Finished Penitas Church

The Work is Continuing

The church is almost finished.  The blocks have been curing for the past several months and stucco has been applied inside and outside.  The final step will be to apply a coat, or two, of paint.

Evangelistic Series March 2010

The local church members had been meeting every morning at 5am for 40 days to pray for the upcoming evangelistic series. While we were in Mexico building the One-Day Church I remember with fondness waking up to the La Fe worshippers singing praises to God. What a beautiful way to start the day! 

After we left Mexico Israel Torres Ramirez, the Bible worker, continued to give Bible studies and help the local church members prepare for the March harvest campaign. We employed him through the evangelistic series. 

        La Fe Seventh-day Adventist Church, Plan de Ayala

Team Northern Lights and O’Malley church members lifted up in prayer the people in Mexico as they prepared for the harvest series. We again rejoiced when we received word from Pastor Chuc showing that the Holy Spirit is at work among them: many couples living together were married and 60 people were baptized!  The Holy Spirit was moving hearts and lives were being changed.

                                                 La Fe SDA Church

In former blog entries I spoke about Juan, who as not an Adventist, but gave the land to the church in Peñitas to build a new One-Day Church. Our hearts were filled with joy when we heard that Juan and Brenda not only married, but both were baptized! Praise God! 

                        Juan and Brenda entering the baptismal font:

“Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
  Mark 10:9

                                                    Juan's baptism

                                                      Brenda's baptism

                         Pastor Esteban Chuc and his wife, Ibeth:

Update on our sister churches in Chiapas, Mexico

The Holy Spirit is at work in Mexico using the faithful servants of the La Fe and Peñitas Seventh-day Adventist churches. You know from previous blog entries that students of Israel, the Bible worker we hired, are being baptized. And that our team mate, Elizabeth, was baptized when we returned from Mexico. Praise God!

Also mentioned in another blog account was the story of Pastor Chuc and other church members meeting with the family of the people murdered on January 1st. Two of the church members began giving Bible studies to the interested family members and four of them quickly made a decision for baptism. Three couples decided to marry, but deferred baptism until the upcoming evangelistic meeting in February/March. And five of the family members made a commitment to keep the Sabbath holy and asked their employer for Sabbath off.

In Mexico even the children are evangelizing! The local Pathfinders group (similar to a Boy and Girl Scout groups) handed out Christian books and magazines to the soldiers who are guarding the Peñitas dam. It reminded me of Matthew 18:3 where the Word of God says: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Team Northern Lights feels a strong kinship with the believers in Chiapas. We are rejoicing with them as new believers come forward to make commitments for the Lord. And although we are very far away we know some day, soon, we all will be united in heaven!

Maranatha!