EL RETO 2020

EL RETO is a annual event that takes place usually in September at the beginning of the school year. It is an outreach to REACH new students for Christ, RE-REACH students who no longer attend church, and LEARN about God, Leadership, and Life. 

In 2005, we started with 12 students from our local church in Cofradia and it soon exploded into a 6 week event with over 200 students from over 10 different churches. It was a highlight of the year as everyone looked forward to it. This year, due to restrictions, we waited until December to do a one day "mini-RETO". 

Pastor Luis and his team of leaders put together a simple event geared towards reaching out to students and giving them an opportunity to get active in a healthy way.

The theme this year was "Unveiled Face" from 2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open [unveiled] face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The main thrust of the message was that we sometimes wear masks that prevent others from seeing us for who we really are. We were encouraged to take those "masks" off and allow God to do His work in us because He sees us for who we are and accepts us. It's up to us to take the step of accepting Him and what He's already done for us.

Somewhere around 45-50 students came out from at least 6 different towns and cities. Here is a very short one-minute clip of the activities...

A special thank you to those who contributed towards this event. You make it possible for the gospel to be reached to students who do not normally have an opportunity to hear it. 

If you did not have the chance and would like to contribute to this outreach in preparation for next year, you can donate here. Our yearly budget is $2,000 for EL RETO. We already have some funds due to the nature of this year's outreach not lasting as long as normal.

Thank you so much for partnering with us in RAISING UP LEADERS IN RURAL MEXICO.

December Ministry Update

  This month's update features...

• Video Update
• Thanksgiving Dinner at the Silberman's
• Spirit, Soul, and Body Study (Brief interview of pastors)
• Centro Cristiano Cofradia Sunday service Facebook live-stream feed link
• EL RETO starts
• Grace Conference video report
• How you can pray for us this month.
  

Here is a link to our December Update

Thank you for partnering with us! We appreciate your much needed prayers. We are very grateful to all of you who contribute to our personal support and thank you for your investment into the Kingdom of God through separately contributing to the ministry in Cofradía.

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD;

HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

Spirit, Soul, and Body Study

We started looking at this book, Spirit, Soul, and Body by Andrew Wommack, to see if it's something we'd like to implement into our Leadership Training teaching. Right away, we saw that this was very helpful. We've been teaching about our Identity in Christ through Freedom in Christ Ministries for a number of years now, and this book has made things even more clear in our understanding. It is a true blessing and is something we will definitely implement.

In this video, I have Pastors Luis, Goyo, and Amado share a very brief comment on how they've been impacted by reading and studying this book.

Raising Up Leaders in Rural Mexico!

Thanksgiving Dinner 2020

Friday night (Nov. 27) we hosted a dinner for the families of four pastors and other leaders. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with 35 people including children. I shared a little about America’s true history of when the Pilgrims first came and how the first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated. We went around the room and shared with each other what we are thankful for and it was probably the highlight of the evening. People are mainly thankful for being able to be part of a ministry where people genuinely love God. We are thankful for all of our brothers and sisters who came and it was a great blessing to be able to celebrate and be thankful to God together.

 

Geña cooked two turkeys, five pies, and a number of other things over the period of two days while Emma decorated the house with a little help from her sister, Mackenzie. I made the coffee .

 

Thank you to all whom pray for our family and our local pastors here in La Cofradía United. We are blessed because of you and are thankful for your partnership as we Raise Up Leaders in Rural Mexico together.

Here are some pics from the evening...

Grace Conference 2020

It is always a joy to be able to share about God's love and grace. This course on Grace has impacted my life personally as it has opened my eyes up to how much God really loves us. Just the fact that He loved us even when He was the last thing on our mind is incredible. He loves us, accepts us, and wants the best for us. That is a great motivation for loving Him.

This conference is supposed to be extended to 6 or 7 weeks of meetings. Because of so many that come from out of town, we have done this over a period of three days.

The message is that we love and obey God because we want to, not because we "have to." It's an amazing thing to understand God's love for us. Once we do, we will be motived by love instead of the false motivations that we get tangled into sometimes: guilt, shame, fear, pride.

Freedom in Christ is accessible. It's a freedom to obey God and not be enslaved by sin anymore.

Thank you for investing in God's Kingdom and helping us Raise Up Leaders in Rural Mexico.