“…When I stand in the Food Pantry, I know He’s there. I know that I’m doing the work that He asks of us.”

Kaleena and her family got connected with Mariners Huntington Beach coming out of the pandemic, and they were so excited to be a part of a thriving church community in their city. During one Outreach Weekend, Kaleena took a step of faith and started serving in the Food Pantry location at her congregation. 

Shortly after, her husband took a pay cut that left them in a place of food insecurity. The Food Pantry became more than a place Kaleena served, it became a source of God’s provision and care for her personally. 

Watch Kaleena’s story of blessing her community and trusting Jesus in all circumstances!

“Without God, none of this is possible in the first place…We pray over each other every day. It’s a complete turnaround.”

After having their first son, Peter and Cathy’s marriage faced unexpected challenges, and over the next 15 years, they slowly stopped nurturing their relationship. Eventually, both Peter and Cathy reached a point where they knew something needed to change.

Through Mariners, Peter and Cathy got involved with a program called Relationship Lifeline. They realized that transformation was only possible through God, and together they began to take their first steps toward healing their marriage.

Watch and see how God transformed Peter & Cathy’s marriage and drew each of them closer to Him!

“Now, Jesus is the person and the only reason that I am where I am right now, and the reason that I got through all the trials that I’ve been faced with.”

At first, Matt was hesitant to join a Life Group, unsure if it was the right fit for him. But three weeks into his freshman year of high school, he decided to give it a try and discovered a genuine sense of community. That year in a service, he made the decision to stand and say “I Believe,” putting his faith in Jesus.

After his best friend passed away in his sophomore year, Matt struggled with doubt. He distanced himself from God and the church and stopped attending Life Group. His mom, Kevyn, turned to his Life Group leaders for support, and through their care and his community, Matt grew deeper in his faith, learning to rely on Jesus’ perfect comfort and peace.

Watch and see how God used this Life Group community to help draw Matt closer to Him, even through life’s trials.

“Prayer pulled me through. God saved me, physically saved me…and He saved me spiritually as well.”

Prayer was never a priority in Mark’s life, and in his adult years, he turned his back on God and the church. Five years ago, Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While he was in the hospital, he was visited by his friends who attended Mariners, and they prayed over him. Mark began praying on his own, wresting with guilt at first after living without God for so long. But the more he prayed, the more God opened his heart.

Wanting to go deeper in his walk with God, Mark visited Mariners for the first time and experienced a complete sense of welcome and belonging. He decided to put his trust in Jesus and declare his faith through baptism. At the same time, God was working a miraculous healing in Mark’s medical journey.

Watch and see how God used prayer to transform Mark’s life spiritually and physically!

“I think people worry about this next generation and about our youth, but I look at these girls every week and I have faith that God is on the move…“

When Jenn signed up to go on a Faith Adventure to Israel, she was excited to deepen her relationship with God and hear from Him personally. On the trip, her faith grew and she also bonded with a group of high school girls from Mariners. When she got home, she felt called by God to begin serving with the Mariners High School Ministry (HSM).

Jenn stepped in as a Life Group leader and got the opportunity to lead the same girls she met on her Faith Adventure! She thanked God for the chance to pour into their lives and see Jesus work through them in incredible ways.

Click the video to see how Jenn is making a lasting impact on the next generation and living her purpose!

“If you’re going to surrender, surrender fully…I’ve chosen to dedicate my life, my finances, my energy, all to Jesus.”

For much of Justin’s life, he felt like his relationship with Jesus was transactional. He would pray and pursue Jesus when life was difficult, but wouldn’t surrender to God in the same way when life was good. Especially with his finances, Justin struggled to give up control and put God first.

When Justin joined Rooted, he didn’t know what to expect. But as he began to study God’s Word each week, he felt God convicting him about his relationship with money. Rather than holding tightly on to what he had been given, Justin reoriented his heart and surrendered every part of his life to God.

Watch and see how God used generous giving to transform Justin’s view of his finances and his relationship with God!

“Decades and decades of pain, of trauma, of resentment—they were replaced by absolute love for God, for people, for seeing every single individual as an image-bearer of God.”

Growing up, Michael had a difficult childhood. After years of escalating abuse from his mother, Michael fled with his dad and brother to Egypt, where his father was born. At only eight years old, he experienced a total culture shock, unable to speak the language and not fully understanding what was happening. He was alone and afraid, feeling like God had abandoned him.

When Michael’s family moved to the United States two years later, he put his faith in Jesus but still struggled with trauma and negative feelings toward Egypt. While attending Mariners, he heard God calling him to return to Egypt on a Faith Adventure. Despite his pain, he listened to God’s voice and signed up to go.

Watch and see how Michael experienced God’s healing through his experience with his global Church family!

“I originally thought, ‘What’s the point of giving, when I’m not giving that much?’…But God was really working in my heart…”

Money had always been a stressor in Lily’s family growing up, and as a result, Lily held tightly to her finances. After Lily graduated college and didn’t get a full-time job as she had expected, she worried about her future. She had pictured starting to give to her church once she had a full-time job—but even at her part-time job, she felt God calling her to surrender her finances to Him. Placing her trust in God, Lily began to give sacrificially and generously.

Watch and see how God used Lily’s courageous step to transform her heart and view of money!

“For me, prior to being born again as a Christian, Easter was really just another holiday. But now it’s the day that I celebrate Jesus bringing me from death to life.”

Growing up, Max had limited experience with Christianity and didn’t have a personal faith. Even though he worked a successful career and had financial stability, he felt empty and unhappy. On a biking trip in Vietnam, Max stepped away from his day-to-day routine and began to reflect on the materialistic life he had been pursuing. When a friend invited him to Mariners, Max decided to go.

During his first weekend service, Max experienced God in a personal way and decided to put his faith in Jesus. He got baptized on Easter, went through Rooted to discover more about his faith, and started volunteering in the junior high ministry. Where he had once been directionless and lost, Max found fresh purpose and felt the transforming love of Jesus.

Watch and see how Jesus changed Max’s life and brought him from death to life!

“I’m a child of God and that’s the only thing that really matters. That’s the true label—the only thing I really need.”

Brooke was single and felt isolated, struggling to find friends and feeling stuck in a cycle of work and home life. In 2017, she realized she needed Jesus in her life, and she got plugged into community at Mariners. Two years later, she found out she was adopted. She put her dating life on hold and began to focus on learning more about how God saw her.

Around that same time, she was at church and heard the truth that she was adopted into God’s family—she was a child of God, and her identity was in Christ. She got very involved in the Care & Recovery program at Mariners, experiencing a new joy in life, in building relationships with her friends, and in serving others.

Watch and see how Brooke found joy and hope through her identity as a loved child of God!