missions

Christ loves every human in every place on this planet! In Matthew 28:19, Jesus invites us to be a part of His desire to show this redemptive love when He says, Therefore go and make disciples of [...]

Central Asia is a land of rich history and mountainous landscape. It is where Alexander the Great and his armies marched from Greece, to Turkey, through the deserts of Turkmenistan, over the [...]

One of the ways ENCOUNTER is serving globally is through the ministry of Catalyst Intl, which is an extension of our church. Catalyst is focused on supporting Christian workers who serve in [...]

When I began writing for the ENCOUNTER blog, I did not know where God would lead me. When Clare asked me to be a contributor, I said “yes!” and wrote my first blog about the City Center [...]

We had a great day at Urban Excursion! 28 people came from ENCOUNTER, a few from the Perspectives class at Reality, plus a 10 more from Nathan and Naomi Gapper’s church. We went to a Hindu temple [...]

This past weekend, we learned about the spiritual climate in China and the oppression of minority people groups. ENCOUNTER has “adopted” both the Bouyei people of China and the [...]

Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Kiva celebrates and supports people looking [...]

On December 27, a team of 10 went to Urbana, a 5-day student missions conference sponsored by InterVarsity.  It happens every three years in St. Louis (it used to be held in Urbana, IL). Julie [...]

You never know where God is going to lead you. That is certainly true for former missionary Patti Downs. Patti and her husband Dale work at The City Center on Thompson Blvd in mid-town Ventura. [...]

Recently a group of people from ENCOUNTER joined our global partner, Nathan Gapper for an adventure in Los Angeles. It was an opportunity for our group to learn about other cultures, faiths and [...]