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
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
February Prayer Letter
Dear Praying Friends,
We hope and pray that you have had a blessed start to 2010. It is an exciting year for us for many reasons. Despite the trials that Satan tries to discourage us with, we continue onward, with as much focus and intensity as ever.
One of the greatest challenges that we face this year is bridging the gap between evangelism and discipleship. By God´s grace we have gotten the opportunity to disciple several people during the past couple of years. However, most of the people that we’ve discipled were led to the Lord elsewhere. In order to be able to disciple more of those that we lead to the Lord, God has impressed upon our hearts to improve follow-up. Over the past two months we have been sending letters and visiting every week those that have been led to Christ. We also pray for these prospects every day. Please pray that, eventually, many of those that have been led to the Lord will receive discipleship.
Another great challenge that we face this year is with the youth. Thankfully, we had a teen camp two months ago, and our young people were challenged to live for God. Please pray for Ronald Figueroa, José Luís Alabí, and Victor Asencio. These young men are being discipled by Steve, and they have been faithful to attend church over the past few months. Mormonism is very active here in El Salvador, and this cult has been targeting teenagers aggressively over the past few years. It is sad to see how many teenagers have fallen prey to this false system. Please pray that we can minister to the youth, so that they would not be deceived by a cult.
We are confident that if we continue to trust in the Lord and work hard, God will eventually give us a strong youth group. In the future, we plan on having more activities with the youth, and even a youth service. For all of this, there is a great need for God´s wisdom. Brother William Cuellar just recently got married, and God is developing a greater burden in him for the youth. Please pray that God would give us more laborers that will be involved with the youth.
If the Lord permits, March 6th and 7th are the dates of our 1st annual missions conference. As a church, it is our goal to be able to support one missionary family on a monthly basis. Even though, at the moment, we are a small church, there is no doubt in our minds that God will start using us to support missionaries. We pray that over the course of time, the church will not only be able to support missionaries, but to train and send them as well. For the conference, we’ve invited Pastor Luis Castro, who was a missionary to Mexico for 16 years. Please pray that our hearts would be challenged to participate in missions in a great way.
We are thankful for your prayers for our family. As some of you know, Rosa broke her arm on New Year’s Day. That was quite a difficult day for her (and for us also). It was actually good that Christine broke her foot last October, because Rosa was not quite as scared of the visit to the hospital and the placement of the cast. She recently saw all of this happen to her mom. That certainly helped ease a difficult day for Rosa. Even with a cast, she was still a bundle of energy that only runs on one speed- full blast! Her broken arm did not slowed her down at all. In fact, Christine continuously reminded her that her arm was broken and she needed to slow down.
Caleb is talking a lot for his age, thanks to a talkative sister that helps him learn how to speak. He has been healthy and we are grateful. He is starting to be more fun for Rosa since he can actually play with her now. We enjoy watching them together. As always, we ask you to pray for our children’s health. We also ask that you pray God gives us continual wisdom to raise them properly. It is a daily challenge that can only be met with God’s help.
Thank you for your prayers. We are able to minister in El Salvador because of your giving and your praying.
The Cernas
We hope and pray that you have had a blessed start to 2010. It is an exciting year for us for many reasons. Despite the trials that Satan tries to discourage us with, we continue onward, with as much focus and intensity as ever.
One of the greatest challenges that we face this year is bridging the gap between evangelism and discipleship. By God´s grace we have gotten the opportunity to disciple several people during the past couple of years. However, most of the people that we’ve discipled were led to the Lord elsewhere. In order to be able to disciple more of those that we lead to the Lord, God has impressed upon our hearts to improve follow-up. Over the past two months we have been sending letters and visiting every week those that have been led to Christ. We also pray for these prospects every day. Please pray that, eventually, many of those that have been led to the Lord will receive discipleship.
Another great challenge that we face this year is with the youth. Thankfully, we had a teen camp two months ago, and our young people were challenged to live for God. Please pray for Ronald Figueroa, José Luís Alabí, and Victor Asencio. These young men are being discipled by Steve, and they have been faithful to attend church over the past few months. Mormonism is very active here in El Salvador, and this cult has been targeting teenagers aggressively over the past few years. It is sad to see how many teenagers have fallen prey to this false system. Please pray that we can minister to the youth, so that they would not be deceived by a cult.
We are confident that if we continue to trust in the Lord and work hard, God will eventually give us a strong youth group. In the future, we plan on having more activities with the youth, and even a youth service. For all of this, there is a great need for God´s wisdom. Brother William Cuellar just recently got married, and God is developing a greater burden in him for the youth. Please pray that God would give us more laborers that will be involved with the youth.
If the Lord permits, March 6th and 7th are the dates of our 1st annual missions conference. As a church, it is our goal to be able to support one missionary family on a monthly basis. Even though, at the moment, we are a small church, there is no doubt in our minds that God will start using us to support missionaries. We pray that over the course of time, the church will not only be able to support missionaries, but to train and send them as well. For the conference, we’ve invited Pastor Luis Castro, who was a missionary to Mexico for 16 years. Please pray that our hearts would be challenged to participate in missions in a great way.
We are thankful for your prayers for our family. As some of you know, Rosa broke her arm on New Year’s Day. That was quite a difficult day for her (and for us also). It was actually good that Christine broke her foot last October, because Rosa was not quite as scared of the visit to the hospital and the placement of the cast. She recently saw all of this happen to her mom. That certainly helped ease a difficult day for Rosa. Even with a cast, she was still a bundle of energy that only runs on one speed- full blast! Her broken arm did not slowed her down at all. In fact, Christine continuously reminded her that her arm was broken and she needed to slow down.
Caleb is talking a lot for his age, thanks to a talkative sister that helps him learn how to speak. He has been healthy and we are grateful. He is starting to be more fun for Rosa since he can actually play with her now. We enjoy watching them together. As always, we ask you to pray for our children’s health. We also ask that you pray God gives us continual wisdom to raise them properly. It is a daily challenge that can only be met with God’s help.
Thank you for your prayers. We are able to minister in El Salvador because of your giving and your praying.
The Cernas
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Youth Group Ice Cream Sundaes and Game Night
We invited the teens of our church to make Ice Cream Sundaes and play games at our house after church Sunday. They thoroughly enjoyed the huge bowls of ice cream I dished up. They couldn't believe all the good stuff we had to put on top...it was a real treat for them. Afterwards, they got into a serious game of UNO. We feel that the night was a big success, drawing our small group of teens even closer to each other. Pray they will grow in God's grace and become great leaders in the church one day.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
End of The Year Dinner
We had a wonderful dinner at the church on December 26. We had a number of visitors and over 70 people in attendance. It was wonderful to see some of our core members invite their friends and neighbors to the dinner. Our friends from San Miguel came to help us prepare the food, and Steve's aunt made a large pot of "chocolate" to drink. We bought cakes for dessert. It was a lot of work, but completely worth it!
Wedding of Wiliam and Marlene
On December 26th, we were blessed to witness the legal wedding ceremony of two of our most faithful church members, Wiliam and Marlene. They have four kids who were also all present at the wedding. Christine led their son, Cristian, to the Lord 2 months ago. Steve led Wiliam to the Lord 3 years ago. Steve has discipled Wiliam, and Christine recently finished discipling Marlene. Now that they are married, they are excited to be even more active in the church. Wiliam is even going to learn how to preach.
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