Tuesday, March 28, 2006
[12:38 PM]
Weekly Update
Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Good Morning Everyone,
We had a busy week preparing to go back to the desert. We've been making many cassettes, thanks again Wilson Creek Baptist Church for the duplicator. We are very excited about this next week coming up. The cassette ministry is really starting to take off.
We told you last week about starting Bible studies in a town about two hours from us. We had eight scheduled for last Thursday but were only able to get five done. Some had other obligations and some weren't home. On a positive note though, that is one more than we were able to get done the first week. We had a couple of very encouraging studies (well, they're all encouraging but some more than others). We were in one home last week and they had their adult son living with them. He told us that he didn't believe in Jesus and actually called him a very vulgar name. For the week between the studies, every time that we'd think about him we'd pray for him. This last study he not only stayed and listened, but he even participated some. Please pray for "Jimmy", that God will continue to work on him and his parents.
Another one of the studies was with a family that has a taco stand. The first week the Dad was a little apprehensive until we got started, but for the second study he had all of his kids join us. They are very sharp and seemed to have fun answering the questions. Please take a moment and pray for Tono and his family.
Sunday morning we were just getting ready to start our service with very few people. It's been a little bit discouraging as the numbers have dropped somewhat. We know God's not interested in numbers, He's interested in souls, but still... Anyway, right before we started singing, Margarita showed up on her bicycle and asked if we could go pick some people up. Amber and Josh hopped in the van and came back about ten minutes later and packed the church. Praise the Lord, it was so encouraging!
Sunday afternoon we joined with another church in Zacatecas and had a big picnic in the park. We had hamburgers, chips, we played futbol (soccer) and football (American style), and just had a wonderful time of fellowship. We were able to take some of our unsaved neighbors with us and they had a good time also. About half the people there were unsaved and they all heard a Gospel message. Please pray that God will take that seed and bring it to fruition.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us and the ministry here in Zacatecas.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006
[10:11 AM]
Weekly Update
2 Samuel 22:33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
Good Morning Everyone,
We had an action packed week last week. We started out by going over to Fresnillo to do some welding. Brother Pepe's church was broken into for the second time in the past year and this time they took all the electronic equipment, guitars, amplifiers, microphones, speakers, etc. This was a huge loss for them. There were bars on the windows already, like all buildings here, but the burglars were able to bend the bars back enough to allow someone to slip through. We reinforced the bars on the windows as well as the locks on the doors. Please pray that God will convict the thieves, and that they would get saved.
Then we spent another day doing some work on the van. We were given some airbags (suspension) to help level it when we're carrying big loads (thanks Corbie and Aimee). We were able to install them ourselves with minimal problems and they sure are nice. Then, no sooner did we get those put on and the brakes started squealing. We were also able to get them fixed fairly inexpensively.
While we were in the states, a group came down and did gospel saturation in a town about two hours south of us. They gave out John/Romans and did a little survey. One of the questions they asked was, "Would you be interested in a home Bible study?" There were many, many people that said yes. We went back last week to confirm whether they were just being polite or if they were really serious. We had four Bible studies last Thursday and this Thursday we have at least eight on the schedule. In between these Bible studies, we will be confirming the commitments with more of the people who originally answered yes. Please pray for us as this makes an extremely long day of work sandwiched between two two-hour drives.
Bible institute last Saturday had over twenty students in attendance, and there's one more church group that is making plans to attend next month's classes. Thank you for your diligence in praying for this.
In another week-and-a-half, we will be heading back to the Northern desert to distribute the Bible studies on cassette. Please start praying earnestly for our safety, for the finances, and most importantly for God to prepare the hearts of the people for these new studies.
A note of praise: Juan Carlos received his papers to travel in the United States. He was expecting a three-month visa, but the LORD saw fit to give him one good for TEN years. He's planning on joining us on our next trip to the states. God is good!!!
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
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Thursday, March 16, 2006
[9:46 AM]
Weekly Update
I Corinthians 3:9 For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Good Morning Everyone,
Boy, it's been almost a month since our last update. We had to make a trip to the United States to get some paperwork accomplished. It seems as if we're always traveling. How time has flown! We have some catching up to do.
Right before we left, we had a couple of men from our home church bring some pews down. We took all seven of them over to Brother Pepe's mission and they were a perfect fit! They now have the most comfortable pews that we've encountered throughout the state of Zacatecas. We praise the Lord for His provision in this area.
They also brought us propane heaters. PRAISE THE LORD! For those of you who have been here during the cold months to visit, you can appreciate how much this means to us. When it's down to 20-30 degrees and you have no furnace, let's just say the heaters are a huge blessing!
We have told you about the cassette tape ministry that we have started for the folks who can't read. The most difficult thing about this ministry is making the copies of the cassettes. On a normal double cassette player, it takes hours upon hours to make them, and then you have to stay close by to flip the tapes and replace them with empty cassettes. We were visiting one of our supporting churches, Wilson Creek Baptist Church in Battlefield, MO, and they decided to send down their cassette tape duplicator for the ministry. We made thirty copies in about forty minutes. This is such a Godsend; we cannot even start to describe it. Thank you to all you folks at Wilson Creek for your generosity.
We want to welcome a new church to our list of faithful supporters. Stars of Light in Indiana has recently taken us on for monthly support and we send a special thank you to those precious folks who over the past year or so have become an integral part of our ministry.
God continues to answer prayers concerning Alison's returning here to go to college. We praise the Lord for Juan Carlos who has been doing all the work on this end, and let me tell you it's a LOT! He alternates between being very discouraged and being ecstatic. They'll tell him that there is no way that he's going to get all of the paperwork done, or that it'll take months on one day and then the next day they'll rush it right through. He's learning that God can solve seemingly impossible problems with great ease. A package containing a lot of her legal documents was apparently lost in the mail. We spent a whole day in serious prayer concerning this issue, and the package arrived the next day! Please continue to pray that God will continue to work out the details. She is still in need of letters of recommendation from Doctor's stateside who are willing to write them and fax them or e-mail them to us.
Please really pray diligently for Brother Jose and Marta. As is so often the case after the death of a parent, there's a lot of emotional stress in the family. Bickering, hard feelings, etc., are not limited to families of the United States. Because of their stand, they have been pretty much ostracized from the rest of the family and, as you can imagine, it's taking a toll.
Saturday and Sunday our numbers were lacking at our mission, but the spirit of the people was so sweet. We only had the most faithful in attendance, but sometimes that's a good thing. God's not as interested in numbers as He is in individuals. We praise the Lord for these faithful followers here.
Thank you so much for you continued support and for keeping us and this ministry before the throne of God.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
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