OCTOBER MINISTRY UPDATE

Greetings from Cofradía, Mexico! Another great season of EL RETO / “THE CHALLENGE” has passed with numerous young people being exposed to the love of God from various different churches and towns in our region; some for the very first time.  

We are very grateful for all who prayed for these students involved in this event.  Admission is free because of your donations.  We were able to raise nearly $1,200 while in the states during the summer, $300 more of donations came in through Alternative Missions, and nearly $500 more came in through local donations and raffles here in Cofradía; some of those donors are former students who participated in past RETO’s!  We pretty much reached our annual goal of $2,000!  

We will be continuing to put together mini-RETOs throughout the year.  Many pastors have the itch to do this in their towns including a Jr. High in Sinaloa.  You can become a regular giver of EL RETO and help people all over Mexico hear the good news of Jesus!  Here is a link to get started.

You can read reports and watch videos of each week on our ministry blog at the links below and browse the photo albums and see what the kids are saying on our facebook page.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6 - Finale

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

Last month, we asked you to pray for... 

1. EL RETO.  Thank you! 
2. Religious Association Status.  We do not expect any news until December. 
3. Drug Rehab Center. Things are moving, but they are moving slowly.  We are still trying to make a partial deposit for the land.  The owner is out of town and it has been difficult to get the information we need.  Please continue to pray for Pastor Amado and his team. 
4. Missionaries, Lain and Kelly Grant What a blessing the Grants are!  We are so excited to have another couple here helping us run the base.  Lain has been doing an excellent job repairing, cleaning, and maintaining the property as well as helping with writing the reports for EL RETO! He also takes time out for the young people that periodically show up wanting to shoot hoops.  Kelly has jumped in helping with some of the financial books, started teaching English at the Jr. High, and is doing a great job of updating our list of candidates for House Builds.

Here are some links to more:

• The Well Church Short Term Missions Team: We just had a team come down from Utah to work in the afternoons with the children and help us with some sidewalks on the church property.  Here is a quick report on their time.
• Last Month’s Update
• What is EL RETO?
• Pastoral Perspectives: Click here to read bi-annual reports from three of our Pastors.
• A Quick Look into our Ministry: A two minute clip of some of the activities and more.
• 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. Drug Rehab Center. Please continue to pray for Pastor Amado and his team.  Pray for protection over him, his family, his staff, and all of those involved.  Let me know if you can help make a dent in the financial need he has in order to continue to purchase the land. 
2. House Build - Dwellings Team.  We will be hosting a team of men next month that will be building a home for a very needy family.  Pray for safety and an incredible evangelistic impact on this family. 
3. Sandy Garzon.  Sandy has been on staff with us for the past five years and will be moving to Guadalajara at the end of November.  Sandy was part of our youth group and worship band and eventually became one of our prominent Student Leaders.  She joined our missionary staff as the Short-Term Missions Host while living on our mission base.  She continued to minister with the student ministry and got involved in the church ministry with media, finances, Bible School secretary, and a number of other behind the scene tasks.  She has done an excellent job and we will miss her.  Please pray that the Lord would guide her in her new adventures in life.

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

Alternative Missions

Cofradia Area Director

--- JOIN OUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT TEAM ---

OPTION A---ONLINE:

Online, you can make a one-time, tax-deductible gift, or set up to make automatic monthly donations to our personal support here. 

OPTION B---BY POSTAGE MAIL/CHECKS: 

Send a check made out to Alternative Missions to Alternative Missions / PO Box 3107 / Ferndale, WA 98248.  Please indicate that it is for The Silbermans.

THE WELL CHURCH MISSION TRIP

We just had a great group of people from The Well Church join us on a short-term mission trip from Salt Lake City, Utah.

It was a blessing to have them as they shared with the children each evening in different towns.  We have not had a team do this in a number of years which means this was the first team many of the children saw.  The played games, shared bible stories, and had a craft for each of the children.

During the mornings, the team helped us add a couple of sidewalks in the church area to make it easier to get to the sanctuary for those who cannot walk well.  Especially if they have a wheelchair.  Just a couple weeks before the team came, someone with polio fell due to the loose gravel.

We appreciate so much the investment of this team to the kids' lives, the church, and making relationships with others on the side as well.  Looking forward to having them again.  Here is what one of them posted on their Facebook page when they got home:

"Just returned from a week in Cofradia, Mexico from an mission trip. I went there to help, but in reality it mostly helped me. This has been the most humbling and eye opening experience I have been part of.  If you find it in your hearts to give or want to participate in a mission trip, Cofradia is a a lifetime experience and the people there are so open to receive the hand of God."

Thank you to The Well Church.

EL RETO 2016 FINALE!!!!

We had an amazing last night with the students for El Reto Final!  A night filled with worship from two different bands, testimonies from staff and students, a powerful message by visiting Pastor Jimmy from Cosecha Final Tepic, and a winner-take-all game between the top two teams! One of the worship bands was from a church in Rosamorada; because of all the people and equipment they needed to bring the big passenger bus!

The students in the band were also members of the El Reto teams.  We really enjoyed our time together praising our Savior’s name.  They are all so humble and clearly have a strong heart for God.  We are thankful for the opportunity to worship alongside them.

 

After a few songs all of us were treated to a message from Pastor Jimmy.  This time of the El Reto Final was so valuable not only for the students, but everyone else too.  Towards the end of the message he had the students divided into two groups come forward and begin praying.  Later he had them move together and pray for one another.  It was an extremely powerful moment.  A moment that you could easily sense the presence of God and the Holy Spirit! 

There are too many pictures to share from this time of prayer than I can show in this update but you can check them all out on ElReto’s Facebook page.  Later, we gave opportunities for members of the Staff and students to come to the front and share testimonies from the last six weeks.  Next, we held the raffle for a slick mountain bike!  As always, Max did an amazing job playing DJ for the raffle.  He didn’t do it alone, though.  He had some little helpers with him to randomly pick the tickets…

The prize…

Now it came time to announce the winner of El Reto 2016!

This year Yessica, captain of the orange team from Rosamorada, had the most points.  Alfredo and the blue team found all four of the tesoros, or treasures, which meant they were able to challenge the orange team to one last game in order to determine the winner! So both teams had a reason to celebrate once the announcement was made.

The last game really tested the students’ memory and was super intense.  Students had to memorize pictures in order to complete a puzzle on stage. 

Both teams completed the puzzle but with errors.  After the orange team made their mistake, the blue team was able to finish correctly and claim the name as El Reto 2016 Champions!  Congratulations Alfredo!

An amazing close to the past 6 weeks, I think highlighted by our time with the message and prayer.  We are anxious to see and hear more testimonies from the students as they take time to reflect.  We are also sad to see El Reto come to a close but are already looking forward to next year!

Here is a quick video clip of the evening...

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED BY PRAYING FOR THE STUDENTS AND SENDING GIFTS IN ORDER FOR THE STUDENTS TO BE ABLE TO COME.

ADMISSION WAS FREE

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

WE'RE CHANGING LIVES TOGETHER!

YOU CAN BECOME A REGULAR GIVER FOR EL RETO AT THE LINK BELOW.

MORE ACTIVITIES TO COME IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

DONATE HERE

EL RETO 2016 WEEK 5

Going once, going twice, going three times …SOLD!

As the 2016 El Reto tour comes to a close, (one Saturday left), we held our two activities this week in the town of San Marcos.  The town is not far from Centro Cristiano so many of us walked to the plaza.  As we were headed there we passed a few men standing outside a store.  With all the students passing by, they asked one of the staff members what was going on.  This was a great opportunity to share about El Reto and about Centro Cristiano.  The conversation went well and we are prayerful that this conversation encourages them to visit next week’s El Reto Finale or service on Sunday! 

Each year, we are amazed at the talent of the young students during their projects.  Most of the teams had a commercial theme where they took different approaches to share the Gospel and ask groups to name Jesus as their Savior, change their lives, and start following Him.  Alfredo, captain of Los Perdona2, has a few years of experience in El Reto and always does a great job with dramas or skits.  Even with high expectations, his team did not disappoint.  They took a lot of time to make props including camcorders and headsets that came out great!

 

After each of the teams wrapped up, we stayed in the same spot for the Subasta or Auction.  Here the teams are using their collected points from games throughout El Reto and raffle tickets sold to bid on various prizes.  They have to be careful and spend wisely as points determine the winning team in the finale.  The students are bidding on unknown items in a plastic bin such as popsicles, candies, a list of all the clues for the hidden treasures, a chance for earning more points by cleaning the worship room, and pizza for their entire team.  After the captains bid and win a prize, the auctioneers always bring out a second box to give them the option to switch.  These are difficult decision for sure, as most of the captains will turn and get input from their team to either stick with the box they bid on, or make a last minute change.

If you get lucky though, it can be all smiles and excitement…

I feel like I say this every week, but this is one of my favorite events of El Reto.  The students have such an awesome time with it, and I love the anticipation and reactions of everyone, when the prizes are finally revealed.

This week, members of the church in Rosamorada led the worship time for The Refuge.  Pastor Amado, the Pastor from Rosamorada, stepped in to share a message with the students and read a few passages of scripture.  Even though we experienced some technical difficulties with the sound, they rocked the room! 

Next week is the Reto Finale!  I can’t believe we are at the end of the six weeks.  Looking forward to Saturday and wrapping up our time together!

Here is a video of this week's event...

ADMISSION IS FREE

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

LET’S CHANGE LIVES TOGETHER!

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