Ministry Update #7 - Where has the time gone?!?

Happy October! Although we are still adjusting to "seasons" in Rocklin/Roseville, the extreme heat of summer has subsided and Fall has arrived (hallelujah!). We cannot believe how quickly time is flying by, but as it has been several months since our last update, we'll do our best to give some highlights and fill you in on what's been happening over here with Team Kaetzel. (New parenthood is certainly keeping us busy on top of trying to jump back in to full time ministry!)

The Dog Days of Summer

To be completely honest, this Summer was simply exhausting. Coming out of an unexpected move, still in the early (sleepless) months of new parenthood, and then jumping back into work and trying to help pull off several ministry events throughout the summer was all pretty tiring. That being said, while it has taken us some time to recover, we are now able to look back and appreciate all that Summer had in store, both for our family and in ministry. Perhaps the two biggest highlight of the Summer were UNITE and Kids Camp.

UNITE

In late July, Jeff took a group of 7 high school guys to BIOLA University to attend our denominations UNITE conference. The Pacific Southwest Conference (our conference) teamed up with the Alaska and Pacific Northwest Conferences to put on a weeklong conference for over 900 High Schoolers.

This was the first time in over 2 years that we were able to gather with a group this size, and it was so encouraging to see so many Youth Pastors and their groups there.

For the sake of this post, we'll share two highlights. The first being one of our freshman went into the week wanting to hear a word from God. In the weeks leading up he had expressed that his hope for UNITE was to have an encounter with God. During worship one night, the band played Amazing Grace. They started in English but then started to sing the same chorus in several different languages (Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, etc). As they were singing, this freshman dude came over and told Jeff "I have chills." When asked more about it, he was describing that he had no reason to have chills because the room was really warm, but when he heard Amazing Grace being sung, he felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and it gave him chills.

The second highlight has to do with a food challenge that happened. There is a pizza chain in Southern California called Big Mama's and Papa's Pizza. They offer something called the Giant Sicilian Challenge, which is a 54x54 inch pizza that they have to specialty bake. It took 35 teenagers an hour to finish it, but we successfully took down the Giant Sicilian. Here are some pictures for reference.

Kids Camp

The first week of August brought with it Kids Camp at Community Covenant. This was our first summer running a week long summer program at this church (since it ended up being cancelled last year due to Covid). Jeff wrote a custom curriculum called "The Jungle Navigation Company" and Chrissy was blown away by all the volunteers who stepped up in big ways. It was incredible to see how this church really took ownership of the camp and it was especially fun to see parts of the church transformed into a jungle. We both have fond memories of Kids Camp growing up and serving at First Covenant and it was a joy to create a similar camp experience here. From the decorations to the theme skit to the Bible time, it was an exhausting, yet incredible week.

One year...and then some!

Over the Summer we also marked one year of being here. We can hardly believe all that has changed in the past year, but are continually grateful for the opportunity to serve in ministry on a staff team together. Community Covenant has been so gracious and supportive as our family has grown and as we are growing into our new roles and (re)learning how to do ministry.

After a crazy summer, we were finally able to get a little vacation at the start of September. This was our first vacation as a family of 3 and Junia handled it like a champ - she even started crawling! Two main highlights were Muir Woods (a much needed pause and breath of fresh air - literally!) and Sol Food (which was incredibly delicious and a special experience to introduce Junia to her Puerto Rican heritage).

Following our little vacation we were able to jump into the new ministry year refreshed and energized for what God is doing.

Missional Serving Communities

This Fall, Chrissy has been really excited to form and launch a Missional Serving Community (MSC) pilot group. Missional Serving Communities is geared towards creating small groups within the church that revolve around serving opportunities within the community. This pilot group has focused specifically on the issue of homelessness in Placer County. The rhythm that Chrissy has established with MSCs is pray, see, learn and serve.

The last couple of months, the pilot group has been praying for our homeless neighbors, seeing homelessness as a holistic issue, learning the underlying causes of homelessness in our county and preparing to serve with an organization called Loaves and Fishes (https://sacloaves.org/). It has been such a joy to see this pilot group dive into the issue of homelessness and ask God to guide them in their response. In the process of praying, seeing, learning and serving, we've come to realize the transformative power of leaning in to where God is already at work and opening our eyes to the plight of our homeless neighbors.

Please keep MSCs in your prayers, especially as Chrissy looks to launch them church-wide starting in January.

Junia Update

Junia is 7 months old! She's been growing so fast that we have to remind ourselves to slow down and enjoy this season while it lasts. The Doctor gave her a glowing review at her 6 month check up and she's been doing great eating and sleeping. Aside from the handful of nights where she is fussier than usual, she has consistently been giving us 5-8 hour chunks of sleep.

We cannot believe how lucky we have been to have such a great baby girl. Her latest discovery is that she can crawl everywhere. We'll put her down on her playmat and within 5 minutes, she's on the other side of the living room. She continues to laugh, to babble and smile a lot. It has been a huge learning curve for us in becoming parents, but it we wouldn't trade this time with her for anything.

Fundraising Update

Our fundraising has been up and down. We had some incredibly generous people help support us last year with one time gifts, but once we hit the one year mark, those gifts were depleted. We have had some people step up their monthly giving, which has been a huge help.

With us having a little one, we are still looking to add to our fundraising. If you know someone who would be interested in partnering with us financially, please do not hesitate to give them our contact info. While we will gladly accept one-time gifts, we are really hoping to find monthly supporters to help ensure a steady flow of support.

We know that the current economic realities are weighing heavily on everyone. Us included. Being in full time ministry and raising support while simultaneously having another (extremely adorable) mouth to feed means that we are barely making it work. Any and all support is greatly appreciated as we continue to serve in the place that God has called us.

Prayer Requests

1. That our financial support would grow to meet the needs we have.

2. Junia would continue to grow strong and healthy

3. Chrissy and Jeff's ministries continue to grow and thrive

4. The church will be open to MSCs starting in January