Jessica and Luke Chambers are a relatively new part of Community Church of the Santa Ynez Valley, but they have been long time residents of the Santa Ynez area.

Luke has lived in the Valley for most of his life since the 8^th grade. He grew up in a Christian environment with his two brothers and a sister, but he strayed a bit during the often difficult teen years. When he found himself in his twenties engaged to a single mom with 2 daughters, he began to realize that the girls’ school and friends had more time to influence them than he and his fiancé had. He returned to church with the girls and their mom. When the relationship ended, he continued on in the pursuit of growth in Christ.
 

Jessica moved to the area in 1992 from Northern CA with her mom. Just as Luke did, she grew up going to church and attending Christian schools as the family moved frequently. Her mom and dad were believers but, like Luke, Jessica began to wander away in her teenage years. She met Luke at age 21 at The Maverick Saloon. Jessica laughs when she tells the story because she didn’t really want to go there that night but she wanted to spend time with a friend who wanted to go there. It took one look at Luke through the open doors for her to think that it might not be a wasted evening! Luke was a godly man and she was drawn to him and his faith. She quit one of her jobs in order to have Sundays off to go to church with him because church was such a big part of his life. The Lord brought Jessica and Luke together and this month they will celebrate 13 years of marriage!

Jessica has worked at Edelweiss in Solvang for many years.Luke took a job recently with the Alisal Guest Ranch landscaping dept. On the side, he is building the couple’s own landscaping business which deals mainly in concrete landscape borders, a new concept on the west coast but in the midwest, a popular replacement to bender board for separating landscape material.
 

The Chambers attended the Foursquare Church in Santa Ynez until recently when the Lord moved them to Community Church. Before Angie Shelly and Bo were married, Jessica worked with Angie at Ingeborgs Chocolates in Solvang, where they became friends. When the Chambers felt the Lord leading them out of their home church which they had been a part of for so many years, Jessica asked Angie to pray for them. Angie suggested that Luke and Jessica visit Community Church of the Santa Ynez Valley and when they did, they found their new church home. Jessica is enjoying rekindling her friendship with Angie and getting to know Bo and their wonderful children, Luke and April.
 

With all the little trials and tribulations that they have gone through over the years, Psalm 46 has ministered to Jessica. "Be still and know that I am God." When the couple was enduring trials and financial struggles, Jessica would pray and Psalm 46 would pop into her head but she couldn’t see how the verse pertained to

her life until one day when she was asked to speak before a youth group. She shared the Psalm and while she was reading, she began to weep because she realized that God was speaking to her: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." Whenever she feels stressed now and things are coming against them, she goes back this Psalm and remembers: "God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at

break of day."

As for Luke, there are two verses that he always goes to. Isaiah 58 talks of the sacrifice of the fast. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" This verse reminds Luke of how the church served one another in service and sacrifice. Acts 2 talks about how the early church walked in unity and people could look in from the outside and see that something was different in how these people cared for and provided for one another. Tey didn’t count themselves above one another, and the church grew: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with

glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord   added to their number daily those who were being saved."
 

Jessica and Luke are thankful to the Lord that things are turning around for them, that they can pay their bills and keep a roof over their head. In God, they have everything they need.