Letter to the Congregations: 20th June 2026

Our Dear Brethren,

The Bible is full of stories of God calling people from all walks of life to serve Him. In Genesis 12 when God calls Abraham (Abram at the time) to leave his house and follow the Lord:

“Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1).

Abram was 75 years old when God called him to leave the comfort of his home and to follow Him. You can imagine the life that Abram was leaving behind at 75 years of age, most likely living a life of luxury in Babylon. And yet when God called him he picked up his life and he left. What a remarkable thing to do.

Another example on the opposite side of the age spectrum is when Christ called the disciples. All of the twelve disciples were said to be somewhere between their mid teens and late twenties at the beginning of Christ’s ministry. And yet notice what Matthew has recorded:

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-22).

These young men were working a job that had probably been passed down through generations. You notice this in the fact that James and John are first spotted working on a boat with their father. This job was their livelihood and would be their family’s livelihood for generations—and yet as soon as Jesus went and called them, we read that they “immediately left their nets and followed Him.” Again such a remarkable example of faith in God.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Josh Vazquez. A former high school math teacher, I’ve recently been hired by the church to be a ministerial trainee which will begin in the Connecticut, New York City and New Jersey area. The process of becoming a ministerial trainee is a new chapter for my wife Ariana, our newborn baby Joshua Jr., and me.

As we begin to embark on this journey, the stories of Abraham and the disciples come to mind. God called them to an adventure in which He asked them to leave the world they were living in behind. I believe God has called me and my family to an adventure to serve His people and to prepare to serve in the role as a pastor.

But if we zoom out, the beautiful part about God’s plan, for all of us, is that He has called all of us to an adventure with Him. We are all here because God has called us to leave the world that we were living in behind and to follow Him. Christ tells us to leave our possessions behind and to carry our cross. 

So although we are all of different ages, backgrounds and walks of life, all living out different adventures the powerful part is that we are all working to reach the same location. Now our paths are all going to look a little different but it’s through us growing and working together that we all will succeed. 

So brethren as my family enters the next chapter of our adventure, we pray that together as a church, we can continue to persevere and strive to stay on the straight and narrow path. We pray that we all continue to learn and grow in whatever phase of our journey we are in. We are all one body knitted together and so let us embrace this journey God has called us to, together. 

Our Love is with you, 

Josh Vazquez, Ministerial Trainee