Called to Purpose

Bruce Shanahan is no stranger to hospitality. He regularly serves as an usher at Saddleback Aliso Viejo. He and his wife Cristi also serve as hosts for a couples small group that meets on Friday evenings. Last month, when Saddleback needed members to host pastors attending the Purpose Driven Conference, Bruce and Cristi didn’t hesitate to sign up. Little did they know how powerful their act of service would be.

Over 30 countries were represented among the pastors that attended the Purpose Driven Conference, and Bruce and his wife had the privilege to host not one, but two pastors from outside of the United States. Their guests: Reuben and Benjamin Samberio, two brothers who pastor a church together in community near Mexico City.

“We initially didn’t know they were brothers. That wasn’t made aware to us until they first showed up at our house,” Bruce said.

When Reuben and Benjamin arrived, they were incredibly excited about the conference. They shared with Bruce about how they had began their church as an off-shoot of a larger church in Mexico City, with the goal of reaching an impoverished community in need of hope. The church is now housed in a three story building after it began with very limited resources.

Leading their church wasn’t the only occupation for Reuben and Benjamin. Reuben worked as an architect in the Mexico City area, while Benjamin made a living as a musician.

The first morning of the conference, Reuben and Benjamin woke up bright and early to head over to the Lake Forest Campus from Aliso Viejo. After a full day of learning, Reuben and Benjamin returned to Bruce’s home overjoyed from Pastor Rick’s teaching. Reuben told Bruce that he felt God had significant plans for him and Benjamin in the near future.

“We stayed up late every night and had some really great discussions. We usually wouldn’t go to bed until about midnight or 1:00 in the morning,” Bruce said.

Then, after the second day of the conference, something extraordinary happened. Reuben approached Bruce to tell him some big news. Reuben said that during the previous night, he had woken up and prayed for several hours. He and Benjamin had concluded that God was calling them to abandon their jobs and become full-time pastors at their church, leading it down a Purpose Driven route.

“It was incredible to hear that something so wonderful had come out of the conference. When people travel this far, you hope something great will happen to them, and it did,” Bruce said.

When the conference came to an end two days later and the brothers returned to Mexico, Bruce felt encouraged after seeing the work that God did in their lives, but he was so touched by their story that he wanted to continue serving them and their church.

“They showed us pictures of their church, including a few of their children’s ministry, and the kids all looked so happy. It was truly remarkable what they had already accomplished, and my wife and I felt that we should continue to assist them in any way possible,” Bruce said.

The same weekend, Bruce talked to pastor Dan Siems at the Aliso Viejo campus about his experience hosting Reuben and Benjamin and how he wanted to do more for them. Dan recommended that he should consider leading a PEACE trip to Mexico to help the church in fulfilling its mission. Bruce and Cristi are now planning to take their small group down to the church with the focus of helping Reuben and Benjamin expand their church’s volunteer base.

“Reuben and Benjamin had talked about how they wanted to expand their church, and one of the biggest things that has helped our Aliso Viejo campus expand is a strong core of about 25 to 30 volunteers. If we can help the two build the same core at their church, they will have the foundation they need to do even more great things.”

Bruce and Cristi’s action of opening up his home to two men he had never met before seemed like a simple gesture of hospitality, but God used it to work in all their lives. It is often the smallest things that God can use to make the greatest impact on others, and the experience that Bruce, Cristi, Reuben and Benjamin shared was just one of such instances that happens everywhere every day.

Click HERE if you’d like to learn how to get involved serving local churches through a PEACE trip.