Led by John & Jeanette Jensen. John & Jeanette spoke of their experience creating a new VdC secretariat in Las Vegas, NV. Their inspiration was that God created the VdC ministry with the Holy Spirit working through men and women like us. The timeframe for them was in 1997. They moved from NY to Bakersfield, CA and became active with a Cursillo movement there and worked several 3-day weekends. In 2001 they moved to Las Vegas and saw there was no active VdC there. They met several people at Community Lutheran Church and invited 6 of them to go to Bakersfield to attend a VdC weekend. After completing lots of paperwork with the help from the National Secretariat, they set up a new secretariat. Southern California/Central Valley continued to help with seed money and sent people to serve. On weekend #7 there were enough people in Las Vegas to conduct a weekend on their own. An important factor to keep in mind is the location of the new secretariat and the proximity to potential pilgrims and team members. Another is to have the support of local pastors. God led them through the entire process. The scripture that sustained them was Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Reported by Shirley Lizotte.
