Last March we held a one-night Pastor's retreat and soon found out that time flew by way too fast. After talking it over, we believe that two nights is much more appropriate. Our desire was to do this at the end of November, but coordinating all the pastors is a little difficult. Our plan now is to do it January 16-18. In past messages, I mentioned our budget will be $3,500 and because of your generosity throughout the summer, we have reached our goal! Thank you soooo much!
This is one of my most favorite things we get to do in order to invest in Pastors' lives and give them some "down time" so they can restfully hear the voice of God for their personal lives, marriages, and ministries. Rest, Refocus, and Revive!
Pastors Jimmy and Perla have been ministering on Tuesday nights with a group of people who are eager to know more about God and the Bible. Most of those who attend have never been church-goers and many had not been believers before coming to the Bible Study.
After two years of opening up the group, they (the group) decided they would like to have a weekend Family Camp all together. Thirty-two adults came along with their kids and it was an amazing time! Pastor Jimmy shared on Saturday morning to get things going, Pastor Ernesto from "Perdón y Amistad" Church in San Juan de Abajo, Nayarit, gave a very clear message on Identity Saturday night, and I shared Sunday morning about being Unified with Christ through Communion and Baptism. It was a great time as seven people took the step of Faith and were baptized in Water. One of which who grew up knowing about God through traditions, made a decision to make Jesus Christ as her Savior at the age of 86!
Some of you know Macedonio (Macx). He has done a lot of work with our photo and video, audio, projecting, and Facebook updating, etc. He has been a great asset to our ministry whenever he comes to volunteer. For the past couple of years, he has struggled with diabetes and other health problems. When we were gone during the summer, he stayed at our house; upon returning, he did not look good. He was a pale yellow, skinny, could barely move, and had a horrendous looking abscess on his foot which was entirely black and swollen. He just was not the same Macx that we knew before. In fact, the thought had crossed our mind that he wouldn't make it much longer.
One day while he was in excruciating pain, I went into our guest room where he was staying and prayed for him and declared healing in his body like Jesus tells us to. A couple weeks went by and the only evidence of his healing was our faith. We believed he was healed, and most importantly, Macx believed he was healed. After having some blood tests done, the doctor looked at everything and said he had no sign of diabetes or anything else wrong with him and that the sore on his foot would soon heal because it was nothing to worry about. He cleaned it up a bit and each day went by with less and less pain.
After having gone to Tepic for a week and a half to help some friends with their vehicle, he came back to Cofradía and when he walked through our door, it was like we saw the old Macx again. His spirits were up, he looked healthy, his color came back, and most importantly, the sore on his foot was completely healed! He no longer had that ugly abscess that gave him so much pain. He says that after two years of struggling, he is finally physically free. A couple more weeks have gone by and he is doing very well. He shared with me some photos of before and after, but I'd rather not post them for the sensitive content of the before pics. Some of you will thank me for that. Others might be interested is seeing the change; I'm happy to share them with you in a private message.
Macx's testimony has already been shared multiple times which has helped others believe as well. Praise the Lord! Thank you for keeping our ministry in your prayers and helping us to have the opportunity to be here for the people. This is Investing in the Kingdom!
This year's theme was "El Desafío", which also means "The Challenge" just like "EL RETO".
David and Goliath was the main story-line as we find out in life that it's not always easy; there are Goliath's in our path that we need to overcome. We can only overcome with the help of the Lord.
Pastor Chuy did a superb job as leader of this outreach for the very first time. It is so exciting to me to see young people who grew up in church, be the leaders of the church today!
At least 120 students participated this year from almost a dozen different towns and cities in our region. A lot of the students' lives were impacted and many made decisions to follow Jesus.
The description in the YouTube video is in Spanish. Here is the English version:
The youth from Centro Cristiano Cofradía United in Cofradía de Cuyutlán, Nayarit, started their "Challenge" on September 7 and finished on October 5.
Four teams made up of various different towns and cities in our region: Cofradía de Cuyutlán, San Marcos, Santa Fe, Las Pilas, Arrayanes, Rosamorada, El Tigre, Zomatlán, Tamarindo, San Vicente, and Tepic, met together every Saturday to compete in physical and mental activities before coming together in "The Refuge" for Worship and teaching from the Word. The final dynamic of the day was to vote for another team to have to do chores...but...wait!...that team would receive a clue to a hidden treasure; which would give them an opportunity to challenge the winning team in one FINAL CHALLENGE.
The winning team (by points) was the Green team. But, the Black team found the treasure that gave them the opportunity to challenge them. In the end, after flinging a ball at Goliath with a sling, the triumphant team was the GREEN team! Congratulations!
But...WAIT!!!...the point to EL RETO isn't the pride of winning in the end, but instead the winners are each person who HAS LEARNED SOMETHING about God's Love, the Word of God, Leadership, or Life in General. Those who learned something, no matter if their team didn't win the RETO FINAL, they are the true WINNERS.
The purpose of this event is to Reach Out to young people, Restore their relationship with God, and Learn something about HIM.
Thank you to all who contributed to this event, especially Magnolia Bible Church in Texas who made it possible for each student to participate and hear God's Word for free!
This is an annual event that we have done each year since 2005. Our budget is $2,000 US dollars that pays for all the leadership training, promotional materials, props, game supplies, transportation, snacks, and prizes for all 5 weeks. Please consider contributing to EL RETO 2025 starting now. Click on the link below and follow the instructions in red letters. Designate your tax deductible donation for "Cofradia RETO".
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