Wednesday, November 15, 2006
[12:07 PM]
Psalm 30:1 I will extol thee, O LORD; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
Hello Everybody,
Sorry we didn't get an update out last week, but we were a little busy. We want to thank Southside Baptist Church from Mississippi, for coming down and helping us pass out Gospels and Bible study invitations right here in Jerez. We knocked on 3,690 doors in four days and have over two-hundred fifty people to follow up with. We've already seen fruit for our labor with some new visitors at church this weekend from that area of town. Looking at it on the map, we hit around thirty percent of the homes here in Jerez. God is good!
We told you we were getting ready to have a "harvest fiesta" in one of the mission works that we participate in. It was a huge success with many new visitors. We took the trampoline, a blow up bounce around, and some games and had a great time. What was really interesting was we decided to cut the play-time a little shorter than what we had originally planned for them and start our "church" service. As soon as the song service started, the local priest was on the loud speaker calling people for a special mass. But the people were inside and couldn't hear him with all the music going on. The special mass was called to get people away from the "separated ones". God's timing was impeccable as always. Last Thursday, at the normal Bible study, there were three new people that came to participate. Praise the Lord!
For all of you who were praying for our church space, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! We moved in to the new building a week ago Saturday. We have chairs set up to accommodate over sixty people in the "sanctuary" and two extra rooms now for the kid's classes. It is so good to have the extra space. Now the fun part comes of filling this one to capacity on a weekly basis. God is able!
One of our ladies in church did her part to start filling up the new Church addition. Baby Esteban (Steve) Misael Olvera was born November2. He was released the following day be needed to return to be put under lights for a couple of days due to a high biliruben count. Nothing serious, and now Mom and baby re doing excellent. God blesses!
Of course with all of the excitement, Jacob had to get into the act too. He was skateboarding Sunday evening, attempting to perfect a new trick when he crashed. We got to spend the night at the hospital and he came home Monday with a leg broken in three places. He says, "At least I broke it doing something really cool, and not just from tripping in the street!" He's been in pretty good spirits after they did the reduction. He has a full leg cast and is enjoying the added attention. Please pray that everything heals up fine. God heals!
We will be heading to the states for the Thanksgiving holiday. Please remember to pray for our traveling safety. We will be returning with a trailer load of stuff, please pray for our protection in crossing the border.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
< * >
. . . . .
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
[9:26 PM]
Psalm 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Hello Everyone,
Busy, man busy! We've been so busy preparing for next week, in which we'll be even busier. Along with our normal stuff, next week we will be knocking on (hopefully) around four thousand doors inviting people to have Bible studies. Please pray with us that God will open up the doors of those who are seeking Him and give us the wisdom to know where to start. We are planning on going door-to-door, hitting every house for a week. We've seen great results in the past and are counting on God giving us great results this time too.
The new baptistry worked out wonderfully except for the paint on the inside. We had it painted black to help heat the water, but the paint peeled off. So we took a wire brush to it, scrub pads, the works, and got it mostly back down to the metal, preparing it for another shot. We needed something to make it more waterproof, and more protected. We needed it to be something people wouldn't slip to easily on. The answer? We now have probably the only portable baptistry with truck bed liner painted on the inside. It's flexible, durable, waterproof, and it should be less slippery.
This past week we spent a day in Fresnillo visiting with some of our co-laborers there. We were able to spend some time with Pastor Pepe. Please keep him in your prayers, he's just worn out! His family has a real special place in our hearts and it's so hard to see him struggling. Please pray for his continued strength and health, and that God will provide a quite time/place for his family to rest.
We have a big day planned Saturday, an outreach/celebration in one of the areas about three-and-a-half hours away where we've been assisting in Bible studies for the past year. Pray with us that God will use this as an opportunity to open doors in this rancho (a short time ago the people there were threatening to hang us). Also pray for our scheduling, especially this day, as we have this going on, plus our normal church services. And, if that's not enough, we also have to pick up a missions group at the airport and get them checked in.
Sunday, on the way home, we could hear the people talking in low, excited, tones about something, but we couldn't hear what it was. Finally they called out, "Brother Steve, we want to have a picnic." We told them, "Just go ahead and plan it and let us know what you need and we'll be there." This is so exciting for us. They are taking ownership of the church, making plans and taking leadership responsibility. Praise the Lord.
God is good. We have so much to be thankful for. When we count our blessings, we always have you all at the top of our lists and we pray for you daily. We could never say it enough, but thank you again.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
< * >
. . . . .
|
