February Prayer Letter

                                                                                                                                         February 2013

 

Dear Praying Friends,

             Although this opportunity is year-round, the New Year brings us the desire to do better in all areas of life.  In particular, we are working to improve our effectiveness in ministry and family life. We would like to share these with you this month, along with a little bit of news about some Salvadorans we care about and ask you to pray for.

            The New Year brought a new cycle of Bible Institute courses.  Steve has been busily translating materials, forming the core classes that he will use for years to come. We thank God it has been a good start to the new quarter.  After class one night, one of the men blurted out, “If I keep coming to these classes, I am going to start being wise!”  We ask you to pray for that indeed, these men do become wise with Godly wisdom.

            We are planning our Missions Conference for the beginning of March. We will tell you how it went in our next prayer letter.  In the past, we have mentioned a Salvadoran man who was a missionary to Mexico, named Luis Castro.  He is gravely ill and is not expected to live. Although we know he will be much better off in Heaven, we know his family will need your prayers when he does pass on.  Please pray for Aracely, his wife, and Ruth, his daughter.  He has been a huge encouragement to our church and a mentor for Steve. Thank you for remembering his family when you pray for us.

            We are certain that many of you remember the lady whose husband was killed by extortionists over a year ago.  We wanted to share an update on her family.  As you can imagine, the trials were great for this lady.  She had some serious problems in addition to her husband’s death. But she remained faithful, bringing her boys to church, coming to soul-winning visitation, and serving in the church.  God brought another man into her life, and they are preparing their wedding!  This lady told Christine, “There were many times that I did not want to come to church. I had many trials, it was so hard. But God helped me remain faithful. Now I feel he is mercifully blessing me in a great way.” Please continue to pray for her and her three sons that are still home.  This will be a happy time for them, but also a time of transition for her boys.

            As for our family, we would like to share how we have been doing. We have started to have a “Family Meeting” every week in order to be more proactive with our growing children. We discuss how they did that week (in obedience, chores, etc). We praise them for successes and challenge them in areas they need to work on.  Our kids look forward to this time. We make it special with a yummy treat at the end.  We’ve noticed a difference in our oldest children. Please pray for us as we try to find ways to teach them, connect with them, and raise them with Biblical principles.

           Thank you for helping keep us in El Salvador with your prayers and support. We are grateful for each and every one of you!