All together

With a little you can do a lot

Monday was the first day of our activity in the park called, “Looking For Baby Jesus.”  We had lots of help.  The mission team from the Bread of Life church in La Presa and the believers from the One in Christ church were highly motivated and worked hard.  After picking up the trash in the park, we set up for the activity – ready to see lots of children come.  When the time came to begin, only a few showed up, but they were our new friends’ children - some came with their moms.  After sending a few teams to hand out invitations, Ingrid and Keila invited some children playing on an adjacent playground, and they came.  We had a good size group.

Being the first day of our first ever activity in Los Heroes, it was good to see how the team worked so well together.  We hope to see these children and their moms in the days to come.

I was surprised by the willingness of one of the moms whom we had asked to prepare a snack for the children.  When I went by to pick up the food, she offered to take cups and napkins and etc. for the children.  She doesn’t have much, but with just a little she did a lot.  It makes me think of the story of the widow and her “mite” in Luke 21 who “put in all that she had…”  I hope that many come to the point of serving God as she did on Monday.

See you soon Cintia

When you have to wait

Last week, we went to visit the new people who had opened their hearts to Christ.  We saw that there wasn’t enough time to visit each one of them.  Aside from the time we need to disciple and talk to these new people, we have less time for our door-to-door visits to make new friendships in the community.  So some went out early to fit both activities into the time that we had and others spent more time visiting people who especially needed the visit.

Norma came to help us on Saturday morning to help Tracey visit some of the ladies who needed prayer and counseling.  I am visiting the men during the week, but it has been difficult to find them at home even in the late afternoons. 

God continues to open hearts!  This week we found two young people who accepted to study the Bible with us.  We hope to find them next week to examine the studies we left with them.

Cintia will be returning to our team in a few weeks.  Her job demands all of her time, so her days off will be spent at work instead of with us.  We believe that God will reward her for her faithfulness and her hard work.

We need your prayers for an activity that will bring together all of our new friends from December 19-23.  We need to get a permit tomorrow to use the basketball court near their homes.  Thank you so very much.

Surprised by the progress

For a few weeks now we’ve been knocking on doors and getting to know the people in their homes.  We’re moving slowly and with the hope of getting to know our neighbors.  The map shows that each team just finished visiting ONE street, and they’re not very long.

After talking with the teams, several mentioned the desire to visit every single apartment and not skip one so that no ones misses out on the message of hope.  So, we’re noting the responses in each home, that is, NO one home, YES they accepted our tracts, YES they spoke with us, YES they accepted the message of salvation or YES they want follow-up.

A few weeks ago the teams went to make maps of our area writing down the names of the streets and praying for the salvation of the families that live there.  We believe that prayers made on our behalf and on behalf of the people have allowed us to see through God’s eyes the great need that the families in Bosques have and we’re motivated.

Help us pray for a week of activities from December 10-23, when the children are out of school for vacation, in order to bring together all the people that we’ve gotten to know.  It will be a Vacation Bible School type of activity.  Would you be willing to pray for us?  What do you think would be a good name to put on the event so that the entire family will feel welcome attending?

Map of the area

Finding answers

An unpleasant encounter

In the morning, God led us to a home where the mom opened her heart to Jesus.  Cynthia and I were speaking with her about our hope in Christ.  While her three children distracted her, she prayed with us for faith. 

Well, a few visits after that we knocked on the door of a young university student.  While speaking with him, he let us know by his questions that we had no evidence of a life after death.  His angry attitude scared Cynthia, but when we let him know that we knew someone who had died and come back to tell us that there is a life after death, he couldn’t refute us and just decided to end the conversation.  I told my partner, “I like these kinds of encounters because I know God is at work making this young man wrestle with his own mortality.

A few doors after this, God surprised us when a young man of about the same age opened his heart to Jesus.  We prayed for him and offering him a Bible study.  God has got us following his footsteps in this incredible adventure.  Thanks all for your prayers.

Our team

Amazed by his love

Last week, our visits helped us to see how God is working in the lives of our neighbors. Some opened their hearts to trust Christ while others shared their needs with us.  Since it was the first time for several who had not visited new people, God was compassionate with us opening the door to many families for us.

Tuesday was no different.  We took our time visiting and getting to know our neighbors.  There were people both interested and not interested, but despite that God allowed us to see people open their hearts to him as well as share prayer requests for their family with us.  God has surprised us each time we’ve knocked on a new door.

In addition, as a team we are getting to know each other better and growing closer in our love for the people and work of God.  The people on the team who have visited new people more were training those who haven’t.  And the members of team who are new provide that “spark” that made each visit a new adventure for all.   

“We had an experience...” John shares, “with one of the neighbors that wasn’t as positive, at least not for my partner...”  (more to come)

Visiting the neighbors

We didn’t know what to expect when we began to look for our neighbors in their homes.  It was midday and we didn’t see very many people on the street.  But with lots of courage each team of two took Christian magazines to give to the people we found.

Our three teams went out for the first time in the apartment section of our area taking one side of the street each to knock on doors.  Some went slowly and others a bit quicker, but each went with both fear and the hope of meeting the people God had prepared for us to talk to.

Beginning our search

We believe that God has got some amazing experiences in store for us as a family and as a team.

We’ve been praying, trying to understand and looking for what God wants to show us.  But we’re all in agreement that the journey that God wants us to undertake will change us and bring us closer together.

We’ve just begun to pray and get to know each other and the neighborhood.  And what we really need is you and your prayers.  So please prayer that we seek what God wants and that we find “one more for Christ.”