March for San Pedro

Here are some pictures from Saturday's march, claiming San Pedro for Jesus. The route went through the downtown, stopping traffic (I've been on the receiving end of marches like these but never on the giving end; it was a change!) and ending in the main plaza, where we held a concert and prayer.

Gathering at 5pm in a small plaza about 6 blocks from downtown San Pedro.

Getting organized....

Tambourine players from TCL leading the march.

Marching!

Going through downtown San Pedro, by the market (left).

Arriving at the main plaza.

Concert....traditional northern music.

TCL's worship team and choir, complemented by musicians from other San Pedro churches.

Enjoying the music...

Action song!!

And they kept playing, despite major issues with the sound system...

 

El Calor

Tonight El Calor will be traveling to Aguascalientes to play tomorrow at noon. Please be in prayer for their safety and victory. You can follow the game on Facebook.

El Calor on a recent trip.

Marching....

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 19 there will be a march held here in San Pedro, coordinated by the churches of San Pedro, claiming the city for God and making a stand against sin and violence. Please be in prayer for this event, that God will begin to change the lives of the people living without him and without hope, and that the violence that has been surging in the area will be overcome by the power of the blood of Christ.

San Pedro: Bought with the blood of Christ

Update!

Hi everyone! It's been a while (oops...), so I'll try to catch you up on what's been happening here in San Pedro.

• El Calor: Getting ready for their 6th game this week and playing at home, which is the city of Gomez Palacio, about an hour from San Pedro. The team is 1-1-3 so far this season and we're looking for improvement as the team comes together and learns to play as a unit. About half of the team is staying here on the property, and we're continuing to see lives change as a result of God's love.
• Celebrations: in the past month we've celebrated several baptisms, two weddings and September 16 (Independence Day here). We're also getting ready for Christmas....

Paloma and Karen

Festive Jell-o!

Stephen and one of our best soccer players....

• Teaching: the English school is going strong and functioning, as always, as an outreach tool. We have started leadership training courses at the church during the week, as well as a Bible school, which we hope to turn into a fully-accredited course of study in the near future. Right now we have about 10 students who come together on Wednesday evenings to learn about the Bible and different aspects of ministry.

Please keep San Pedro in your prayers, as always. We're uniting with other churches in the area to pray for peace, and in a couple of weeks a prayer meeting is scheduled in Torreon with all the area churches; some estimates say that 10,000 people could gather to pray for safety and for God's presence to be felt here and all over the country. We know that the enemy reacts when we start to pray, so please join with us and pray for safety and for God's anointing to fall on San Pedro and the Laguna region.

Id a Las Naciones

This week a missions conference was held in our sister church in Torreon. It was called "Id a las Naciones" (Go to the Nations) and was directed by  Mitch Arbelaez and Jim Oxindine. Stephen, Marcela and Elisa all participated as translators throughout the week, and a large group of young people from TCL attended. There were lessons and group discussions about different aspects of missions work, and we're excited to see how God will lead us to use the knowledge that was shared. Pictures!

Stephen translating (as you can see, it's a very serious occasion because he's wearing a tie!)

Translating, with a member of TCL.

Conference attendees.

Young people from TCL.

During the conference.

Summer 2013 Newsletter

Those of you on the mailing list have already received this, but here is our summer newsletter for 2013 (JPEG format). Please let me know if you would like to receive it in a different format.

El Calor Update

This week Stephen and Marcela traveled to Mexico City to register the players of El Calor for the new season, which starts the weekend of August 23. Thankfully all the paperwork was accepted, and all 25 players and staff were registered successfully. We had planned to have a 3rd Division team in addition to the 2nd Division team but the soccer federation's rules changed this year and we weren't granted permission. There are several boys staying with us right now who were going to play on the 3rd Division team, so please pray that we will be able to find them spots with other teams, and that while they are here God will touch their lives. Please also be in prayer for the 2nd Division team as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Youth from TCL along with some of our 2nd Division players

Wedding

On Saturday Elisa and Paco got married here at the church (the civil service was two weeks ago in Guadalajara). For those of you who haven't seen the (hundreds and hundreds) of pictures on Facebook, here are a few!

Haiti and Panama Missions Trip

As you've probably read, this month we sent 5 young men from the church to Haiti and Panama to minister through soccer. The boys gave short testimonies last week in church and they were greatly affected both by the extreme poverty and need they saw and also by the presence of God in the different churches they visited. Ironically, they found that soccer became less and less their focus as they had opportunities to visit with and minister to many people. Here are some pictures from their time in Haiti.

Soccer ministry: #3 Paco, #4 Vicente, #8 Samy, #5 Carlos, #14 José

Missions trip and concert

Thank you for praying for the 5 guys on the mission trip. They have now left Panama where they participated in street presentations and shared the gospel. They have now arrived in Haiti and will continue to share the gospel alongside playing football. Please keep praying for boldness and strength for each of them.

Elisa and Jacob travelled over night south down to Tepic in Nayarit where they will be playing in a concert this evening, supporting Marcos Witt, the 5-time Latin Grammy award winning Christian singer. They will be singing some songs written by Elisa's cousin. From there Elisa will travel to Guadalajara for her legal ceremony with the church ceremony following in a couple of weeks time. Please pray for her and the family over the coming few weeks as she and Paco finish all the preparations.

Some information and prayer requests

...because that's what the blog is for! I mentioned in a recent post that we've started a rehab/support group for people with addictions and social problems. As an extension of this ministry, which is focused on adults, we are creating a live-in group for children and youth struggling with addictions. We have rented a nearby house and already have 3 members; one is only 16 and has fathered 2 children, in addition to having addiction problems. We ask for your prayers for these young people and for those who will continue to arrive. The person who was in charge of this outreach has had to leave San Pedro unexpectedly, so we are looking for someone to take on this role as leader and counselor. Please be in prayer for this person also; we don't know who it will be yet but we know that God is preparing the right one to minister to these children.

Last weekend municipal elections were held throughout Coahuila. In the run-up to the election, Marcela and Stephen were asked to support a local candidate and participate as PRD members in San Pedro. They were unable to do so but Elisa took the opportunity to become involved, as it has long been a goal to have Christians involved in local government. Her party didn't win the election but she is in place as a party representative and we are hoping that God will use her to help turn the San Pedro government to the Lord.

Soccer playing and mission trip

It's been another busy few days in San Pedro, although a drop in temperature has bought a brief relief from the summer heat of the desert. Yesterday we had our first match on the soccer field on the property. The guys were all given notes of paper as they left with John 3:16 written on them, please pray they would read them and want to learn more.
Today 5 of our guys left on a missions trip. They are heading down to Mexico city on the bus, from where they will fly to Panama and onto Haiti. Their aim is to share the gospel and will also be using soccer to reach out to the people. Please pray again that they would be bold and confident as they seek to spread the good news.

Above: Playing on the soccer field

Below: Praying and sending out the boys on the missions trip