OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

The Silbermans
Home: 9403 Tracyton Blvd. NW¨ Bremerton, WA 98311¨ USA ¨ 360-692-2054
Field: APDO #19¨ Tuxpan, NAY 63201 ¨ MEXICO ¨ 011-52-319-232-5172
Support: Steven & Efigenia Silberman¨ Alternative Missions¨ PO Box 5835
¨ Goodyear, AZ 85338 ¨ USA

October 2007

¡SALUDOS!
Greetings everyone! We pray that all are well and that Christ is continuing to make himself real in your lives. We have had a full couple of months with youth event after youth event. It has really paid off; the youth are growing together as a group and in the Lord. We are encouraged!

FAMILY NEWS
Rebecka turned five years old and started her second year of Kindergarten in August and is doing very well. She also helped staff one of the events for the youth in September. Emma has been a lot of fun and is a real goofball. It’s great to see the youth take our children under their wings and make friends with them. Geña and I are doing well as we try to find time to rest after the events of the past couple of months. One of the youth, Mili, is living with us during the week so she can go to the new High School here in Cofradía. She is from Arrayanes and there’s hardly any transportation between the two towns; it’s working out pretty well.

We are excited to let you know that we’ll be in Washington in November, arriving around Thanksgiving and we’ll stay for a couple of weeks. We’d love to see you and have a chance to visit.

OVER-ALL MINISTRY NEWS
Geña and I have been the only missionaries here for the past couple of months. So, many of the activities were either put on hold or are being run at minimal speed. Pastor Gollo continues his ministry on the radio and is doing a very good job with the church. The construction of the new church has been put on hold until Dave Elias gets back along with new staff members, Pete and Faye Klippenstein from Winnipeg who will be overseeing more of this project. If you feel led to help by bringing a team or sending donations, contact us.

STUDENT MINISTRY NEWS
As I have mentioned, we’ve had a full couple of months. In August, we took around 15 students to Summer Camp, two of our students came home from a five week Bible School, and we also went to three different villages closeby to do evangelism outreaches. I mentioned that in our last letter that they were planning it and it went really well. The youth really showed signs of maturity and they all went out to pray for the people who came to the outreach. In September, we had our third annual, biggest event of the year for the youth; THE CHALLENGE. This year we had a total of 70 students participate in at least one of the five Saturdays. There were 6 teams with student captains and we also had 17 adults and one Rebecka to help staff the event. It’s an outreach to new students and it definitely has many other benefits. I cannot express to you all the incredible things that happened not only among the youth, but the adult staff as well. Here are just a couple stories of things that happened…

One incident was between a team leader and member of that same team. They were really upset at one another; crying, saying bad things to one another, and ready to give up (the second week). We sat them down to talk along with a couple of staff members/student leaders and we saw that this was actually something that God could turn around for the good. The two individuals were really good friends and they had just graduated together from the year-long discipleship course we offer. They both were able to see that Satan did not want them to succeed and he was trying to destroy their friendship. In the end, they forgave each other and there has been no sign of animosity since. The Lord definitely received the glory for this one.

The greatest thing that happened was in the fourth week with two young students who were almost ready to fight each other. We pulled them aside to talk with them and when one realized he was wrong I asked him if he would be willing to ask for forgiveness. He mentioned he didn’t know how to do that because he’d never asked for forgiveness from anyone. What an open door! We got to share with him how to ask for forgiveness from Jesus and he ended up asking Christ into his life for the first time! There is VICTORY in JESUS!

I could go on and on. There were so many great things that happened and this has been a dream come true! The youth are growing and the Student Leaders are doing a wonderful job in setting an example for others. You can read more about what’s going on and see a number of pictures of the activities as you browse this blog site. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of work.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY.

May the Lord bless you all,
Steve, Geña, Rebecka and Emma Silberman
Missionaries to Mexico
Alternative Missions

Written: October 9, 2007

SUPPORT ADDRESS
Thank you for continuing to be part of our team and supporting our ministry. If you haven’t yet joined our team of supporters, please consider joining.

· Send to:
Alternative MissionsPO Box 5835Goodyear, AZ 85338
· Checks made out to ALTERNATIVE MISSIONS
· Send a note on a separate piece of paper indicating that it is for Cofradía Staff Members: Steve and Efigenia Silberman.
· You can also donate online at the alternative missions’ website under the “Donate Online” tag as you place the mouse over the “staff” heading.
· Thanks again for being part of our team!

†MANNA†
I’m reading Joel right now and one of the things that really jump out at me is not the theme of the book, but the simple fact that God has chosen us and will protect us. We are called to repent and follow Him. The verse I love is, “But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.” (3:16; NIV). Israel was a nation chosen by God to show His glory through. We, as Christians, can identify with them because God has chosen us to be a light in the darkness. Christ lives in us! The Lord will be a refuge for his people. To Him be the Glory!