A Military Christmas

by Harriet Guda | December 4, 2017

Rich Mendez is the Rock Church Military Ministry Leader and has long been a force for the greater good. He served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years and then worked in the Defense Industry. He has attended Rock Church for four years and then became the military ministry leader in June of this year.

Starting out fresh with this outreach ministry, Rich thought it would be great to reach out to the military in San Diego and Faith-based ministries that serve the military. He contacted Campus Crusade for Christ and found that they participate in Chapel on Sundays at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Up to 1200 recruits attend Chapel and on one Sunday, 70 out of 278 recruits raised their hands to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and for 12 weeks these recruits are being exposed to and are learning the word of God. 

“With Christmas coming, we have an outreach event called, “Home for The Holidays” and our goal is to recruit 100 Rock Church families to host a military service member for Christmas dinner. We want this service member to feel welcome and comfortable and to experience how a wholesome Christian family enjoys Christmas”, says Mendez.

A recent example of serving the military in San Diego was at MCAS Miramar. They helped in supplying $2500 worth of Commissary, the on-base grocery store, gift cards, which provided Thanksgiving Day food baskets to over 100 young Marines and their families.

Military families are also invited to attend this year’s annual “Toys for Joy” outreach event being held on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at four locations throughout San Diego County. 

Leading this ministry has been a natural progression for Rich, growing up in a patriotic family and now being a military retiree. He just wants our local military service members to know that they are appreciated by sharing the love of God with them.

You can find them on The Rock Church website under Outreach Ministries and on Facebook as “Rock Military Ministry”.

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