Update from Paty in the Philippines

Here is a report from our missionary in the Philippines, Paty. The original document is in Spanish; I'm posting a picture of it, but I'm also posting the translation here below.

Greetings to my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s an honor for me to share some of what I have been doing this month in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, but before I do, I would like to thank you again for your prayer and financial support that you have been giving me since my arrival here. God bless you and all that you do, and know that you are also in my prayers.

On Sept. 24 I completed my first month here. During this time I have been learning the language and culture of this place, as well as helping in the local church, visiting and praying house-to-house. This month, we have also started a feeding program for children who live in economically-disadvantaged areas, and it has been a beautiful experience being able to share the word of God with them. In our most recent community visit, I spoke to the children a little in their own dialect and taught them a song. I can’t describe the looks on the faces of the children and their mothers when they heard me speaking their language; they were very happy. During these weeks I have also visited different churches and shared my testimony, as well as a short sermon. A short while ago I had the chance to travel to another city and meet the pastors who will be accompanying us on our next evangelization trip. On the return trip I met some Muslim young people and we have been in contact since then. I know that God will use this as a way for me to share his Word with them.

Last week I had to apply for a visa extension and was only able to receive 2 extra months, but I was told that the next time I apply I will receive 6 months. I’m very excited because next week we will be visiting some remote mountain villages and sharing the Gospel. We will have to walk for more than 5 km (3 miles) to reach these villages, as cars and horses can’t pass through these areas, but I know that God will give me strength as we make the climb.

This is just a little of what I have been doing, and without a doubt God has been very good to me. Here in the Philippines he has given me a family who takes care of me, and I also have my family back home, all of you who have helped and continue to help me on this mission.

Ministry in Michoacan

Last Sunday, September 13, Stephen traveled to Uruapan, Michoacan to preach in a small church. The founders of the church, a pastor and a doctor, met Stephen through the El Calor soccer ministry and after seeing how El Calor has progressed as an organization and as a ministry, decided to start their own church. They began two years ago with just two members, but now there are more than 50 people in the congregation. As the church has grown the members have reached out to different sports teams and now work closely with two 3rd Division soccer teams in Michoacan, and have contact with other teams and organizations. It is exciting and encouraging to see God continue to use sport, and especially soccer, to reach many people. Here is a short video from the church service where Stephen preached.

Men's Ministry Conference

 

Saturday morning worship.

 Hi everyone!


This past weekend TCL had the privilege to host our first men's conference. It was organized by the group De Hombre a Hombre, a men's ministry group that does outreach and conferences throughout Mexico. We had participants from all over Mexico who enjoyed two days of praise and worship, teaching and prayer. Men are in the minority of most church congregations and we are excited to have had the opportunity to reach out to men in San Pedro and the Laguna region. Here is the link to the Facebook page of De Hombre a Hombre, where you can find more information and photos from this and other conferences.

The conference had a military theme with the slogan: We are the resistance.

Early morning session.

Praise and worship on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning session.

View from the platform. Ministry from TCL and De Hombre a Hombre musicians.

Keep praying for more men to come into the kingdom of God!

Our First Missionary from TCL!

We're so excited to share with you that we have sent our first missionary from TCL overseas! Paty Lopez has been a part of TCL for many years and has responded to the call of God to go to the mission field. She left this week to travel to the Philippines where she will be working with a Christian aid organization for 10 months. While in the province of Bukidnon, Paty will be working with children rescued from the streets and from armies, with women and children at risk from human traffickers, as well as native people in the mountains and remote regions of the province. As I write this she should be arriving in Manila, having been traveling for almost 30 hours. Please pray for Paty as she adjusts to life in her new home and as she starts to minister to the people there. Like any missionary, she needs monthly support, and if you are interested in helping her, you can do so through the PayPal link on this page. Her budget is approximately $1000 USD per month, to cover living expenses (food, rent, utilities), travel and communication, and ministry expenses. We have covered about 60% of this budget, so she has gone on this mission of faith believing that God will supply everything she needs.

Football 7 Testimony

A short testimony, courtesy of Marcela, about a young couple who have been reached through our street soccer league.

Brenda is a young woman who plays on one of the women’s teams in our Brazilian soccer league, El Llano. Her boyfriend also plays in the league. After every game they always pass by the little stand where I tend to the players and fans to say hi and chat a bit. A short while ago we were finishing the  construction of our second playing field and we were planning the dedication service (as with our first field, we wanted to dedicate the playing field and the league to God). On this night games were going on as usual on the old field. Stephen, my children and the workers who were with us that night set the time for the dedication to occur. When the time came, Brenda was there talking to me and I told her that I needed to step away because we were going to dedicate the new field to God. She didn’t understand what I was saying, so I explained to her that everything we do and every resource we have we place in the service of God, and before using anything for the first time, the pastor would pray for God’s blessing and give a short message. Brenda asked me if she could stay for the dedication, and of course I told her yes.

            We had the dedication ceremony and Stephen spoke about the importance of placing everything we have at God’s feet for his use. Brenda was so caught up in what Stephen was saying that she began to cry. When the short ceremony was over Brenda came over to me and told me that when Stephen was speaking she felt something unfamiliar but beautiful inside her, something she had never felt before. She told me that Stephen’s words had touched the deepest part of her heart, and this opened the doors for me to be able to speak to her of God’s love.

            The next day she and her boyfriend came to talk to me more in-depth. They confessed their sins to me, thinking, as the Catholic church does, that I would forgive them. I spoke to them again about God’s love and forgiveness and how God cleans and purifies us and sets us free from condemnation when we give our lives to him. They shared with me their desire to get married because Brenda was pregnant, and they hadn’t yet told their parents. I was the first one to know their “secret”. I encouraged them to go ahead with their plan and to put God first in their lives. They asked me how much Stephen would charge them to officiate at their wedding…”NOTHING”, I told them. Now they are happily married and their baby is about to be born. They are still playing on their soccer teams and each day we have the opportunity to share with them the love and salvation of our Savior. 

Guerreros de Cristo

Warriors of Christ! This is the name of our revamped kids' club (formerly G-VI) that takes place on Saturday mornings. After a change of staff and leadership, we took some time off to restructure the club, and April 25 was our first day back. We held a party to celebrate Children's Day (a very, very big deal here!) and about 40 kids showed up....20 more than had been coming before the break. We had a Bible lesson courtesy of Marcela, games led by our games team, balloons, prizes, nachos and cupcakes. This past Saturday about 20 kids showed up (it was a long weekend; lots of people went away!) but we still had a great time. This coming week we will be dividing the kids into squadrons, appointing captains, and starting with lessons on God's armor. We want to prepare our kids to fight for God, for the truth and for what they believe in. Please keep this ministry in prayer, both for the children who come and for the amazing ministry team (primarily from our youth group) who give up their Saturday mornings to share God's love with kids who need it.

Open session April 25.

Games! Dodgeball....

Our balloon expert, hard at work making helmets and swords...

Nachos, cupcakes and jello.....yummy!

Goodie bags!

Musical chairs....

Some of our team who dressed up for Children's Day!

Update (now with pictures!)

Hi all! Here's a bit of what's happening in San Pedro....

El Calor are continuing to play in 2nd Division. They're in 8th place in their group (of 14) and on Saturday tied 1-1 playing here at home. Next week the team travels to Fresnillo, Zacatecas.

We had a baptism after the evening service today, a man whose family has been coming to the church for several years, and who finally made the decision to be baptized. God is starting to work among the men of the church, and they are planning a desert retreat later this month.

Our weekly kids' club, Generación de Vida (G-VI) is still happening every Saturday from 10-12. We are keeping steady with about 25 kids attending weekly and we ask you to pray that God will show us how to increase that number, and provide workers and material as our numbers grow. This month the kids are having workshop sessions with a mechanic who is teaching them (and the teachers!) about how engines and vehicles work, and the kids' greatest hope is that they will be allowed to take something apart (a bike, a motor, a car....) as they learn more! We'll see......

Here are some pictures from our Friday night youth service. God moved the hearts of many of the young people who came and we were blessed with a time of prayer and healing.

Other prayer requests: Stephen is traveling in the States, so please keep him in your prayers. Marcela is visiting her mother in Tepic as she has taken a turn for the worse. And while we're in Tepic, Philip is traveling up to meet Stephen (more prayers for travel safety) and Vanessa and Lucy have continued to struggle with health issues. Please keep them all in your prayers.

One final note: some technical issues with pictures today but hopefully I will be able to upload them tomorrow or Tuesday!....Done! Well, some, anyway. If more come through I will post them!

Newsletter Winter 2014

Hello again! Update from San Pedro

Hi everyone! Here's a short update of the latest news from San Pedro.

Yesterday we held a special event at TCL which combined fitness and evangelism. A group of trainers and fitness experts came and put over 60 people through their paces with a mixture of Crossfit and martial arts exercises, and afterwards shared the Gospel. One of the goals we set when building the new church was to make it a place for community gatherings and special events as well as services, and we're excited to see that opportunities are arising in this area.

El Calor played at home yesterday as well and won 3-1 against Deportivo San Juan, who traveled here from the state of Jalisco. After a slow start, El Calor is 3-3-0 (wins, losses, ties) and travels to Monterrey next Saturday.

September is the month we celebrate Mexico's independence and we had a party at TCL two weeks ago to commemorate over 200 years of freedom. There were contests for best costume, best food, best scream (look up "grito Mexicano" to find out more!), as well as karaoke and games for the congregation and guests of TCL.

Winner of best dressed boy!

Waiting for dinner!

Missions Trip

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, we sent the graduates of our Bible school on a 2-week missions trip. They spent the time in the state of Guerrero, in the town of Tenexpa. Here's a short testimony from one of the participants, Paty.

     We arrived in Tenexpa, and the only person we knew was Natali and her family (Natali came to know God through our youth camp several years ago). For the two weeks we were there we held a Vacation Bible School in the mornings and there was a great response from the people in the area. In the afternoons we went door to door sharing the Gospel. At night we had a cell group (home church) in Natali's house. 
     Something that surprised all of us was the hunger the people had to hear about God, especially the children. Every day they would look for us and ask us to read the Bible to them. On the last day of the trip we visited a family and every one of them accepted Jesus. 
   While we were in Tenexpa we found a church about 30 minutes away, and the pastor agreed to keep holding the weekly cell group to continue reaching the people in the area. 

We're so glad that we are starting to send out missionaries from TCL. We have been blessed over the years with many visits from many missionaries ourselves, and we are excited to see what opportunities we will have in the next little while to continue training and sending people throughout Mexico and the world.

Goodbye to Donald and Becky Kamese

This month we had to say goodbye to Donald and Becky, as they are taking on a new ministry opportunity and expanding SHM to the state of San Luis Potosi. Donald has been with us in San Pedro since 2007 and has been active in village ministry and in training new missionaries. Becky joined us a year and a half ago and in addition to helping Donald has also worked with our young people, mentoring and encouraging them. We'll miss them very much, but we're excited to see what God will do through them in their new location. Please pray for them as they get settled in their new home and start the new project that God has given them.

Update

At long last, here's what's been happening in San Pedro!

Bible school graduates - Our first class of student in our Bible institute has graduated. We're getting ready for the upcoming semester and working with a new curriculum that will give our students a degree.

Missions trip - and these same graduates are currently on a missions trip to the state of Guerrero. They're doing outreach in different towns and villages, primarily with children but also taking the opportunity to talk with and pray for families and parents.

TCL anniversary - at the beginning of the month we celebrated the 2-year anniversary of Templo Cristiano Libertad. There was a special service and time of fellowship as we celebrated God's goodness to the church over the past year.

Finally, last week we enjoyed a visit from a missions group from Tepic, Nayarit. Damara and Agustin brought a group of young people from their church to do outreach here in San Pedro and the surrounding area. The group had a well-prepared program of skits and music and we were able to minister to many children and their parents.

Evangelism Sunday

   Yesterday morning, instead of our regular church service, we went to the plaza and held a special evangelistic event. We were divided into teams; some of us handed out pamphlets and flowers, others prayed with the people we found in and around the plaza, we offered manicures and hand massages, and we presented dramas and music.

Face painting.

Reading pamphlets.

Manicures and hand massages.

Prayer.

    I was part of the team that gave out flowers, and it was almost funny to see people's reaction when we stopped them - they didn't believe that we were giving the flowers away, and many were reluctant to accept them until we told them clearly that it was a gift. I say it was almost funny, because to me it was sad to see that people really don't expect to be given anything for free; there always has to be a catch. 

 

 

Flower!

    

Come for your balloon! It's free!!

It was also sad for me when we gave out the flowers because we said to each woman that the flower was from someone who loved her very much, and then we asked if she had someone who loved her.   I was expecting everyone to say, "Yes, my spouse, my children, my parents...", but the number of women who didn't have an answer to this simple question was surprising. Maybe the women were embarrassed to be asked this question by strangers, but maybe they really didn't know if they were loved.

Afterwards I thought about our role as Christians and about what Jesus says to us in the Bible, and I thought of what he said the greatest commandments are: first, to love God with everything we are; and second, to love our neighbours as ourselves. How are we doing this in our everyday lives? Are we doing it at all? I know these aren't new questions, or even complicated questions. Sometimes the simple things cost us the most work, but they are the things that matter the most.

   We are hoping to see great results from yesterday's work, and we're hoping to hold another event in a couple of months. I'll keep you posted!