Issue 16 Connections: Summer 2014

bearcreekconnections | SUMMER 2014 | 1

bearcreekconnections B E A R C R E E K C O M M U N I T Y C H U R C H | J U L Y A U G U S T S E P T M E B E R 2 0 1 4

BEAR CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH Celebrating 25 Years of Ministry

Fitness Challenge Don’t let travel keep you

from your workout!

Prayer & Healing Ministry

Lesson of the Octopus

BEAR CREEK

WATER

60 Wells in

60 Months

THE CRESCENT

PROJECT

Christians

Connecting

with Muslims

2 | SUMMER 2014 | bearcreekconnections

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Sat-Sun: By Appointment Only


Sr. Pastor - Bill Cummins

W elcome to the third issue of our Commemorative 2014 Connections Magazine. This is a special issue representing the third part in a four part emphasis celebrating our 25th Anniversary as a church in San Joaquin County.

It's amazing what God has done these past 25 years. God took a small group of 7 people and established a church that would grow to over 1,000 people serving, worshipping and working together to Glorify God! Our purpose is to Connect People to Jesus, Each Other and Our Community. It's been our expectation from the very first year right through today, that people will encounter the life changing transformation that comes from following Jesus. We want people to know that God is for them, not against them. We want people to experience the fact that God has exactly what's right for exactly what's wrong in their lives. We want people to know that God wants to lift them up, but He will never let them down. On July 25th, the television star from CHIPS, Eric Estrada, will be at our church to premiere his new movie, UNCOMMON. This film addresses the rights our students have to live out their faith in Jesus Christ within our public schools. On August 16th, one of our home grown ministries, Bear Creek Water, will be sponsoring a 5 K run at University Park in Stockton. Bear Creek Water exists to raise money through recycling that drills clean water wells in over 16 countries throughout the world. I really want to encourage you to attend Bear Creek Church some Sun-day at 9 am, 11 am or 5 pm. You will always find a warm welcome, uplifting music and a practical message from the Bible that you can download into your life. In July, I will begin a teaching series about people who had a su-pernatural encounter with God!!! I am always amazed that when people visit our church they often run into people they know from Lodi or Stock-ton. You probably have friends who already attend Bear Creek. I am looking forward to meeting you, so until then.... God Bless You!!

Connecting People to Jesus,

Each Other, and Our Community.

connections | welcome

Like Bear Creek Church on Facebook to stay connected to special events and community activities!


New Business

Smack Pie Pizza Family Owned and Operated Design & Customize your Own Personal Pizza!

contents

3 Welcome 6 Destination Day Trip

9 Fitness

11 Body Health

12 Gardening

15 New Business

18 Inspiration

21 Water Well Ministry

23 Worship

24 Church History

27 Meet & Greet

30 Foster Care Ministry

33 Student Ministry

35 The Jesus Film Project

37 The Crescent Project

39 Prayer & Healing Ministry

41 Encourage

42 Something For Everyone 44 Up Coming Events 45 Contact Us 46 Business/Service Directory

Pic of another article

Gardening & The Good Life

Look!! It’s Superfly! Flower Flies are Superheroes too! Summer Bugs that are Good for your Garden.

12

On Our Cover

Evan Eberhardt Age 3

Parents: Joe & Lisa Cover Photo by Steve Spurlin

15

1

Meet & Greet

I Am Bear Creek Profiles Domenech Family Basualto Family Eberhardt Family

27

connections | contents


bearcreekconnections MAGAZINE

STAFF & CONTACTS

PUBLISHER

BEAR CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH

PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR DEBBY HARRIS

MANAGING EDITOR

PAULA STRAW

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

BILL CUMMINS, DOTTI CUMMINS, BRI EATON

GREG HARDY, DR. SCOTT INOUE, NANCY JORDAN,

JEBBY MOATES, ED SHAKESPEAR,

SONIA SIRIA, BOBBY SPENCER, TARA STRAHLE,

LINDA VASQUEZ, MARK WEAVER.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

NANCY JORDAN & STEVE SPURLIN

TO CONTACT CONNECTIONS MAGAZINE:

11171 N LOWER SACRAMENTO ROAD, LODI CA 95242

FOR ADVERTISING CALL (209) 951-9229 OR

(209) 369-2202 FAX: (209) 369-4202

[email protected]

2014 bearcreekconnections Magazine of San Joaquin County, operated

by Bear Creek Community Church, is published quarterly. All rights reserved. Some parts of the publication may be reproduced and

reprinted, we require that prior permission be obtained in writing. Reproduction is prohibited without the permission of the publisher.

Bear Creek Connections is a free publication distributed locally

and is supported by our advertisers. It is available at Bear Creek Church and advertiser locations. Please call if you would like copies placed at your business.

We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed in articles

and advertisements, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised.

Bear Creek Connections is available electronically at:

http://connections.bearcreekchurch.com/

We welcome your ideas, articles and feedback. Please forward to:

Debby Harris 11171 N Lower Sacramento Road

Lodi CA 95242 Or email: [email protected]


connections | travel

Destination Day Trip by Nancy Jordan Slow Down & Enjoy the View

Pink Coral Sand Dunes-Utah | All photos by Nancy Jordan

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight

upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

How glorious a greeting the sun

gives the mountains! ~John Muir


Delta Valley Towing

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If people concentrated on the really important things in

life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.

~Doug Larson

Lake Alpine

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but

to add color to my sunset sky. ~Rabindranath Tagore


BCCC is a Proud Sponsor of the

City of Lodi Police Department’s Chaplaincy Program

Chaplains serve many personal and spiritual needs of individuals without judgment, with openness, and cares for them until the crisis moment is over.

Chaplains come at any hour, in all kinds of weather. Mostly, they listen. But they also comfort people who are shaking with fear. A prayer will be offered in guarded privacy to support the trembling of spirit that comes in difficult moments.


S ummer is here and the travel season is upon us! Many of you may be visiting families and friends over the next few months and what typically happens is that fitness program you

began last January (which was responsible for getting you in great shape ---- physically and mentally) begins to take a back seat on your list of priorities. So, to help you out, I want to show you how easy it is to get a short, but super effective workout while traveling. Here are a few options for you to consider: *Bodyweight exercises -- Even if the hotel doesn’t have a gym, you can alter-nate lunges, body weight squats, pushups and abs exercises in your hotel room. Try 15 minutes of al-ternating circuits between those and if done with enough intensity, this will do the trick to keep you in great shape even while traveling. *Exercise bands -- These come in handy while traveling because they're light and portable, and can add a whole slew of exercises into the mix beyond just body-weight exercises. You can pick up a good set rather in-expensively at your local fitness store or order on-line. *Stairs -- Most hotels have flights of stairs. You can ac-tually take 10 or 15 minutes to purposely go to the stairs and do nothing but go up and down the stairs to get a great workout. Mix up walking and running the stairs, and taking double steps. You can even mix in stair lung-es and other similar things for variety!

*Get outside -- Even if the hotel has a gym, many times it's small and stuffy. Instead, get outside! It might be possible to find a park or field nearby and do 20-30 minutes of wind sprints or hill sprints mixed in-termittently with bodyweight exercises. Bring a jump rope with you and find a smooth surface to jump rope. It is one of the best forms of exercise known to man!

*The hotel gym dumbbells -- I've noticed that a lot of hotels have a small set of dumbbells and they usually go up to 50 lbs. Even if you're strong enough to use more than 50 lbs., for many exercises, this gives you an op-

portunity to mix up routines and versions of dumbbell exercises. An example would be to use different rep ranges with slightly lighter weights. One of my favor-ite dumbbell exercises, the dumbbell squat & press, works almost every muscle in your entire body with this one combination move. It’s a big time fat burner! As you can see, there is no excuse for forsaking your exercise regime and letting yourself get out of shape just because you travel a lot on business or for pleas-ure. The truth is, IF IT’S IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO YOU, YOU WILL EXERCISE! Hope to see you in the gym! And as always, keep the faith!

connections | fitness

Working Out While Traveling

Pastor Bobby joined the Bear Creek staff as our Youth Pastor in June of 2008, and then as our Sunday

Evening Pastor in October of 2010.

Pastor Bobby graduated from the University of Alabama. He is a certified fitness professional and is a much

sought after speaker and presenter to area schools, youth groups and churches on fitness, wellness and health-related issues.

He is married to Camilla who partners with him as our Evening Worship Team Ministry Leader. They have

three children, Jessica, Cristen and Bronson.



connections | body health

That Winning Edge

N ow that summer is in full swing and the weather is favorable, we may find our-selves more physically active. In some cas-es, this may involve competitive sports.

Baseball, football, swimming, and running are just some of the activities that you, or your kids, may enjoy. Whether you are a seasoned athlete or a weekend war-rior, we all like to win, right? And, in order to win we must give our absolute best effort. As God gave us HIS best, He expects nothing less than the best from us, and the competitor in us will do what-ever it takes to gain the best possible advantage to come out ahead. You may not know this, but many fa-mous athletes have given chiropractic at least partial cred-it for giving them that extra perfor-mance boost. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Evander Holyfield, and Dan O'Brien are just a few champions who are advocates of chiroprac-tic and claim that it had helped give them that winning edge. For those who are looking for that competitive edge to his or her physical performance by improving the com-munication between the brain and the body, especially

the heart, lungs and muscles, it can be the differ-ence between winning and losing. Why is this communication so important? The brain along with the spinal cord is the main control cen-ter of the entire body. Everything we do is regulat-ed by nerve impulses from our brain to the rest of our body. Our spine, composed of vertebrae and the discs in between, houses and protects our spi-

nal cord, but can be-come misaligned putting pressure on the nerves as they exit our spine. Undue pressure restricts the nerve impulses, thus interfering with the communication be-tween brain and body. This can reduce the body's ability to func-tion properly. Chiropractic adjust-ments improve the alignment and move-ment of the vertebrae,

which removes the pressure off the nerves. Releas-ing this pressure on the nervous system improves the communication between the brain and the body, allowing the body to function with more pre-cision. With a fraction of a second being the differ-ence between Gold and Silver, many of today’s top athletes are adjusted regularly during training and before each game or event, giving them a boost in performance.

Scott Inoue is a chiropractor and the owner of Inoue Chiropractic, located at 333 San Carlos Way in Stockton, and has been practicing since 1997. For more information about chiropractic and how it can benefit YOU, call (209) 956-5122.


connections | gardening

Gardening & The Good Life by Nancy Jordan

"L ook, up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superfly!" I bet you thought I was talking about the blue tights wearing, caped crusader; fighter against evil and injustice known the world over as Superman, but I’m not. I am referring to a very small, but mighty being — the man of steels’ counterpart in the insect world, “Superfly.” A winged, bee-mimicking, pollinat-ing-wonder; a stealth predator of aphids, mites and other prob-lematic garden pests. It’s thought that flies and bee-tles, not bees, were the first pol-linators of flowering plants; it was a relationship built on need and it’s still the same today. Flowers need to disperse pollen; adult flies need nectar and fly larvae need a steady supply of nourish-ment. Biology 101 But, before we go too far, let’s go back to high school and Bio 101 (I loved that class!) and let’s review the rules of Scientific Classification (as it relates to the flower flies) and yes there will be a quiz on this materi-al! Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Diptera (True Flies) Suborder: Brachycera Section: Aschiza (2 super families) Superfamily: Syrphoidea-contains 2 families Family: Syrphidae (aka-Syrphid Flies, Flower Flies, Hov-er Flies, Drone Flies)

In the Order of Diptera, it’s the Syrphoidae family of 6,000 species where we find “Superflies.” Each is in-credibly unique; many have markings mimicking the colors and movement of angry wasps, biting yellow jackets and stinging bees in hopes of discouraging would be predators. But, the truth is they are much like

Clark Kent — hardwork-ing, mild mannered flower flies who perform an extraordi-nary feat the world thought only bees could do. Super Polli-nators If you see a bee hovering

in your garden similar to a mini-helicopter, look again. If it has two wings, (bees have four wings) stubby anten-nae and big eyes to match its bee-like costume; you have probably found a flower fly. They exist on every land mass on the planet except for Antarctica. They toil tirelessly; visiting, collecting and dispersing pollen as they feed on small flowers with short nectar tubes, which are just the right size for their stylized mouth-parts. Colony Collapse Disorder is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive (or colony) disappear. The first record of this type of disorder in the U.S. was pub-lished in 1869, but it wasn’t the last. There have been many years of severe losses in different states, here are a few: 1905-1910 Oregon and California; 1960s Texas, Louisiana, and California; 1970s Florida and Washing-ton; 2007 24 states reported cases of CCD; in the 1990s typical yearly (bee mortality) losses stabilized around 15% per year, but reported losses in 2007 doubled to 30%, some reaching 50%. While some have confirmed


causes, the research on other cases hasn’t been easy to pin down. Viruses, fungus, deadly mites, pesticides, ex-treme weather conditions, and stress are some of the causes under consideration. According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), more than $15 bil-lion worth of crops are pollinated by bees each year just in the United States. They explain this way: one of every three bites of food we consume comes from a plant visited by bees or other pollina-tors. We need all the pollinators we can get! Tireless Defender Aphid troubles in your garden are frus-trating, but infestations of these tiny plant-sucking insects are very costly to control in agricultural crops and tens of millions of dollars are spent world-wide every year to combat these glut-tonous aphids. In California, organic farmers hail the voracious larvae of the little flower flies as champions in the fight against aphids that plague the states’ lettuce, cabbage, and other monoculture crops. Their method is to entice and harbor flower flies and other beneficial insects to live in their fields by provid-ing rows or “islands” of floral re-sources (primarily nectar and pollen). Flower flies are especially fond of sweet alyssum, honeysuckles, cean-thos, Shasta daisies, yarrow, cilantro, dill, pincushions, and Queen Anne’s lace. Superman may have x-ray vision but flower flies are also well equipped with keen eyesight to spot aphid colonies as it hovers in midair over field crops. She chooses a place to lay her eggs; once the larvae emerge, it is the beginning of the end for the aphids; one larva can eat 500 aphids before it pupates. So, next time you are out in the garden or on a walk enjoying nature, hum a

little bit of Superman’s theme song, look diligently for something amazing and see if you can find a “Superfly” on the job. Take a picture of it, or maybe a “selfie” of you and your amazing discovery. Get ready, and before it takes off for the next flower, with your best deep ra-dio announcer’s voice say, “Up, Up, and away,” and I dare you to act as though you are wearing a cape and flying around the moon and back.


Smack Pie is located at: 121 S. School Street

Lodi, CA 95240

Phone: 209.224.8061

Hours: Mon—Thu 11am—9pm

Fri—Sat 11am—10pm

Sun 11am—8pm


Smack Pie Pizza An Edible Masterpiece

Created by You!

by Sonia Siria | Photos Steve Spurlin

I n 2010, Krysta Pleyte began dreaming of owning her own business alongside her mom Vicki, who owns The Mud Mill in downtown Lodi. The Mud Mill offers birthday parties to its patrons and

Vicki was finding it a struggle to make sure she pro-vided delicious pizza as part of the party package at a reasona-ble cost. So, Krysta and Vicki set out to research the downtown Lodi area’s restaurants to see if residents of Lodi would be open and excited to have a fam-ily style pizza parlor. For Krysta, finding time to do the research was really a chal-lenge as she was a full-time counselor for students in the Lodi Unified School district and working part-time at Chipotle. But she was excited to see what God had in store, and wanted to make sure He was at the center of this endeavor. The results of Krysta's & Vicki's research found that Lodi resi-dents were ready for a new piz-za restaurant offering the unique concept of fire oven pizza that you could custom build, however location really became a challenge and the dream was put on hold for a year. During that time Krysta created a vision board with her dreams for the restaurant along with scripture beside each one. Not long after her vision board was created a space next door to The Mud Mill came available for lease! All of Krysta's pre-planning paid off as she was ready to put into motion the acquisition and refur-

bishing of the 80 year old building space with the end result being far beyond her imagination. Smack Pie defies all other pizza restaurants as it is an original concept in the fact that patrons have the very

creative opportunity to custom build their own pizzas and salads. All dough and pizza sauces are made fresh daily, utilizing local produce and meat vendors. There are some pre-designed pizzas that you could choose from or you could go down the buffet line and pile on whatever your heart de-sires. When your pizza comes hot out of the oven you can finish it off with one of their different fin-ishing sauces, such as: pesto, house-made ranch, balsamic glaze, or hot sauce. If you have a sweet tooth or feel dinner is not complete without dessert, you are in luck as a cinnamon and sugar pizza is on the menu that you then can customized with toppings such as apples, pecans, etc., and finish off with a sauce of vanilla frosting.

In addition to dining in, you can phone in your order. One of the fun activities Smack Pie offers is a monthly Smack Pie contest on Instagram featuring your pizza creation which if chosen could be featured in the res-taurant as their pizza of the month. Make sure to check out Smack Pie the next time you are in downtown Lodi and create an edible one-of-a-kind masterpiece!

connections | new business

Alivia, age 6.


Delicious Spaghetti Dinner Served from 5:30 to 6:15. Only $5. per person. Proceeds benefit El Salvador Mission Team.



I t only takes a casual reading of the Bible to quickly see a word that appears many times. It’s the word GOSPEL and it means Good News. But what is it? In the Bible, it can be explained by using 5 words

that all start with the letter G. I like to call it the 5 G’s. The first G is for GOD. The Bible is all about GOD. We are all about GOD. In fact, everything is all about GOD. The Bible begins by saying, “In the beginning GOD…” The Bible teaches that GOD has al-ways been looking for us. God has always been reaching out to us wanting to make a connection with us. This happened in the Garden of Eden when GOD created Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve choose to disobey GOD, they ran away from Him. But even then, GOD came looking for them. (See Genesis 3:8-10) In fact, the Bible says that GOD was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and He called out to Adam and Eve and said, “Where are you?” Because Adam and Eve deliberately diso-beyed GOD, they ran away from Him. The feeling that made them run away is the next G word — GUILT. When we sin we feel GUILT, the second of the 5 G’s. When we disobey GOD, we feel GUILTY. When we vio-late God’s standards, we feel GUILT. All of us have felt GUILT. Oftentimes we deal with our GUILT in any way we can, except GOD’S way. Some people run away from GOD when they feel GUILT. Some people try to ignore their GUILT. Some people try to dull their GUILT

with alcohol, drugs, food, sex, work or anything that gets their minds off of their GUILT. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 The Bible also says that we are all like sheep that have wandered away from the shepherd

and decided to do our own thing. (Isaiah 53:6) GUILT basically comes from rebel-ling against GOD and trying to do life without HIM. Think about all the things you have done in your life completely forgetting about GOD and acting like GOD does not even exist. Often, when we do that, we end up in a mess. But GOD has a message for our mess. It’s a one word mes-sage — GRACE, our 3rd G word. GRACE is one of the most

wonderful words in all the Bible. GRACE means that GOD took care of our GUILT that was caused by our sin. GOD had a fix for our mess and the Bible calls that GRACE. The Bible say, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 The Bible also says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord.” Romans 6:23 A song that has be-come an American classic is one that is almost univer-sally known, AMAZING GRACE. God’s grace is amazing! GRACE means that GOD took our own individual sin, onto His body when He died on the cross and He paid the penalty before a Holy GOD for our sin! So what does GOD expect us to do with His amazing GRACE that removes our GUILT? The Bible tells us: “But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of GOD, to

connections | inspiration

From The Heart

What is the Good News? It’s the Five G’s of the Gospel!


those who believe in His name.” John 1:12 GOD does ask us to receive Him. To believe in Him. To come to Him. How does someone ‘receive’ Jesus? How does some-one make that personal connection to GOD? We get personally connected to GOD by faith in His GRACE. The Bible says, “For by GRACE you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 You can choose right now, to make a decision to receive God’s GRACE. When you do, your re-sponse will be described by the 4th G word — GRATITUDE. A man named Paul, who wrote more than 1/2 of all of the New Testa-ment, expressed his thanks this way in II Co-rinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for his indescriba-ble gift.” David was a great king of Israel, a mighty warrior and the writer of the book of Psalms. David said, “Be thankful to Him and bless His name for the LORD is good.” Psalms 100:4-5 Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:18-19 and said, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Hebrews 12:38 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with rever-ence and awe…” If a man pulled up in front of your house in a large black limousine, walked up to your front door and knocked and when you answered he introduced himself as a very famous wealthy man and asked to come in, would you let him into your house? You probably would! If he

sat down and pulled out his checkbook and offered to write you a check for the unpaid balance of your house mortgage, would you take the check? Of course you would! And what would be your response? GRATITUDE. You would tell everyone you knew what this man did for you. He paid a huge debt so you could live in your home

debt free. That is exactly what God has done for us. GOD paid the debt of our sin, so we could live now free from GUILT and live in Heaven someday debt free. Our reaction to GOD’S great gift is GRATITUDE. This brings us to our 5th word—GROWTH. If you want to maintain good physical fitness you must exer-cise regularly and maintain a healthy diet. If you want to maintain spiritu-al fitness and GROWTH you must do the same thing. You need regular Bible study, a daily prayer time and Bible memorization. Your spiritual diet must include regular times of worship and fellowship with other believers in church. As your faith grows you’ll discover ways you can serve God by serving others. If you would like to learn more about this wonderful thing called

the GOSPEL and the 5 G’s that go with it, join us some Sunday at Bear Creek Church or contact me, Founding & Senior Pastor Bill Cummins at [email protected] Bear Creek Church is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational church that is prayer driven, mission focused and passionate about connecting People to Jesus, Each Other and Our Community.

The Five G’s

GOD GUILT GRACE GRATITUDE GROWTH

Pastor Bill has a unique teaching style that combines humor and truth with compelling insights

into God’s Word. The Sunday messages feel more like conversations than sermons, motivating listeners to join him on the journey to discover God’s purpose and passion for their lives.


420 W. Lodi Ave. #B

Lodi, CA 95240

209-334-4610

Mention this ad and receive 10% off your book purchase at the Bear Creek Bookstore.

Open Sundays 8:00—1:00


By Ed Shakespeare

connections | water well ministry

By Ed Shakespeare

W e at Bear Creek Water have been collecting bottles and cans for five years, and with the Lord’s blessing we have been funding the equiva-

lent of one new well every month. Every Sunday morning a team of committed vol-unteers finds a huge pile of trash bags filled with recyclables that have been accumulating throughout the week. In addition to processing these recyclables, they await all the faithful peo-ple who drop off their recyclables collected from neighbors and relatives before going to one of our morning services. Within three to five hours 25 – 40 barrels of sorted and crushed plastic and aluminum are on their way to provid-ing the funds for another new well! To celebrate BCW Milestone of 60 wells in 60 months we wanted to do something extra spe-cial by finding a well project a little more challenging and memora-ble... And, we found it in an unexpected way. Switch the scene to Afri-ca many years ago. Wame, a concerned yet excited fif-teen year old, sits in her liv-ing room in her small home in Nigeria. Her sister has just invited her to come live with her in America. She knows she will have a better life, but she will miss her family. Wame came to America, attended col-lege, got married and now has a family of her own. She works as a youth counselor in Victor, California and now attends Bear Creek Community Church.

Inspired by Wame's story, we decided to see if we could find a well project in Nigeria. We get pretty excit-ed when deciding where the next well is going. Usually, we receive input from our friends at Living Water Inter-national about a well project that needs our help. Sure

enough, God provid-ed us with the perfect fit—a much needed pro-ject in Be-nue, Gbuko, Nigeria. When the Living Water Nigeria team ar-rived in Be-

nue to drill the well, 250 families including a school, church and health clinic were dependent on various forms of surface water to sustain their growing water needs. The 887 children who currently attend Butler Community School were forced to rely on purchased sachet water packs to support their water needs during the school day. This was all very expensive. Now that they have a well with fresh water to rely on, the whole com-munity no longer depends on outside water supplies; they can simply go out to the pump and get all the water they need at any time!

What an awesome and exciting way to celebrate God's favor in blessing this community and celebrating 60 wells in 60 months. Would you like to be part of bringing clean water to those in need? Give us a call at 951-9229/369-2202 or go to BearCreekWater.net for more information.



One of a Kind

connections | worship

W e have been celebrating Bear Creek Church's 25th anniversary with special events to commemorate a quarter century's worth of ministry.

With our pastoral staff alone, God has laid the groundwork of many previous experiences to equip us to serve the Lord, the church and our community for His kingdom. I have the benefit of hearing Pastor Bill's, Pastor Bobby's and Pastor Mark's stories of how they became the men of God they are today. I have been inspired by their spiritual journeys. I am thankful to serve alongside these men of faith. If my fellow pastors ever write their autobiographies, each one would be fascinating reading! Pastor Bill is quite the adventurer, Pastor Bobby has impressive athletic and body-building accomplishments and Pastor Mark has a very interesting background with his extreme sports achievements and mission work. It amazes me how the Lord assembles his teams. Considering Pastor Bill's, Pastor Bobby's and Pastor Mark's back stories, it's in-teresting that God would also include this rock musi-cian from Sacramento into the mix. The uniqueness of our pastoral staff really serves as a metaphor for the entire church. Everyone brings something very special and valuable to the family of God. You have a one-of-a-kind story. If you are endeavoring to live for Jesus Christ, God is doing a work in you! We're all called to be irreplaceable children of God, filling the custom-made niche' He created us to fill! So, as the Army says, "Be all that you can be." You will be all that you can be when you embark upon the high-adventure of whole-heartedly following Jesus Christ!

Bear Creek Church's mission statement is: "Connecting Peo-ple to Jesus, Each Other & Our Community." I took a little crea-tive license and wrote the follow-

ing song to acknowledge the first 25 years of Bear Creek Church.

by Pastor Jebby © 2014

Looking back at '89, things were starting out just fine. Meeting in somebody's house; worship service on the couch.

In good time the numbers grew; we realized that a move was due,

to a place with open space, Delta Sierra Middle School.

Connecting people to the Lord, the town and you, that's what Bear Creek Church is called to do...

People kept coming in cars and vans, some came on their bikes that's true.

Another move was in the plans, to Bear Creek High in '92.

My, how the church family’s grown, we needed land of our own.

Step of faith, 10 acres bought, put up the Tent and parking lot...

Connecting people to the Lord, the town and you, that's what Bear Creek Church is called to do...

The Tent was great, but soon we knew, we'd need a Worship Center and a lobby too.

Bear Creek Church would grow and thrive, year by year, we're counting twenty-five!

God is good, we all agree, look at the last quarter century! Exciting times are yet to come, more miracles are yet to be...

Connecting people to the Lord, the town and you,

that's what Bear Creek Church is called to do...

Pastor Jebby joined our church staff as our Pastor of Worship & Drama in the fall of 2006. Pastor Jebby

brings a rich background in leading worship and drama. He has written several original musical dramas as well as worship songs. Pastor Jebby has over twenty years of worship leading experience. He is

married to Ronda who serves alongside him in our Drama Ministry. They have two young adult sons, Garrett and Graeme.


PART THREE OF A FOUR PART SERIES

connections | church history

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all people. Mark 16:15

F rom a house in north Stockton, to Delta Sierra Middle School, to Bear Creek High School, the Lord's favor continued to rest upon Bear Creek

Church. Every Sunday morning our set-up crew would arrive at the high school early. The sound system would be set up. The children's rooms would be pre-pared. The refreshment tables and resource areas were arranged. The 9:30 am service would start and afterwards we would pack it all up again until the fol-lowing Sunday. I knew that God had something bet-ter for us. So we prayed and we searched for a piece of property that was highly visible and easily accessi-ble. It needed to be convenient to both the Stockton and Lodi communities. God led us to a wonderful par-cel of land on Lower Sacramento Road just north of Eight Mile Road. There was a large corner parcel that contained nearly 300 acres. As we prayed, talked and negotiated with the owner we purchased 7 acres on Lower Sacramento Road for $410,000 with no money down. The owner graciously gave us a land contract and we began a series of fund raisers. By the mid 1990s there was a property value decline. A new 10 acre parcel of land, with a house and barn,

right next to our property, came on the real estate mar-ket. They wanted less money for this 10 acre parcel than we owed on our 7 acre property. I met with our owner and told him that I was giving him his land back in order to buy the adjacent 10 acre site for less money. As I began to leave his office, he said, “Alright Bill, what do you want?” I told him I wanted him to give us 3 more acres and to lower the total price of what we owned him. He agreed. We did a lot line adjustment and we now had a beautiful 10 acre parcel. In 1998, plans were finalized with San Joaquin County to begin the development of our property. Permits were obtained, however, the California Department of Fish and Game notified us that if we wanted to develop our property, we would have to mitigate another 10 acre property for the Swainson Hawk Habitat. This would have required us to double our debt. So we prayed and God told us to keep moving forward. As we broke ground on the 10 acre parcel on May 3, 1998, we all sensed an open heaven above us. That additional 10 acre land mitigation issue just disappeared. Less than a year later, on February 14, 1999, we held our first public service in our new 'Worship Tent.' Along with our new


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Tent, we also built an adjacent office/classroom building. The favor of God continued to rest upon the church and as more and more people com-mitted their lives to Jesus Christ, we found ourselves having to expand again. The Tent Structure is called a flexible membrane building that meets all of the requirements of the uniform building code. One of its unique features was that it could be easily expanded. So two years later we 'enlarged our tent' to accommodate more seating and by 2005 we had added 3 portable classroom buildings (to accommodate our growing children and youth ministries), that we pur-chased from the Lodi Unified School District as well as 100 additional parking spaces. As the Lord continued to add to our num-bers regularly, we moved to two services each Sunday morning. The never ending smile of God continued to rest upon our ministry. The work of Bear Creek Church ex-panded locally and internationally as we partnered with ministries in Mexico, Germa-ny, India, Thailand, Angola and South Africa. But in a relatively short amount of time, God would once again challenge us.....

TO BE CONTINUED...

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We are Bear Creek

connections | meet & greet

The Domenech Family: Maria, 42; Carissa, 21; Kaeah, 16; Lexi, 12. City we live in: Lodi. During the week you can find us going to: Ma-ria works at Lodi Auto Repair & Smog, Carissa is attending Consumnes River after completing a term with AmeriCorps, Kaeah will be a senior at Lodi High School and works at Double Dip Gal-ley and volunteers at the WOW Museum, and Lexi will be a seventh grader at Millswood. How long we have attended Bear Creek Church: Since 2000. What our family enjoys most about Bear Creek Church: The people. Ministries our family serves in: Nursery. Why we serve in these ministries: All four of us love babies. When telling others about Bear Creek Church we use these words: Energetic, loving people, inspirational, and active. If we could do anything as a family, we would: Travel.

Our Favorite Family Bible Verse(s): Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 17:20, and Proverbs 31:25. Our Favorite Family Bear Creek Church Event/Activities: Lexi: Easter Fun Run. Kaeah: Mis-sion Trips. Last Movie or event we attended as a family: Saving Mr. Banks. Our favorite family vacation destination: The Beach & Mexico. Our Hobbies/Special Interests: Baking & crafts. Our Favorite family Holiday: Christmas. Our favorite family tradition: The holidays are so busy and can be stressful. Our family created our own holiday between Thanksgiving and Christmas where we celebrate with only our friends for the night. We have called this Thanksmas and it is our way of enjoying the hol-idays with our friends from out of town and lo-cally. Family Pets: Female our Cat. The people who mean the most to us: Family.



We Are Bear Creek The Eberhardt Family: Joe and Lisa; Chris, 31; Austin, 19; Jared, 19; Alex,18; Angela, 13; Laura, 12; Joe II, 10; Raina, 8; Eric, 7; Evan, 3; Lindsay, 1. City we live in: Stockton. During the week you can find us going to: Joe works at Duraflame, Lisa works at home, Angela & Laura at-tend Morada Middle School, Raina & Eric attend Davis Elementary, Joe II is home-schooled. Piano lessons, little league, Karate (Taekwondo), Central Valley Youth Symphony. How long we have attended Bear Creek Church: 2 yrs. What our family enjoys most about Bear Creek Church: Age-appropriate Sunday School; programs, events, and family-friendly activities; being able to serve. Ministries our family serves in: Bear Garden; Nursery; Sound (Portable A); Drama Team. Why we serve in these ministries: We feel honored to help reach out to other people and families through these avenues & it’s fun! When telling others about Bear Creek Church we use these words: There’s something for everyone. Come just as you are. If we could do anything as a family, we would: Travel the world as missionaries & bring God’s love to every-

one. Our Favorite Family Bible Verse(s): Psalm 127:4,5a ‘As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.’ 2 Peter 3:18, ‘But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’ Our Favorite Family Bear Creek Church Event/Activities: Carnivals & Teen Outreaches & Plays. Last Movie or event we attended as a family: Bear Creek Easter Breakfast/Carnival. Our favorite family vacation destination: Bodega Bay, Six Flags, Sunset State Beach. Our Hobbies/Special Interests: Baking, making smoothies, composing & performing skits & dances for parents. Our Favorite family Holiday: Christmas & Birthdays. Our favorite family tradition: Field trips (zoo, aquari-um, Yosemite, Jelly Belly Factory, Mt. Diablo, etc.) fam-ily game night, and dinner together. Family Pets: Russian Blue Cat, Gracie. The people who mean the most to us: Mom/Grandma Diane Ignatovich; our church family. Other information we would like to share: Parenting Tip: ENJOY THEM—Children truly are a gift from God, and they grow up fast!

Photo by Steve Spurlin



The Basualto Family: Enrique 41, Lupe 41, Luis 19, Jimmy 9, Mia 1. City we live in: Locke-ford, CA. During the week you can find us going to: Enrique

has his own business - TechSabe a computer and tech-nology repair shop. Lupe works for Payless Shoe Source as a manager and also takes Jimmy to school at Lois E. Borchardt Elementary. Jimmy also enjoys soccer practices and games for the City of Lodi. How long we have attended Bear Creek Church: 8 yrs. What our family enjoys most about Bear Creek Church: The friendly and loving family atmosphere. Ministries our family serves in: Enrique has been serving in the Cave (Multi-Media) for about 3 years and Lupe recently began serving at the third service with the children. Why we serve in these ministries: We feel happy and fulfilled to give a little extra to serve God. When telling others about Bear Creek Church we use these words: family, friends and a welcoming atmos-phere. Not a religion, but a relationship with our Mak-er. Our Favorite family Bible Verse(s): Peter 1:6 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though

you must endure many trials for a little while." This verse is very applicable to all of us because it tells us that no matter what you are going through in life is only temporary. Our eternal reward is the wonderful joy we will have in the presence of our Father. Favorite family Bear Creek Church Event/Activities: Christmas plays by Pastor Jebby. Our favorite family vacation destination: Any place where we can admire God’s nature creation. We love outdoors - hiking and camping. Thus far, Yosemite National Park is our favorite. Our family's Hobbies/Special Interests: Our favorite hobby is soccer. We enjoy watching and playing soccer. So we will be watching the World Cup as a family. Our Favorite family Holiday: Christmas. We enjoy dec-orating our home to celebrate our Lord Jesus' birth. Our favorite family tradition: We have a family tradi-tion on Christmas Eve. We all stay up until midnight to receive Christmas Day right at Midnight and we all hug and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, no matter how young or old, we all hug and share Jesus’ love. Family Pets: Our family pets are two dogs. Woody a 14 year old miniature Poodle and Dixie 4 year old mix Poodle Shih Tzu mix. The people who mean the most to us: Our parents and of course our three beautiful children.

Photos by Steve Spurlin


I

magine being removed from your home and placed in a stranger’s home. There are new rules and traditions to learn all in an unfamiliar

environment. There are even different ways to per-form routine household chores. These are a few of the things a child in foster care must face. Inspired out of a deep conviction that children in fos-ter care deserve better, Executive Director Tony Yadon established Parents by Choice in 2006. Today, there are two locations: one in San Joaquin County and one in Solano County with approximately 100 chil-dren in our care. Our agency strives to be different by creating special memories for the children in our care and providing ongoing support for our foster parents. Every month we offer training for our foster parents while staff and volunteers entertain the children with rock climbing, basketball, a bounce house, and other activities. The parents have an opportunity to learn new skills and support each other. In August we host a Parent Ap-preciation Night and send the foster parents out for an evening to go to dinner or a movie. We believe the children in our care are big deals! They are first and foremost children. We plan trips to the snow, host talent shows, take field trips to colleges, host an appreciation picnic, Girls Spa Day, Paintball Day, and celebrate the holidays –costume party for Halloween, Easter baskets, and a Christmas party with presents and Santa! It is heartwarming to see the smiles on their faces! We were recently blessed with a donation from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Dep-uty Association supporting our special events.

by Linda Vasquez


Our foster parents are true superheroes! There is a family who puts up 100 Christmas stockings - one for every child that has been in their home in case they come back for a visit. That is only one exam-ple of the tremendous families who bless our agen-cy. One of our parents shared how her and her hus-band would count how many times a staff member would thank them or call them “rock stars” at vari-ous activities. We truly appreciate the hard work and dedication from our parents!

We, also, feel a responsibility to reach out to the com-munity. One way is with our Positive Parenting Pro-gram. It is a six week evidence based program that teaches techniques and strategies for being a parent. It is offered to the public at no cost. Children do not come with an instruction manual and this program helps cre-ate one! A new resource, Parent Success Group, has been added to supplement the Positive Parenting Pro-gram. The group meets twice a month for additional training and support.

Parents by Choice has received some ex-citing news in the past few months. We were recently chosen as a provider for In-tensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC) for San Joaquin County. ITFC services are aimed at children with more severe behav-iors and who are at risk of being placed in a group home. We want to help these kids and keep them in a family home environ-ment. With a plan that includes permanency, we have applied to become a licensed adop-tion agency. This will add another ele-ment to our ability to provide wonderful homes for children who need them. People often tell us there is no way they could be foster parents. The thought of having a child in their home, caring for them only to have them leave months lat-er is much too heart wrenching. It is an incredible gift to give a home to a child and help them feel safe and loved. It is one of the most selfless things a person can offer a child. We invite you to contact our agency if you have questions about becoming a foster parent. If you would like to become a financial partner or volunteer or learn more about Parents by Choice, please visit our website at www.parentsbychoice.net.



connections | student ministries

Pastor Mark joined the Bear Creek church staff in March of 2013 as the Student Ministries Pastor. He grew up in West Lafayette, IN and graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s in Communications. He then earned a Master’s Degree in Theological Studies at Anderson University and married his wife, Julia. They have two young children, Riley & Roman. Mark is called to student ministry because his mission in life is to inspire students to be active and committed to their faith in Jesus Christ while learning that living for God is FUN! There is nothing he takes more seriously than God, but also believes that God loves a healthy sense of humor.

H ey Stockton and Lodi area students! Bear Creek Student Ministries is the place to be this summer! Every Wednesday we will be hosting ‘Wednesday Fun Days’!

These are just some of the fun activities planned: Pool Parties Scavenger Hunt Bowling Sports Concerts Indoor Surfing Trampolines Night Slides at Sun Splash A Beach Trip to Santa Cruz And More! We will also be going on our Summer Houseboat Trip to Lake Shasta with Sonshine Ministries! This summer, students are encouraged to bring their most challenging questions as we have a question & answer session with our ‘Bible Answers to Tough Questions’ series. Come grow with us!


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connections | home missions

T he Crescent Project is a national mission or-ganization dedicated to inspiring and equip-ping the church in North America to reach out in love to Muslims. Recently we had the

opportunity to facilitate a Bridges class at Bear Creek Church. Bridges is a six week study that seeks to de-mystify Islam and help Chris-tians see Mus-lims as God sees them. The core message of Bridges is that we are Ambas-sadors for Jesus Christ. We do this prayerfully, by being friendly and loving; pointing our Muslim friends and neighbors towards the Bible and Jesus Christ. In 2005 God called me to go to Pakistan for relief work after a devastating earthquake. I will never for-get the spirit of oppression that I encountered while there. Our teams’ efforts were concentrated on building shelters for families high up in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Some of our time was spent in the larger towns where the vast majority of the people live. It was there that the gospels came to life for me and I saw and felt for myself what Jesus must have seen and felt when He looked out over the masses with compassion and urged His disciples to pray for more workers. When I returned to Lodi I started to interact with some Pakistani men. While sharing with them the story of my time in Pakistan, I came to find out that they were from the same area in Pakistan where I had been. We spent the next couple of years preparing for long-term mission service in Pakistan. In 2008 my wife, Cindy, and I attended a Crescent Project event called Oasis Conference in Sacramento. It was there that

God impressed upon us the need for workers here in the West. We began to sense that perhaps He was call-ing us to stay in the U.S. and reach out to those He is sending here. We have been blessed to learn about Pa-kistani culture and have come to understand the values they hold dear. They have a deep sense of reverence for

God; who to them is de-tached, de-manding and distant. Cindy and I are hoping to ex-pand the influ-ence of the Church through ministry with Crescent Pro-ject. On the first Friday of the month we hold

our LAMP meeting (Lodi Area Muslim Prayer). We pray specifically for Muslims in our midst and around the world. All are welcome! Here are some goals we have for future work in our area: More opportunities to facilitate Bridges classes. Preparation and planning of an upcoming One-Day

Bridges training seminar – taught by the founder of Crescent Project, Fouad Masri to be held here in Lo-di.

Continue to create more opportunities for local out-reach.

More Prayer groups! Encouraging others into full time Christian service. If you have any questions about how to partner with us or about Bridges, please call or email as we would love to get to know you better! Greg and Cindy Hardy Area Coordinators www.crescentproject.org

The Crescent Project by Greg Hardy


“Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well and the Lord will raise him up.” James 5:14-15

PRAYER for HEALING

MONDAY NIGHTS

Drop by 6-8pm FRIDAY MORNINGS

By Appointment

OPEN to EVERYONE

For more information: Call or email Dotti Cummins

(209) 329-1551 ~ [email protected] or call the church office


connections | prayer & healing ministry

Lessons from the Octopus

Dotti Cummins, wife of founding Senior Pastor, Bill, has been teaching about prayer

since she was a young pastor’s wife. Her 13 week in-depth prayer class, ’Touching God in Prayer,’ has reached thousands of men and women with the message of prayer. This

teaching came out of a 2 year encounter with Jesus that changed her life and became the

substance of her life’s call. Her greatest joy is to see prayer become part of the fiber and core of the people of Bear Creek Church.

T he blind lady came for prayer trusting God to restore her sight. Recognizing that in the Bible, Jesus healed every blind person

who came to Him for healing, Joe expectantly joined the lady in prayer for her healing. Knowing that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and that the Bible says that Jesus is no respecter of persons, not fa-voring one person over another, Joe had every reason to believe that God would open this wom-an's eyes that she might see. But nothing happened. Unhindered, the lady came back for prayer a se-cond time. Remembering how Jesus touched the eyes of the blind in Matthew 20:34 and how He immediately restored the sight of those that had come to Him, Joe once again prayed in faith for this woman. But nothing happened. Refusing to lose heart, the lady came for prayer a third time. Surely this would be the night that the Lord would provide His miracle. But nothing happened. And she came a 4th time, and a 5th time, a 6th time and a 7th. But nothing happened. But, during her 8th visit for prayer, IT HAPPENED. The lady received her miracle of healing. Her sight

was fully restored. Confused, Joe asked the Lord, "Lord, why did it take 8 visits for this woman to receive her miracle? I prayed in faith believing, every single time that she came. But nothing happened. It was so discouraging." Promptly, the Lord showed Joe an octopus. "The oc-topus has 8 tentacles", he felt the Lord saying in his spirit, "and every time you prayed, a tentacle lost its grip on the woman. It was her eighth visit that re-leased the grip of the final tentacle. Every visit and every prayer was crucial and the eighth visit was the final blow to the enemy." The lesson: NEVER give up in prayer. Something is happening in the unseen realm with each prayer you pray. Persist until your breakthrough. God is faithful. (Luke 18:1-8) If you need physical or emotional healing, we have a trained prayer team ready to prayer for you. MONDAY NIGHTS, 6-8 pm, just stop by the Lobby of Bear Creek Church and someone will be there to greet you. FRIDAY MORNINGS are also available by appoint-ment. For more information, contact Dotti at [email protected] or visit our Church website at bearcreekchurch.com. Click on Prayer and Healing.


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I love to write down positive thoughts I have read

into notebooks, dream books, prayer books and any paper that can be used for notes to remind myself of who I am becoming, who we ALL are becoming! Here is a sample page from one of my notebooks. This is a great list of tips I recently read, written by Di-ane Covington Future National Sales Director with Mary Kay (Daily Hotline), on being a champion.

Champion 1. Victory is won in their head and their heart before

the work is done!

2. Champions know the rules of the game and they

are willing to play better than they’ve played before.

3. Champions believe the risk of victory is worth more

than the disappointment of failure.

4. Champions have champion mentors!

5. Champions know there is nothing more powerful

than a winning attitude.

6. Champions are motivated by their dream but are

made by their routine.

7. Champions maximize their strengths not protecting

their weaknesses.

8. Champions have unquestionable integrity!

9. Champions are extra-

milers they don’t do the

enough to get by they do

the and-then-some!

10. Champions NEVER give up!

“In the reality of life, we all fall down. The true test is how long you stay there.” Anonymous Champions are motivated by their dream!!! There is that word again, DREAM! But they are made by their rou-tine. What are your dreams for this month? This year? Are your daily habits/task, moment by moment deci-sions built on the routine you want to create to reach your dream? When unexpected challenges take place are you letting setbacks keep you there? Or are you jumping back up and getting back into the game? What makes a champion? What makes YOU a champi-on? What makes champions stand out more than the average person? Are you working your business or lead-ing in your work place in such a way that makes you stand out above the others? How do you conduct your-self on a day to day basis? Are you being the CHAMPI-ON you were designed to be? Are you living to your FULL POTENTIAL?

I am a CHAMPION! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). When life throws

unexpected challenges I chose to be strong and my bounce back time is in seconds not minutes or hours or days or years.

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us (Philippians 3:14). I am a TRUE CHAMPION! Victory is already won in my head and heart!

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). I am WILLING to go above and beyond, be the extra-miler to help reach my goals and dreams today! I believe in my DREAMS and the risk of victory is greater than the disappointment of failure.

I am a CHAMPION! I have a POSITIVE and WINNING ATTITUDE! Champions NEVER give up on their dreams and because I am a champion I am choosing to feed my dream today! I am a TRUE CHAMPION!

Being a Champion by Bri Eaton

connections | encourage


Kids in Christ — 1st through 6th grades The purpose of this ministry is to connect children to

Jesus; teaching them to honor God by obeying His

Word; to respect one another; to Invest time and

talent by serving; to spiritually grow, developing a

biblical world view, so that lives are transformed.

Our vision is that Kids In Christ will be a program in

which hundreds of children will participate because

they feel Christ’s love and acceptance here; they en-

joy an exciting environment in which to learn; they

live God’s Word; they want to invite their friends;

they feel safe; they bond together with their fami-

lies. If you have questions about our programs con-

tact:

Ann Pacheco [email protected]

Nursery/Kindergarten Your children from

birth to Kindergarten

are nurtured in a safe

and comfortable envi-

ronment. Bear Creek

Community Church is committed to providing a hap-

py, secure experience for your little ones. Our care-

givers and teachers are prepared to show your child

God’s love in an environment in which biblical teach-

ing, Christian compassion and servanthood are

demonstrated and taught. This will be the beginning

of a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ. Our goal

is to assist parents in laying a solid foundation of

faith in the lives of their children. If you have ques-

tions about our care contact:

Flower Hagele [email protected]

Something For Everyone

High School —

9th through 12th grades The purpose of this ministry is to foster a vibrant,

growing Youth Group that recognizes teen’s need

for acceptance, boundaries, fun and fellowship with

adults who love them unconditionally. We show

teens they are loved, accepted, and part of a thriv-

ing community. We encourage teens to enthusiasti-

cally pursue being intellectually, physically, emotion-

ally and spiritually fit, and inviting their friends to

join them in this

pursuit. Most

importantly we

continually en-

courage these

young people to

discover, con-

nect with and

follow Jesus. If

you have questions about our programs contact:

Pastor Mark Weaver [email protected]

Unshakeable Jr. High — 7th & 8th grades “I wait quietly be-

fore God for my

salvation comes

from Him, He alone is my rock and my salvation; my

fortress where I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2

This is our verse for the Junior High ministry and

where we get the name Unshakeable. The purpose

of this ministry is to foster a strong sense of who

the Lord is and encourage them to go out into the

world with this truth firmly rooted in their lives. We

provide a safe place for teens to be themselves

while setting boundaries and demonstrating respect

for others. If you have questions about our pro-

grams contact:

Sonia Siria [email protected]


Small Groups Join a small

group and

experience:

Strength to endure life's challenges.

Wisdom to make everyday decisions.

Accountability which is vital to your spiritual

growth.

Friendships that will encourage you in Christ.

Here at Bear Creek Community Church we believe in

the value of community. We have small groups for

adults in every stage of life from singles to newly-

weds to empty nesters. We have a group for you! If

you have questions about our programs contact:

Janie Labarthe [email protected]

Men’s Ministry BCCC Men’s Ministry is a place to learn about God’s

plan and work God’s plan for his children, in our

church and our community. The Masculinity of Jesus

is our model. We want

to develop men who

sense what biblically

muscular, masculine

Christianity is all about.

Power under control.

Strength clothed in

tenderness. As we

work with men on this

level and use Scripture

to reshape their atti-

tudes, they will be-

come all that God

meant them to be. If you have questions about our

programs contact:

Rich Manning [email protected]

Young at Heart Young at Heart is for those who are 50 years and

older or those who just like to have fun. Enjoying a

delicious potluck meal, listening to and learning

from guest speakers, movie nights and participating

in various other activities

together form the basis of

lively Young at Heart get-

togethers. It’s a great time

to connect with friends

and embrace new ones!

Young at Heart meets the

third Friday of every

month (between January

and October) at 6:00 p.m.

in the Worship Center Lobby of Bear Creek Commu-

nity Church. If you have questions about our pro-

grams contact:

Donna Davis [email protected]

Women’s Ministry The purpose of this

ministry is to help

women become con-

nected to each other,

deeply and meaningful-

ly. We need each other

in a world that is fast paced and pulling on us from

every direction. Even more importantly, Women’s

Ministries exists to connect women deeply and

meaningfully to God. Our purpose is to encourage,

equip and enrich. We do this through opportunities

to study God’s Word together; pray together; laugh

and have fun and fellowship together; learn spiritual

principles that equip us to face the challenges and

choices that confront us; serve God with our gifts

and talents; reach out and serve others; and support

one another. If you have questions about our pro-

grams contact:

DD Hastings [email protected]


Farmer’s Market Thursday Evenings Downtown Lodi, CA

EDUCATION/GROWTH SPIRITUAL GROWTH CLASSES FINANCIAL PEACE

JUL 9, 6:30PM FOUNDATIONS-NEW BELIEVERS

AUG 10, 11:00AM DISCOVERING BEAR CREEK CHURCH

Jul 27, 5PM DAILY WALK WITH GOD

SEP 21, 11:00AM

FELLOWSHIP WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY

MONDAYS, 7PM CELEBRATE RECOVERY

TUESDAYS, 6PM SPANISH BIBLE STUDY

WEDNESDAYS, 6:30PM YOUNG AT HEART

FRI - JUL 18, AUG 16, SEP 19, 6PM MEN’S BREAKFAST

SAT - JUL 12, AUG 9, SEP 13, 7:30AM CLUB 31

SAT - JUL 19, AUG 16, SEP 20, 9:15AM

SPECIAL EVENTS MEXICO MISSION TRIP

JUL 21-26 ERIK ESTRADA—UNCOMMON MOVIE

JUL 25, 6:30PM PRAYER GATHERING

AUG 1 & SEP 5 RUN ON WATER

AUG 16 GOLF TOURNAMENT—MICKE GROVE

AUG 23 BAPTISM

AUG 24

July — September 2014

Mark Your Calendar

connections | upcoming events


Board of Directors

Michael Boyles

Paul Fillon

Mike Glover

Fred Hagele

Charley Hauner

Daryl Labarthe

Heather Tiffee

Fred Weibel

Elders

Harry Agonoy

Ken Kreitzer

Janie Labarthe

Curtis LaFever

Rich Manning

Donna Siria

We Are Here For You

FOUNDING & SENIOR PASTOR - Bill Cummins ............ [email protected]

WORSHIP/DRAMA PASTOR - Jebby Moates ........... [email protected]

SUNDAY EVENING PASTOR - Bobby Spencer .......... [email protected]

STUDENT MINISTRIES - Mark Weaver ..................... [email protected]

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY - Ann Pacheco ............ [email protected]

NURSERY/KINDERGARTEN - Flower Hagele .................. [email protected]

WOMEN’S MINISTRY - DD Hastings .................................. [email protected]

MEN’S MINISTRY - Rich Manning ....................................... [email protected]

PRAYER MINISTRY - Dotti Cummins ......................................... [email protected]

MISSIONS MINISTRY - Debby Harris ........................... [email protected]

SMALL GROUPS - Janie Labarthe ................................... [email protected]

CELEBRATE RECOVERY - Paul Fillon.................................... [email protected]

FINANCIAL FREEDOM/COUNSELING - Sandy Parker [email protected]

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR - Tamra Quinn .................. [email protected]

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR - Debby Harris ...................... [email protected]

Join us Sundays at 9am,11am or 5pm

connections | contact us


Bear Creek Connections Business/Service Directory

Addie Mae’s Domestic Services 2339 W Hammer Ln Ste C Stockton CA (209) 451-6407 Page 34

Bugs Collision & Restoration 1251 E Bianchi Rd Stockton CA (209) 474-3372 Page 10

Delta Valley Towing 1919 E Martin Luther Blvd Stockton CA (209) 941-4015 Page 7

The Elkhorn Grill 1050 Elkhorn Drive Stockton CA (209) 477-2200 page 25

Mike Glover‘s BB Auto Sales 745 N Wilson Way Stockton CA (209) 327-4358 Page 48

Lodi Auto Repair & Smog 2501 S Stockton St, Ste C Lodi CA (209) 334-9999 Page 10

Lodi Tile Works 130 N Sacramento Rd Lodi CA (209) 369-9682 Page 40

McSparren Auto Glass 2634 N Wilson Way Stockton CA (209) 466-4901 Page 26

830 S Beckman Rd, Ste L Lodi CA (209) 333-2601

Nationwide Insurance 123 S School Street Lodi CA (209) 334-1400 Page 13

Kevin Schimke Jewelers 2349 Pacific Ave Stockton CA (209) 464-9904 Page 10

Mike Torrente’s Automotive 420 W Lodi Ave, Ste B Lodi CA (209) 334-4610 Page 20

Vision Flooring 13400 E Collier Rd Lodi CA (209) 369-1166 Page 2

Weibel Family Winery 13 N School St Lodi CA (209) 370-6013 Page 22

California Pest Control [email protected] (209) 242-2784 Page 38

Colors Painting and Designs [email protected] (209) 969-3014 Page 13

Mary Kay Consultant BriAnne Eaton [email protected] (916) 792-0975 Page 7

Pearson Real Estate LanePearson.com (209) 481-1017 Page 7

Alpine Mortgage www.alpinemc.com/lodi (209) 327-0263 Page 20

Jim’s Computer Service & Repair www.jimscomputerservice.com (209) 662-1063 Page 34

SB Planning Inc www.sbplanninginc.com (209) 625-8523 Page 8

Xerox Color Press www.fourcopies.com (877) 522-5587 Page 47

Steve Spurlin Photography [email protected] (209) 482-0768 Page 5

Diane Mumford Event Designer Stockton CA (209) 462-3071 Page 26

Susan Stratford Hair Stylist Lodi CA (209) 608-0263 Page 34

Special Note:

This Business/Service Directory is published as a service only.

BCCC takes no responsibility for the validity of businesses or services listed in this directory.

To list your Business/Service please contact Debby Harris at (209) 951-9229.


This magazine printed on the Xerox Color J75 Press.


Documents

Issue 16 Connections: Summer 2014