If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, cousin, or friend of a young lady who is in the age range of 9-18 and have pondered the idea of having them attend the Esther Conference, I HIGHLY recommend you do so next year! Last week, 16 of our young ladies, four chaperones, and one drummer headed off to Chula Vista to attend Esther Conference 2022. The excitement of adventure, fellowship, anointed services, shopping, and Coronation followed by a Royal Tea Party filled the atmosphere all weekend long.
After unloading everything in the hotel room, we swiftly freshened up and headed out for Thursday night’s service. The atmosphere reflected that of ILC’s Ladies Day (for those who attended will understand), but on a slightly smaller scale and beaming with youth. With the kick off from Sis. Buxton, worship service began and you could feel the presence of God fill the room with grace and ease. Everyone joined together to welcome Jesus with open hearts and open minds. So much so that we got to witness the Lord fill a first time visitor, who walked in right off the street, with the Holy Ghost right off the bat! (And the church said, “Hallelujah!”) The service went on and our young ladies got to hear a wonderful testimony told by Sis. Tiffany Wells that connected with many of the listeners. Following the service, there was an opportunity to shop around and support a wide variety of Apostolic vendors, mingle with friends both old and new alike (even on the international scale), and partake in food festivities. The night concluded with the Talent Shine event where young ladies can take an opportunity to share a talent or hobby that they are passionate about. There were gifts of many varieties such as singing, painting, crafting, piano playing, and more! Every segment was followed by an explosion of applause, whoopin’, and hollerin’ as the crowd showed their support of each young lady that shared their passion up on the platform. Upon the completion of the Talent Shine event, the first day was finished and we all headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next day (Yes, we slept…eventually).
The second day started early with breakfast and coffee (aka essentials) before the morning classes began. Depending upon the age group, our young ladies would learn about the importance of living a life of purity. For our Esthers who were graduating, there was a special session for them pertaining to the same topic, as well as preparing for the graduation ceremony. Pastor’s wives, moms, and chaperones were involved with their own session and listened to an incredibly lifechanging testimony that was shared by Sis. Von De Leigh Wilbanks. Concluding the morning sessions there was free time before the ladies would get dressed up ALL FANCY for the Coronation Ceremony and Royal Tea that would follow. At the Coronation Ceremony, our graduates (who looked absolutely breathtaking and regal) were crowned by their Pastor’s Wife and received a purity oath that they would sign and verbally recognize. The acceptance of this oath indicated that they would be giving themselves to Jesus until the day they would be given over to their husband.
Afterwards, the entire congregation prayed over our young graduates with a Holy Ghost power that can’t be explained with words. That was the moment where everyone understood that this is what this conference was all about. Sure it’s a great opportunity for friendship and fun, but it was way more than that. We all know that forces are constantly coming against the church, but where the world is at today, there are voices and battles that come up against our young people like we’ve never seen before. Voices such as, but absolutely not limited to, confusion, perversion, rebellion, shame, guilt, hate, division, pride, and especially the rejection of keeping yourself pure until marriage is something, our young ladies especially, are faced with every single day. This conference reignites the understanding, the desire, and the courage that our children need to encourage them in their walk with Jesus. For our girls to be surrounded by Godly women and mentors of all areas, mingle and meet new friends, as well as have a safe place to dress up like a princess and embrace their femininity, I would highly recommend this conference to EVERYONE! This is definitely an opportunity I had growing up, and it truly moved my heart to witness such a beautiful and special moment for our young people to have with the God who so purposefully and delicately created them. No one left that conference the same as they arrived, and it’s something no one will forget.
In Redlands last weekend we had another Bible Quizzing tournament and our quizzers were amazing. In all we had 26 quizzers and sent 7 quiz teams with at least one team in every division, Beginner, Junior, Intermediate, and Experienced.
At the tournament, the quizzers did a fantastic job and achieved excellent results. In our beginner division, we had two teams with six quizzers that quizzed very well. One of our quizzes, Alex Santiago, was the fifth highest individual scorer but all of the quizzers did very well. The junior division also had a team with four quizzers representing Rialto and they also did a great job. In fact, Rialto came home with the third place trophy and Christopher Santiago was the sixth highest scorer in the tournament.
In the intermediate division, Rialto had two teams and nine quizzers who all quizzed extremely well. Rialto 1 was undefeated through the first round which guaranteed them no less than second place, but Team 2 worked their way back through the second round and actually ended up defeating Rialto 1 twice to earn the championship trophy. There were also three quizzers from Rialto on the all-tournament team, with Elayna Booker as the 6th highest scorer, Olivia Schnepp as 3rd highest scorer, and Oscar Echevarria was the runner-up scoring champion.
In our experienced division we had seven quizzers on two teams. These quizzers quizzed spectacularly with both teams coming home with a trophy. Rialto 2 lost only one quiz and earned the championship trophy and Rialto 1 came home with the third place trophy. On the experienced all-tournament team, Daniel Tirado, Jr. was 3rd highest scorer and Trystan Booker was the highest scorer in the entire tournament.
The next tournament is the Regional Finals which will be held in Bakersfield on June 18. Thank you Inland Lighthouse for all of your support for this important ministry!
What a great time we had in Sunday school! We’ve been learning a series of Bible stories and lessons learned from them and today we had a great time doing the same!
We love and believe in our children at ILC!
Last Saturday, May 7, Inland Lighthouse Church hosted our largest Ladies Day Conference. It began with shopping at more than thirty different venders, and eating a fabulous lunch prepared exclusively by our own cooks.
Sis. Michelle Wilmoth spoke with such grace on the title “Give Back” encouraging us ladies not to be afraid to give of ourselves to others. Sis. Dedie Cooley followed her message by reminding us that our responsibility as a Christian is to “To Know Him and Make Him Known”.
We left encouraged to have a servant’s heart, and a mindfulness to know God better, and through us, to make Him known in our world. This special day will be long remembered in our hearts.
The Forever Group had a fabulous time at the Family Game Night last week on Saturday night. Lots of fellowship, fun, games and yummy desserts were enjoyed by all!
There were a lot of people in attendance both above and below the forever group age range which just made the event all the better!
Thanks to all who came and participated. Looking forward to our next event – Memorial Day Picnic!
See you there!
Earlier in February we had our first open Bible Quizzing tournament and we were able to take every Bible quizzer in the quiz program. In all we had 48 quizzers and 12 chaperones along with multiple families that accompanied their quizzers to the tournament. We completely filled the youth shuttle and one of the vans and we have to thank Danny Tirado and Guillermo Machuca who drove us all the way to Bakersfield and back. Because it was a two day tournament with quizzing starting at 5:00 PM on Friday evening, we had to stay overnight in a hotel which can be very expensive for such a large group. However, through the extreme generosity of Kevin Reighard who took care of all the hotel rooms, there was no cost to the church or the quizzers for lodging.
At the tournament, the quizzers did a fantastic job and achieved excellent results. In our beginner division, we had two teams with eight quizzers that quizzed very well. One of our quizzers, Daxon Reighard, was the fourth highest individual scorer but all of the quizzers did very well. The junior division also had two teams with 8 quizzers representing Rialto and they also did a great job. In fact, Rialto 2 came home with the fourth place trophy and Christopher Santiago was the second highest scorer in the tournament.
In the intermediate division, Rialto had five teams and 24 quizzers who all quizzed extremely well. Two of our teams, Rialto 1 and Rialto 2, tied for 5th place (just out of the trophy round), and Rialto 3 earned a trophy with a third place finish. There were also two quizzers from Rialto on the all-tournament team, with Elayna Booker as the 5th highest scorer and Ethan Avila as 3rd highest scorer.
In our experienced division we again had eight quizzers on two teams. These quizzers quizzed spectacularly with both teams coming home with a trophy. Rialto 2 earned a third place trophy and Rialto 1 earned second place. On the experienced all-tournament team, Natalya Booker was 3rd highest scorer and Trystan Booker was the highest scorer in the entire tournament.
If you are interested in learning more about Bible Quizzing, I urge you to come to the next tournament which is here in Rialto this weekend on March 11th and 12th. We would love to have you come out and support our quizzers and learn a little more about Bible quizzing. Thank you Inland Lighthouse for all of your support for this important ministry!
Friday, February 18th, ILC Momentum went to Laser Legacy for an epic night of laser tag! Over 80 young people showed up for the event, packing out the entire building! The staff at Laser Legacy were able to cycle through the games quickly, giving everyone just enough time to rest before their next game. Cries of victory and outrage alike could be heard at the conclusion of each game as the players looked at the scoreboard to see if their team won and where they ranked. Our youth pastor, Gavin Berrier also celebrated a momentous occasion – his birthday! He received cake and the adoration of dozens of young people for planning such a successful event! Be on the lookout for even more events just like this one in 2022!
Our first ever ministry fair was a success!
A church the size of ILC is constantly in need of volunteers to keep the many departments functioning. This service emphasized the many needs and areas of the church in which everyone can be involved; everything from cleaning teams to B-Free class to prison ministry, Sunday school, music, Easter and more!
We had verbal presentations from many of the different departments as well as a slideshow showing just how busy a church we are and it was followed by an unbelievable message from Bro Urshan talking about being active in the Kingdom! There was an incredible altar call where commitments were made and renewed.
The service was followed by food served outside, thanks to Bro. Jake Martin and his crew and the foyer was full of different booths where you could get more information and sign up for that department.
We are excited about the many new people who are going to get involved in the Kingdom of God!
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword!
Many members of our congregation have found this to be so true in the year 2021 as around 55 of them read their Bible from cover to cover during this time!
At the beginning of the year pastor put out the challenge and many met it. At the end of the year, all those that completed this incredible task went to pastor’s house where they had a great dinner.
2021 was not isolated and the challenge remains. Who can read their Bible all the way through in 2022? It takes daily and consistent application to God’s word but the rewards are endless.
Hope to see many many more at next year’s celebration dinner!
Family day at Inland Lighthouse Church is always a great time in this last Sunday, January 30, was no exception! It was the 1st family day of 2022 and we had an awesome service full of worship, anointing and of the Holy Ghost which was capped off by the powerful preaching of Pastor Paul Elder! After lives were touched, people were filled with the Holy Ghost and the altar call began to slow down, things began to migrate down to the Fellowship Hall area.
There was great food that was served quickly and efficiently to the hundreds of people in attendance and after this was enjoyed the activities and games began. There was basketball, volleyball, a checkered tournament and of course the chili cookoff. More than all of this however was the time of fellowship and comradery that followed were people got to know each other perhaps for the first time or much better than before. And this is what family day is all about!
We want to thank all of the members of ILC who made this great event happen and for leadership that appreciates that it is times like these were bonds are formed and strengthened between the members of the church. We already cannot wait until next time!
