Thank you so much for being part of our team. We are so grateful for your partnership, prayers, and support. May the Lord continue to bless you in every way.
Once again we were able to have a dinner together with our pastors. This time we met at Pastors Jimmy and Perla's house in Tepic. It was great to have everyone together as we shared stories of this past year, encouraging words for one another, and a great meal that was made mostly by Geña. We are all thankful for each other and are stronger together. In Ecclesiastes 4:12 it says, "a chord of three strands is uneasily broken". Imagine one of 30+!
We are excited to announce a new Leader for our House Building Ministry!
As many of you know, with Pastor Luis' passing, it left many opportunities to serve open as he was very vital to our ministry. Our desire has been to Raise Up Leaders and Luis knew that.
2 Timothy 2:2 "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
One of the major ministries Luis was in charge of was the formerly known Dwellings Ministry of Cofradia. With other changes that have happened this year, we want to simply call it our House Building Ministry.
This is one of the ways we reach out to families in need and you are a major part of making a difference in a family's life. Many people simply cannot afford to build themselves a house so they end up hopping from borrowed house to borrowed house, unable to establish a home for their family.
This is the simple message of salvation. It is a free gift they do not pay anything to receive. It's one way we are able to share God's love in a practical way.
Our heart is to continue building homes for people in need with your help. One of Luis' helpers who worked along side him closely is Diego Gonzalez. Diego was a student in our youth ministry many years ago and now is married and has four kids. After praying and assessing what makes the most sense, Diego was an obvious choice to ask if he'd like to head up this ministry. In fact, Luis told me about a year ago that he had confidence in Diego to build a house without his help. He had told Diego that, too. Almost without hesitation, he said he would do it. In fact, Diego looked at me intently and with these words (in Spanish) he said, "I'm ready". He is excited about this opportunity and is looking forward to building his first house sponsored by The Well Church from Utah within the next couple of months.
Diego and Carmen with their kids Aaron, Edwin, Estrella, and Deiguito
Mati and Isabel are doing a great job in the mornings feeding children before school. Since in class school started up again, many of the kids are not able to show up, but some still come at different hours of the morning for their breakfast.
The Ministry in Cofradia is calledLa Cofradia United. We depend on donations from people like you who want to see God's love extended to the rural parts of Mexico. Our desire is to Raise Up Leaders in Rural Mexicowith the intention of making an influential impact in our region, state, nation, and throughout the world.
Our friends at Family Renewal Ministries have offered to be a temporary avenue for us to receive your donations for our ministry until we develop a new system.
Four people made the decision last weekend to publicly confess a personal decision to follow Christ. It is always exciting to see people make this step. Romans 10:9,10 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Confessing and believing go hand in hand; you cannot separate them and get the same results.
It was especially exciting for Geña and I as Emma Rose decided to take this step of obedience. We didn't even know she had talked to Pastor Goyo already about it. I had the privilege of baptizing her in the river of Santa Fe.
From Cofradia, we had two students baptized:
Josué Medina - Centro Cristiano Cofradia Student (Isabel's son)
Emma Rose Silberman - Centro Cristiano Cofradia Student
Proud Parents
From Rosamorada, a student and an adult were baptized by Pastor Amado:
This past November we held a Freedom in Christ Conference. An intense three days of teaching and practical application. This year, we invited a couple Pastors and a couple Elders in our church to help teach.
Hugo Diaz led worship and taught two lessons,
Pastor Goyo organized everything and taught four lessons,
Pastor Abimael from Tuxpan taught two lessons,
Pastor Amado taught one lesson,
Chuy Hernández, Pastor Goyo's son, taught one lesson,
I taught three lessons, and
Mari, Pastor Luis' widow, helped us again with the media projection.
It's always a great time together. We had about a dozen participants. In the end, testimonies included one man who was a former pastor that said, "I never gave my identity in Christ any thought". Another said after spending 25 years in a legalistic church, "I finally discovered who I am in Christ." He was a worship leader and fell into drugs for 13 years. After a brother in the Lord told him he had been condemned and lost his salvation, he gave up hope. He was able to regain that hope in Christ. It's never too late to come back home.
Here is a short video of our time together...
Thank you for partnering with us and supporting this ministry. You are helping change lives!
