In May 2006, Chuck Rheam was driving through San Miguel Ranch, a sprawling new housing development in Chula Vista, when God spoke to him:

 

"Chuck, what don't you see?"

 

Rheam, who at the time was executive pastor of Midway Baptist Church in San Diego, had been marveling at what he was seeing: thousands of homes under construction. He had to drive around some more before he realized what he wasn't seeing.

 

He didn't see a church.

 

"Here were thousands of homes being built, and thousands more slated to be built, and there was absolutely no church of any kind whatsoever," says Chuck. "I said to myself, 'This field is truly white unto harvest.'"

 

Five months later, he and a team of 20 adults from Midway Baptist Church began praying and working toward launching a church for that burgeoning community. San Miguel Community Church was born on Dec. 24 with 119 in attendance.

 

"From there, God has just been blessing," Chuck says. "One kid, who had been strung out on drugs, got saved and his life has been turned around. Another gentleman, who had just gotten out of prison, accepted Christ and his whole family has been saved. God is bringing families back together. We just baptized 12 people and we have seven more signed up for the next baptism service!"

 

SMCC's strategy is to serve as the community center for the entire development.

 

"We would like for anything that goes on in San Miguel Ranch to happen at the church," Chuck says. "Whether it's youth sport leagues or self-defense classes or parenting seminars, we want to build a bridge to families. We will do things community centers do, but we will have God's love to share once that bridge is built."

 

Chuck's team started building that bridge before the church held its first service. They hoped a "Breakfast with Santa" event - featuring 10 tons of trucked-in snow - would draw as many as 100 people.

 

More than 800 showed up.

 

"It was incredible," Chuck says. "It really let us know that this community is about family and family events."

 

The church plans to build on that foundation with family movie nights, a winter youth basketball league, a spring soccer league and a one-day marriage conference. And they aren't content just to grow a church in San Miguel Ranch. They already have identified four other communities where they intend to start churches in the next 10 years.

 

"We want to be a church that serves our community and also a church that plants other churches," Chuck says.

 

A multi-cultural area of young families with a median household income between $85,000 and $90,000, San Miguel Ranch is a place where people searchfor satisfaction in money, possessions and status, Chuck says.

 

"They are thirsty for fulfillment and they aren't finding it," he says. "They think they don't need God, but our desire is to bring them to the Living Water so they can finally find what they have been looking for."

 

This year's California Missions Offering - under the theme "Bright Hope for Dark Days" - earmarks $184,000 for starting congregations. The offering will help a church like SMCC realize its dream of becoming a community landmark where everyone feels welcome and finds God's love for both their physical and spiritual needs. 

"Please pray for a continued vision and passion for reaching unchurched people here," Chuck says. "We want to serve our community, whether that be providing events or sweeping the gutters. We want to introduce them to our incredible God."