Being a Blessing to Others Led to Receiving Blessings

The Lord has put a passion and hunger in my heart to reach our community. We believe that we want to help those people that others reject. We have a statement that goes “From Useless to Useful.” It’s in the book of Philemon. That we want to help and reach out to those that-that sometimes the world doesn't look at, or neglect. Our vision is to “Reach and Teach. To Mend and Send.” 

Since 2017, Senior Pastor Edgy Gallegos and wife Sonia have led the Living Word Inland Empire Four Square Church located in Grand Terrace, CA, where they sponsor both a men’s and women’s rehab center.  

"We have spouse abuse center for women and drug rehab for men. Our centers are free. We have to fund raise to raise money to take care of our centers," said Pastor Edgy.

 “I love hanging out with them, hearing their stories…their backgrounds – where they came from and to see their transformations. That’s what excites me," said Sonia.

The centers had been running smoothly, year after year, until March of 2020.

"When Covid hit, everything stopped. Everything stopped. Our church stopped, in a sense. Our programs were closing down. Things changed. Our dynamics changed. The church began to change," said Pastor Edgy.

"Are the finances going to come in? How is everything going to run without the structure we have? How are we going to reach people in this pandemic," said Sonia.

We had to almost reinvent the wheel, do things a little different so we could get by and still preach the gospel. And still do some type of reach," said Pastor Edgy.

As the country continued to close, supporting the rehab centers and supplying basic needs for the residents became a challenge. Pastor Edgy turned to prayer.

"I said, 'okay, God, this is your problem. Okay, Lord, help me strategize so we can beat the devil,'" said Pastor Edgy.

While watching The 700 Club in June of 2020, the couple learned how CBN continued to reach the world by feeding the hungry through Operation Blessing.

"We see them giving out food, we see them talking, we see them going out and just ministering. We know the power of giving to good ground. We couldn’t be doing what 700 Club can do, but we can sow to that. So that was a way that we gave. So, that was what we believed, that we could do that during Covid," said Pastor Edgy.

Edgy and Sonia became 700 Club partners. Just three months before they would’ve been forced to close down the rehab centers, blessings began to flow.

 “People send in checks to the homes that have never gave before. God proved Himself beyond even what we could image. We had more in our bank account than the year before when there wasn’t a pandemic," said Sonia.

The church was able to open their doors again to continue helping those in need. Both centers have remained fully functional since June of 2020.

 “This is going to produce for kids, for moms, for dads – to take a load off of them. I’m honored to give! Just to see that others know that God loves them," said Sonia.

 “We gave because we wanted to help others. In return, we just seen how God began to bring in the floodgates of heaven, pour down the rain, open up doors," said Pastor Edgy.

 “If we give to Him, He is going to give back to us. Because when you sow seed, God always multiples that seed," said Sonia.