Construction Update

After a short delay, construction has begun again on the new church building. Last week the first roof supports were welded together and put in place.

Stephen helping to supervise the placement of the first roof support beam.

Putting the first beam in place.

Welding the beam to its support pillars.

Stabilizing the roof beam while it's being welded.Repositioning the second beam in order to lift and join it to the first one.It took a while to accomplish.......and some help from the men of the church.

Church Growth & Soccer Update

The El Calor soccer season continued this past weekend with a local game for the Torreon team and a trip to Casas Grandes, near Cd. Juarez, for the San Pedro team. The Torreon team is still adjusting to some changes in the lineup and unfortunately lost 1-0. The San Pedro team finished the first half losing 1-0 but rallied and won the game 4-1. This week the Torreon team will be traveling to Juarez, and the San Pedro team will be playing here.

We are excited to see continued church growth in Templo Cristiano Libertad! The new church building is still in progress and we're waiting on the roof. This week we bought 40 new chairs because we have been standing-room only, and we have ordered 50 more because the 40 are already filled! Several of our cell groups have received new members and may have to be divided up soon.

Also, a note of thanks to everyone at Destiny Church for another great conference. We were blessed by the services, the fellowship, and the ministry during our time there and we appreciate all the effort and hard work that went into making the week a success.

Testimony

About three months ago a woman came to the church. She had just gone through a traumatic experience. This woman and her husband had had a terrible fight and her husband stabbed her in the throat, cutting her vocal chords and leaving her mute. When she was in the hospital, she says that she saw a man come into her room and tell her, "Something good is about to happen to you." She went through an operation to try and restore her voice but it was unsuccessful. A friend of hers took her to the church and Stephen and Marcela began to talk to her and counsel her. Marcela especially talked to her about forgiveness and gradually the woman accepted Christ was able to forgive her husband for what he had done to her. At this time her husband tried to commit suicide but was unsuccessful. He was admitted to hospital and his wife came and looked after him, despite of what he had done to her and despite the fact that she couldn't speak. After this the woman prayed and asked God to give her back her voice so she could worship him. The next day she woke up and was able to talk; God had given her a brand new voice. Last Sunday she brought her husband to church and he accepted Jesus into his life.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Building Update

Here are the latest pictures from the new church building. The walls are done and we are now working on the roof structure.

View from outside front doors

Working on the roof structure

Outside walls

Important Note

We are having some issues with the Donate button at the top left of the blog. It is currently unavailable and we are working to resolve the issue. The good news is that you can still send offerings through Destiny Church:

Seedtime and Harvest Ministries, Inc.

c/o Destiny Church

8635 Callaghan Rd.

San Antonio, TX 78230-4429

We will let you know as soon as the PayPal option becomes available again. Thanks to everyone who works with Seedtime and Harvest and helps keep the ministry in Mexico growing!

Construction Update

This week the floor of the new church was put in. With this, the foundation and base are complete, and this week the workers are going to start putting up the walls.

Evening service, still held outdoors.

Views of the floor from the street in front of the construction site.

Sunday School classes being held during the evening service.

Stephen's Visit to USA

Stephen will be making his annual visit to the States from October 15th through the second week of November. Please be in prayer as he prepares for his trip. If you would like to have him visit your congregation, you can contact him through sanpedroshm@gmail.com.

More Construction Pictures

Here are some more pictures of the construction that has been happening this week.
Mixing cement... Putting supports in place....

The supports are held in place by boards, wire, and blocks until the cement sets.

This week our goal is to start building the walls. We want to finish before winter starts and more rain comes. Last Sunday we had a wet afternoon service but our outside "church" was still full.

Construction Progress!

This week we have started to see measurable progress in the construction process. The main team of workers have made the basic supports for the building and are setting them in place. There is a ditch dug around the foundation and each pillar is held in place while cement is mixed and poured around it.

Please continue to be in prayer for this project. On Monday we found out that someone had been stealing material from the property and since then volunteers from the church have been camping out at night to guard the construction site. This coming week we plan to finish placing the supports and continue with the basic underpinnings of the building.

Soccer Weekend

It was a great weekend for El Calor soccer! On Saturday the 3rd division team won 3-0 here in San Pedro, and the San Pedro 4th division team won 3-2, both playing against a team from Cuidad Juarez. Today our 4th division team based in Torreon won 3-0 and our Torreon-based 3rd division team won 1-0.

It's still early in the season and there is room for improvement in all the teams, but we are looking forward to another great season. With our newest 3rd division team, under the direction of a former El Calor player, there is even more opportunity to reach out to players and their families with the Gospel.

Please be in prayer for the El Calor organization, for the players and their coaches, and for Stephen and Marcela and the group of people who help run the teams. There are drivers, cooks, pastors, security people, team and technical assistants, in addition to the coaching staff and administration, and they are all necessary for the teams to function well. Please also pray for new sponsors for the teams - sponsorship is essential for the teams' survival, and this year has been a difficult year for fundraising. With your prayer partnership, you will help ensure the continuing impact of El Calor.

Construction News

Slowly but surely the construction of the new church building is going forward. Last week truckloads of earth were dumped on the building site, and this week the earth was leveled and work has begun on some of the pieces of the new building.

Construction

Or rather, destruction....this weekend we finally started to tear down the old church building in preparation for the construction of the new building. Early Saturday morning a group of men (and some women) from the congregation gathered to salvage bits and pieces from the old building (doors, windows, fans, air conditioning units, etc.) and then break down the roof.

The roof came down easily - some might say too easily - and as we watched it come down, we all thought about how much time we had spent underneath it, how much (probably undeserved) trust we had put in its stability...

Since the building is now unusable, we pitched a tent and will be holding outdoor services likely for the duration of the construction, some 2-3 months.

Sunday evening service.

Soccer and Construction

Well, it's past time for an update....here's what's been happening in San Pedro.

As you know, our soccer teams both made it to the playoffs and were advancing well. The professional team was eliminated two weeks ago, and it was a shock to all of us, having gone undefeated in the entire regular season. We are waiting to see how God will use this situation for his glory, and we trust him to be in control of the team as it rebuilds in anticipation for the upcoming season. Yesterday the promotional team played in their group's playoff final and it was a loooooooooong game - regular time ended tied 2-2, then 30 minutes of extra time ended scoreless, and so it came down to penalty shots, the same situation in which the professional team found itself two weeks previously. Unfortunately, the result was the same, and El Calor Promotional finished in second place, still a great achievement for a team that is barely a year old. Through the El Calor ministry this year, over 60 people, both players and family members, came to know the Lord, and we are glad that the teams continue to have such a widespread impact and reach in this country.

The other piece of news is that we finally have all the architectural and engineering plans in place for the new church building, and hopefully within the next two weeks we will begin demolition of the existing building in preparation for the construction. Please pray for this work as it progresses. I will be posting pictures as they become available so that you can see the work itself.