A 30-bed Christian Recovery Home for Men
By Amelia Hadley

For years, Jilberto Martinez and his wife were involved with Coachella valley gangs.
They were drug addicts who frequently committed crimes. Sitting in the Indio Jail for one of his many offenses, Jilberto left everything at the foot of the cross and asked Christ into his life. Instead of prison time, he was sentenced to a Christian recovery home for men.

Now a pastor at Victory Outreach, Jilberto is working to reach men encumbered with the same lifestyle he was rescued from years ago. A generous donor recently gifted Victory Outreach free use of a building in Thermal for one year. Pastor Martinez knew immediately what the Lord wanted him to do with the space.

“We’re opening a 30-bed Christian recovery home for men,” he explains excitedly. “They can stay there and get better for free.”

The building, located on Avenue 70, sat empty for some time. Vandals and squatters damaged much of the inside and outside of the building. This doesn’t deter Pastor Martinez from his vision to provide men with the same help he once received.

“This will bring about a whole new crop of souls for the Lord,” he said.

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Spiritual Strength Training: Challenges Can Make Our Faith Stronger
PALM DESERT — On November 3 Desert Springs Church will launch The Authors Series for 2010–2011 with nationally known speaker and author Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family. Jim’s personal journey from orphan to head of an international Christian organization dedicated to helping families thrive is a powerful story. Abandoned by his alcoholic father at age five, Daly lost his mother to cancer four years later – a wound deepened when his grieving stepfather emptied the family home and took off with almost everything while Daly, the youngest of five children, and his siblings were at their mother’s funeral.

Several tough years in foster care followed before Daly became a Christian in high school and found meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging.

“I am living proof,” he wrote in his 2007 autobiography, Finding Home, “that no matter how torn up the road has already been, or how pothole-infested it may look ahead –nothing is impossible for God.”

Daly is a 1984 graduate of California State University. He earned an MBA in International Business from Regis University in Denver and an honorary Doctor of Letters from Colorado Christian University in Denver. He assumed the presidency of Focus on the Family in 2005 after 16 years with the ministry.

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By Kirk Scott
As I write this article, teenagers from all over the Coachella Valley are in San Diego sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by taking over a coffee shop in the North Park neighborhood with music, testimonies, and one-on-one evangelism. Six weeks ago these young people started a new journey with Jesus by sacrificing most of their summer break to participate in the first LOV Youth “Identity Program” – a ministry of the Lighthouse of the Valley Movement.

This year’s program included 40 high school students from as far east as Mecca and Thermal and as far west as Palm Springs, with every city in between. They signed up to spend four hours a day, five days a week worshipping, praying, building authentic community and learning God’s Word. Not to mention the wilderness trip where the “Identity” students were literally stripped of their worldly identity – cells phones, iPods, makeup, cosmetics, brushes, deodorant, food, extra clothing and many other comforts were all taken from them – in favor of three days of drawing near to God. 

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(Indio, California—June 3, 2010) – Registration is now open for Martha's Village & Kitchen’s fun-filled 5K (3.1 miles) Run/Walk Fundraiser! Complete details at www.mvkthanksgivingrun.org.
Where?   NEW LOCATION! Palm Desert Civic Center Park
43900 San Pablo Ave
Palm Desert, CA 92260
When?     Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2010 
Times?    6:30 a.m.: Registration, number/t-shirt pick up and continental breakfast
8:00 a.m.: Start for competitive runners
8:15 a.m.: Start for noncompetitive participants
Cost?    Now until 11/5: $28/adult and $15/child (Ages 6-12)  
After 11/5 and on Event Day: $35/adult and $20/child
Children Age 5 & under are free
No credit cards accepted on event day for registration

Before the event & avoid standing in the long Event Day registration line :
Online with a credit card at www.mvkthanksgivingrun.org, click the Register Now button OR
Adults can register for themselves and their families with a credit card by calling 760-347-4741 x 316 OR
Register and pick up race number/t-shirt with cash, check or credit card:
Sat. Nov. 20, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Palm Springs High School Parking Lot
Wed. Nov. 17 and 24, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m., Martha’s Village,
83791 Date Ave., Indio
You can also register the day of the event with cash or check.

www.marthasvillage.org

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