OCTOBER UPDATE

Greetings from Cofradía, Mexico! 

EL RETO 2017 is finished!!  It was a great year again as we saw many new students participate for the first time.  That usually means it was their first time in a Christian church and possibly the first time they heard the gospel!  It’s an exciting time as we REACH OUT to new students, RECOVER students who no longer attend, and LEARN whatever we can from the teachable moments that God puts before us.

This year, the biggest teachable moment came at the very end.  For the past 10 years, there has been a dynamic that allows a team who finds the hidden treasure to play against the winning team in one last challenge.  The Blue team won outright with a lot of points and was very confident they had this game in the bag when they found out that the challenger (the Black team) was a team that had been disrespectful during the event as they received penalties each week for their actions and words.  They didn’t have a reputation for winning.  However, during the final challenge, they shined!  The Black team beat the Blue team without any problems.

It’s interesting when you step back and look at what happened.  The Black team was a team that many would say did not deserve to win because of their behavior, because they constantly disrupted, and people were losing patience with them.  Isn’t that a great picture of us!  Who deserves to be saved?  Who deserves to go to Heaven?  NONE OF US!  The only reason ANY of us have a chance is because of what Christ did as he gave himself up on the cross as payment for our sin.  I’m really glad the Black team won (even though Rebecka was on the Blue team), because through this the Lord showed us his Grace and Mercy in real life!  It was exciting!

THE BLACK TEAM FINDS OUT THEY WON!

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

In our last update, we asked you to please pray for...

1. Wisdom as we continue to deal with the break-in of our house while we were gone.  We are very grateful for all of you who have generously pitched in to help us financially recover.  We are so very thankful! 
2. EL RETO 2017 Thank you for your prayers!  Apart from what I’ve mentioned above, you can view pictures and videos at our blog here.
3. The Restoration Center.  Pastor Amado has had a couple of interns this month.  One is doing well as he helps around the rented house and the other lasted just two days and went back home.  Things are beginning to move; thank you for your prayers. 
4. Dwellings Build #13 in Cofradia for the Romero Carrillo family.  The floor has been poured and the water cistern has been built.  Building will continue for the next couple of weeks.
5. Dwellings Build #14 in Tuxpan for Pastor Abimael and his family.  The blocks have been made and the floor will be poured as soon as the other house is finished.  We are excited about The Well Church from Salt Lake City to come and participate in the construction of this house in November as the sponsors of this house. 
6. La Cofradia United International is the name of our Civil Association.  Please continue to pray for wisdom and that the Lord would provide us with someone who can help us in the accounting department. 
7. Summit Bible College Nayarit Extension.  We are working on finishing up those who have just a few things left in order to graduate with the College.  As of now, there are no new students.

Here are some links to more:

• Last Month’s Update 
• Lain & Kelly Grant’s Latest Update 
• Cofradía Dwellings Candidates 
• Pastors’ Perspectives: Click here to read bi-annual reports from our Pastors.
• What is EL RETO? 
• 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.
  

This month, will you please pray for...

1. Dwellings Build #13 for safety over the workers and open hearts of the recipients as we have an opportunity to share God’s love. 
2. Dwellings Build #14 as we continue the preparations and get ready for the team. 
3. Restoration Center There are a couple of trips that Pastor Amado is needing to make to Guadalajara as he continues to prepare for more interns.  They have not done well financially as of yet.  Pray for wisdom as he prioritizes his time and God’s provision over his ministry. 
4. La Cofradia United International accounting help. 
5. Interns.  We are looking for a couple of interns who would like to come down in January and February to help with teams as we will be understaffed during that time.  Pray for provision and let people know of this opportunity.

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

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