Monday, July 15, 2019

Pastors' Perspectives 19.2

Every six months I ask the Pastors of our community to share a quick update in order for you to see what is on their heart regarding our ministry and through their perspective. These pastors can receive tax-deductible contributions through Alternative Missions.

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

I thank God for all of you, who have been faithfully following this ministry. We have been blessed by your faithfulness because of how you have provided for needs as they have become known and that have been necessary for carrying out the work of God in this place. For that reason, we send you our gratitude, and the following updates:

After implementing the Freedom in Christ discipleship course and the Grace course, we began to see the need for a leadership training program focused on training pastors and lay leaders in the church, equipping them to carry out the Great Commission. Our goals for this program are:
      Short-term:
      Visit various leaders in the area with the goal of making them aware of the program’s and providing them with more information about it.
      Begin classes May 14 and will last six months.
      Classes will be on Tuesdays from 5:30–7:30 p.m.
      Plant deep seed of love for God and for others.
      Six months to three years:
      Graduate pastors and lay leaders who are trained in and passionate for the work of God, to be sent out for service in pastoral and missionary fields.
      Provide an avenue of service for them in the area the Spirit has given them a conviction.

Our original plan was to open the program next January, but thanks be to God, we were able to begin classes on May 14 of this year and are seeing great attendance from the students. Of course we want to thank all who have supported this effort, both through finances and through prayer. Thank you so much for being part of the ministry of Cofradía Cristian Center and La Cofradía United.

We also hope, in the long-term, to establish a more formalized school that provide further development for pastors and lay leaders, so that they may also be trained in specific vocations in the church, and our desire would be for this school to also contribute to the continual improvement of the larger community.

Sincerely,
Pastors Gregorio, Mati, and family

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

We greet you, as always, with love, the same love that you have shown us all this time, which precedes from the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
    
I greet you through this letter and offer our deepest gratitude for your perseverance in blessing our lives and family. Believe me when I tell you that not one ounce of the support you have poured out for us has been in vain. Your support has made it possible for our daughter, Carolina, to study Engineering in Tepic; truly, without your support, it would be very difficult for her to continue her studies in this way.

We hosted the Grace course in Arrayanes. It lasted six weeks, and twenty-five people participated. The purpose of this course was to equip each of them to live out God’s call on their lives. We also studied through both the Freedom in Christ course and the Grace course with a husband-wife pastor team from Mazatlán who are struggling with issues of identity and with unresolved personal and spiritual conflicts. By the end of our time together they were experiencing positive growth results in their relationships with God and with each other.
    
We continue serving with the youth group each week. We know that we have them with us for a short time before they will leave home for university or careers and families, so we continue to faithfully invest in solid foundations in their lives. Recently, we took the youth group on a trip to the town of San Diego del Naranjo to visit the youth of that town who joined us in last year’s EL RETO for the purpose of encouraging them to continue following God.
    
In February we finally opened the first phase of our Bible school in Cofradía. This initial training program will last six months, ending in October of this year. Our goal is to continue equipping pastors and church leaders for both current and future leadership roles. There are currently twenty people enrolled in our first session.

Planning for EL RETO 2019 is underway! We will kick off this six-week event on August 31, and it will conclude on October 5. This year’s theme is “A+ Love,” and each week we will explore a different facet of the supreme love of God: it is total, unique, unparalleled, perfect, and incomprehensible. Our desire is for the students to understand that God’s love for us is beyond the love we experience from other humans. For this purpose, our theme verse will be Micah 7:18 (NIV):

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”
                       
Please pray:
      For our family.
      For all the youth we minister to.
      For EL RETO—that the youth who participate will truly know the Love of God and submit themselves to His covering.
      Pray for the church and its leaders.
    
May the God of all peace be with you and may He bless you with all the riches in our Lord Jesus Christ.
    
Sincerely,
Pastors Luis and Mari, and family

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Pastor Horacio Garzón
Indigenous Ministries
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator
Cofradia, Nayarit

Brothers and sisters! With great pleasure, I write this letter to greet you. We hope that you are well. Thank God that we are also well. Receive greetings from my wife, Maria, and from my children, Martín, Alfredo, and Kenia. Kenia has completed her second year of high school. Thank you for your financial support, which enabled us to cover the costs of her transportation, food, and other supplies. I thank God for your generous hearts, and I am confident it is the working out of your living faith as believers in Christ, who sustains us and keeps us longing to know Him.
    
Brothers and sisters, we continue here learning more about the precious and steady character of God. I had the privilege of attending the Grace course; it was very beneficial for edifying us in mercy and love. In addition, thank the Lord, we are attending a leadership training program every Tuesday with the goal of fulfilling the call and vision God has placed on our lives. Thank you, brothers and sisters, for providing me the opportunity to be part of the body of Christ as I see the faith you have in God for us. Thank you!

May God bless you always. Receive our greetings; we remember you always and we love you with the love of Christ who has reconciled us to God. Thank you and God bless!

Horacio and Maria

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Martin Garzón
Missionary to Cora Indians
From Arrayanes, Nayarit
La Mesa del Nayar, Nayarit


Greetings brothers and sisters. I am content in all that God is doing in my life and in pursuing all the plans He has given me to do. I want to thank God, and all of you who have united with me in the vision He has given me through prayer and financial support, which has been instrumental in providing for this ministry to children that I was able to open in Arrayanes back in January. We are teaching the Word of God to boys and girls of all preschool and elementary grade levels. The bulk of the financial provision was used to purchase materials needed for evangelical outreach events during which we put on dramas, present Bible stories and songs, provide Bible-centered crafts, and host games that teach teamwork.

Now we are praying about beginning a youth group, since many of the boys and girls will soon be entering junior high.

I want to thank you also for the motorcycle you provided for me. It has been a blessing in my life that has allowed me to participate in and serve as part of various ministry activities. I also want to thank you, brothers and sisters, for being trusted friends and examples of Christ in my life. Thank you for all that you have done. I hope you experience God’s maximum blessing and I love you with the love of Christ.

God bless you!

Your friend and brother,
José Martín Garzón Solís

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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

I am pleased to report we have advanced in the legal steps for establishing the restoration center. We were required to produce two manuals.

The first is the Organizational Manual for The Establishment of a Residential Addiction Treatment Center. The purpose of this manual is to provide all personnel with information about the functions and responsibilities of each area of the center and of the staff who work in each area. It also outlines the organizational structure of the center. This manual will be updated periodically to reflect changes in function, structure, and personnel who work in the center.

The second is  the Procedures Manual, which is designed to explain the procedures utilized by the center and which will be available for personnel to consulted often as a general resource for information. It outlines the applicable standards, processes, and steps for each phase of treatment, in addition to clearly outlining the responsibilities of each in order to guarantee seamless operation. This manual will be updated any time there are changes to internal statues and regulations and/or activities or processes that are developed within the center.



Developing and digitizing the manuals


On June 25, we had a meeting with CECA (State Counsel Against Addictions), in which we were trained as a group on how standards of practice for working within the center and how to interact with the residents. 
Informally, we continue to help people with different kinds of problems, primarily people with additions, but really, anyone who requires help. A mother approached us requesting help for her addicted son. Since we still do not have all the necessary details in place for admitting residential patients in our Restoration Center, he was sent to Mazatlán where there is a Christian Restoration Center run by a friend. While he was a resident there, his mother attended our church in order to find treatment for her own life. In a similar manner, a married couple (both pastors) received help with their own restoration after backsliding into old addictions. They received support and Bible study through Freedom in Christ over approximately four months.




Current Needs:
We are still waiting for CECA personnel to visit and approve (based on our fulfillment of their requirements) the rental house where the Lighthouse of Hope Restoration Center will be established until we are able to acquire the land we hope to build on.

In addition, we still lack the total funds needed for the purchase of the land where we hope to build the center facilities.


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Pastor Frank Uribe
Children Feeding Program Director
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator
Rosamorada, Nayarit
Donation Link (Indicate for "Pastor Frank")

We are the Uribe-Zavala family. We are persevering in our calling to help and serve in the town of Paramita, specifically the children of this town. We gather with them to fellowship, and play, hear teaching from the Word of God, which is our primary goal. We also provide them with a light breakfast. It has not been easy to do this because so far we have not been able to secure any kind of resource support. All that we do is with the few resources we are able to cover with our own meager incomes. In fact, there are times that we are not able to continue hosting the gatherings because our own resources are so few. We currently have several urgent needs that we are praying for God to provide:
      Tables and chairs
      Craft supplies (crayons, paints, paper, glue, and any other art/craft supplies)
      A means of transportation
      Funds to purchase food for the meals we provide
      Funds to put a roof on the meeting space we have been granted use of.

We wait on God for His favorable response to our pleas. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,
José Francisco Uribe Martínez and Family


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Pastor Ruben Perez
Lead Pastor of Restauración y Vida Nueva
Church Plant Pastor in Mazatan, Nayarit
Las Varas, Nayarit
Donation Link (Indicate for "Pastor Ruben")

This year we have been working with the church leadership in the Freedom in Christ discipleship course. We are very pleased with what God is doing in our lives. We have been convicted of our need to be set free and made whole in order to serve well. We are working hard, as much in our service areas as in our personal lives. We send you greetings and love. Thank you very much for your prayers, and we pray blessings on your lives.

Sincerely,
Pastors Ruben & Carla of Restoration & Life Ministry in Las Varas, Nayarit, Mexico

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