Dear HPN members,

We’re so excited to start our Spring 2022 with joy, for the Joy of the Lord is our strength! TODAY is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. We want to focus our prayers on these 40 days (or 46 days if you count Sundays) of seeking God, fasting anything that would get in the way of being in an attitude of repentance, and pursuing Jesus, in preparation for Easter! If you can’t fast food, one thing you can fast is anything that is negative or that pulls you away from being in God’s presence - the news, social media, hurtful people or time spent on negative things. To learn more about fasting, and why it's a powerful tool for the body of Christ, we recommend Jenetzen Franklin's MESSAGE on fasting, and online RESOURCE GUIDE.

Along with fasting, we encourage you to press into the Lord, and set your hearts on "things above", focusing on the things that Christ wants you to joyfully receive from Him in a greater way! A great scripture to meditate on during this time is Colossians Chapter 3.

We are focusing this month on the JOY of the Lord and hope you will too. Will you join us?

Celebrating Our Community:

Actor Erick Lopez

Talking about JOY - Erick Lopez, an active and loving member of our HPN community, stars in a short film, PLEASE HOLD, which is now nominated for BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT at this year’s Oscars. This 20-minute short film follows a young man whose life is suddenly derailed, as he finds himself at the mercy of automated "justice." Let’s pray for and celebrate Erick. Here is an INTERVIEW WITH ERICK ABOUT THE FILM.

Celebrating A Beautiful Life: Nightbirde

We also want to celebrate the life of an amazing human being, Jane "Nightbirde" Marczewski, who performed an original song on December 21, 2021’s episode of America’s Got Talent and won the Golden Buzzer for her heartfelt and beautiful performance. That night she had a 2% chance of surviving cancer and yet she was full of beauty, talent and joy. Nightbirde passed away this Feb. 21, 2022 and leaves behind so much hope and supernatural joy that she continues to be an inspiration. LISTEN TO HER SONG AND STORY and embrace the joy of the Lord, for that is our strength!



It's Oscars Month!

It’s the month of the Academy Awards! Sunday evening, March 27th is when the 94th annual awards ceremony will be televised at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. It will be hosted by three female comedians, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, and it will present categories and winners in a different format than usual, as they try to revive the telecast, following the lowest rated year on television in 2021! Please pray for the nominees, the winners, losers, co-hosts, and everyone involved to feel the love, joy, peace and hope of Jesus in miraculous ways that week-end.

Reformation Needed in the Movie Scoring Business?

We need to pray for the composers in our industry. Most of them, in order to make money at their craft, have to work for famous composers who work them to the bone and don’t give them any credit. Very few composers are credited for writing the music for most of the TV shows and films that we watch. However, it’s unknown composers behind the scenes, who are actually writing the moving and powerful scores and not getting either credit or residuals. Let’s pray for fairness and justice in how people are treated in Hollywood. And today we focus on the composers: 

HPN YouVersion Weekly Devotional: Joy

This week we are excited about finding JOY in the midst of sorrow and experiencing the joy of the Lord in all circumstances. We desire to live a life of joy and yet how many of us know that the joy of the Lord is our strength? God’s will for our life is to rejoice and be joyful!

- Karen Covell

Christian Youth Film Festival

If there is any way to visit Bakersfield during Joe Brown’s Christian Youth Film Festival you will not be sorry. Joe honors, celebrates and encourages young filmmakers who love Jesus and he brings in a host of Hollywood judges and mentors to help these young creatives to move to the next level. Please be in prayer for the 28th annual Christian Youth Film Festival, March 12 & 13 in downtown Bakersfield.



This festival encourages and equips young film makers to create excellent visual stories filled with faith, hope, and love. Short movies made by youth from around the world will be screened on the largest screen in Kern County. Please come for the red carpet, the historic theater, and some great student movies. Only $10 admission!