Tuesday, May 25, 2004
[10:46 AM]
Weekly UpdateGood Morning Everyone,
Let's start out with John/Romans and tracts. This last week we went to another new rancho and passed out quite a few, along with candy and balloon animals. We took Emmanuel with us and about 1/2 way through the rancho he said, "Man we ought to do this all the time, this is fun!" Miguel also went with us but by the time he finally got enough courage mustered up to hand out a tract, one of the other boys beat him to it. He's not saved yet, but wanted to come with us anyway. You can really see God working on him and Satan fighting it at every step. Don't forget to pray for Miguel.
We had three first time visitors at church services at the children's home this week. When we dropped off two of them, they were very excited and asked if we could come pick them up again next week. The other visitor was Gustavo, the one that we asked you to pray about. His tournament Saturday was cancelled and he had a double-header on Sunday, but he skipped half the second game to come to church with us. He's over at our house most evenings. Don't forget to pray for the salvation of Gustavo.
We had to miss a discipleship class last week, due to students' family plans. But we made up for it by having classes on Friday and Saturday this past weekend. We dealt with eternal security of the believer. We'll be having a lesson on baptism on Friday, so please be in prayer for that. One of them already has some questions about baptism, so we'll be addressing those just in time. It seems like the Holy Spirit is already guiding him towards the first step of obedience.
The children's home has a missions group coming this weekend from Tennessee, so we will be very busy, helping to cook, entertain, or whatever. We want to take a group of the kids and pass out tracts and John/Romans so please pray that God will direct us where we need to go and that He will prepare the hearts of the people that receive these scriptures.
We have been looking at property and praying, trying to discern what God has in store as far as a church building. For the kids at the children's home, it's very difficult having church there. It's just different when you have an actual church building. Not only that, but having extra people come for church, space gets to be a problem. Please pray for wisdom and finances as we go forward in this phase of the ministry.
Please take a moment right now and pray for these requests as well as for our family. Thank you all for your dedication to this ministry and you can know that you are laying up treasures in heaven by being part of God's work in Mexico.
In Christ,
Steve, Amber & Kids
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Monday, May 17, 2004
[1:21 PM]
Weekly UpdateHello Everyone,
Do you want to know how you know you are spoiled? When you get disappointed that no one gets saved at a church service. However, even though no one came forward to receive Jesus, we did have a victory of sorts. We had 52 in our church service last night and we are realizing a need for more seating. A horrible problem to have, isn't it? Please pray that God will provide the necessary finances to purchase more chairs or, more ideally, foldable benches. We have a pattern for these benches and are awaiting a cost analysis and the finances to have them made. They would be better for durability and storage reasons.
Margarita and her family came to church with us last night. Emmanuel has been sharing Jesus with Arturo (Margarita's husband) and even gave him a Bible. It's so good to see God at work in him. I don't believe Arturo is saved yet, but he has been reading his Bible. The other day, Margarita was showing us what he had found while studying. Please pray hard for Arturo.
This past week was pretty normal other than we got rained out at baseball. Thomas was able to work on a farm helping out one of the farmers who lives near the Children's home. He had a good time but came home completely exhausted. It took two days to recover.
Samuel has gotten a job working at an auto body shop. Josi, our "seminary student" was able to arrange Sam's employment. He's really enjoying it. He was able to witness to his boss and co-worker on his third day of work. Praise the Lord! His boss is really getting double teamed and he doesn't even realize it. He's friends with Josi, who frequently makes comments, and now Samuel. Pray that God will give him the wisdom to know what to say and when to say it.
In last weeks update, we mentioned a young man by the name of Miguel. He's 16 and has come to our discipleship class and visited church last week. Although he was unable to attend church this week, he was able to visit the children's home with us on Friday and Saturday. The way God uses the kids there is amazing. You can see his heart softening more with every visit. He was carrying one of the little ones around and holding another ones hand. He was playing with them on the playground equipment. This is so out of character for Miguel. When we first met him, he was one of the most self-absorbed young men here. We really love him and are amazed at the changes we see. Please continue to pray for him and his salvation.
This Saturday, instead of us going to play baseball, we are going to a baseball tournament to watch Gustavo (the young man who lives at the stadium) play. He told us he'd like to come to church with us Sunday evening if we'd go to his game with him. It doesn't seem as though we will have much more time with Gustavo here. He's 18 years old and is planning to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, this August for 4 years. Pray that God will touch his heart and that he will get saved.
Please take a moment right now to pray for these specific prayer requests. Please pray for us as we continue to minister to these and others who need desperately to be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your faithfulness.
Your Partners in Christ,
Steve, Amber & Kids
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Monday, May 10, 2004
[10:08 AM]
Weekly UpdateGood Morning All,
What a spectacular week! Brother Rick Toney and his kids were here until Thursday morning, and we stayed busy. One morning we went and handed out some toys that you folks collected, another day we went and passed out John/Romans and tracts, along with balloon animals, in a brand new (to us) Rancho. We got there, and it didn't seem like there was anyone there, until we pulled around a corner and a bus was unloading. We stopped, got out and got busy. Then, another bus pulled in, so we were able to get scripture in those people's hands also. Guess where the bus stop was... right in front of a Catholic church. You can see a picture on our web-site.
We did some repairs (by we, I mean brother Rick mostly) at the Children's Home, hung out with kids, both at our home and at the park, played baseball, the kids played basketball & soccer, a few of the Mexican boys here fell in love, and the list goes on. The Toney's all made a very good impression here, and we really appreciate them and what they do.
Last night we went to pick up Margarita and her family for church, but they weren't ready to go. They said next week for sure. The kids were undressed, running around, and it looked like her husband was drunk, or at least had a good start on getting there. There were lots of guys just hanging out drinking and who knows what else. So we went on to the other people, the ones we took the toys to. We picked up a family of five and took them with us.
When we got to the Children's Home for church, Antonio, the father of the family, was so nervous he could hardly stand it. He has a bad stomach and esophagus from many years of extreme alcohol abuse, and it was giving him problems. Bro. Bob preached about the first passover, connecting it to Jesus' blood covering the door posts of our hearts. He brought up all of the first-borns that were sitting in church last night to make the point that they would have all been slaughtered. He brought up little Fidel (8 years old) and made him be a lamb, putting his hands on his head, putting a bowl under his throat, etc. When he went to get the knife though, you should have seen that poor kid's eyes! It was so funny.
Anyway, the end result... Antonio (who turned 35 years old yesterday) received Jesus into his heart. It's not "our" Antonio, the one we have asked everyone to pray for, but we were thrilled just the same. How about that? Two birthdays on the same day! Bob and Alejandro both said that they knew it about halfway through the message, that they could see God working on him. When Bob had the invitation, he said as soon as we started singing to come up. Antonio was on his way up there as soon as Bob said "Amen." We hadn't even figured out what song to sing yet. It was great!
In other news... we had our first discipleship class here Saturday immedietly following baseball. Emmanuel and Juan Carlos were there (as expected), but we had two unexpected participants (that's right, participants, not visitors or guests)... Miguel and Manolo. It was good. Using Emmanuel and Juan Carlos as interpreters, they both got a good dose of the Gospel. Then, they came to church with us last night also, and got another big dose. Pray for them please, that God will continue to knock on their heart's door.
Juan Carlos got up last night at church to give a testimony of praise. He has a pretty tough situation in his life right now, so please pray for him. You can almost physically see him growing spiritually.
Emmanuel is so great also. He is so bold in his Christianity. He is the driving force behind Miguel and Manolo getting involved in the discipleship class and coming to church. He has a real burden for his friends that is as apparent as the nose on his face. He is a natural leader and everyone likes him. He is just like Juan Carlos in that his spiritual growth is so obvious. The two of them will be so much more effective than our family, as they are Mexicans reaching Mexicans. I wish all of you could watch them like we get to.
We don't like to share discouraging things with you but we need your prayer support. I'm not sure exactly, but it seems Satan has been attacking us through our finances, trying to get us discouraged while God is doing so many things here. We're telling you so you know how to pray specifically for us.
I could keep going on and on, but I know all of you have lives to lead also, so let me close with this... Don't lose sight of this fact; these are your victories as well as ours. God is doing great things here in Mexico, and you play a big part in them. We need you faithful people to "stay by the stuff", and the rewards God has for you are the same as He has for us (1Samuel 30:24). Please take a minute right now to pray for the Mexican people here, especially these new Christians, for our family, for the Children's Home, and for your fellow laborers in this endeavor, both in the United States, and around the world.
Your Partners in Christ,
Steve, Amber & Kids
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Monday, May 03, 2004
[10:05 AM]
Weekly UpdateGood Morning Everyone!
We have wonderful news! We have been asking you to pray diligently for the salvation of four particular young men, Antonio, Enrique, Juan Carlos, & Emmanuel. You can scratch two of them off your list.
We had told quite a few of you that we thought Emmanuel may have gotten saved, but he hadn't said anything. Last night he went forward during the invitation. When they talked to him, he said, "Oh, I know I'm saved, I just need to make it definite." He has been saved for about four months, and we had that suspicion, because you can see definite changes in his life since then. Praise the Lord!
The newest baby Christian is Juan Carlos. He also went forward last night and accepted Jesus into his heart. He is a little more intellectual, and really needed to understand exactly what he was doing. On the way home, he said, "I knew your family had come here for some purpose, but I didn't know why. Now I completely understand." A quick side-note here... the other day, the kids were all talking about the best day of their life. Juan Carlos said he didn't have a best day, that he was still waiting for a really good day. Last night, he told Alison, "Now I have a best day too, and this is it."
I wish I could tell you all the things that the two of them said last night after church, but it would take too much space to relay everything. Just let me tell you that they are very excited about their new life, and I mean very excited. Baby Christians are so much fun to be around, their enthusiasm is contagious. Both Juan Carlos and Emmanuel want to start a Bible study, so we will be going through a discipleship course with them. Please be in prayer for this endeavor, that it will be a tool to reach others. Hey, we've just had a great example of what prayer can accomplish, haven't we? And please don't quit praying for the salvation of Enrique and Antonio.
In other news, we had met Brother Rick Toney, from Calvary Baptist Church in Branson, Missouri at the border when we returned home last week. He has a program called Missions Alive, in which he helps churches get missions trips together, and also helps plant churches. He was on his way to Calvio, a town about two hours further south. We drove almost to Jerez together and had a great time of fellowship. He said that maybe he and his family would stop in on their way back. Well, he came Saturday and we have been having a blast with him and his kids. We took them to baseball Saturday, and then yesterday, he preached. After we saw the results of his preaching, we've decided to flatten all his tires, and maybe steal his battery, so they'll have to stay here for a while. Just kidding.
Plese take a moment right now and thank God for these two young men. Satan always tries to dampen God's victory by throwing problems at it, so please really remember Juan Carlos and Emmanuel in prayer. And pray for the others, as well as our family. And celebrate somehow! We couldn't have reached these guys without all of you praying and sacrificing. Thank you!!!!!
Your Partner's in Christ,
Steve, Amber & Kids
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