LINC Houston

We are grateful to The Family of Faith Lutheran Church for inviting City Director Pastor Abel Araya to be a guest pastor. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with your congregation and share the work of LINC Houston. Thank you for your support!

Pastor Abel Araya, our Houston City Director, provided an overview of the LINC Mission Accelerator Program, a 7-week intensive that teaches and empowers leaders to turn their God-given dreams into realities.

We were thrilled to have five tremendously talented leaders with us:

• Pam Muir, Founder of Camp Isaac
• Debbie Mendez, Founder and CEO of Breaking Boundaries Children's Ministry
• Rev. Vijay Gurrala, Pastor of The Telugu Church Of Houston - Our Redeemer
• Rev. Angel Olvera, Pastor of Iglesia Camino Nuevo
• Alexa Guzman, Founder and Executive Director of Christ for the Crisis

Our LINC Mission Accelerator is your chance to bring your vision to life.

👉 If you or someone you know has a mission-driven idea, apply today: https://linc.org/missionaccelerator/.

Thank you to everyone who attended and showed interest in accelerating our mission. Together, we can bring hope and help to every corner of our city!

LINC Houston City Director Pastor Abel Araya recently stopped by the Epiphany Lutheran Church and School Food Pantry to visit with LINC Ministry Leader Pastor Alfredo Gonzalez. Along with Pastor Alfredo were nine volunteers from his church, Vida Nueva Church!

For more information about the Epiphany Food Pantry, go to https://elcsh.org/07/2023/food-pantry.

We pray for the safety and quick recovery of all those impacted by the storm.

This 4th of July, Breaking Boundaries Children's Ministry is holding an event for children housed in temporary shelters, many of whom are victims of human trafficking.

There will be praise and worship with talented musicians, arts and crafts, and a message for the children, all with red, white and blue themes. The goal is for the children to get together and have fun.

The event has a special connection to Independence Day.

We had an incredible time last Sunday at Come & See! Praise God for the inspiring speeches from Pastors Mark Junkans and Abel Araya and the wonderful fellowship of the LINC community. We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended and contributed to making the event so special.

Discover the Impact of LINC Houston! Join us at Trinity Downtown on Sunday, June 9, from 5 to 7:30 PM for an evening of fellowship and worship. Enjoy live praise music from members of the Manantiales de Vida congregation, BBQ from Trinity Downtown's Holy Smokers, and hear directly from LINC Houston ministry leaders and seminary students about how we're making a difference in the Houston community. RSVP Now: bit.ly/ComeSeeEvent

Come & See Come & See what God is doing through LINC Houston on June 9th from 5 to 7 pm at Trinity Downtown!

"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." - Acts 2:1-21

Last Sunday, City Director Pastor Abel Araya delivered a powerful sermon on Pentecost at Living Word Lutheran Church and School, The Woodlands, sharing how the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach the gospel to all nations.

Thank you, Living Word Lutheran Church, for giving us the opportunity to connect with your wonderful congregation.

Join us in congratulating our seminary students who recently completed their installation service! Let's lift them up in prayer as they enter into their new roles of leadership and service.

Congratulate them in person at our celebration event, "Come & See," on Sunday, June 9, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:30 PM, at Trinity-Downtown! RSVP here: bit.ly/ComeSeeEvent!

Guided by prayerful consideration, we have decided to postpone “Come & See” to June 9, 2024. You’re invited to this FREE event celebrating what God is doing through LINC Houston, held at Trinity Downtown from 5 - 7:30 pm. RSVP at bit.ly/ComeSeeEvent to enjoy great food and fellowship with our ministry leaders and seminary students, along with City Director Pastor Abel Araya and LINC Ministries founder Mark Junkans!

Come & See Please join us to celebrate what God is doing through LINC Houston at Trinity Downtown on Sunday, June 9, 2024, from 5 - 7:30 pm.

He is risen, indeed! As we celebrate Resurrection Day, we are reminded that from life’s greatest challenges can arise profound purpose and renewal. Our ministry leader, Pam Muir, journeyed from personal loss to found Camp Isaac, a Christian children's camp. We're so blessed to walk with her on her journey. Let us embrace the promise of Easter — a time of rebirth and endless possibilities, inspiring us all to continue making a positive impact in the world around us.

During the LINC Bible Institute certification ceremony on March 10th, LINC Houston City Director Pastor Abel Araya shared inspiring words from Ephesians 4:7-14 "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift... And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

Congratulations to the gifted graduates of LINC Bible Institute! As you embark on this new journey, remember the profound significance of your calling and the gifts bestowed upon you. May you continue to grow in unity, faith, and knowledge.

You’re invited to “Come and See,” a FREE event celebrating what God is doing through LINC Houston, held at Trinity Downtown on Sunday, April 14, 2024, from 5 - 8 pm. RSVP at https://bit.ly/comeandseeRSVP to enjoy great food and fellowship with our City Director Pastor Abel Araya and our ministry leaders!

Come & See Please join us to celebrate what God is doing through LINC Houston at Trinity Downtown on Sunday, April 14, 2024, from 5 - 8 pm.

Last week, leaders from across our community came together for an empowering Prayer Night. Our gathering was a testament to the strength and unity of Christian leadership in action, as we discussed the launch of our Mission Accelerator Program aimed at nurturing and expanding our outreach efforts.

We extend our deepest gratitude to all who shared this meaningful evening with us. Your dedication and spirit are the heart of our mission.

As we journey through Lent, LINC Houston invites our community to reflect, repent, and serve. Let's embrace this season with open hearts, ready to be transformed by God's grace.

We're excited to see our LINC leaders at the first Prayer Night of 2024! 🙌🏾💛
🗓️ Monday, Feb 26 | 🕖 7 PM
📍 Trinity Downtown | 800 Houston Ave

We are grateful for all the work and dedication that our LINC leaders are doing in Houston. Enjoyed hearing what God has done through each ministry in 2023; to highlight a few, souls are being added, baptized, and restored to God's kingdom, many are being trained at LINC bible institute, and about 900 rescued children heard the gospel message during this Christmas season.

So blessed to share about LINC and preach at Trinity Rosenberg this morning.Thank you Pastor Steve Wiechman for the opportunity. Excited about this new partnership in the work of the gospel

LINC Houston Hispanic Pastors united and prayed for gospel expansion in Houston.

So blessed to visit and minister at our Redeemer Telugu Church this Sunday and grateful for Pastor Vijay and Mary Gurrala’s continued Partnership with LINC.

We hosted our LINC leader’s prayer meeting yesterday and so blessed to hear what God is doing through our ministry leaders.

So blessed to visit and worship at our LINC partner church Casa de Oracion this Sunday!

Local LINC Houston Area Friends - we are celebrating! Join us for a 'Taste and See' event featuring fabulous foods from all over Latin America, a time of praise and worship together and an opportunity to hear from several of our Ministry Leaders and meet Pastor Araya. To attend, simply RSVP here: https://linc.org/houstonevents

So blessed to connect with Pastor Odje this afternoon.

Leader Spotlight:
Meet LINC Leader Debbie Mendez, the founder of a ministry called Breaking Boundaries whose mission is to bring the love of Jesus and the Gospel message to 900+ displaced youth in over 9 shelters through virtual and in-person church services, safe field trips, free Bibles the students can keep, and so much more. When Debbie retired, she felt God calling her into the mission field. She said, "I thought God was going to take me to Mexico or Guatemala or some place like that. But instead, He brought the mission field to me! And, I just said 'Ok, Lord. Here we go!'."
Please join us in praying for her in 2 key areas:
1) To connect with more Houston-area churches who have outdoor or indoor spaces that can be used for student ministry events (1 x per month)
2) For God to open venues and provide help as she expands this mission to El Paso.

For more info, you can email us at [email protected]

We are celebrating! Six students began their study of Christian Doctrine with Pastor Rodrigo Fernandez yesterday! Five of these students have applied to the Sem - 3 to become pastors and 2 for the deaconess program. "We rejoice in the Lord [who has begun this great work in these students], always, I say again rejoice!" Phil 4:4

For a Christian, everything we touch is an extension of ministry. How we behave in a business transaction matters. How we treat our family member matters. Still, we are human beings and can spiral emotionally and lose our focus. Just like the newborn nation of Israel needed reminders, celebrations and calendars to help them stay focused, we, too, have to be reminded. "Give us this day our daily..." reminder, Lord.

In God's Word we can certainly read those reminders, like: 2 Cor 12:9 -- God is "sufficient" or 1 Peter 5:7 -- to "cast our cares [all of them] on him" and 2 Cor 2:5 -- to "take every thought captive". God be praised we live in a time where we also have so.many.tools. at our disposal. Taking our thoughts (our emotions) 'captive' is a discipline. It takes work. If you find you've been spiraling lately, I'm writing today to encourage you to first pray and ask the Holy Spirit's help in discerning between a call to obedience and emotion. "We love because God first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19), NOT because it feels right all the time, right? And, second, if you'd like a tool to help sift through 8 areas of emotion, we have a tool here [adapted from "What Really Works"]. It's a scale of sorts that you can periodically use to check-in with yourself or an accountability partner. Commit those low-scoring areas to prayer and ask: "Why and What would the Lord have me do (if anything) in this area?" Check it out here: LINC.org/8fs

If you are looking for a practical tool to help you set some goals for 2023, check out these 5 Swift Steps!