August Newsletter 2026

We are so excited to invited you all to our 4th Annual La Roca Gala on October 30 at 5:00 p.m. at Agape 1928 in San Clemente to celebrate all that God has done and continues to do through this ministry.

We would love for you to be part of this celebration. Join us with your family and friends for an evening filled with gratitude, hope, and purpose.

We would be so honored to have you with us!

You can buy your tickets on larocaministries.org

This summer has also been filled with many activities that have been a tremendous blessing. We held our Men’s Retreat where 80 men came and sharpen ourselves with Gods word. A group 15 men came from Christian Assembly which also added to the great experience we all had. We also held our Women’s Retreat, a powerful time where women opened their hearts, found encouragement, strengthened one another, and left renewed in their faith and reminded that they are not walking alone.

Our young people also had the opportunity to participate in different activities where they could spend time together, having fun, and, most importantly, continue growing in their relationship with God.

And with great joy, we held our VBS in 3 locations, where 350 children came to learn God’s Word through Bible lessons, games, and special moments prepared especially for them, and on top of that we served 4807 meals during that week.

As you see it´s been a busy summer, but also one filled with gratitude as we have watched God continue to use every activity to reach lives, strengthen families, and plant His Word in every generation.

Juan García’s Testimony

Juan had a very difficult childhood. He grew up with his six siblings in very poor conditions, and because he was the oldest, he often found himself taking care of them. Juan remembers his grandmother taking them to church all the time when we were young, he eventually walked away, but never forgot what he learned.

At 17, he left home looking for a better life. Juan joined the military thinking he would find direction, but instead, he continued making bad choices. While he was in the military Juan and several of his friends began steeling the drugs that were confiscate and soon began using, and frequently visiting the prostitution district.

That is where Juan met the mother of his four children. For several years, they lived a very unstable life while he sank deeper and deeper into addiction.

At some point, a desire to change began to grow inside Juan. He entered a rehabilitation center and stayed there for seven months, but when he left, he still felt empty. Juan went back to live with his mother and spent nearly two years practically sitting on a couch, with his mind broken and feeling as though he was carrying hell inside of them.

Eventually, he made the decision to get back on his feet and return to work. He even went several years without using drugs, but inside, he was still carrying many deep wounds.

His family also went through a very difficult time, causing his parents to get divorced.  Juan´s father turned their home into a place where people gathered to use drugs, causing his brother to suffer a terrible attack. All of this turned Juan´s life upside down.

Juan returned to drugs and to the prostitution district, trying to fill a void that nothing could satisfy. He even lost the desire for women, so he started going to 1st street where cross-dresser hangout, and he soon found himself having sexual relationships with them.

“I lost the hope of ever going back to my family, I lost my stability and mind, and eventually found myself living in a drainage canal. It seemed like I had finally reached the bottom. But God was not finished with me”

One day, a man told Juan about a shelter called La Roca, and he went. Juan began hearing the Word of God again, Juan felt as though God was telling him: “You forgot about Me.”

Then memories came rushing back from his childhood—memories of his grandmother taking them to church.

The more Juan heard of God’s Word, the hungrier he became for God´s presence. Juan started attending church and went to his first men’s retreat, and just a few months later, he got baptized.

“Today, I understand that walking away from God cost me years of my life, relationships, stability and peace. There are things I wish I could change, but I cannot go back and rewrite the past. What I can change is the direction of my life now.

Today, I am in contact with my daughters, and I have six grandchildren. My past has not disappeared, but God has changed the direction of my life. I used to search for excitement through drugs, the streets, and a lifestyle that was destroying me.”

Without Christ, I lived searching for something that would make me feel alive. Today, I am excited to live for the Lord.

When I look back, there is sadness and nostalgia for the years I lost. But when I look ahead, I have hope.

Because after all these years, I finally understood that even though I walked away from God, He never stopped calling me, but today I can say: I came home!”

As we look at everything God has done throughout these past months, our hearts are filled with gratitude. Every activity, every story, and every transformed life remind us that God is still at work and that no story is ever too far beyond His reach.

In His Love and Truth, Carlos and Rossy Montoya and the rest of La Roca team