Growth!

The only advantage to infrequent ministry blog updates is that there is much more to tell you all about! Please excuse the silence - there's really nothing to blame but that we have let it slide.

Last February our church of EBC held another bilingual worship service, where the music and the teaching were in both Spanish and English. This was once again such a blast, as we loved being all together, and completely soaked in a glimpse of what part of heaven may be like - worshipping with a large family of believers from all different tongues and cultures. I hope all of you get to experience that at least once here on earth! Click HERE for the audio of the teaching, this time our pastor taught us from Revelation, while Ruth translated.

The most exciting news that we could possibly have to share with you is that since we wrote you last, several more - a quick count brings five individuals to mind - have accepted Christ as Savior. Will you take a second to praise the Lord with us for that? When this ministry began three and a half years ago, we hoped and prayed that it would bring an evangelistic movement to the Spanish speakers of this area, and what an honor to be a witness to it! Ten people were baptized early March of this year in a special baptism service that was held.

Jose and Juan with a precious lady from Chile.

We now have official elders! Three wonderful leaders were officially chosen and prayed for as they were commissioned to a leadership team. Please pray for them and their families!

All the men of the church were invited for the first men's breakfast at the home of one of the elders. They enjoyed a great time of fellowship and meeting some new men who might be interested in joining the group. This is the group that attended the breakfast:

Recently we had to say "hasta la vista" to a dear friend and his family - they were crucial in the foundation of this ministry and will be greatly missed! Now that seminary has been completed, the Lancaster family will be continuing a ministry in another area of Portland. God bless them!

The first almost-six months of this year has seen us growing strong in our regular weekly and monthly activities. Jose now leads two of the three Life Groups that meet weekly, and most often joins the worship practice on Saturday nights. Ruth is on rotation to teach the preschool Sunday School class, and also coordinates teacher schedules and curriculum. As a family, we have been warmly blessed by having many other couples and families into our home for meals and fellowship. Just last night there were a total of 17 here for dinner - and that was just us plus one other family! A new baby was born, Mother's Day was celebrated with flowers and poems, monthly potluck dinners were held, and much, much coffee was consumed.

Some of the children reciting a poem for Mother's Day

With a heavy heart we share with you that the private high school where Jose has taught these past five years now has to close due to economic struggles. All staff, including Jose, now must seek other employment. When you spend time in prayer today, would you please include this in your prayers? The teaching job provided about 50% of our monthly income and was also a wonderful opportunity for Jose to minister in the lives of the teenagers that came through his class. We know that God will provide for us - we don't know how! - but we trust that He will bring a new job to Jose that will work well as he dedicates time to ministry as well. (And we sure hope He does it before next month's bills come due!)

Great peace have those who love your law,
    and nothing can make them stumble. Ps.119:165

 Now here's something that just makes you shake your head in wonder...the very day we received the official word of the high school closing, the title for the children's bedtime devotional was "Trust God." It sure gave me a smile! And the next morning as I listened to a teaching, the points "just happened" to be that in a crisis you can either 1)panic 2)be paralyzed or 3)pray! So we have been praying!

We look forward to sharing with you again, and please drop us a line to let us know how we can pray for you!

Points for Prayer:

• growth and discipleship for those who just received Christ and those who were recently baptized
• stamina and wisdom for Jose as he leads
• protection from attacks from the enemy, as he surely cannot be happy about this growth! In fact, the very Sunday that two received Christ, the enemy found a way in to attack - we pray that Christ will continue to rule in the hearts of each of His children!
• growth and unity as a family
• new employment for Jose
• upcoming summer outreach events