by Wayne Bridegroom

As has been mentioned in two previous stories, the wonderful works of God are to be repeated over and over, generation after generation.  The Spirit of God has an amazing way of going about the work of building the church.  In our wildest dreams we could not have conceived of such methodology.

Frankly, I don’t recall when it all began, but around 1989, give or take.  A church in Salem, Oregon, was bringing about 50 high school youth to minister in south, central Los Angeles over Easter break.  About two weeks prior to their arrival, an uncle of one of the kids made a phone call.  Basically the conversation went something like this.  “Hey you know I’m an officer on the force of LAPD.  You expect us to protect 50 white kids in the Watts neighborhood?  Good night, what planet do you live on anyway?”

Obviously, the youth pastor in Salem had to make an immediate change.  He had received his education at a Bible college in Oregon and one of his best friends in those days was now a pastor in Modesto who just so happened to be a friend of mine.  Knowing that Central Baptist was “on the wrong side of the tracks” he suggested that the Oregon group make a trip to Modesto.

We didn’t know what we were doing but threw together a week of ministry opportunities at our church and in our neighborhood.  That marvelous relationship lasted until COVID hit us all.  We did VBS together, painted out gang graffiti, cleaned alleys, reduced fire hazards and on and on.  That youth group was introduced to Lao, Hmong, Cambodian and Hispanic dinners as well.

Over the years, another church from Oregon made its way here.  Four came from Washington.  One from Idaho and four from California.  I didn’t invite any of those groups.  They called me.  Honestly, I don’t recall how most of them even heard of doing a “missions trip” to Modesto.

One group from Washington sent four men over a weekend to reroof our entire social hall.  Likewise, as we were retrofitting our facility, that original church from Oregon sent twelve men for a weekend, doing at least $30,000 worth of work.

The impact of these multiple youth groups was so great that officials from the city of Modesto asked me over and over when the next group was coming because they already had special projects lined up.  One youth group helped our local social services department regarding some children that were being abused.  A student from that original youth group went on to college the next year and took the lead in developing an urban ministry in Seattle.

Dear Catch reader. I didn’t plan any of this.  It was purely a “God thing.”  He is, indeed, good all the time.  And, it seems, he is often full of surprises.  As for me, I’ve learned that God can’t be “put in a box” and I’m continuing to learn the power of gratitude.  The praise is his alone.