at church. They were scouting out the city.

Two great updates. They located housing (The Artist Village Apartments) and our denomination has sent us $10,000 to help defray costs associated with this initiative. Wow!

One big prayer request.

Kyle is still seeking employment. Please pray. You can email him directly if you have any leads. We do not have plans to employ him at this time and he has a family to support while starting our work in Santa Ana. Let's ask God to give Kyle the right job...right now. :)

Follow Sovereign Grace Church on our new Instagram page.

sovgraceoc

The life of a neighborhood church in pictures.

The interview we've all been waiting for.

This Friday Ali and Mina have an appointment with US Immigration regarding their petition for asylum. They've waited 3 years. This is it. One person makes the decision as to whether or not they can remain in the USA.

You can read their stories here and here. They love Jesus dearly and would covet your prayers. 

Volunteer for our prayer chain.

We regularly take time in our Sunday services to hear stories of how God is at work in the members of our church. This past weekend Ryan graduated from chiropractic school. Here's some of what they shared...

Lisa: Thank you for loving us over the past 6 years and especially the last 3. This season of school has been the hardest of our married life and you never gave up on us.

You prayed for us. You cared for us. You came alongside us when we were discouraged. God has in so many ways sustained us in large part through you. Thank you.

---

Ryan: 7 years ago I arrived in California to complete a 3-month long project. That project kept us here for 18 months and introduced us to you. God was preparing us for the unexpected.

Although I returned to Florida in the aerospace industry, God quickly made it clear He was calling me to serve people as a chiropractor. So we came back.

Now we love it here and plan on staying here. I have no clue what the future holds. I can't even explain how I got here today. But I'm so grateful that you have been here in Old Towne Orange. We couldn't have gotten this far without you.

Our Newest Church Members

This past Sunday we welcomed Angel and Sandra as members of our church. They attended our Starting Point Class, were interviewed by a church leader, and demonstrated a commitment to participate in the life and ministry of our congregation. They are a gift from God to us.

[Sandra] "I grew up in a Catholic home, always unsure of whether or not I measured up to what God expected of me. Did God love me or not?  I bounced back and forth and eventually went astray. Very very far astray."

[Angel] "I grew up a foster kid in Orange County. My early life in Boyle Heights was a mess and I brought my troubles with me to Orange. I knew something was wrong and I knew the answer had something to do with my relationship with God."

[Sandra] "We arrived at Sovereign Grace in 2013 and you welcomed us in. We immediately felt your love and support and this came to us in very practical ways. You moved us twice. You helped us financially. When we realized we should get married you threw us a wedding on a Sunday morning. This place has been the place where God has truly revealed himself to us. Thank you."

"This is home for us."

We've asked everyone who accepted our challenge to read 12 books in 12 months to submit one sentence from every book they read. As John Piper says,

“Books don’t change people, paragraphs do — sometimes sentences.”

This month two women read The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. Here are their sentences...

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." (Samantha)

"Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe." (Sue)

Kyle and Kelsey Houlton

This past Sunday we announced a plan to relocate the Houlton family to Orange, CA for the purpose of planting a church in Santa Ana. Kyle serves as a pastor of a sister church in Tucson, AZ.

He has a burden to church plant with us. We have an ambition to establish neighborhood churches throughout Orange County. God is answering all of our prayers.

There are more details coming soon. We want you to be informed so you can pray and participate.  For now, let's begin with an introduction...

Greetings from the Houlton family!

God is on the move and this time it includes us. We can't believe it. Our family is leaving a church we love in Tucson to partner with you in Orange.

We see God at work among you and believe He is going to continue to use you (and now us) to see more Californians saved and churches prosper.  Like you, we love our Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s all worth it because of who He is and what He's done.

We also love our shared mission together. We love your passion. We love your vision to build a family of churches in Orange County. We are eager to greet all of you and join you in this great work. Thank you for receiving us. It's an honor.

Until then, we would appreciate your prayers. The next few months will be filled with many decisions and goodbyes.

See you in July.