Thank you Brian and Chandra!

So the news has reached El Salvador that Brian and Chandra will be leaving Copperhill to follow where God is calling them in Kentucky.  As they leave, I want to be one of the first to offer my thanks and appreciation for their faithful ministry over the years.  I have known Brian for over ten years, and I can truly say that in that time he has impacted my life tremendously as a pastor and a friend.  Chandra has always been a source of encouragement and dignity as she has faithfully sought Christ and loved others.  As a pastor, I understand the difficulties leadership in ministry can place upon a family, and I have watched the Howards handle this by drawing close to Jesus and to each other.  They have been examples to Dara and me as we’ve faced our own obstacles in ministry.  Pastoring can be a lonely venture, and most of the rewards won’t come until we reach heaven.  But Brian, I want to publicly thank you for the following...

• Thank you for leading the small group at Beach Cities that introduced us to friends we still have today.
• Thank you for leaving the security of your position in Orange County (not to mention the weather) to plant a church in a school in Valencia.
• Thank you for inviting us in to your family’s life as friends, not just as church goers.
• Thank you for spending countless hours in coffee shops, sushi bars, and omelet parlors listening to me, challenging me, debating me, but still supporting me.  
• Thank you for being a “wall scraper,” keeping your eye out for those on the fringes.  You have always had a heart for those who don’t always “fit in.”
• Thank you for your heart for God’s word, and for your passionate heart to teach what the Bible says, not what you want it to say.  
• Thank you for equipping me to study God’s word.  I remember our first men’s leadership meetings at Copperhill.  Your main concern was that we knew God’s word, and led the church accordingly.  Thank you for all the books, resources, and time you invested in me that now is bearing fruit in those I teach in my own church.
• Thank you for showing up and praying for me when I had knee surgery.
• Thank you (and Chandra of course) for organizing meals for us when Hannah and Kaya were born.  
• Thank you for walking alongside me through our decision to move to El Salvador.
• Thank you for rallying behind us financially to send us out.
• Thank you for coming to El Salvador, dodging a hurricane, volcanic eruption, mudslides, and an earthquake.  You can’t imagine what a support that was.  
• Thank you for calling the church to prayer the night I was shot.
• Thank you for covering us during that crisis, flying us home, and making sure we were cared for.   
• Thank you for not giving up in the face of adversity.  
• Thank you for loving your wife and kids, giving us all an example of health inside a ministry family.
• Thank you for loving my kids.
• Thank you for all the ways you have served our community, most that few see.
• Most of all, thank you for loving Jesus, and for allowing your heart to stay open even when it feels like shutting down.

I could continue, but I will end by simply repeating the words... Thank You Brian and Chandra!  Dara and I pray that you will be encouraged to know that your lives have born fruit, and that God is with you as He moves you to Kentucky.  You are loved!

From El Salvador,

Pete DeSoto