Urgent Prayer Request

Please for our safety.  Two men just came to the house asking strange questions about us and our church.  They were clearly nervous and very suspicious.  The Lord only knows what their true intentions were, so please pray for us.

Missionary Chris Lanier Prayer Letters

Don't forget to read a/o download our latest prayer letters from our new site, www.chrislanierfamily.org.  Look for "Prayer Letter."  See you there and don't forget to subscribe!

Moving Out!

I know I haven't blogged anything for a while, but I plan on restarting.  This is my last blog post here--please visit my new website  http://www.chrislanierfamily.org and subscribe from there to keep up with us.  See you there!

We have a new home on the web!

Dear Friends,

Just wanted to make everyone that follows our ministry here, aware that our new website is up and running!  You can now start to follow us at http://www.chrislanierfamily.org

The new site is still in the process of being completed but is very functional in its current stage.
Be sure to signup on the new site so that you will continue to receive our updates.

~Chris Lanier
Missionary to Arteaga, Mexico
(256) 797-2546
cclanier@gmail.com
chrislanierfamily.org

El Festival de la Cosecha

Dear Friends,

I wanted to give a quick report about a big day we had yesterday in church.  We called it a “Harvest Festival” and had a big day themed around the harvest (special music, preaching, kid’s play all about the harvest).  After the preaching service, we also had a party with a moon-bounce and pony rides, of course with plenty of food.

Total results were that we had 160 people in attendance, and most importantly, there were 12 folks that trusted Christ as their Savior!  God continues to bless and use the ministry here for His glory.  Each of you that prays for us will be rewarded for the souls saved from hell last Sunday.

~Chris Lanier
Missionary to Arteaga, Mexico
(256) 797-2546
cclanier@gmail.com
missionarychrislanier.blogspot.com

Rolling Along

We don't really have much to blog about.  Sunday was a good day, and the week has gone by fast with studying, church on Wednesday, Bible studies in member's homes, and soul-winning.  There was a horrible city-wide shootout yesterday--they caught a high-up thug and in trying to spring him free, various other thugs started shootouts all over the city for about 4 hours.

Tomorrow is another busy day, with promises of being more busy during the weekend.  We've started getting prepared for "Día de la Coshecha."  We're praying for folks to get saved and then praying for at least 150 folks to come out.

Gearing Up to Go Out

It's been a busy and profitable week.  We've conducted a couple home Bible studies, have one more tonight, and had good times on soul-winning/visitation.  Last night we visited a family by request of one our people and then found a little ranch about 20 minutes away from our work that is completely isolated, very poor.  I am praying God gives us the opportunity to start a mission out there very soon.

Wednesday was a good night, we had a great time around the Word of God and had great attendance.

Tomorrow will be soul-winning and visitation in the morning and evening, with studies/preparation for Sunday in between.  We're looking forward to a great service on Sunday morning--I'm praying that we'll have 10 adult men.

My wife and I were talking a bit ago about how just 3 months ago we began praying for 5 faithful men, and that now we have them plus a couple extra.  Now we are delighted to pray for 10 faithful men.  Ain't God good!?

Everyone in the church is getting excited about "el festival de la cosecha" (harvest festival) coming up on the 23rd.  They're getting excited about being there and getting excited about bringing family, friends and visitors.  They're excited about praying for 150 people to come, and that God will save souls.  What a blessing!

I had a great time in Bible study this morning with one of our faithful men.  It was refreshing to talk about the work of God and the Word of God with him, and to explain our position on things from The Bible.  He's a faithful man of the church and I look forward to using him in the ministry.  He's a teacher by trade, and obviously gifted in that area from The Lord.

Busy times--much prayers are needed.  We need to build the baptistry, organize the church, and keep going.  I need wisdom in how to lead the work--when, how, etc to do everything that needs to be accomplished.

Thanks!

Cooling Off...

It has been such a GREAT week!  It was much different than planned, but The Lord was in all of it.  It started with a call from a preacher friend in the big city who wanted some help with an evangelistic campaign he wanted to start.  "When do need us to come?"  "Today to get the material."  How's that for advance notice??  :)

It turned out that he needed help making the flyers and daily programs; which even though I really didn't have time to make them, I told him I would without reservation.  It only took a few hours anyway and it was worth to help him out.  As for the actual campaign, he wanted me to lead the singing and pray for the offerings, and to preach the closing service on Saturday (Thursday thru Saturday campaign).

The first night was my favorite night.  2 adults got saved!  Friday was a little less attended but was still had a good time.  Saturday we started out lower than ever, but as I began to preach Erika took Ashley out into the street to invite people.  A couple families actually listened to her and came!  One lady that came like that got saved, making 3 salvation decisions for the week!  It was great!

Wednesday at our church was great as well.  We had great attendance with several first time visitors.  Thursday before the campaign we spent several hours out soul-winning and visiting, and Friday we stayed at home before the campaign to clean, prepare and study for Sunday.  Saturday we went soul-winning and visiting as always, and made several visits to folks that haven't come in a while.  Before the campaign, we bought chicken for afterwards and then just had a great time in the campaign.

I'm honestly surprised none of us were attacked, in the campaign, especially the pastor in charge and I.  The campaign was in the open air and we kept the volume on the sound system loud enough to hear for blocks.  He preached against everything from sodomy and drunkenness to corruption in the government.  I preached against idolatry, "saints" and images.  Both of us preached very hard especially on salvation by grace through faith, not of works.

Today was an outstanding day as well.  We had 2 adult visitors (a couple) to come in the AM service, and the man got saved!  Yes, that's a total of 4 souls saved this week!  Tonight was a great time as well with several first time visitors and a great spirit.  I waxed eloquent for over an hour...but it went by super-fast...at least for me!

So, glory to God again!  What a tremendous opportunity we have to serve God here in Mexico.  We're proud to serve Him here and couldn't think of any other kind of life!

Tomorrow is the cooling off stage--it's family day and we look forward to catching up with each other and spending time together.

What Went Down...

Okay, so nothing special "went down."  We had 2 good, full days of soul-winning and visitation on Thursday and Saturday.  Friday we visited some family and ran errands, then had a good time around the Word of God with a family from church, in one of their twice a week Bible studies.

Sunday was a good day as well.  We prayed for 30 and had 32, which we haven't had for a couple weeks. Sunday evening the attendance was down, but we still had 5 families.

Today is our family catch up day!  I also have a few errands to run.  I need to make a "pastoral visit" to someone as well, and I need to talk to a young man about getting saved.  His name is Victor, a drug addict without hope, without Christ.

Tomorrow we're taking some breakfast foods to a public food distribution center for poor children--they feed about a dozen kids in the morning who don't have food in their own house, then around 50 in the afternoon for lunch.  Our plan is to bring breakfast once a week and have Bible time with the children.  We still have to get permission--but we're going to show up tomorrow and expect results.  We talked with the supervisor on Saturday, but she said she would have to get permission from her boss...so we'll get permission from our "Boss" and let Him work it all out.

Other than that, we have a few Bible studies to conduct through-out the week, Church on Wednesday, and evangelism on Thursday and Saturday.

Lots of work!  Please pray with us for all of these matters!

"...habiendo huido de la corrupción que está en el mundo..."

This is a great quote from 2 Peter 1:4, albeit in Spanish.  In English, our Bible reads "...having escaped the corruption that is in the world..."  To directly, word by word translate the Spanish back into English, it would say "having run for your life from the corruption that is in the world."  Striking, isn't it?

The problem is we aren't running for our life (a great picture of escaping, no?) from the corruption of the world--we running back to the world like our lives depend on it's corruption from lust.  How sad!

The Word of God is so specific.  I love it.  I preached a  message last night called "Christians with Good Vision" out of 2 Peter 1:1-10.  I mentioned far and near sighted folks, folks with blurry vision, the cross-eyed, the blind and the blind in one eye.  I applied the truth of the Word of God that if we don't have all the spiritual traits mentioned in the passage, we're blind, we can't see very far off, and that if that is the case we need to examine our salvation.

We had such a good time in the Word of God.  The people responded well and God blessed the meeting.  What a GOOD God we serve!

Weekend Recap

We had a great, Christ-honoring weekend that started on Thursday with spending about 5 hours in the streets.  The Lord laid it on my heart to re-visit some folks that had begun coming to church with us while we were still travelling on deputation but have since quit.  We had some real good visits, but as we thought, those particular people had been choked out by the thorns of the world.  One lady said she didn't believe anymore, and that she nows believes in "la santa muerte" "holy death."  We were able to find some, though, that had moved around and are excited to start coming back.

Friday we had a cleaning day and a couple families came to help us us out.

Saturday was soul-winning again all morning, then while Erika went to a baby-shower in the afternoon with the kids I did the grocery shopping.  Also, a couple pastors from the big city came by to collect John/Romans and tracts.

Sunday was a great day as well.  We had superb attendance in both services, especially in the PM.  We had 3 first time visitor ladies with their children, and one 1 first time visitor man of 26 years.  I preached on faithfulness to church in the morning and then from Acts 8 in the PM, focusing on the question of what would it take for a person to obey the great commission--as the early church stayed in Jerusalem instead of leaving to evangelize and had to be persecuted in order to leave.  Great decisions were made by many in both services and testimonies to the same.

Today is catching up on tranquility for the family.  I left early in the morning to take a man to a hospital appointment and then for some pastoral counseling, then came back to relax with the family.

Later today a construction foreman is coming to give me a quote to build a baptistry, and other than that we're free to get some much needed rest.  Tomorrow we're going visiting in the morning, then I have a class at lunch time, then a Bible study in the evening.  Wednesday is study and church, Thursday is soul-winning in the morning and afternoon, Friday is study and preparation for Sunday, Saturday is soul-winning and visitation, and of course Sunday is the Lord's day--can't wait!

Attempted, Expected, RECEIVED

Yesterday I blogged that while we attempted great things for God all week, especially Saturday, we were expecting great things from Him on Sunday.

It worked!  A man named Vicente came forward during the invitation to receive Christ and be saved.  That's 2 ADULT MEN saved in less than one week!  Hallelujah!

Just think--I could have run scared and hidden myself and my family because of the threats against us.  "I shall not be moved" !!!  We love being in the will of God.

Last night we were all so exhausted; Ashley fell asleep at 8:30, and the three of us (me, Erika, baby Charley) went to bed at 10:00.  As soon as we fell asleep, the phone rang and we talked for about an hour. After the phone call, Ashley woke up.  I took her to the bathroom and then she was wide awake.  I went to the other side of the house quick, and upon return, I got bit by a scorpion!  I quickly called Erika to get me a knife and some baking soda and water, and while she was getting that, I killed the scorpion.  Erika had the stuff ready just as fast and I got a slit in the bite, squeezed out the venom, then applied the baking soda and water paste to the bite to draw out the rest of the poison.  It worked well!

But then after we got back settled down, our neighbors had some huge party with no less than several hundred hell's angels (yes, they're in Mexico too).  Ashley kept waking up, then Charley--so I kept Ashley with me in the living room and Erika kept Charley, so at least they wouldn't wake each other up, just the 2 of us.  The party finally shut down at about 3:30am and we finally got some rest, but both of the kids still were very restless and didn't sleep well (so, nope, neither did we).  The wake-up alarm was sort of a relief to the torment of trying to sleep!

How ironic, eh?  After church everyone was so pumped up and excited!  We had a good lunch then Ashley fell asleep right away, then Charley.  So, everyone went to bed.  Just after a few minutes, though, some friends from another like-minded church in the big city came to visit.  No rest for the weary!

What a great day in the service of The King.  We couldn't be happier or more content with what God has dealt us.  Tired, yes, but secure in knowing we've done our best for The Lord.

Not too tired to blog!  :)

Thanks for praying.  It means so much!  You make us a great team!  God bless!

Attempt and Expect GREAT Things from God

We had a great day out soul-winning today.  We made several contacts and are expecting great things from The Lord tomorrow.  We started soul-winning in a new neighborhood, which means we were very kind, full of smiles, handed out tracts house to house, and looked for opportunities to share The Gospel and lead people to Christ.  The next time we will be just as friendly, but be more insistent on sharing The Gospel, and along with the tract we will give a John/Romans.  The third time we go with our faces set, just as friendly, but giving one more opportunity to either accept or reject The Gospel.  After these three times, we continue visiting the prospects, leading people to Christ from that list, and trying to make more contacts/prospects but not door to door.  We continue in this way until God moves us to the next neighborhood.  Sometimes, this entire process takes a few weeks or in the case of the last neighborhood we just moved from, nearly 4 months (nearly 300 families).

At any rate, in spite of our kidnapping threats and the sporadic shootings, robberies, public beatings and general violence, we're still attempting great things for God and expecting GREATER things from God.

No time to lose!  We're still praying/planning/preparing for the peace march, hopefully to have it the end of this month.  We are also getting ready for the Harvest Festival on October 23rd...the people from church are pumped up and excited to have goals and things to do.

Please continue to pray God will allow us to bring salvation closer to the wicked, no matter what the means.  Philippians 1:20 "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death."  Why?  Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

God help us through our prayers and yours to be true to our desires and faithful to our task.

Prayer Request Update

After praying and speaking with my pastor and several other folks on both sides of the border, I felt it expedient to send Erika and the kids to my mother in law’s house for at least the afternoon.  After more prayer, I decided to chisel off the address sign we have hung on the front wall.  There are no other street signs that indicate what the name of our street is, anywhere, so it would be the only indication of our address.  My pastor specifically prayed that if someone would come to do us harm, they would be confused and not be able to find our home.  So, I felt like I needed to do my best to help them be confused!

Erika and the kids returned last night before church and stayed the night.  The night was very uneventful, not even the dogs woke up for anything!

I counseled with several friends, both American and Mexican, and I and my family feel at peace that the men that called only wanted to scare us into listening long enough to tell us a bank account number to make deposits for “protection.”  In reality, they probably wouldn’t come to the house if unsuccessful in extorting money from us, but daily prayer and consecration will definitely help keep that reality.

We attribute the prayers of hundreds of folks that had compassion on us to our present state of safety and security, and more than anything “the peace of God.”

Thank you to all those of the many churches that have prayed for us since this time yesterday.  God answered in protection according to those prayers of faith.

Please continue to pray for us, more than anything for us to stay safe in order to bring God’s peace to this war-ravaged but beloved country of Mexico.

~Chris Lanier
Missionary to Arteaga, Mexico
(256) 797-2546
cclanier@gmail.com
missionarychrislanier.blogspot.com

Urgent Prayer Request

We received 2 phone calls in our home this afternoon while I was studying, both threatening.  The last conversation ended with the caller telling me “If you hang up I will come to get you.”  Well, they would come get me if I hung up or not.  They had already recited to me our names, address and obviously had our phone #, and not wanting to continue the conversation, I hung up.

After trying to dispel the worries of my wife, I called my Pastor to ask for prayer.  Then I called my parents, then a few others that I knew I could count on to pray.  After talking again with my wife and praying, I called my mother in law to come get Erika and the kids to stay there for the afternoon until church tonight.

I believe this is a tactic of the devil to scare us away.  It won’t work.  That’s why I stayed and why I will stay.  God put us here to get people saved and to bring salvation closer to the wicked, such as this man.  A man got saved in our house last night after coming to study the Bible.  People are getting saved, right with God, making positive decisions for God and I declare, as Nehemiah “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it...?”  I say with the Psalmist in 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

Please pray for God’s will to be done, and that whatever the outcome, I will bring salvation closer to the wicked (Psalm 119:155).

~Chris Lanier
Missionary to Arteaga, Mexico
(256) 797-2546
cclanier@gmail.com
missionarychrislanier.blogspot.com

Meeting with the Mayor

Everything went very well!  We arrived to find out that the mayor wasn't there, nor does he entertain folks for appointments (how weird...).  However, we had a great time handing out tracts and talking to people there in the offices about Christ and inviting them to church.  Also, we got all of the information necessary to apply for permission to have the "March for Peace," and they told me all I had to do was turn in a written request and I could even have police protection.  Why would I want the police when they're promoting the violence, drugs and instability??  Of course I didn't tell them that but I graciously thanked them for their time.

Very importantly, a man from our church named Fidel went with me to the mayor's office and helped me around.  We went to eat a light breakfast afterwards and had a great time of fellowship and handing out tracts in the restaurant.  After eating, he wanted me to meet his parents (very staunch catholics).  It was very tense and uncomfortable so I tried to be very joyful and light-hearted so I would have an opportunity later to share the Gospel with them (after a good season of prayer).

God's so good to us.  We can't wait to see what God's going to do in the next few weeks with this "March for Peace!"

Marcha Por La Paz

Tomorrow I plan on meeting with the mayor of Arteaga (our town) to talk about having a "Peace March."  My idea is simply to draw attention to the need of having Christ in order to have peace--but having a march with posters, songs, and passing out of tracts.

A man from the church (Fidel) plans on going with me which is a huge blessing.  Having support from a national will be a tremendous help, and besides, Fidel says he knows the mayor and is his friend.  We'll see!

Please pray the mayor doesn't give us a hard time and that he will participate with us.

Praise The Lord for Alabama!

Home sweet home indeed!  While praying for our supporting churches this morning, I realized that Alabama is our largest supporting state!  We have a total of 7 supporting churches in Alabama, who average $65 in their monthly support, but not including our # 1 supporting church, our home church, Madison Baptist, who supports us for 25% of our overall support.

Praise GOD for Alabama!

Lanier Family Prayer Letters

Listed below and to the right are all of our recent prayer letters.  Enjoy!  Thanks for caring!

Wedding Bells!

To complete the miracle of salvation of Ismael a week ago Monday, he was gloriously married to Mari at church on Sunday morning!  After 30 years of marriage, including 25 years of separation (with a pile of iniquity on both sides, including infidelity) the two were united in marriage before God and man with a glorious wedding service.

We combined a regular church service with a wedding--not one at a time, right after each other but truly combined.  We sang, prayed, sang, prayed, had the ring presentation, preaching, biblical vows and a great deal of rejoicing in what The Lord has done.  There were 70 in attendance, whom all heard the gospel preached and were invited to receive Christ.  Most everyone was in shock at such a dramatic combination but everything went extremely well and most importantly to the glory of God.

There was a nice reception afterwards with great food and fellowship.  Honestly, it was the most Christ-centered and Christ-honoring wedding/reception I've ever seen (not because I conducted it, but because of how The Lord directed everything to come to pass).

It was a great example of how God works to everyone in the church and to all the visitors.  The miracle of God putting the two of them back together truly was amazing.  Right now, they are celebrating on their honeymoon and will return in a few days to continue their counseling/discipleship.

Ain't God GOOD!  What an answer to prayer, and a testimony to God's answering of prayer to all of you who have prayed for this.  Thank you and thank GOD!