As our year comes to a close here in Santa Marta, we have many things to be thankful for and excited about. One of our ministries here in helping plant a church in a local neighborhood. The area is made up of middle-class families, many of which are in the local police. One of the ladies at our church named Jasmine felt the urging of the Lord to begin a small group in her home. She has such a heart for her neighbors and wants them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We have been working with our pastor, our teammate Sam, and another couple in the church to reach this area.
Over the past year, we have been working through a discipleship program with those who attend (mainly women). We have had a recent desire to begin more purposeful outreaches in the community. It has been somewhat of a challenge to minister in this area mainly because of the lack of interest on the part of the men. Since many of them work long hours during the week, they want to be a home on Sundays. At the end of September, we had a movie night that was attended by more than 40 people, plus kids. We were greatly encouraged by this and are excited to see how this will increase the attendance in our group. Two days before the event, our team walked around and handed out invitations to the people in the neighborhood. Kendall, Parker, and Logan all participated too. It is such a blessing to see your kids be a part of ministry at such a young age. The two older ones love talking in Spanish and in many ways are a bridge for us to share the gospel with people. Many people cannot understand why we would leave the United States, with three little ones, to live in Colombia. Well, the answer is easy--we want to be a part of what God is doing here.
After we watched the movie "Letters to God," we had small group discussions about how God has a purpose for each one of us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. The conversations were very positive. There was a new energy in the house as everyone was talking. In addition to the adults, we had a kids movie, popcorn, and coloring activities for the little ones.
Over the next two months we plan on having another outreach primarily for children. Please join us in prayer as we try to come up with interesting and relevant ways to introduce people to Jesus, the Savior of the world.
We continue to work with the youth at the church. Jon and I have both started small group Bible studies in our home with several of the youth. Jon has two groups (one on Thursday and one on Saturday) and I have one on Thursday too. The girls and I are studying a book that talks about the lies that Satan and the world uses to distract teen girls from their faith. The boys are studying basic principles of faith.
Prayer Requests:
1) Our main prayer request right now is that our support level has dropped over the past 6 months or so. We are seeking the Lord's wisdom as we decide whether or not to travel back home for a few months to raise more funds. With the poor economy and an increase in our insurance costs, we have had less support coming in. We are, however, so thankful for those who continue to give to us sacrificially every month.
2) Pray for our children's outreach in the next few weeks as we plan and prepare of this. Pray that many kids will come to hear about Christ and that it will be a way to reach their parents too.
3) Jon is preaching next Sunday as part of Missions Month. He plans to talk about how we should be excited to join with God in His work and that we need to take an active role in furthering His Kingdom. Pray for clarity of thought and flow as he his putting his ideas together. Pray that those in the church would be excited about missions and that they would be open to God's leading in this area of their lives.
4)Pray for the Bible studies of the youth. Pray that they would prepare in advance and that they would allow God to work in their hearts in areas they might need to change.
