July 2015
Dear
Praying Friends,
As we reach
the half-way point of the year, God keeps reminding us of his presence and
guidance in our lives. Even in the midst of some difficulties, we are thankful
to report many of the blessings that God has poured on us.
We would
like to start out the letter by asking you to pray for the families of our
church. Right now, El Salvador is in the midst of a great problem with
gang-related crime. It looks like the gangs have waged war on the government.
One of our families, who own a store, was recently threatened by gangs. They
were asked to pay them a certain amount of money or suffer the consequences
(being killed). It turns out that the gangs would use this money to buy
weapons. These types of situations are becoming more increasingly common.
Thankfully, our family has not had to deal personally with these gangs but, the
way things are going, it is probably only a matter of time. In all of this, we
have a great God who protects us and gives us wisdom in difficult times.
God
continues to give us the strength to keep serving, and seeing fruit in the
different areas of ministry. Very recently, the men of the Bible institute went
door-knocking in one of the neighborhoods near the church. Steve had the great
joy of seeing a teenager (Cristian) receive Christ as his Savior. Also, please
pray for Luis, Esaú and Ricardo, that they would be even more rooted in Christ.
They have recently completed the discipleship course with Steve, and seem
excited to serve in the church. We are
thankful to report that three men (Wilfredo, Mauricio, and Gustavo) are in line
to graduate from the Bible Institute by the end of the year. Please pray for them and for the ministry in
general, that those that receive Christ would be discipled, that those that are
discipled would study in the Bible Institute, and that those that complete the
Bible Institute would be used greatly of the Lord.
This past
month, Steve´s grandmother, who lived in our city, passed on to eternity. We
are glad that she accepted Christ as her Savior a few years back. However, she
couldn’t completely let go of her religious traditions. This was reflected in
the funeral. We felt quite uncomfortable
at the funeral because of this. But at the moment when things were awkward,
suddenly a group of our church ladies showed up to be there for us. It was a
huge relief, encouragement, and just what we needed in that moment. When fellow
Christians rally around someone in a difficult time, it becomes a bit easier. We are grateful for the Women´s Ministry in
our church, how these ladies have grown in maturity and are willing to help in
a time of need. We have personally
benefited from this.
Caleb has
had a number of health problems including stomach issues, and strep throat. He
had a serious fall off of a set of stairs and landed on his wrist. An X-ray
revealed hyper-extended tendons but no broken bones. After realizing the height
of his fall and the seeing the concrete he landed on, we are amazed that his
injuries were not more severe. Thank you for praying for our families’ health
and safety. We felt your prayers and are thankful.
