Bert Alcorn, Mark Avery, and Ryan Hinkle recently returned from an amazing trip to Nepal. The main reason for the trip was to celebrate the graduations of 46 pastors and leaders who just finished a 2 year Pastoral Training Certificate Program through Touch Nepal, but it was also a great time for the guys to see some of our local leaders who we partner with in Nepal, and to visit some of the significant religious sites for Hindus and Buddhists.  For photos that go along with the trip, check out this Google Photo album!  https://photos.app.goo.gl/hW84rWZS4ARJr9uy5

This week, Bert Alcorn joins me (Ryan) to share about a bunch of things. We took some time to talk through the "origin story" of Anthem Ventura, and had a great time talking about demystifying the season of weighing, "should I plant a church?" Bert also is an amazing resource when it comes to book suggestions, so we talk through what he and I have been reading recently.  We hope you enjoy, and would love to hear any feedback you may have!

This week, Ryan has a conversation with Nancy Harris, the Executive Director of Faith Foster Families Network. For the last two years, we've supported 3FN through the funds brought in during Celebrate Generosity, so we wanted to see what they've been up to for the last year or so! 

This week, Ryan Hinkle sits down with Mark Avery and Satya Suwal (our partner in the gospel in Nepal) from Touch Nepal to talk about the work they've been up to for the last year. Touch Nepal does an amazing job of training pastors in very remote corners of Nepal, as well as many other compassion-based ministry works, and has been supported through Celebrate Generosity for years now. We hope you enjoy hearing from them! For more info on Touch Nepal, visit them at touchnepal.org

We all know it's been a very tumultuous year and a half, but one of the beautiful things to watch has been a group of pastors from Conejo Valley churches gathering monthly to pray for each other, lift up one another, and encourage each other along the way.  After our prayer time this morning with that group of pastors, Kirk DeWitt from Conejo Church, and Ken Lamont from NP First Christian Church joined Ryan and Rob to share about the state of churches in the Conejo Valley.  Unity between churches has always been a big value for us, and we hope you enjoy and appreciate this conversation amongst brothers in the faith!

This week, Stacy DeWitt, Executive Director at James Storehouse joins us and shares about the incredible story and impact that God has given them in serving families connected to the foster care system. For the last few years, James Storehouse has been a recipient of funds raised through Celebrate Generosity, and we can't be any more thrilled to share this update on their ministry with you. To get involved with James Storehouse, you can visit their website at jamesstorehouse.org

This week, David Cox, COO at ZOE International joins us and shares a report about what's going over the last year with their ministry. Anthem has had a long time partnership with ZOE and we love seeing and being a part what they are doing to rescue and rebuild the lives of youths effected by sex trafficking around the world. To learn more and to get involved with ZOE international, visit gozoe.org.  We'd encourage you to be listening for ideas of how you specifically can take this training, and apply it to your life! We'd love to hear any feedback you may have on this training, or other episodes. Please feel free to email any feedback to [email protected].

This week, Josh Lewis joins us from Anthem Denver to share about how their team is cultivating a culture that is welcoming and inviting to new people joining their community.  We'd encourage you to be listening for ideas of how you specifically can take this training, and apply it to your life! We'd love to hear any feedback you may have on this training, or other episodes. Please feel free to email any feedback to [email protected].

John 13:35 says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." What an important reminder from Jesus about how we can best reflect his character to the world around us!! This week, Kevin Bailey joins us from Anthem Camarillo to share about how he and his elder team have cultivated a deep sense of love for one another in the people of Anthem Camarillo. Often, when people visit their church, the thing people share is how obviously the people of their church really, truly love each other.  We'd encourage you to be listening for ideas of how you specifically can take this training, and apply it to your life! We'd love to hear any feedback you may have on this training, or other episodes. Please feel free to email any feedback to [email protected]. 

This summer, we're really looking forward to investing in some highly practical training in a few different areas of life. We said at the beginning of 2021 that we want to put a big focus on the "how-to's" of a life of faith, and Summer School is an amazing opportunity to make this happen. This week, we share a conversation between Ryan Hinkle and Steve Larson, then another conversation with Caleb Womack, who are both going to be leading Summer School classes. To register for any of these classes, or just to get more information on them, check out the Anthem Thousand Oaks app, or visit our website: anthemto.org/summerschool