Great Commission Update - May 2025

Written by Dr. Chris Smith, GCA Mission Strategist

Shadow Mountain Community Church, based in San Diego, California, has been a blessing to Hispanic migrant communities for almost 20 years. Every year, they send around 60 volunteers to participate in a family mission trip to four different locations. While the group’s primary ministry platform is a Bible school for all ages, they also intentionally train the host churches how to do community ministry. Cristo Mi Redentor, one of our GCA churches in Morro Bay, has been greatly blessed not only by this evangelistic ministry but also by learning how to engage its community. During the first year, the Shadow Mountain volunteers led most of the Bible school, providing on-the-job training, but by year three, the local church was responsible for 90% of the Bible school. Cristo Mi Redentor will continue this ministry while Shadow Mountain moves to our GCA central area.

For the next three years, Shadow Mountain will partner with four of our GCA churches in and around the Gilroy area. This summer, from July 28 to August 1, Shadow Mountain will work with First Baptist Church Gilroy Español in Gilroy, Iglesia Bautista Emanuel in San Martin, Iglesia Bautista Laurel in Salinas, and Iglesia Bautista La Fe in South San Jose. In the afternoons, the local church team and Shadow Mountain team will visit the neighborhoods around the local church and invite children, youth, and adults. In the evenings, from 6-8:30 pm, each church will host the “Super Circus Amazing Adventures” themed Bible school and hear the gospel of Christ in a creative way. The adults will watch parts of the Fireproof movie and participate in interactive discussions, while the youth will hear the gospel and learn about “The Christian Life.”

Weeks before the Shadow Mountain group begins, each local church will distribute 1,000 invitation cards in Spanish and English. The local church will spread the word and prepare the community for an exciting week of fun, games, and gospel seed sowing. They will put up decorations and recruit volunteers from their church to promote a collaborative effort between GCA, Shadow Mountain, and CSBC. Shadow Mountain provides a Love-in-a-Box for each child (containing school, hygiene, and fun items), a Love-in-a-Bag for each family (containing hygiene items), and a Spanish Bible. CSBC provides food, clothing, and backpacks for the children, helping to provide for physical needs. Our GCA churches collaborate closely with the Shadow Mountain group, which comprises approximately half of its participants from the Hispanic congregation and half from the Anglo congregation.

By Jim Shankula, Border Ministry Coordinator at Shadow Mountain Community Church

God guides and shapes our lives and ministries in ways that many times surprise us. My parents were missionaries to the migrants in central California, so that is where my life began. It came full circle when my wife and I returned with our family after serving many years as missionaries in Ecuador. We came back to serve in missions at our home church, Shadow Mountain Community Church.

Several months later I traveled together with Dr. Gary Coombs, our Missions Pastor, to the annual convention of the California Southern Baptists taking place in Fresno. Someone there suggested that maybe our church would like to become involved in the Convention’s summer long migrant ministry, “Feeding Those Who Feed Us.” The possibility caught my interest, of course, because of my background. Tom Stringfellow was heading up the ministry at that time together with Oscar Sanchez.

We started with a team of 12 people from our church, serving for a week at Sunset Migrant Camp (near Arvin) in the summer of 2006. Our team was housed upstairs in the Kern County Association office in Bakersfield. We teamed together with Pastor Ed Garza and several members of his church in Lamont. Throughout our time serving with the Migrant Ministry our desire has always been to work together with Spanish speaking local churches that could continue with follow-up after our departure.

That first summer and the next, Disaster Relief partnered with us by loaning their big circus tent. The Migrant Camp allowed the big tent to be set up in their field, and each day we held VBS for the children. In the evening, we held meetings with the adults and their families, with music and gospel films. God blessed with opportunities to share His love, the Gospel, and the Word of God with these people.

Migrant Ministry became a regular missions trip for Shadow Mountain each summer. We stayed at each location for approximately three years. We wanted to be an encouragement in each place, without them becoming dependent on us. Oscar Sanchez and the Convention were a great help to us, as they helped locate migrant centers and churches where we could serve with our team. Our biggest priorities are evangelism and discipleship.

From Arvin we headed up north, where we served in Hollister, Watsonville, and Salinas. Then we headed down the coast to Oxnard, Ventura, and Carpinteria. And then up a little to Lompoc and Solvang.  From there we traveled east to Tulare, Lindsay, Tipton, and Ivanhoe. Then back west to San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Nipomo, and Grover Beach. And this year we are starting a little bit further north in Gilroy, San Martin, San Jose, and back to Salinas!

Oscar and Lily Sanchez have been a great encouragement to our ministry. Throughout the years, not only have they helped us locate where we should serve, they have also supplied us with New Testaments, discipleship materials, gospel tracts, clothing for the children, and food for the migrant families. They have coordinated with the local pastors to be sure we have all we need. Oscar will be greatly missed this year, as he is now in our Lord’s presence.

After serving with 12 people on our first trip, our team has grown little by little over the years. Many of those who serve return to serve another year, and some have continued to serve for many years. We enjoy seeing many families participate in our Migrant Ministry trips, and we can see their children grow physically and spiritually over the years as they serve together with us. Now our group has grown to about 60 to 65 people coming to serve with us each summer.

To God be the glory! We are so grateful to Him that we have been able to participate in this ministry. We are thankful also to Dr. Chris Smith and the Great Commission Association, as they have facilitated our time of ministry these past three years, and now, Lord willing, the next three years. Dr Chris Smith connected us with the pastors and helped to coordinate our meetings.

Devotional by Chris Smith, GCA Mission Strategist

Think about an influential person who helped disciple you. What did they do that had the most impact on you? For me, it was my youth minister, Richard Millar. I remember the time we spent together when I was a teenager. We would play basketball and tennis, and I would hang out with his family, sharing meals together. As a youth group, we went to camp, on mission trips, and met at church to grow in the Word. Richard is an excellent teacher, but what I remember most was the time we spent together in relationship. He practiced everyday discipleship.

Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:8, says, “We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.”

How do we practice everyday discipleship? We genuinely care about people. Everyday discipleship is not only about sharing the gospel, but our lives as well. Paul genuinely cared about the people around him. He discipled others like a mother would care for her newborn baby (1 Thes. 2:7).

Paul comforted, loved, and was gentle to the newborn Christians at Thessalonica. He wrote the 1 Thessalonians letter to new believers who had recently come out of paganism and were facing persecution. They had little external support because Paul, Silas, and Timothy were in Corinth. Paul encouraged the believers in their faith and gave instructions on how to live. He wrote about the hope of the gospel and the second coming of Christ.

Paul also discipled like a spiritual father (1 Thes. 2:11). He compared his relationship with the Thessalonian Christians to that of a father and his own children. Just as a father teaches and encourages his children, Paul urged and encouraged the Thessalonian Christians to live in a way that would honor God and partake in God’s kingdom and glory.

Paul says, “We encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God” (1 Thes. 2:12). Everyday discipleship is effective when it is life on life. We urge others to live for God. We encourage them to live worthy lives and be set apart for God. We know what is happening in people’s lives and pray for them. We spend time together. 

The believers at Thessalonica saw a godly model in Paul and his companions, being “witnesses of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you” (1 Thes. 2:10). We are called to be an example of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit in our everyday discipleship.

As we share life, we invest in discipleship relationships that foster positive spiritual growth. Are those you disciple growing in their faith? Do you see evidence of spiritual fruit? Being an apprentice of Jesus means we grow in Godly character and make wise decisions.

We practice everyday discipleship with our families. With Paul’s Jewish background, he would have recalled the command God gave to the Israelite fathers before the nation entered the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 6, God said to teach God’s commandments "diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:7).

We teach as we go about our day and disciple as we experience the natural rhythms of life. Through the years with my children, I discipled them as I helped coach sports teams, taught them how to drive, and practiced ministry together on family mission trips and local mission projects. We must be intentional about becoming and making disciples every day.

I recently traveled back to Boone, NC, where I went to high school in the early 90s and first met Richard Miller. God refreshed my soul and my call to missions. God reminded me of the faithful witness of so many who invested in me as a teenager. I spent the night at the Millers’ home and reconnected with old friends. We went out to dinner, hung out at Richard’s house, went to church together, and prayed for each other after Sunday lunch.

All these years later, Richard is still sharing life and making everyday disciples. Who is God leading you to disciple? How can you incorporate discipleship into your everyday life? In what areas do you need to grow? How do your conversations urge others to live for God?

Piense en una persona influyente que lo ayudó a discipular. ¿Qué hizo que más le impactó? En mi caso, fue mi pastor de jóvenes, Richard Millar. Recuerdo el tiempo que pasábamos juntos en mi adolescencia. Jugábamos baloncesto y tenis, y compartía comidas con su familia. Como grupo de jóvenes, íbamos a campamentos, a viajes misioneros y nos reuníamos en la iglesia para crecer en la Palabra. Richard es un excelente maestro, pero lo que más recuerdo fue el tiempo que pasábamos juntos en nuestra relación. Practicaba el discipulado a diario.

Pablo, en 1 Tesalonicenses 2:8 dice: «así nosotros, por el cariño que les tenemos, nos deleitamos en compartir con ustedes no solo el evangelio de Dios, sino también nuestra vida. ¡Tanto llegamos a quererlos!».

¿Cómo practicamos el discipulado a diario? Nos preocupamos genuinamente por las personas. El discipulado a diario no se trata solo de compartir el evangelio, sino también nuestras vidas. Pablo se preocupaba genuinamente por las personas que lo rodeaban. Discipuló a otros como una madre cuidaría a su bebé recién nacido (1 Tes. 2:7).

Pablo consoló, amó y fue amable con los cristianos recién nacidos en Tesalónica. Escribió la carta de 1 Tesalonicenses a los nuevos creyentes que recientemente habían salido del paganismo y enfrentaban persecución. Contaban con poco apoyo externo porque Pablo, Silas y Timoteo estaban en Corinto. Pablo animó a los creyentes en su fe y les dio instrucciones sobre cómo vivir. Escribió sobre la esperanza del evangelio y la segunda venida de Cristo.

Pablo también discipuló como un padre espiritual (1 Tes. 2:11). Comparó su relación con los cristianos tesalonicenses con la de un padre y sus propios hijos. Así como un padre enseña y anima a sus hijos, Pablo instó y animó a los cristianos tesalonicenses a vivir de una manera que honrara a Dios y participara en su reino y gloria. Pablo dice: “Alentamos, consolamos e imploramos a cada uno de ustedes a que anduvieran como es digno de Dios” (1 Tes. 2:12). El discipulado diario es efectivo cuando se vive con intensidad. Instamos a otros a vivir para Dios. Los animamos a vivir vidas dignas y a ser apartados para Dios. Sabemos lo que sucede en la vida de las personas y oramos por ellas. Pasamos tiempo juntos.

Los creyentes de Tesalónica vieron un modelo piadoso en Pablo y sus compañeros, siendo “testigos de cuán santos, justos e irreprensibles fuimos entre ustedes” (1 Tes. 2:10). Estamos llamados a ser un ejemplo de santidad por el poder del Espíritu Santo en nuestro discipulado diario.

Al compartir la vida, invertimos en relaciones de discipulado que fomentan un crecimiento espiritual positivo. ¿Están creciendo en la fe los que usted discipula? ¿Ve evidencia de fruto espiritual? Ser un aprendiz de Jesús significa que crecemos en un carácter piadoso y tomamos decisiones sabias.

Practicamos el discipulado diario con nuestras familias. Con su origen judío, Pablo habría recordado el mandato que Dios dio a los padres israelitas antes de que la nación entrara en la Tierra Prometida. En Deuteronomio 6, Dios dijo que enseñaran sus mandamientos "y las repetirás a tus hijos, y hablarás de ellas estando en tu casa, y andando por el camino, y al acostarte, y cuando te levantes." (Deuteronomio 6:7).

Enseñamos a lo largo del día y discipulamos al experimentar los ritmos naturales de la vida. A lo largo de los años con mis hijos, los discipulé ayudando a entrenar equipos deportivos, enseñándoles a conducir y practicando el ministerio juntos en viajes misioneros familiares y proyectos misioneros locales. Debemos ser intencionales en convertirnos y hacer discípulos cada día.

Recientemente regresé a Boone, Carolina del Norte, donde fui a la escuela secundaria a principios de los 90 y conocí a Richard Miller. Dios refrescó mi alma y mi llamado a las misiones. Dios me recordó el fiel testimonio de tantos que invirtieron en mí durante mi adolescencia. Pasé la noche en casa de los Miller y me reencontré con viejos amigos. Salimos a cenar, pasamos un rato en casa de Richard, fuimos juntos a la iglesia y oramos el uno por el otro después del almuerzo del domingo.

Después de tantos años, Richard sigue compartiendo su vida y haciendo discípulos cada día. ¿A quién le está guiando Dios a discipular? ¿Cómo puede incorporar el discipulado en su vida diaria? ¿En qué áreas necesita crecer? ¿Cómo inspiran sus conversaciones a otros a vivir para Dios?