Exodus 13:21-22 says ²¹ The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. ²² He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

It’s hard to believe we have almost been here in Southern California for two months now.  A week in a hotel, a week without furniture and now unpacked and ready to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have not had any fire or clouds leading us, but we praise the Lord that He goes before us and His Spirit indwells within us and His word directs us. 

Menifee is a great place to live.  There many many families in this new city and lots to keep them busy.  There is a great deal of sports related activities going on along everyday with all kinds of shopping and restaurants available. Our plans are to love this community and reach them one person at a time with the grace and forgiveness of God that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

Since Christmas, we have been taking cookies to neighbors one at a time along with reaching out to our local fire department who serve our community day and night and are just a mile away.  Our prayer is that God will soon provide ways to minister to each of them.  We also are ready to start sharing with the community that we are here and we have begun this goal through prayer walking and asking God to open their eyes and ears and hearts so that they will be receptive to our invitation to come and worship with us and to receive the gospel message of Jesus Christ.   So what do we need and how can you pray for us?

1.       Pray that God’s spirit will work in the city of Menifee and many hearts will be ready for the gospel.

2.       Pray that God will bring some families alongside us who will take on our vision of getting Jesus, growing and going out into our community.

3.       Pray for God to bring those to serve our church through music and worship.

4.       Pray for me as I have a vision casting meeting at Immanuel Baptist church (our parent church) this Thursday from 9-11am pst.  This meeting will be with local churches along with several churches out of state that will hear about our vision and be given the opportunity to help us through prayer, people and financial provision.  This meeting is very important as I still need to raise 40% of my salary and will make up for support that we thought we had.  By having my salary raised, our goal then will be raising money for outreach which is our goal of ministry in Menifee.

5.      Pray for our Shawna and our children as they are now in school again and will soon be attempting to find a home school co-op and sport related activities to be part of.  I also would love to assist coach with my children which again will be an open door for ministry.

Norman’s needed item list for office

·         Laptop

·         Printer/scanner/copier

We want to thank each of you for your prayers and support and will send updates every chance we get.

Blessing to each of you.

Daniel Norman

City on a Hill Church

Getting Settled in Menifee

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Well, after a week in a hotel and almost a week in our house without furniture, as of late Saturday night we are now unpacking and getting settled in.  Through it all we praise God for His faithful provision.

We are finally getting use to the time change which is such a blessing because we don't know what to do with children that all get up at 4am.  It makes it a very long day!!!

I praise God already for the opportunities we have had to share about Jesus with those related to our moving in and getting all the utilities turned on in our new home.  I also praise the Lord for providing us with a new neighborhood full of children.  Our prayer is that we get to know these children and their families and look for opportunities to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.  

Some prayer requests for this month are...

1. Financial provision for our family in the months ahead as we still need 1900.00 monthly from churches for total support.
2. Peace and Patience while adjusting to our new city, people, climate, etc.
3. Grace for the children as they adjust from losing lots of friends at church and seminary housing to a more structured time with others.
4. Guidance as we prepare for school again and getting everything completed that the state requires.
5. Provision of needed furniture for our living room along with a needed computer and equipment for church office.  

The next days, weeks and months will be challenging, but we praise God that He is with us always and remains faithful. 

Blessings from the Normans

Let the packing begin!!!

Proverbs 16:9 says "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

After committing ourselves to moving to Menifee, CA and planting a church we made up our plan to move.  Our goal was to be there by October 1st, but God's plan is for us to move and be there on November 16th.  We still do not have a place to live which is a prayer request at the top of our list.  We will be staying in an extended stay hotel and will be hitting the freeways and streets to find us a home as quickly as possible.  Homes are renting out faster than we can apply to rent them over the phone and so we have come to realize that we will have to be there in person to find a home for our family.  The next few weeks we will be packing, making visits to friends and saying our good byes.  Another prayer request I would like to add would be for some added support for our transition as we are still short financially to get all of this done.  We look forward to sending out our first official newsletter as soon as we get moved in and settled in Menifee.  Thank you for your prayers and support for us during this exciting transition to Menifee.

By His Grace
Daniel Norman

Waiting on God

I currently have been praying over Psalm 37 which many times in my life has given me peace. The Bible says...

Psalms 37:3-7

(3)  Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

(4)  Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

(5)  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

(6)  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.

(7)  Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

It’s easy to say at times that we trust in the Lord, but then as humans we run off trying to control the situation ourselves instead of doing good before the Lord which simply means being still and letting God work and not acting crazy. 

Keeping our minds on the Lord is also so important because when we do that we are allowing ourselves to delight in God and to rest in His presence.  If we are delighting ourselves in Him, God promises to give us the desires of our hearts which truly is His heart being lived out through our lives with our given personalities, talents and gifts (spiritual and physical).

As we continue to commit our mission to Menifee, we continue to wait on God's timing and provision for us to go.  God has been so faithful and has opened so many doors for us this past year that we must faithfully continue to wait and trust in Him.

I praise the Lord Jesus Christ who is our good shepherd and as we hear His voice, we follow and wait until He tells us to move forward.

My first prayer is that you continue to pray for us and pray that God will speak to hearts and move people and churches to help us with this new ministry before us. Our current need is still 3000.00 to get moved to Menifee, CA.

My second prayer is that you also will allow God’s word to comfort and direct you in your life because He is faithful and His word is truth.

By His Grace

Daniel Norman 

View of Menifee, California

Praise!

The Lord has really blessed and we have had another supporter commit to $280/month, so our monthly giving has been raised to $1200/month for the amount we had to raise outside of the churches supporting us.

Regarding moving there hopefully in 6 weeks, we've done a lot of estimates and we have found that it is closer to $5200 to move, trying to get the cost down as much as possible.  We have one church plant giving $500 toward that and our home church here taking an offering next month which will go toward that.  We are putting all we can toward it and then the giving of one time gifts also.  Thank you for all your prayers, we look forward to seeing God do great things!  It's been amazing to see the great support and love already for the foundation of this church.  Our goal is God glorified and known to all the nations, starting with ours.  :)

Again, the previous newsletter shows more info. and prayer needs/praises.  Thank you for being on mission to Menifee, Cal.!

September Newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners and Financial Partners,

Welcome to our new blog called City Hill Connection that will connect us monthly in updates and prayer.  Thank you so much for praying for our church plant the past 2 months.  We have been in the preparation phase as most of you know since April of this year.  Below is a praise report and prayer need report for this month.  Please feel free copy these and pass them out to your Sunday school classes, Bible study groups, and mission ministries to join us in prayer.  :)

We look forward to the great and awesome ways that God will work in Menifee, California!  

PRAISES:

1.   We have reached our goal in raising our monthly financial support for the church plant!  We were to come up with $750- $1,000/month on our own and we've raised $900/month.  The other main supporters make up all the rest which include NAMB, Immanuel Baptist Church of Highland/California, First Baptist Woodstock Georgia, The Inland Empire Baptist Association of California. 

2.   We have our new church logo made and prayer cards ready to have made to send out when ready.  

3.   We have sold many items including Daniel's car and furniture, still in the process of the remaining items.

PRAYER NEEDS:

1.   We need to raise our remaining financial support for the move across country to Menifee, California.  The total amount is $6,000.  All one time gifts will be given toward this to the Inland Empire.  Anyone wanting to give one time instead of monthly could give toward this and it would be a great blessing.  Below is the address to give all contributions until we are incorporated as a church.  We will have constant needs through the year as a church for special outreach events that people can give to as well.  Every donation will just go toward the church plant. 

                       Inland Empire Southern Baptist Association (IEBSA)

                       6857  Indiana Ave.

                       Riverside, Ca. 92506     (phone 951-784-2655)

                    **Leave memo stating "For City on a Hill Church" 

2.   Pray for us in finding a home to rent in the area of Menifee.  Please pray for all the moving details and wisdom with each decision as well as our adjustment.

3.   Prayer for REVIVAL in Menifee, California.  There is not one Baptist church in Menifee with over 70,000 people currently living there and they project that to double in the next 10 years.  Pray that many would be saved and reached and ministered to by City Hill.

4.   Pray for others to come along side us in serving there.  We are praying for some solid Christians to help with music, setting up, prayer, events.  

5.  Our family to have great compassion for the lost there.  That we would be great servants in ministering to needs and families/individuals.  Prayer for us to be strong and healthy spiritually, physically, and emotionally.  We realize the demands and ask you pray strongly on our behalf for much strength and excitement.

Our current goal to move is around November 1st. at the earliest.  Thank you for joining us in missions on the other side of the U.S. 

Love and Joy to each of you!

Shawna Norman
SEE NEW PRAYER CARD BELOW.  :)