Welcome back. You belong here.

Well, we’re moving back to Long Beach, CA next week. We’ve lived here in Denver, CO for three years and although it’s been good, we feel we’re supposed to be in CA.

Our theology of location says Long Beach, CA. It’s the city where I grew up and much of our ministry lives have been spent. The city continues (as many others) to grow both in need and in opportunities. Most of all, we have many connections there and God is leading us back. We also love our families and are thankful to be close to them again.

We have no jobs, no long term place to stay, we have some options, but nothing solid. Teaching jobs (my wife teaches) are non-existent and for me, I’m not sure where I’ll work or when. Home Depot? Outreach director? Engineering? Not a clue…

My passions are two:
1. Start our own church which we will call a Neighbors Abbey, which will be committed to neighborhood development, formation and simple community
2. Music – to play my own music around town, form a band and keep recording. I also love mentoring young artists. We’ve thought about opening a music production business similar to this one and this one somewhere in downtown Long Beach for children and youth not just inner city but for all youth.

My wife’s passion is teaching and to do outreach to the children during after school programs. We are a great team, and we value the same things from different angles but ending in the same place. Did I mention we are a great team and madly in love with each other? Our children will attend a dual language school in Long Beach. Canela (12) wants to study writing at UCLA and be an author.

My ideal job would be to do outreach at a small local faith community, serve neighborhood schools, the poor, the immigrant, while developing relationships with people not connected to God and eventually developing a simple faith community around them called Neighbors Abbey.

There are many faith communities with this vision in mind, including the original Neighbors Abbey in Atlanta with my friend Troy. See more of Troy’s work here.

My wife would love to teach 1st-5th grade in a neighborhood school near where we live, where she can teach inner city children and help them through after school programs both academically and spiritually.

We want to live in the neighborhood where we will serve.

All of these things, we’ve been doing and preparing for intentionally for the past 3 years and in many ways for the past 10.

Want to join us?