MARCH 2019 PRAYER LETTER
Our summer and rainy season is coming to an end. We are hoping that it helps things start to cool down a little.
Our new church is still doing well. Our numbers have gone down a little since school has started back. This was something we expected as we were starting. We rejoice however, that we were able to give these people the gospel. With those who have stayed, we have started discipleship. In the last month we also started some more services and activities. We added a Wednesday night service, a kid’s club on Saturdays and a weekly youth service on Saturdays. So far, these extra activities have been well received and well attended.
The first weekend in March was Carnival weekend. It is a rough and very ungodly catholic holiday. It is actually the same ¨holiday¨ as Mardi Graz in Louisiana but it is, in my opinion, much worse here. To give a good alternative to Carnival, we had a special all day event at our church. It was on a Monday. It ended up being a great opportunity to try and add some unity amongst our people. We had two messages, lunch and some games. The adults worked together to make the meal happen and the young people all played together. It is the first time we have seen the people really have some fellowship with each other. It was great to watch them.
Our other new work on the south side of the city, Sowing Good Seed Baptist Church, is having some issues. The church is located in a believer’s home. This has been great because they have opened their home up for free and been very kind to us to have services. However, there are 2 issues. One is that the location is horrible. The other is that the believer’s family is starting to cause some problems. They are not happy and are causing issues for the lady helping us. However, the pastor we have in place has seemed to stay encouraged. Even though there is no money, he is convinced that God is going to give them a place and he has been looking for property. I love watching his faith grow. We would appreciate your prayers as we figure out the location God has for this work. We need His guidance.
As you know, we have been working a lot with Ellie on therapy and such for her Autism. She has been doing great. We also changed her school curriculum and that has really helped a lot. However, she is still really struggling in the Spanish environment. At church she shuts down mentally. She doesn’t want anything to do with anyone. She wants to hide in the closet all during Sunday School. She has also started getting aggressive with the other children that try to be around her. It has reminded us that she has come a very long way this year but she still has a long way to go. Would you pray for us and for our Ellie as we try and work on some of this?
We would also like to remind you to please continue praying for the political situation here in Bolivia. We have not seen any big problems yet. A few small protests but nothing big. I think the people are waiting to see what happens in Venezuela. That will possibly be a big determining factor in how our situation will turn out as Bolivia has been following their lead for several years now.
After Carnival, I had the opportunity to help with a medical team that came to help another missionary. They went to 4 different churches and did all day clinics for the church and community around it. I helped in two of these and it was a great experience. I really enjoyed the fact that every person that was there for help received a personal presentation of the gospel before they left. We had many make a profession of faith as a result. I had the opportunity to help interpret for the doctors. It was a great opportunity and also a challenge to my spanish as I had to learn some new medical terms and phrases.
Thank you for helping make all of these things possible by your financial and prayer support. We believe you will receive credit for all that has been done here.
