Encouraging, busy month!
We were encouraged in July by the family in whose home we have been meeting on Sunday Mornings deciding they want to have weekly Bible Studies instead of only once a month. We have been enjoying great fellowship with them on Sunday mornings and my wife started a Sunday School class for their children. There was even a visitor in July.
During our Wednesday night service we had several blessings as well. One of the Wednesdays, I had been sick the whole week and my son, Jonathan, preached for me. On the last two weeks of the month we had a high attendance of 23 and 24 respectively. With the great number of visitors comes a great number of Bible questions and discussion. There is a lot of influence from charismatic groups in the area which seem to be very popular and unpopular at the same time. They seem to always be very full of people, but at the same time when I talk to people I hear almost universally that the charismatic pastors are cheating and robbing the people and only want their money. A group of about four that visited our service one night was talking about the problems that they were having with the female “pastora” that they had at one of those churches and how she would create superstitious fear with her members if they didn’t do everything how she wanted. One of the ladies visiting wanted me to come to her home, scream at Satan and get rid of the demons out of her house. I explained that what her home needed was not me waiving my arms around, burning incense and making incantations but repentance and faith in the saving blood of Jesus Christ! Please keep us in prayer as we try to speak into people’s lives and understand that many time the road is very long from where people are to where you would like them to be.
I am very proud of Marcelo and the direction he has been leading his family. There were several concepts that he did not understand when I began working with him seven years ago. It refreshes my heart to hear him share the definition of what a scriptural church is and when it was founded (during Christ’s earthly ministry). Concepts that he was never taught and never heard of before we came. Marcelo and I have had some very great discussions lately about the next steps for the work. One of the things that I try to constantly emphasize is that we are more interested in the quality rather than just the quantity. We are hoping to have a day sometime in the near future to baptize several. For many, there is still a lot of foundation to lay in their lives and understanding.
A visit from our daughter, Hannah
One very great blessing this month was a visit from our daughter, Hannah! It was a very packed visit with lots and lots of activity. We enjoyed catching her up on all that the Lord has been doing in our lives for the last year and the older kids enjoyed getting to go with Hannah to a special youth camp with their friends at Templo Bautista.
Bonus Pictures
