New Call: New City, New Church

Seventeen years ago I made a commitment to God. While sitting in a jail cell late at night I said: "God if you're real get me out of here and I'll do whatever you want." It was a Hail Mary, a last chance effort. Never did I imagine that commitment would involve being a pastor!

For the last almost 5 years I've had the privilege of serving at Central Peninsula Church. In 2012 we moved our family to the Bay Area to follow the call of Christ. It's been a great learning experience that added to the decade of pastoral experience I came here with.

When we moved here I was 32 and had mainly served with students. It was a big step for our family to move here. God has given me the joy of leading a team of leaders to impact our region. CPC has entrusted me to lead a staff team of people. Our Elders have worked with me to hone my preaching style and grow in communicating to adults. For a few years I was able lead the charge for the Global Leadership Summit here. There was a season of serving as our children's champion and helping create consistency on all three of our campuses. Mark invited me to travel with him to Rwanda and Cambodia. In addition to that, I've had the awesome opportunity to lead our Young Adults ministry.

When we moved here our kids had never been to school. Sophie was three and Leah was two. They both had their first day of preschool while living here. They both started Elementary school here. They both learned to ride bikes here. We also added Isaiah to our family. They all started snowboarding in Tahoe while living here. What a gift it's been to live here.

About six months ago my mentor called me and said: "Neal, I know a church in Ventura that would be a great fit for you. They're going to be looking for a new pastor soon." He knew I had been open to a new call on my life. So I began processing with my pastor and elders. I sought wisdom from my mentor and a close group of friends.

After a few interviews with the search team in Ventura they unanimously recommended me to the elders at this church. I met with the elders and they unanimously recommended me to the church. After a weekend visit I was offered the role when the church voted to call me as the Senior Pastor with a 98% affirmation!

A few weeks ago I enthusiastically accepted the call to serve at Coastline Bible Church in Ventura. This is a bittersweet decision. Charity and I are going to miss our Bay Area friends who have become family. But we're thrilled to follow God on this new adventure.

Our heart has always been for God to move us closer to family. In recent months my parents have had some health issues so this is great timing. This move puts us much closer to family and brings us back to our So Cal roots. The role is a Senior Pastor. I've always had a sense that one day God would call me to lead a church (I can share more on this one day). I'm stoked for this opportunity to lead Coastline in this next season.

My role will wrap up here at CPC on June 11. I invite you to come hear my last sermon. Later that day our church is throwing a party to celebrate what God has done here. Our daughters will finish school up here and then we'll move to Ventura.

Keep your eyes out as the next post here I will share three ways you can pray for CPC, the Benson family and Coastline in the upcoming weeks.

Cambodia Food

Last month I had a very unique opportunity to travel to Cambodia. My hope in this blog post is to share an overview of the food I experienced in Phnom Penh. Not only the food, but the ability to eat at restaurants that helped others out.

Let me start out by saying, “I love Asian food!” Asian is one of my favorite cuisines. Eating Khmer food was a new experience but a great one! The first night in Phnom Penh we went to the best Vietnamese place I’ve ever been to; I’m still thinking about the egg rolls they served! We did end up eating there another night while in the country.

If you are in Phnom Penh here are two places I would recommend to eat at. All of these locations can be found in Lonely Planet (get the kindle version to save on weight).

Friends

This location, near the river, on the north side, was our favorite place to eat. We found it after our first full day in the country. It serves tapas (not my favorite) but the food was savory. They had wonderful salads, meet, rice and great shakes!

The food wasn’t even the best part! They had junior servers who would assit the regular server. The junior servers were young adults/teens who had once lived a risky life and are now receiving on the job training. After you eat, walk next door and find some great souvenirs to bring home to your family.

Jars of Clay

Located near the Russian Market, same street just a block south. This location was my favorite lunch place. They had some great options and the staff was very friendly. When we walked into the restaurant my first thought was “this is small and not what we’re looking for.” Then a staff member said, “we have more seating upstairs.”

The upstairs is the place to sit. Its like a mix between a comfy living room and a great coffee shop that serves killer food! I really enjoyed all we had to eat there and wish we would have eaten lunch here everyday. My absolute favorite part, ok two favorite parts, about this restaurant are their love for Jesus Christ and the great little shop they have. 

They have a page, in their menu, dedicated to their story and how Christ is their hope. The store was a great place to get cute little dresses for my daughters; my only regret is not buying two more.

So if you're in Cambodia check these places out, eat good food and help others!