Alternative Missions Cofradia

A quick look at the ministry here in Cofradia, Mexico, with the Director Steve Silberman.



Come along side us and be part of what God is doing here by Praying, Coming, and Giving.

• Pray for wisdom with the governmental requirements of our new Religious and Civil Associations.
• Pray for finances.
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out in this area!

• Come down on a Short-Term Mission team (click here for the Short-Term Missions Manual).  
• Vacation Bible Schools with the children 
• Partner with the church evangelizing other towns
• Building relationships with the locals
• Construction Projects
• Building houses
• Come down as an intern.
• Come down as a full-time Missionary.

• Give towards the ministry's operational fund.
• Give towards the support of local Pastors and Missionaries who are going out from Cofradia to other places.
• Give towards specific projects and/or ministries.

*ALL GIFTS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE AND CAN BE MADE AS A ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTION OR SET UP AS AN AUTOMATIC MONTHLY DONATION.

*CONTACT STEVE FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING ANY QUESTIONS OR SPECIFICS ABOUT PRAYING, COMING, OR GIVING.

SPLASH 2016! coming soon...

Next Saturday, March 5, we are inviting all the youth groups in this region to join us for an evening of "refreshing".  Splash 2016 will be a kickball game using pools as the bases and soapy, wet tarps as baselines.  It will be a Splash!  We'll have a refreshing message from the Word to follow.

Many of the events for the student ministry incur extra expenses and your donations help make this possible for us to do.  Please partner with us by sending a one time or monthly donation to the Cofradia Student Ministry here.  Thank you in advance!

DATE NIGHT 2016

Thirty-nine couples came out to our annual “Date Night” for Valentine’s Day.  It was a nice, relaxing time that couples were able to enjoy over a very good meal, some participated in games, and an excellent message from Doug and Jan Taylor. 

Through their message we were encouraged to live the Gospel in our marriage, life, and family, build relational bridges in the community, and serve those around us.  Couples came from Cofradia, San Marcos, Las Pilas, Santa Fe, Arrayanes, Rosamorada, Tuxpan, Mojocuautla, Ruiz, and Mazatlan.  In the end, three and a half couples raised their hands to say that they wanted Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of their life.  Thank you for those of you who prayed.

FEBRUARY MINISTRY UPDATE

Greetings from Cofradía! The dogs are barking; deep “woofs” of the larger ones and sharp yelps from the little ones.  The distant howling of coyotes and the constant crowing of roosters make the sounds appear to be a planned, ongoing song with an occasional donkey braying as if it were trying to sing.  It’s 4:30am in Cofradía.  Soon the sounds will fade into the squeaky suspensions, the humming of vehicle motors, and the popping of tractor engines over men’s voices as they head out into the fields.  It’s a new day and God’s creation is in action.

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!
Last month, we asked you to pray for... 

1. Religious Association Status.  Things are moving along quite well.  We’re not sure how long this will take, but we’re making very good progress. The Religious Association will be called “Centro Cristiano la Cofradia United”. 
2. Bible School. Many of the people who have taken classes for the past couple of years attribute the material we’ve been studying as having made a direct impact in their spiritual growth and maturity.  It has been a huge blessing!  We asked you to pray for those who still need help with their tuition; some have been able to pay while others still need help. 
3. Drug Rehab Center: We are still waiting, but a location has been chosen.  Thank you for your continued prayers for this as we look forward to seeing this Center become a reality. 
4. Border Run.  Thank you for your prayers.  We had a wonderful time while we were in the states as we spent a week with my parents and another week with Geña’s sister along with a couple of visits at the Harrison’s and the opportunity to see some friends and Pastors in Bakersfield.   
5. Short-Term Mission Team: We had another great time as the team was able to connect and impact lives of the locals as we focused on “Healthy Families”.  Our newest missionary members to Cofradía, Lain and Kelly Grant, came here on this same team last year; they have written a few words about this year’s experience and you can read them here.

Here are some links to more:

• UPDATED Pastoral Perspectives: Click here to read bi-annual reports from three of our Pastors.
• Last Month’s Update 
• EL RETO 2015 
• What is EL RETO 
• “Dwellings” candidates in Cofradia: Meet three families that are in need of a home.
• Cofradia’s Short-Term Missions Manual explains more of our mission in detail.  Click on this link to check it out.
  

This month, will you please pray for...

1. Religious Association Status.  The financial end of this issue is still in need; the minimal cost is $2,000 US Dollars in order for this to be accomplished.  Please consider how you can help; click here to safely send a tax-deductible contribution online.  Thank you. 
2. Bible School. Graduation will be here before we know it and some of the students still have been unable to pay their tuition.  Of the ten students currently eligible for graduation in June, three of them are coming up short: Hugo Diaz ($70), Mily Garzon ($240), and Angel Martinez “Niko” ($390). If you know one of these people and want to help, I can share with you instructions on where to pay.  Or if you’d like to help any of them, simply send a general donation to Cofradia with a special note of “Cofradia Tuition”.
3. Drug Rehab Center: Continue to lift up Pastor Amado in prayer as he works with the local government to get this project running. 
4. An Accountant: We are in need of an accountant in Mexico to help us with our Civil and Religious Association finances.  We have been working with one, but her availability is very limited.  All receipts are done electronically through the internet which makes things very difficult for us in a location where the phone company does not want to install internet.  Please pray that God would provide us with the right person or that our current accountant will be able to help us better understand what we need to do. 
5. Internet. Pray that a better system becomes available to us.  We currently are using dial-up at home; at the mission base, we have a satellite system from the states through Hughesnet which is slow, limited, and expensive. 
6. Date Night.  Our annual Valentine’s Date Night is tomorrow!  We will have the privilege of having Doug and Jan Taylor once again as our guest speakers. 
7. Church Anniversary Celebration.  On Sunday, March 6, we will be celebrating 5 years since our inauguration of the building.  Pray for the evangelistic opportunity that this brings. 
8. Leaders.  Continue to pray for leaders to be raised up in this area. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever!

Thank you so much for being part of our team as we work together to RAISE UP LEADERS IN RURAL MEXICO!!!!

Blessings,

Steve, Geña, Rebecka, Emma, and Mackenzie Silberman
Missionaries to Mexico
La Cofradia United International
Alternative Missions
Cofradia Area Director


--- JOIN OUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TEAM ---

You can make a one-time, tax-deductible gift or set up for monthly giving safely online at the link below.
ONLINE. Click here to donate to our personal support.

BY POSTAGE MAIL/CHECKS. Send a check made out to Alternative Missions to Alternative Missions / PO Box 3107 / Ferndale, WA 98248.  On a separate note, indicate that it is for The Silbermans.

Pastors' Perspectives

Here are the reports from the local pastors in Cofradia.  They receive very little for what they do and any donation you can make to them is appreciated.  You can click on their name to safely donate online.

Pastor, Gregorio Hernández

Lead Pastor

As 2015 came to a close, we were able to reflect on all of the things that were accomplished during the year, and with satisfaction we saw that it was a year of great blessing for the church. For example:

• The bible college that is providing us with brothers and sisters who are equipped to do the tasks that GOD entrusts to each one.
• The Freedom in Christ conference we hosted in December that was good preparation for those who attended that will help others learn to live free in Christ.

And we know that all this isn’t just a blessing for the church but also for the town in general—that is, for those who will enter the church in the future.

In the area of worship, Hugo’s efforts as Worship Minister really stand out; we are extremely grateful to God for the work He is doing through him. During 2015 he was in charge of leading us in worshiping God on many Sundays, and I am certain that he will continue growing in this area. 

Each one of the Cofradía Christian Center leaders has incomparable potential. For all of this and more we are grateful to all of you for your support in prayer and intercession as well as in finances. I tell you that what you are doing out of love for GOD is not in vain. It is translating into lives transformed for the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are all a part of that!!

Our passion is to continue reproducing what God has done in Cofradía, in communities both near and far, and to continue living out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18‐20. We thank you in advance for your continued and future support. Please be praying for this year’s theme: “Free to Live, Worship, Preach, and Pray.” And as always, we are so grateful for your passion and dedication to God.

Blessings to you all.

Yours Sincerely,

Pastor Gregorio Hernández, Mati, and Family

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Pastor Luis Vázquez

Youth Ministries and Maintenance

Greetings, and may God bless your lives through Jesus Christ, His beloved Son!

In recently days we have been enjoying God’s blessing in new ways as we have continued to know Him better each day, both in His personality as much as in His fullness. He is manifesting Himself in our lives, our ministry, and our church.

THE CHALLENGE (EL RETO), the event for which we asked for your prayers earlier this year, was excellent and provided many opportunities throughout all the activities to talk about all the aspects related to Identity. Over the course of the event, we taught the youth about who Christ is and about His forgiveness. That great truth was planted in their hearts, and God will make His Word prosper in them. We also enjoyed the participation of other church youth groups, one of which continues to bring their youth to our weekly meetings to work together as partners in ministry, which is part of our vision for the youth.

The youth leaders and I are still passionate about pursuing the youth and gathering them together each Saturday and grow deeper roots together in the love of God.

As a family we are still adjusting to the absence of our daughter, who moved to Tepic for college. We believe it is God’s will for her and we receive that; the rest of us keep pressing on and we enjoy having her home when she returns each weekend. We ask for your prayers for:

• Carolina and her studies and for our adjustment to her absence.
• Unity for us as a family.
• The new members and attenders to our youth group.
• Growth in the youth who are already established in the group.

May God richly bless your lives and those of your families. Thank you for your generosity to us.

Blessings to you all,

Pastor Luis

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Pastor Horacio Garzon

Indigenous Ministries and Arrayanes

Hello, brothers and sisters. As always, it is a pleasure to greet you once again. I hope that you are all well. I assure you we are all well, though I tell you that because my wife, María, was ill for a month with a digestive ailment, which was complicated by her diabetes and therefore necessitated two or three rounds of treatment.Though she lost quite a bit of weight in the process, she is finally recovering well.

In ministry we are still confident in and grateful to God for all things. We continue ministering in the Cora community of Mojocuautla. We are organizing the distribution of the Operation Christmas Child boxes, praying that many children will receive the love of Christ through that event.

Your support is a precious blessing that allows us to resolve several needs that have beset us. In addition, through it God has allowed us to go to a distant mountain community of Cora called “El Cangrejo.”

Thank you!