Pastor's Perspectives 19.1

We have our pastors share a bi-annual report of what the Lord is doing in their ministries.  These are the results of your investment into this ministry.  You can pray, donate, and/or participate in a short-term missions team. 

All of these pastors can use financial support.  If you would like to sponsor one or more of them specifically, please let me know.  Otherwise, you can make a general donation here specifying the gift for "Pastors" and we will evenly distribute your contribution.

It excites me to be able to share these reports with you as our ministry "La Cofradia United" continues to grow beyond our doors.

Here are the reports from the Pastors:

Pastor Gregorio Hernández
Lead Pastor of Centro Cristiano Cofradia
Cofradia, Nayarit

We began 2018 by choosing a theme to direct the church’s advancement for the year: “Remain free.” We based this on the Freedom in Christ material from Neil T. Anderson, and throughout the year our emphasis remained on our freedom in Christ. The results of this year’s emphasis are important because understanding the truth of who we are and knowing our position as children of God is the starting point of all Christian success, the very basis of the truth we believe.

On November 29–December 1, we hosted the Freedom in Christ course for 21 participants. Our entire leadership team had the opportunities to guide people through the steps to freedom in Christ, and God once again allowed us to witness faces full of His presence.

This year we are seeking to establish a new small group in a town south of Cofradía, and we are seeing response in one particular family (a married couple and their children). They are very happy with what God is doing in their lives, especially the wife who says she is grateful to God for the changes happening in her husband, who is seeking rehabilitation for his addiction to drugs.

In the future, and with God’s help, we hope to open a school to train lay leaders and pastors for the extension of the Kingdom of God in our state, our country, and beyond our own borders. There are many places that need someone to answer God’s call and say, “Send me!”

Thank you for your support and for your part in sowing seeds together with the ministry of Cofradía Christian Center and La Cofradía United. We send you our gratitude for being part of the development of the Kingdom of God.

May God bless you.

Sincerely,

Pastor Gregorio, Maty, sons, and grandchildren.

Donate to Pastor Goyo here

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Pastor Luis Vazquez
Centro Cristiano Cofradia Student Ministries
Maintenance Director
Cofradia Dwellings Director
Cofradia, Nayarit

To God be the glory for all eternity! We greet you with the same love with which you have loved us, demonstrated by your generosity toward me and my family and the work of God for the expansion of His Kingdom in this region, in which we are working together with all the workers God has raised up for the edification of the Body of Christ in this area.

For EL RETO this year, our theme was “Choose Truth,” and God was faithful to guide us to choose truth in our own thoughts, and in that way to be able to speak into the lives of the youth during the six weeks of EL RETO. During those six weeks we also preached on that theme during Sunday services, so that youth and adults alike were instructed in how to choose truth in our thought life.

We believed there was a great need to teach on this theme because one of the primary battles in adolescence is learning to distinguish truth from lies and then to choose the truth.

After EL RETO ended, I met with three youth who show potential as student youth leaders in the youth group, which meets every Saturday. This year we will once again spend time visiting nearby villages in order to reach out to youth who need Jesus and also to give our youth the opportunity to learn to evangelize. We will begin in February.

At the end of 2018 and in the beginning of 2019 we will be building homes for local families in need. Within the family that received a home in November 2018, the mother and son did not enjoy a good relationship; however, over the course of our week building with the American group that sponsored the home, their relationship was mended, and this brought great joy.

We took a trip to Mexico City for a Freedom in Christ conference, together with four other pastoral couples who are our friends and partners. It was a time of great blessing for the conference and for the couples attending, but above all with my wife. We greatly enjoyed this time away together (thanks be to God!)

Joshua 24:15 says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

I believe this is being realized in my family. We are growing and serving together in the church. Three of my children are studying. The second oldest, though he is not studying, but is working along side me; we enjoy the time together and continue to pray to know what will be next for him. All of this is possible only because of the grace of God in our lives. As humans, we face many battles and difficulties, but we press onward together as the family of God that we are.

I thank you, as always, for your great heart and generosity, and we continue to pray for God’s blessing and care over you, your families, and your positions.

Prayer Requests:

●      That the family from whom we rent our current home will be willing to sell us the house.

●      That my family and I will continue to remain focused on God.

●      That my second oldest son (who is not studying) would decide what preparations to take for his future.

●      In general, for the ministries in Cofradía. 

Sincerely,

Pastors Luis and Mari, and family
Donate to Pastor Luis here

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Pastor Horacio Garzón
Indigenous Ministries
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator

Cofradia, Nayarit

As always, it is with great pleasure I once again take up paper and pen to write you this letter. I hope that when you receive this letter you are well and in good health, just as we ourselves are, thank the Lord. Brothers and sisters, thank you for supporting us financially; because of your support, Kenia continues to do well in her studies as a high school sophomore, in an educatational facility that is more efficient and more aligned with her vision and goals. It pleases me to see her taking her studies more seriously and demonstrating more maturity in her conduct.

I thank God for the opportunity to have taken the Freedom in Christ course. It is an edifying and essential training because it truly does bring us freedom as it reveals to us who we really are. It teaches us our identity and our position before God, and as we better understand those, the pleasures of sin are diminished as they are compared to the wonderful truths in God’s Word.

The Freedom in Christ course has helped me to feel more at home under the holy and supreme covering of God, where nothing that is out of step with the grace of God can find any footing. This phrase resonates with me: “I am not the Great I Am, but by His grace, I am who He says I am.” I am his accepted son.

Please also receive greetings from my wife, Maria.We enjoyed taking the Freedom in Christ training together, in fellowship with other members of our local church who also attended. I believe we both have a great task, a great purpose, as beloved children of God that is found as we believe and understand the truth of our position before him, living out of and enjoying this great privilige.

Brothers and sisters, I continue giving thanks to God for the privilege to remain in this Christian ministry and for leadership that prays for its conduct and and direction without regressing into rigid legalism or other erroneous ways that would not be avoided without the Lord’s guidance

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for the special friendship you offer us, especially at this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our King who is Christ the Lord. May His profound peace always live long in our hearts.

Greetings and thanks to you from Maria, Kenia, Martin, Alfredo, and as always, me,

Horacio Garzón Orosco
Donate to Pastor Horacio here

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Martin Garzón
Missionary to Cora Indians
From Arrayanes, Nayarit

La Mesa del Nayar, Nayarit

Hello, brothers and sisters. I am extremely grateful for all you have done in my life. I see the goodness of God in providing me with brothers and sisters like you all who uphold me in prayer and who are always ready to help. The support I receive from you I invest in the ministries I am sharing with you about here.

At this time, we are working with the ministry in Cofradía to establish a drama ministry for our children and youth to reach out to children who do not regularly attend church. Our goal is to teach them Biblical truth through drama.

One of my plans for this year is to evangelize a village called Agua Aceda. We used to evangelize there in years past, and there are people there who have submitted their lives to Christ. In Agua Aceda I would like to pursue one of the visions God has given me for my life: to establish small groups. I hope, with God’s help, to lead them through a study called Firm Foundations. In order for this to be possible, I am praying God will provide me with a motorcycle so that I will have a reliable means of transportation for reaching and ministering in this village.

I want to thank you for the prayer, finances, and words of encouragement you have invested in my life. I respect you very much and consider you an example in my life that demonstrates all the good things God reveals in His Word. Thank you for all you have done. I know God will multiply it all a hundred fold. Thought we are far away from each other, I will continue to pray for you as I always have, and I love you very much with the love of Christ.

May God bless you all.

Your brother,

José Martin Garzón Solís

Donate to Martin here

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Pastor Amado Verdin

Lead Pastor of Casa de Oración, La Hermosa

Director of Rehabilitation Center, El Faro de Esperanza

Rosamorada, Nayarit

My name is Amado Verdin Ramírez. I am a mechanic by trade and the pastor of a small congregation, called House of Prayer the Beautiful, in the town of Rosamorada. I work together with my wife, Lourdes, and my children, Yessica and Abraham.

We continue with the legal procedures for establishing a Christian Drug Rehabilitation Center in Rosamorada. Among the health standards requirements, we must produce documentation of the doctor who will be in charge of and looking after the residents of our rehab center. We are also required to acquire the services of a psychologist who will be helping us at the center.

The State Counsel Against Addictions (CECA) requires us to submit a request of invitation to inspect the location that the restoration center (Lighthouse of Hope) will occupy to see if it fulfills all of the state and federal requirements. This document has been submitted to the CECA Director General, Juan Antonio Cambero Pérez, requesting him to visit in 2019.

Upon delivering the doctor documentation to the offices of the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Health Risks (Cofepris), we were provided with another set of health standard documents to fill out.

While these legal procedures continue in process, we continue to work with addicts, visiting them and sharing the Word of God with them.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers,
Pastor Amado and Family
Donate here to help Pastor Amado buy property for the Center.  Any contributions up to $2,500 will be matched.

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Pastor Frank Uribe

Children Feeding Program Director

Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator

Rosamorada, Nayarit

Greetings from Rosamorada, Nayarit.

We continue working every Saturday, as usual, with the same desire to see the hearts of children transformed and that in time they grow to be forces for good in society. We spend each Saturday preparing ourselves and then preparing food for the children, we share a teaching from the Bible, we play games, and we sing with and pray for them. Our vision is to have a special place just for them to gather, with tables, chairs, and a roof to protect us from the sun and rain.

On Saturday, December 22, we celebrated Christmas with them, as we do every year.

If anyone feels led in their heart to support our vision, we would be very grateful to them.

Sincerely,

Pastor Francisco Uribe and Family
Donate to Pastor Frank here and make a special note that it is for "Pastor Frank".
Watch a two minute video-clip of what they do here.