Highlights of the last two weeks:
Sunday, October 26
The
Mota family came out to Concho Primo with me for the 3rd week. Pastor Mota preached on salvation. Not a lot of people came due to the HOT
weather (it was almost unbearable. . .), but those that came listened
well. In between service and Sunday
School, I mentioned that if they had any questions about salvation they could
talk to Pastor Mota then or with me afterwards.
While we played a review game, 3 people went outside and talked with
Pastor Mota. One of them, an 11 year-old
boy named Alexander, accepted Christ as his savior during this time! Please keep him in your prayers as he grows
in his relationship with the Lord and his understanding of grace.
Wednesday, October 29
I went
out for Bible study with Rosalia, Yaneisi, Eva, and Irenita. Three of the 4 girls (all except Irenita)
were ready when I arrived and came up to the school study. It was a good day in that the girls were
ready and somewhat excited to study, but a frustrating day in that it was hard
to make myself clear in Spanish. The
girls are getting really comfortable with my level of Spanish and speak much
more rapidly and openly than they used to do (which I love), but that makes it
all the more frustrating when I don’t understand exactly what they are saying
or can’t figure out how to express myself.
The theme of Rosalia and Yaneisi’s
study this week was resisting attacks from the enemy and preparing for
temptations that will come our way. They
didn’t quite understand the concept of temptation (well, they understood everyone
else’s temptations, just no their own . . . sounds like most of us, if we are
honest). Anyhow, I couldn’t seem to
bring it home, so pray for us as we try to cover this topic again that the Holy
Spirit will reveal this truth to them through the Word. (And pray that my Spanish will continue to
improve)
Eva’s
study this week picked up with where we left off before – salvation by grace
through faith, not by works. We had a
good discussion about salvation in which she proceeded to tell me that one example
of a way that she could be saved was by helping the poor. I was excited at this response because it was
the first time that I was able to get her to verbalize what she believes
(definitely the Holy Spirit working through me in this situation. There is no way I could come up with just the
right words on my own). From there we
were able to leave our Bible study book and head into Romans 3. We had a brief discussion on how we cannot be
saved by the law, only by faith. She
doesn’t quite get it yet. But the light
is beginning to dawn. I know that the
Holy Spirit will keep working Eva, illuminating His truth so that one day soon she
can choose to follow Him. Please keep
her in your prayers!
Saturday, November 1
Niños
para Cristo – my friend Kristin came out to help me for the weekend as we
continued our study on integrity. We had
the usual amount of kids come 20-30ish but they were pretty rambunctious. It was a good day, but tiring.
Sunday, November 2
This
Sunday my friends John and Lynn Cunningham came out to help with the Sunday
service in addition to Kristin and the Mota family. John preached in English on Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego, and I did my best attempt to translate (not sure if we
can really call it that yet, but hopefully someday soon!). John did such a great job tying the Gospel
into the story. No decisions for Christ this week, but the seed was planted
once more!
Monday, November 3
Ezequiel
and Elizabeth Mota came out to help with the youth group one last time (Mike
and Annie return next week). I think the
teens have grown fond of having them there; we have had a pretty consistent
group of 10-15 each week.
