Category: News

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October Mobilization with Mike – upcoming ministry, mobilizing churches for missions impact and much, much more!

October 2019 Update

Greetings to you from the air as I fly from the Pacific toward the midwest for some important ministry opportunities.

I have the privilege this week to be a host for the Central African Leaders Pastor Jonas Bavon and Dr. Françios Ngoumape who will be visiting the USA on a fraternal visit to the Charis Churches and leaders here in the USA.

CAR Leaders

(On the Left) In addition to leading his local congregation, Pastor Bavon Jonas was recently elected to serve as Executive Secretary of the 3000+ Charis Alliance (Grace Brethren) churches of the Central African Republic.

(On the Right) Dr. Ngoumape Francois is Dean of the School of Theology in Bangui, and coordinates leadership training among and beyond our four Bible Institutes.  You can see more about the school online here:

 

Here is a brief outline of our tour with 2 special receptions (in bold) where you can meet these leaders!:

Oct 2 in Ashland, OH  Brief Reception at Ashland Grace Church at 8pm
Oct 3 at Ashland University
Oct 4-5 at Marysville, OH and in Columbus area
Oct 6 at Grace Polaris Church during Sunday morning worship services

Oct 6 @  6PM in Delaware, OH for a special reception! Details and to RSVP online here- https://africareceptionOH.splashthat.com 

Oct 7 @  1PM in Winona Lake, IN for a special reception! Details and to RSVP online here- – https://africareceptionIN.splashthat.com

Oct 7-9 attending Central FOCUS Retreat with Charis Fellowship leaders in Northern Indiana

Wow it’s going to be a busy week…and I’d covet your prayers for this trip and the mobilization of many toward cross-cultural impact for the Gospel!

Mobilizing Churches for Missions

I wanted to share a bit of the story of a church I love and get to work with directly in my California ministry scope. You can see a compelling video of how we are working to help churches by clicking on the picture below…

Church feature: Auburn Grace Community Church in Auburn, California
Watch how one church dedicated themselves not only to be a sending church but an equipping church. Together with Encompass, Auburn Grace Church educated their missions committee to be a proactive team that supports missionaries and shares God’s love for the nations with their church body.

As you learn about Auburn Grace’s approach, ask yourself: How can my church better engage with our global movement? Learn more about The Path Series’ “Mobilizing the Mobilizers” at PathSeries.com.

Circles of Grace


Our church plant had a neat morning this past Sunday!  We finished the book of Acts and so we took last week to think and pray about what the Lord has put our hearts about our church family… what we are doing well and where we could grow.

We were trying to sense what the Lord has for our next chapter.  There was some really great feedback and we sense that the Lord has us in a good spot and we love eating together!

We’ve been meeting in the public park regularly on Sundays centered around Jesus and His Word. And the Lord is pushing us out and deeper in this next chapter!

Keep praying for us to sow the Gospel, make disciples and enlarge our circles! Circles Of GraceWe also need financial supporters for our effort and you can see how to contribute online at CirclesGrace.com (where you can also track with what we are doing together!)

Read the rest of this newsletter online here

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September 2019 Update – Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

September 2019 Update

graduationLet’s start this update with info about our family as this year is a crazy one for the Jentes Haus.

On June 22, our son Korey got married to his high school sweetheart Kaelyn! We had a wonderful celebration and I was honored that they asked me to officiate the service (in the picture you’ll see our longtime adopted family member Heike who flew in from Germany!). After their wedding and honeymoon they drove cross country back to Indiana as they work on finishing up at Grace College.

Speaking of weddings, our daughter Kayla and her fiancé Zach are up next on December 21st! Last week, Kayla also reached an important milestone at her “White Coat Ceremony” where she was donned the honor and responsibility of practicing medical care! She is now doing her clerkship (or residency) and working with doctors and caring for patients in her chiropractic studies!

Our son Kevin started his first year at Grace College last month. He is having a blast having conversations with many people, living away from home and learning a bunch. We are proud and hope we will hear a little bit of news from him :-).

Our youngest, Katja completed her tour over the summer with a Drum and Bugle Corp called Blue Devils. She unfortunately got a concussion at the end of the season and has been on limitations with her school studies and her high school color guard. Please be praying that she will fully heal and be able to be healthy for the challenges of school and life.

Whew it is crazy in our world…and so thanks for praying for our kids (and new ones coming into the family!), and for my amazing wife, Dr. Mindi, who is still running her own Chiropractic office in this zaniness!

Circles of Grace


As if we didn’t have enough, early this year we were sent out to plant a new church!  We’ve been plugging along connecting with people and seeking to live our our faith in our new church expression. We’ve been meeting in the public park regularly on Sundays centered around Jesus and His Word.

Keep praying for us to sow the Gospel, make disciples and enlarge our circles! Circles Of GraceWe also need financial supporters for our effort and you can see how to contribute online at CirclesGrace.com (where you can also track with what we are doing together!)

You can see the rest of this email update online

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March Update- Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

March 2019 Update

We started talking in earnest with the Los Altos Grace Church leadership about a year ago (where I’ve been serving on the pastoral staff for 10 years), but finally announced a transition at the end of 2018. You can listen to my announcement: “We are Pregnant: Los Altos Grace starting a new spiritual family.”

We are going to remain in our home in East Long Beach and seek to gather a new spiritual family in the Greater Long Beach area. We are seeking to be as sensitive as we can to the existing churches…but we know there are tens of thousands of lost people, so the fields are white for harvest in SoCal. We are thankful that Los Altos Grace is supporting and sending us to start a new church!

You can track with our church plant online at LosAltosGrace.org/plant some of our progress on my website at MikeJentes.com.

See below for upcoming events and opportunities that I’ll be engaging with–I hope you’ll be praying!

Church Mobilizer Network

Wooster, Ohio: On Friday of this week, I’ll be meeting with mission leaders from 10 churches around the country to encourage their global engagement. This is an invite only event, but an important opportunity for churches with massive impact!

 

Missions Conference

March 9, 2019 in Wooster, Ohio: Connect & Equip is a missions conference for everyone interested in missions to interact with cutting edge speakers, training, dialogue, inspiration & challenge! The time for engaging our world on mission–across the street and around the world is NOW!We believe a day of Connecting & Equipping will further what God wants to do in our world! Check out the details and register online at ConnectEquip.com or at the Door!

 

Back to Rittman for Sunday March 10

Mission Day: Being back in Ohio will afford me the opportunity to be back at my home church in Rittman, Ohio. I’m thankful that Pastor Bud and the church family has asked me to share with the congregation at 9:30am for the Sunday School hour and also during the 10:30 Worship Service. If you are in NE Ohio I’d love to see you at Rittman Grace for Mission Day.

 

Read this entire update online:

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached–A March Update! – https://mailchi.mp/93000d1e1d0f/5ozkrzqowm-2085617

 

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Commissioned from Los Altos Grace

We started talking in earnest with the Los Altos Grace Church leadership about a year ago (where I’ve been serving on the pastoral staff for 10 years), but finally announced a transition at the end of 2018. You can listen to my announcement: “We are Pregnant: Los Altos Grace starting a new spiritual family.”
We are going to remain in our home in East Long Beach and seek to gather a new spiritual family in the Greater Long Beach area. We are seeking to be as sensitive as we can to the existing churches…but we know there are tens of thousands of lost people, so the fields are white for harvest in SoCal. We are thankful that Los Altos Grace is supporting and sending us!
Below is part of the commissioning service for the Jentes family on January 27, 2019:
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Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached- December Update

A Sincere Thank You I mean it, THANK YOU. Many of you personally sacrifice your time and treasure to support me for my work with Encompass World Partners. Your prayers and financial support are vital for me to continue serving as a mobilizer.  Please keep it up as there is still much work to do!

Below are some updates that you should be encouraged by…and pray for…and a way to contribute to the continued work of reaching the toughest places on our planet!

New People Group getting the Gospel

Unengaged Unreached People Groups: The picture to the right is a list of people groups that our partner churches have planted churches in Chad, Africa.  The number 6 people group on this list–the Kulfe–was a group that no one was going to with the Gospel.  They were considered an Unengaged Unreached People Group and were cataloged on the Finishing The Task list – see the detail on the Kulfe here.

We celebrate that this Christmas, this group which may have never had the Gospel before, now has at least as one church in their language and culture to be a light!

Bible Institute Graduates First Class!

Cameroon Leadership Training Coalition: On Saturday August 11 hundreds of people attended a historic Bible Institute graduation for 31 families (Bible Institute trains both the men & their wives!) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. What a privilege for me to be the coordinator of this coalition of churches who facilitated this effort over the last 5 years!  Your support of me helped make this happen!

You can see more about the graduation and Bible Institute from the Director Dr. Jason Carmean via email newsletter or on Facebook. We are excited that a whole new group of students have been accepted and are making plans even now for the second class of the Bible Institute. You can contribute to the new class starting in 2019 online.

Resources You Should Know About

Discovering Global Missions

Early this year, Encompass World Partners released a new book Discovering Global Missions, a starting point to lead you to deeper insights and meaningful engagement in God’s Global Mission. This book is a “fill-in the blank” Bible study which pushes you deep into the text via videos and the Scriptures. You can get your own copy in print or check it out as a download for free online here

I had the privilege to lead a four week class at Los Altos Grace using the book. Our friends at Grace Connect recently published an article about the class which you can read online here!

Missions Conference

March 9, 2019 in Wooster, Ohio: Connect & Equip is a missions conference for everyone interested in missions to interact with cutting edge speakers, training, dialogue, inspiration & challenge! The time for engaging our world on mission–across the street and around the world is NOW!We believe a day of Connecting & Equipping will further what God wants to do in our world! Check out the details and register now online at ConnectEquip.com

Encounter SoCal

A cross-cultural immersion experience in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic regions of the country – Southern California: If you want to come see my world and the great mission opportunities that are available in a short-term mission trip, check out Encounter SoCal online, shoot me an email and we can talk about it for the coming year!

Grace Leaders Network

If you are in Southern California, then you should seek to connect with one of these great Network Gatherings in 2019.  We meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 10am-Noon at different Grace Churches. It’s a time of connecting, encouraging and equipping for ministry leaders! Find out more by checking out the Grace Leaders Network

In addition, this year in our Grace Churches Network we added one Spanish speaking church and are looking forward to many exciting things in the year to come.

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached with Encompass, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.  Or you can mail a check with my name designated to “Encompass World Partners” PO Box 3298  Monument, CO 80132-3290

Press on,
Mike–
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners

 

You can sign up to receive these updates and see old issues of the newsletter online 

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August Mobilization Update on Coalitions, Mission and more from @MikeJentes

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

August 2015

The summer has been full with activity and ministry, too full to even write a newsletter ;-).

In July, I had the privilege to share in the Sunday morning service on Disciple Making & Mission @ Norwalk Grace Brethren Church, in Norwalk, CA. (hear’s therecording and powerpoint) What a neat church family with a heritage of engaging the world!

In late July, I was off to Atlanta for Encompass Family Reunion where it was great to catch up with many of our deployed staff who were back in the USA for home ministries. This time was rich for relationship renewal and even for the connections of future partnerships.

To wrap up that week away, I was in New York City (okay staying in Newark, NJ) at theFlinch Conference with our Grace Brethren Family. The theme on taking RISKs for Jesus was very powerful through messages and testimonies. You should check out some of thevideos of main session talks and audios of the workshops online.

I had the privilege to lead 2 workshops:
1) A Candid Conversation about Bi-Vocational Church Leadership with a whole panel of leaders, and
2) The Great Debate: Missions Vs. Missional with John Ward (handout)

Neither of these workshops got recorded, but I posted my powerpoints at the links above for you.

From a family side, we also sent our oldest daughter, Kayla, off to Grace College.  Here’s a little pic of us at a send off for her the night before she left!

(Thanks Flinch Conference for the selfie stick…we used it in Long Beach too..not just in NYC.)

Coalitions

Over the summer, we made some significant traction with a variety of coalitions:

Chad Educational Coalition:

Partnering with the Chadian church to help start new Christian elementary schools and help their teachers get the training/certification they need to lead those schools. We are looking to raise about $7000 per year to send 5 teachers to the training. Ways to give will be open soon!

Chad Medical Coalition: Partnering with the Chadian church leaders and evangelists and to aid their self-sustaining medical clinics and build a new surgical center where it is really needed. This one is still in development, but hopefully by the end of the year will be moving forward significantly.

St. James Way Coalition
A unique evangelistic opportunity is afforded by thousands of pilgrims walking on the Caminho de Santiago or the St. James Way. In Western Europe, where spiritual conversations are a rarity, this experience is fertile ground for the church to relationally and spiritually connect for evangelism, discipleship and leadership training. The faithful Via Portus Cale ministry in Porto, Portugal has become a strategic dual initiative: along the caminho and in therefugio.
We’ve had two different Teams to walk the St. James Way and to serve pilgrims over this summer. Also we had two interns serving consecutively for one month each.  One of the outstanding young ladies–Mariah Shope–was from our Los Altos Grace Brethren Church. There is much to be learned and prayed for in this ministry as we hope to send 20 international teams over the next 3 years! We are excited that Grace College will be doing a special mission project this fall (with solar panels) and taking teams next year!

Encounter SoCal

A cross-cultural experience in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic regions of the world — Southern California (pic from ChinaTown in LA). This pilot program from August 10-14 was a great success!
The participants had an eye-opening time and four people expressed faith in Christ for the first time through the ministry efforts of the team!  

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.

Press on,
Mike–
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners

 

My E-newsletter Archive:

August 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
June 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
May 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
April 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp

Read the September 2014 E-newsletter
Read my February 2014 e-newsletter

Read my December 2013 E-Newsletter
Read my August 2013 e-newsletter
Read my June 2013 e-newsletter
Read my May 2013 e-newsletter
Read my April 2013 e-newsletter

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America’s Changing Religious Landscape – Pew Research and additional thoughts

Changing Religious LandscapeA couple of my mission leaders, friends and mentors were part of a discussion about the study released this week by Pew Research entitled:
America’s Changing Religious Landscape: http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

Posted and first thought by John Ward 

Mobilizers, we have an important role to play in helping the church in North America embrace a vision for local and global mission.
Follow-up from Jay Bell
I decided to chime in some thoughts as well:
Thanks John for sharing and Jay for adding Stetzer’s thoughts to the discussion.One of the article around the Pew Research was on CNN “Millennials leaving church in droves, study says” – http://ow.ly/3xS14A 

The last sentence of the article gave me GREAT Encouragement that we don’t need a more nominal faith, but a more radical & risky faith to reach our world.

“If it is the case that millennials are less ‘atheists’ than they are ‘bored,’ then serious engagements with Christian social innovation, and with deep intellectual reflection (and these two things are connected), would offer promising signs of hope,” Jones said.

May the Lord make us radical and influence those millennials in our spheres to be serious in their engagement with Jesus and taking Him to the nations!

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May Mobilization Update on Iraq, Chad, Communications and more from @MikeJentes

Newsletter-header-Encompass

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

May 2015

April held a special time for our family…as we got to take a special vacation. While we all looked pretty dapper, we got a family pic:

We are so blessed! Thanks for praying for us and standing with our family over many years!

Networks

Last month, I shared about being involved in creating, facilitating and resourcing networks for Great Commission good. Two of the networks had special events in the month of April. I thought I would share those events with you:

Connect & Equip

  1. Communicators Network: This isn’t one I started, but a group of Grace Brethren communications folks have been getting together for a while now. They asked me to plan their April get together…and it was a very insightful time. I wrote a blog post with a recap, so if you are interested in more info about the Church & Social Media check it out: Communicators Communal Learning with special guest DJ Chuang.
  2. Northern Iraq Summit:  A variety of churches and ministries were called together around their work in this region to a one-day Summit at our Encompass headquarters in Atlanta. We had 13 people from 8 different churches and 7 different states for the day. Many stories were told and prayers were lifted for the peoples of this region.  If your church is involved in Iraq and wants to know more, send me a message!

Great people are involved in each of these networks and I’m so privileged to be able to connect and resource so many great efforts!

Chad and Coalitions

A short-term vision trip team is heading to Chad this month (but not me this time). The team consists of several pastors (who represent churches considering partnering with Chad), Encompass leadership, and individuals that are considering long-term work in Chad.

The overall goals of the trip are:
1. For Encompass leadership to meet with, encourage, and teach Chadian church leaders and evangelists and to discuss together the direction of the ministry.
2. To visit different ministries in the capital and to brainstorm how churches can partner with in N’Djamena.
3. For 3 prospective people to get a first taste of Chad and to pursue God as to whether or not he is calling them there full time.
4. For partners to be cultivated for 2-3 different coalitions to work together with the national church for greater fruitfulness!

I am very excited about this team of 18 people! (Special Note: this is the largest short term team Encompass has ever sent to Chad)

I want to encourage you to join with a some of my colleagues in a 10 day journey of daily prayer for this trip. They will send out daily prayer requests specific to each day beginning on May 6th and ending May 15th. Please make the commitment to praying for this trip by joining the  email group “10 Days of Prayer for Vision” by clicking here: 10 Days of Prayer for Vision.

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.

Press on,
Mike
—
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners
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April Encompass Newsletter

Newsletter-header-Encompass

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

April 2015

Sorry, it’s been a while since I sent out an update. This isn’t because the ministry is going slowly…quite the opposite!

I have changed email newsletter systems (now with Mail Chimp), so hopefully I transferred everyone’s email addresses correctly! Feel free to share this update with others so they can pray and be participators in this amazing work!

Thanks to many of you who have financially supported the work the Lord is allowing me to do. I have been fully supported each of my two full years with Encompass! Thanks!

Networks

This month I wanted to share with you some of the nitty gritty of my work (in one specific aspect). I’m heavily involved in creating, facilitating and resourcing networks for Great Commission good. I’d love to share five of them with you, so you know and can pray…and can even JUMP IN!

  1. Adoption, Orphan and Foster Care: This is one that the Bible is hot on…and we’ve been able to pull together some folks who are passionate about this into a Facebook group.  If you are interested, you should join it here!
  2. Women in Church Planting: This secret Facebook group is also a place for women involved in church planting around the world to connect, make friends, share stories, and share helpful stuff.  If you are a lady involved in church planting, this group is for you!
  3. Church Mobilizers Network: A group of nearly 30 of us gathered in Columbus, OH in February to be challenged on how we could create “pathways” for people in our church to grow as disciple-makers and to be deployed as missionaries to the least-reached!
  4. Communicators Network: This isn’t one I started, but a group of Grace Brethren communications folks have been getting together for a while now. They asked me to plan the next get together…and it’s gonna be great (ok…I’m biased).  You can find out more about it at Connect & Equip for FGBC Communicators.
  5. Northern Iraq Church to Church Partnerships: Grace Community Church in Goshen, IN was tapped on the shoulder by the Lord to DO SOMETHING to help in Iraq. Their journey has been amazing and they invited Encompass (and me) to walk with them and see what might be next. We are pulling together a Summit this month in Atlanta with some highly invested churches in the region. If your church is involved in Iraq and wants to be invited, send me a message!

Great people are involved in each of these networks and I’m so privileged to be able to connect and resource so many great efforts!

Thanks for your support!

I wanted to get this out to say thanks, and to mobilize you to pray!

I also wanted to say that our family is looking forward to a special Family Vacation next week during Spring Break! We are excited!

Press on,
Mike

—
Mike Jentes
Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners
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New Worship Album from Sara Lindsay

 

So excited and proud of my friend, Sara Lindsay ( or Mrs. Dolmage as some call her) to release her new album TODAY!  I’ve got mine…and you gotta get yours!!!

WhereYourHeartGoes-SaraLindsay

Where Your Heart Goes

Title : Where Your Heart Goes
Artist: Sara Lindsay
Release Date : December 10, 2014
Format : CD or iTunes
Order:  SaraLindsayMusic.com
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Strength from The Lord

This passage was part of our call to worship today @LosAltosGrace.

Isaiah 40
IMG_8939.JPG

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭29-31‬ NIV)

Thanks Pete Anderson for sharing!

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On Mission in a Moving World

missiographic - On The MoveIf you have ever moved, you know the disruption it causes to your life. Now imagine millions on the move sometimes in less than ideal circumstances. Some are simply moving to start a new life, but others are under much more extreme pressures. With a background of war, trafficking, job loss and countless other disruptors, people are finding themselves in many new places. What are you doing to meet them as they move?

Personal Reflection
A great place to start on the issues that surround the global movement of people is to identify with them. Think about a time when you have been new to a place. What feelings were dominant? What opportunities and challenges did you face? Then consider the people of Israel traveling through the desert, Jesus as a young boy in Egypt and Paul sitting under house arrest in Rome. What must they have been going through? As your empathy brings you face to face with real people in these situations, ask God how you should respond in love.

Engaging the Church
Do you know which communities of immigrants are within 20 miles of your church? It is easy to end up on Spiritual journeys of “sameness”. We can neglect those who are very close by but different than we are. Start by looking online to find out which immigrant communities are nearby. Then identify some of the ministries in town who are serving those communities. Also, find out if some of the countries where you are supporting mission work globally have communities of immigrants you can also be reaching out to. Find ways to include these communities within your community of faith. How can you show them God’s love as you invite them into your midst?

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Deleting Mass Quantity Pics Off iPhone (but not all)

iphone camera roll

One of the most annoying things about my iPhone (which I really, really love) is the challenge of deleting a lot of photos (when you have thousands!) without deleting ALL of them.  I’ve searched many different times with NO resolution.

My phone told me again… “Cannot Take Photo” you gotta make room by deleting pictures again today.  So off to Google again.

To my pleasant surprise I found the following help!

How to mass delete camera roll photos in 3 clicks

1. Connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac;

2. Open the Image Capture;

3. Select the photos you want to delete:

  • Select the individual ones you want (using the customary COMMAND + click)
  • Select a whole continuous group  (using the customary SHIFT + click)
  • or Select all the photos (COMMAND + A)

and click the delete button. [It’s the “red” bottom at the bottom of the Image Capture screen.]

(thanks to this Apple Community Post deep into the thread)