Kertson July Newsletter

We Made it to San Diego!!!

A Ministry Update from the Kertsons

12 hours of driving a truck towing my car (a truck I probably should not have been licensed to drive) 55 mph down highway 101 and we made it. When we got to San Diego there were extremely kind folks from two different local churches who are excited we’re going to be ministering at San Diego State to help us unload the truck. We got it unloaded in an hour and half! Then they all left and the hard work began! After arriving Monday, we spent all day, every day through Sunday cleaning, unpacking boxes and arranging furniture. It was a lot of work, but as Kendra said, “It’s starting to feel like home!” Besides a humongous pile of garage sale items in the laundry room and some pictures to hang, I’ve been able to move on to connecting with pastors in the area and prayer walking the San Diego State Campus seeking God further for what he desires for our ministry on the campus.

This past month in June, beside all of the packing and cleaning, we got so share our ministry at four different churches and with numerous individuals. When a church invites us, either they allow us to share during a 5-10 minute “missionary window,” or they allow me to do the whole message for that day. This month we had two of each. The greatest highlight was getting to share with our church family.

On June 1 we got to share at Abundant Life Church which was our home church while ministering at Stanford for the past year and a half. They have been extremely supportive of what we are doing and showed it with a generous love offering and an encouraging, anointed prayer time.

June 22 we were able to share at Christian Life Center in Santa Cruz where we were youth and worship pastors for four years. CLC has been supporting us since day one and many individuals in the church partner with us as well. It was great to go back, see old friends, pray together, hear what God was doing there in the last two years and be able to share what God has been doing in our lives.

Finally, June 29 we got to do the whole service at another church in Santa Cruz, Coast Chapel. The new pastor there, Scott Tuttle, is awesome and they have been partnering with us for the last year even though they aren’t the largest church in the world. I shared the vision God had given to us from Psalm 85 and how I believe it gives us a number of questions to think about and practical tools for starting a ministry focused on creating a salvific community. At lunch afterward, Pastor Scott shared how this was exactly what their congregation needed to hear and that it helped them to hear it from a fresh voice. Thank you Holy Spirit for working!

Looking Forward

This next month we are doing a service at Peninsula Christian Center in Pacific Grove on July 13. We will also be taking a team of two staff and two students to the Chi Alpha West Coast Leaders gathering in Orange County July 25-27. We are trying to scholarship our entire team as a gift for stepping out in faith and joining us for this leadership conference in the pre-natal phase of our ministry. We are beyond excited that two incoming freshman to SDSU are coming with us. If you’d like to scholarship one of these students or staff for $100 it would be a huge blessing to them as this will be the beginnings of forming unity between our leadership team. You can do so here (just type “WCXA scholarship” in the comment section).

If you would like us to visit your church email me using the link below and help me get into contact with your pastor.

Keepin' Up With the Kertsons

The first perk of being back down South came yesterday, July 7, as we got to spend the late afternoon at the beach with Kendra’s family to celebrate her Mom’s birthday. Yay for being close to family now!
Potty training for Eden was a bust! Pray for us!
Peyton and Amber are going to NewBreak Church’s VBS this week and then up to Nana’s to spend the week with her and go to her church’s VBS. They are having a blast!
Our new address is 5548 Lesa Rd, La Mesa, CA 91942 we hope to get the house in order to be able to host an open house party for all our local friends. So keep a look out for dates coming soon.