Evangelical Covenant Church

New Pathways for the Westlinds

 

Saying Goodbye to California

What a joy and blessing it is to be part of God’s family, no matter where we are or where it leads! Aly and I have had 5 ½ years of re-connecting with friends and family and making new friends while I served as Missions Pastor at Centerville Presbyterian Church in Fremont, California. As we loaded our 26 foot truck bound for Chicago, we experienced firsthand this wonderful community of friends as they worked, supported, encouraged and prayed for us at every turn….we never would have made it out and across country had it not been for the generous giving by so many of you! MUCHAS GRACIAS!

The Epic Journey

We headed out from Fremont, CA to Chicago, Ill with the truck and a car trailer with the good ‘ole 1965 Galaxie 500 aboard. We also had Aly and our good friend Cynthia zipping along in the chase vehicle! We elected to take the old Route 66 due to winter weather, but could not escape the snow no matter how hard we tried. The journey was an epic adventure because the truck broke down one, two (count ‘em) three, four times! We had some slick times in the mountains in New Mexico. It was incredible how we were escorted on angel’s wings throughout the whole trip. My faithful dog, Gaucho rode shotgun in the cab and helped me back the truck and trailer (some 60 feet long) in a perfect line at truck stops. (see our facebook for pictures!) I did have one moment, getting stuck in a hotel parking lot with low overhead clearance and no room to turn around. The Lord was good on that midnight evening as well when a truck driver came out and walked me through the entire 40 minute process: another of God’s angels. We arrived into Chicago at midnight, 12/ 7, and our unloading was accomplished in a winter storm that was the precursor of one of the biggest storms in two decades! We have had over 2 feet of snow with temperatures of 20 below - wind chill factors pushing us to 45 and 50 below! Incredibly, it has been a wonderful adventure…

Our New Call

Aly and I are now faith based missionaries with an organization called ReWire. This group is a subdivision of the parent organization called Church Resource Ministries (CRM). We do consulting work with churches and faith communities to transform (rewire, if you will) by giving classes/seminars that point communities toward the missional life style and transforming the church from the inside out. The desire is for individuals and churches to have Kingdom impact by having; Love for the least, Passion for the lost, and Hope for the forgotten. Aly and Mark’s particular contribution will be preparing, leading, and debriefing teams that will travel overseas and to selected urban areas within the USA. We offer curriculum in missional living and spiritual formation, structural development to empower mission, and expertise in hands-on mission endeavors. Our group is called Pathways and we are based out of Chicago.

We have both been blessed by your support of us as foreign missionaries in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Argentina throughout many years. This new adventure is definitely a faith step for us. We have always known that there is no better place than in the center of God’s will, so we must follow wherever He leads us. If any of you should feel moved to join us on any of our trips, or if you would like us to visit your church, please contact us. If some of you are moved to support us financially…we gladly and gratefully receive that as well, since all of our support now comes solely from donations. You can donate to the Westlinds through CRM using acct #9849 Westlind in the memo line. Here are a variety of contact sources for us which will give you more information. You may email us or write to us at the address below.

 

1- CRM Empowering Leaders (ReWire is a ministry of Church Resource Ministries)

    www.crmrewire.org

    Church Resource Ministries (CRM)

    1240 Lakeview Ave. Suite 120

    Anaheim, Calif 92807

    (memo line: #9849 Westlind)

2- Westlinds website. www.westlindsontheweb.com

3- Facebook. Key in a friend request to Mark Westlind

4- Westlinds Chicago address.

    Rev. Mark & Aly Westlind 5449 North Christiana Ave Chicago, Illinois 60625

5- Westlinds email addresses. (Mark) mmgawah@gmail.com (Alice) amfwestlind@gmail.com

Thanks so much for all of your support. We look forward to sharing more of the incredible stories of God’s provision and mercy in all of our lives.

Yours in seeing real change happen as mission is ignited in our communities!

Mark and Aly Westlind

Happy New Year from our family. We are eagerly awaiting your reply! We would love you to become part of our newest support team!