VICTORY in Jesus!

We had a great day yesterday!  The spirit was great, the service went great, God spoke to hearts, and the attendance was back up to normal!

It was difficult to keep doing the same thing that we had been doing, in the midst of the wolf attacks and massive drop in attendance.  We stuck to it, though, and doubled our efforts.  God punished the wolf and he's doing right now.  The other she-wolf still has yet to get right or come back, but we won't grow weary in well doing knowing by faith AND experience that we WILL reap.

God's always good and we're so thankful.  The people are getting really excited about the "Dia de Vaquero" and we're busy getting the plans together.

The family is doing well.  We can't complain!  We're looking forward to having some family come in from out of town to stay with us for a little while.  They heard about God doing something in our family and want to come find out what we have going on!  We look forward to prayerfully winning them to Christ.  If they do get saved, we are praying they'll move into town and get involved in what God's doing here in our family and community.

Word gets around about us pretty fast, somehow.  People have been telling me that they've recently heard that in our church we only preach The Bible, and it doesn't matter if it's "duro" (difficult, hard, and in this case offensive).  Our people enjoy handing out tracts and talking to people about what's going on, and inviting people to church.  Some come, some go, and some stay.  It's God that is doing the work but it's exciting to see the people of the church performing their responsibility to go, plant, water, and reap.

As a result, people have been referring us to people that need help, like a family where the husband beats his wife, is drunk, and doesn't let her go out of the house.  I've visited 2x since Saturday, and both times a scared family member came to the door (2 different, 1 lady and 1 teen-girl) and very timidly told me they weren't allowed to talk to me, let alone come to church.  Another family the man is a drug-addict and only works to buy drugs and liquor.  His wife and baby boy have absolutely nothing, and she is terribly confused between being catholic, mormon, jFw, 7thDA, and a practicing witch.  She's came to church 2X, but not since last June.  Also a result of the people doing such a great job with evangelizing the community, they are bringing friends, neighbors and family to church.  Some are even bring family that live 45 minutes away from our church!

We're so proud to be here as God's messengers to Arteaga.  The field truly is white and the fruit is definitely ripe for the picking.

Claiming Victory

We had a great service last Wednesday and Sunday, albeit the attendance was still down.  We kept soul-winning, visiting, and praying and even though we missed several families, God gave us peace and still worked in the hearts of those that did come.

Last night God brought more than usual, 30 folks.  That was our average before the gossip and backbiting and wolf attacks, so it was encouraging to see The Lord still at work.  We had one new family to come last night as well.  The service went great.

I did something unusual, though after I dismissed the kids to their class and right before the preaching.  I took four chairs and put them beside the pulpit, and told the people the chairs were for 2 couples that had received Christ but no longer want to come to church.  I told the church that it was our responsibility to pray for them, and that I was going to leave the chairs there until those two families came back.

Well, a church member called one of the families and told them they were not right for not coming to church anymore, and that they weren't going to grow and God wouldn't work in their hearts while being outside His will.  Afterwards, that church member called us to joyfully tell us that the family admitted they were wrong and would be back on Sunday!

God's GOOD!!

I've cancelled our trip to Washington state in honor of our support being so close.  We're going to trust God to give us the rest of what we need by the end of Spring.

Erika, Ashley, and Charlie are doing well.  My new Grampa continues to grow.  It's so special to hear him praying and singing hymns during his devotions.  He's a completely new man and I'm so proud he's staying with us for a little while.  He helps me with all of the maintenance and work on the property, and enables me to spend more time studying and praying.

I thank God for my family.