Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Missions Conference Pictures
Singing about Missions. This is a view from the side of the main room where the adults meet. We are praying we can find a bigger building in the near future. We are usually over-flowing with people on Saturdays. Our Sunday services are not usually as full.
Monica, Pimpo and Estevito, along with Rosa and Caleb. They are standing outside of our church building (which is actually a house that we rent).
The banner says "Hasta lo ultimo de la tierra" , which means "Unto the uttermost part of the earth" This is about 15 minutes into the service...people were still trickling in. That's how it is here! Everybody is usually in place by the time the preaching starts.
Christine and Steve, with our guest missionary, Luis Castro, and his wife and daughter.
Steve Cerna and Luis Castro, who was a missionary in Mexico for 15 years. He now serves here in El Salvador. Steve learns so much from him, he has so much experience with church planting.
Some of our "bus kids". It took me five tries to get theses boys all smiling and looking at the camera. I made it very silly, acting crazy to get them to look at me...it finally worked. These four boys are the most energetic of all the kids who come. Pablo, Denis, Kevin, and Malaquias.
Monica, Pimpo and Estevito, along with Rosa and Caleb. They are standing outside of our church building (which is actually a house that we rent).
The banner says "Hasta lo ultimo de la tierra" , which means "Unto the uttermost part of the earth" This is about 15 minutes into the service...people were still trickling in. That's how it is here! Everybody is usually in place by the time the preaching starts.
Christine and Steve, with our guest missionary, Luis Castro, and his wife and daughter.
Steve Cerna and Luis Castro, who was a missionary in Mexico for 15 years. He now serves here in El Salvador. Steve learns so much from him, he has so much experience with church planting.
Some of our "bus kids". It took me five tries to get theses boys all smiling and looking at the camera. I made it very silly, acting crazy to get them to look at me...it finally worked. These four boys are the most energetic of all the kids who come. Pablo, Denis, Kevin, and Malaquias.
April Prayer Letter
Dear Praying Friends,
It is a great pleasure to be able to share the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us lately. Although we have been tempted to be discouraged, God continues to manifest His love toward us. Over the past few months there were two activities that have really encouraged us, God is opening doors as we go door-knocking, and our family has been strengthened.
Last month, we were able to have our first missions conference. It was the first time Steve taught faith promise to the church members. As a result of the conference, the church has committed to give $70.00 per month to missions. This is a huge blessing considering the current size of the church, and the economic struggles of many of the members. In fact, the church has started supporting its first missionary with $50.00 per month. Please pray that the church would continue to be excited about missions. We are excited about these developments, and have no doubt that God will allow us to eventually take on many more missionaries.
Just last week we had another teen activity. We took the boys of our church to play soccer and to eat dinner. Ten kids showed up for the activity. It is a blessing to see some teens being more faithful. One of our faithful teens (José Luis Alabí) taught Sunday school for two weeks, and is very involved in our door-knocking ministry. Please pray that God would use us to impact the lives of more teens.
We are excited about the door God has opened us through door-knocking. Originally, the goal was to knock on the doors of 25% of the city twice this year. However, after the first three months of the year, things have gone so well that now we will attempt to knock on 90-100% of the doors of the city this year. This is an ambitious task, seeing that there are only about five door-knockers in the church, and it is a city of about 400,000 people. Nevertheless, in God’s strength, we believe that it can be done. Eventually, the experience will lay a good foundation for training workers, and for knocking on all the doors of the city several times per year.
The Lord has blessed our efforts. People have been coming to church from different areas of the city. Just recently we led a young man (Marlon Escobar) to Christ at the door of his home. Shortly after receiving Christ, he quit playing rock music in a band, married the woman he was living with, and started the discipleship course with Steve. He has been coming to church over the past month. Please pray for Marlon as he continues to learn about God, and mature. There is no doubt in our hearts that there are many more Marlons throughout the city, and that God will lead us to them.
Rosa has the same passion for souls as her Daddy. Before going door-knocking with Steve this past week, she announced that she planned on winning four souls for Christ. Rosa isn’t quite fluent in Spanish to do this, but the desire is certainly there. We believe that in a few years, she will be Steve’s favorite soul-winning partner.
Caleb has shown us what a difference there is in raising a boy. He keeps us quite busy pulling him down from tables, chairs, steps, and anything else he can climb. He is not quite as outgoing as Rosa, and prefers to be with his Mommy. That is, unless there is something to climb nearby!
Continue to pray that God gives us His direction in our ministry and our family. We ask you to pray for the developing teen ministry, door-knocking efforts, and for God to lead us to more men like Marlon. We also ask you to pray that our marriage will continue to be strong, and for discernment and wisdom raising Rosa and Caleb.
Yours For Christ,
The Cernas
It is a great pleasure to be able to share the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us lately. Although we have been tempted to be discouraged, God continues to manifest His love toward us. Over the past few months there were two activities that have really encouraged us, God is opening doors as we go door-knocking, and our family has been strengthened.
Last month, we were able to have our first missions conference. It was the first time Steve taught faith promise to the church members. As a result of the conference, the church has committed to give $70.00 per month to missions. This is a huge blessing considering the current size of the church, and the economic struggles of many of the members. In fact, the church has started supporting its first missionary with $50.00 per month. Please pray that the church would continue to be excited about missions. We are excited about these developments, and have no doubt that God will allow us to eventually take on many more missionaries.
Just last week we had another teen activity. We took the boys of our church to play soccer and to eat dinner. Ten kids showed up for the activity. It is a blessing to see some teens being more faithful. One of our faithful teens (José Luis Alabí) taught Sunday school for two weeks, and is very involved in our door-knocking ministry. Please pray that God would use us to impact the lives of more teens.
We are excited about the door God has opened us through door-knocking. Originally, the goal was to knock on the doors of 25% of the city twice this year. However, after the first three months of the year, things have gone so well that now we will attempt to knock on 90-100% of the doors of the city this year. This is an ambitious task, seeing that there are only about five door-knockers in the church, and it is a city of about 400,000 people. Nevertheless, in God’s strength, we believe that it can be done. Eventually, the experience will lay a good foundation for training workers, and for knocking on all the doors of the city several times per year.
The Lord has blessed our efforts. People have been coming to church from different areas of the city. Just recently we led a young man (Marlon Escobar) to Christ at the door of his home. Shortly after receiving Christ, he quit playing rock music in a band, married the woman he was living with, and started the discipleship course with Steve. He has been coming to church over the past month. Please pray for Marlon as he continues to learn about God, and mature. There is no doubt in our hearts that there are many more Marlons throughout the city, and that God will lead us to them.
Rosa has the same passion for souls as her Daddy. Before going door-knocking with Steve this past week, she announced that she planned on winning four souls for Christ. Rosa isn’t quite fluent in Spanish to do this, but the desire is certainly there. We believe that in a few years, she will be Steve’s favorite soul-winning partner.
Caleb has shown us what a difference there is in raising a boy. He keeps us quite busy pulling him down from tables, chairs, steps, and anything else he can climb. He is not quite as outgoing as Rosa, and prefers to be with his Mommy. That is, unless there is something to climb nearby!
Continue to pray that God gives us His direction in our ministry and our family. We ask you to pray for the developing teen ministry, door-knocking efforts, and for God to lead us to more men like Marlon. We also ask you to pray that our marriage will continue to be strong, and for discernment and wisdom raising Rosa and Caleb.
Yours For Christ,
The Cernas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)