Home stretch

We have reached the final week here. I must admit a certain disappointment with our ministry this time. Frankly, instead of growth, we have seen attrition, but there are some bright spots in all of this: I have been mentoring Irene every week and John has been mentoring Sergio.

Irene is just a breath of fresh air, the breath of the Holy Spirit. She has grown so much in her walk with the Lord! Last week she shared very profound thoughts. She spends a lot of time on her motorcycle driving back and forth between the children's school, her job, and home. This provides time to meditate about her life. She told me last week that she has notice that certain negative thoughts and feelings are no longer present in her mind; so she said that it must be the Holy Spirit filling her heart. and as that happens, there is probably no room for other thoughts. She also said that two different people told her the other day that she looked nice. She was wearing her uniform at the time, so she knew it had nothing to do with what she was wearing; therefore, she immediately thought, "It is not that I look pretty, it is that they are seeing the reflection of the Lord in me." Wow! I had printed some verses before hand to talk about and to give them to her to memorize: Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:22-23 and Philippians 2:1-3. She was not aware of these verses. Remember that she is just a baby Christian. When she read the first passage, she started to cry. "How did you know?" I explained to her that the Holy Spirit was guiding both of us.

John also spends time every week with Sergio. He has been going through such a tough time with his separation from Bianka. Last week he said that he had finally forgiven himself for all the mistakes that he made and had given them to the Lord. Another huge step towards healing. She still has not filed for divorce, but he said that, if she does, he will sign the papers, but he will not sue for divorce himself.

We also visit other people and counsel either in person or over the phone. I do not drive here, which hinders my time with some of the women, but they call me for advice.

John is going to preach on Sunday. It is our last Sunday here. Please pray that the Lord will use him. Remember that preaching is not really his gift and that he is doing it in Spanish.

Tomorrow we will meet with the pastor for the last time. Continue to pray for the Lord to make His will clear to him.

Birthday Party - all the children are related

Last Sunday we celebrated Luis and Irene's youngest boy's birthday. He turned 8. He is a very bright little boy. Pray that the Lord will guide him all the days of his life. Last week John got to go golfing at the Four Seasons Resort. It is the most expensive place here, but there are only three golf courses in this province, so they extend professional courtesy to each other. One of the employees here arranged for John to accompany him last Wednesday. They got to play for free on a golf course that charges $230 per person! They had a great time. On the way home, they went to McDonald's for dinner. :)

John at Four Seasons Golf Course

This Sunday night will be our last meeting with the couples. We have been using the Hope Project videos, but we had to skip through a lot of them. Interestingly, Radall told me Sunday that he was still a little confused about Abraham, so he went to the Bible and read the whole story. Pray that the Lord will use His Word on Randall's heart. We are going to end this Sunday with Pentecost and a summary.

Remember the para-Olympic athlete who came to the soccer event? Well, with his time at the LA Marathon on Feb. 14 he qualified for the Olympics. He is going to Brazil in August. Pray for his safety and that he will do a good job representing his country.

We will return home on Tuesday, March 8. Pray for traveling mercies, that all our connections will make it on time.


Prayer requests:

• Pray that all the seeds planted on this trip will grow to give fruit.
• Pray for Luis and Irene - their Christian walk and all their plans. They are an extremely busy family, even by American standards
• Pray for John on Sunday - may the Lord touch hearts
• Pray for Pastor Alejandro and his wife - may the Lord make His will clear to them
• Pray for our family back home - may the Lord keep them all safe (David just got back from a trip to Mexico City)
• For a smooth trip home on Tuesday.

Until next time...from the beach...