MINISTRY UPDATE

Today we visited both churches. Last night we called the pastor to double check on the time, since they tend to change it often. He told us 8:30 am for the first church. I very much doubted that, but we went early any way. During the course of our conversation, he shared his disappointment with the church in our town. The attendance has gone way down. A lot of the key families have stopped going, presenting all kinds of excuses when he visits them. We were very disappointed to hear this. The other church, in the smaller town is quite different. They are strong, vibrant and alive in the Lord.

So today we got up early to be in church at 8:30. Of course, we were the only ones there, not even the pastor. After about 10 minutes, he arrived, and then some of the members. The lady who walks about 4 miles to church was there in short time. We passed her on our way, but I did not recognized her because she changed the color of her hair. The attendance was a total of 4 adults and 3 children. We are going to visit all our friends from church to find out what is going on. Please pray for this situation. These are fairly mature Christians, and we are shocked that they have "left their first love." The pastor talked about Psalm 40:17 "But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay." As we begin a new year, it is a wonderful thing to know that the Lord is thinking of us.

We left at about 10:30 for the second town. It is literally going through the river and through the woods. (I have to bring my camera next Sunday because you won't believe me). While the first town rents a house for meetings, this town just has 4 sticks and a tin roof in somebody's yard, surrounded by tall trees. The weather has been most pleasant this week, and we had a wonderful breeze to keep us cool. I told them that they were so blessed to have the privilege to worship in such beautiful and pleasant surroundings. There were about 25 - 30 people attending. This group is on fire for the Lord. They are blessed with a few good voices who can lead worship. One young man plays an acoustic guitar. It was such a sweet time of worship! Our pastor did not preach here. He loves to mentor younger men. Today one of the young men, Marlon (not Brandon), was to preach. His message was on Judges 7:6-7 "Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The LORD said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.'" His point was that the Lord delights in using the small to accomplish big things. Very appropriate for this small congregation of mostly farmers and day laborers.

After the sermon, the pastor gave a report that five people got baptized. He explained that for him to be called "Pastor" under the rules of his denomination he has to have 70 people baptized under his care because that is a minimum to be called a "church." Right now these three groups are "outreaches," and he is a "worker." Between the three towns there are about 35 people baptized. There aren't 70 people totally between all three congregations. Then another young man reported about their dream of buying instruments and sound equipment. This guy has a degree in computers, so he shared their written project. This project has stated goal, mission and vision. They need to raise $1,400, and they already have about $300 in faith promises. They are planning a big event on January 22 to raise funds. They will have soccer tournaments and food sales. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we will be able to attend because that's the same weekend we want want to have the couples event here in our town, but the big church is coming, so they will have plenty of support. They don't need us for this. In fact, it was all decided and planned before we got here.

As we were leaving, we notice that half of the congregation was trying to get into the pastor's SUV, so we offered to take some. These are the people from the third town. We went down the "main" country road for a while, then we turned into a gate and a driveway and drove up a hill for about 20 minutes. I asked them how long it takes them to walk. They say that it is one hour just to the gate, where the pastor usually picks them up. This family works taking care of a big property that belongs to an American family from Santa Monica. They live in the caretaker's house. Everybody got off there; therefore, I am not sure exactly if they all live there, or they were just getting off and going someplace else. Anyway, we were able to continue straight and come out on the other side of the hill, to the road to Santa Cruz, the big city around here. We took the opposite direction and drove to where we live. This is the long way to this little town that we take when the creek rises. We just had never gone through the hill.

We thought somebody was going to ask us for dinner, so we'll wait a while. If they don't call, we will just spend another quiet evening at home, watching some football. You haven't lived until you watch American football in Spanish!

That's all for now...until next time...from the beach...