Like Father like Son:
I think that each and every one of us has (or at least should have) someone that we look up to. That is someone who we can confide in, and follow as an example. That person could be a friend, family member or spiritual mentor. They are the type person that when you see their lives you say, “I would love to be like them some day” or “I would love to accomplish what they have accomplished with my life”. Often the things that have made their life different are not even noticed by the “naked eye” or the person that is not paying attention, but if you look closely you can see crucial habits, character traits and things in their life that makes the difference. That is exactly what happened recently when a friend sent me an Email. The Email that he sent me was 27 things that he saw in his dad’s life that made him a great man of God. Since this friend’s dad is also a great friend of mine I can testify that he hit the nail on the head and that you can see that each of these things are what God has used to make a difference. I’m sure by now you are wondering what these 27 things might be. Well here is the list. If each of us were to begin to practice these things in our lives, what a difference it could make.1. Read your Bible more. 2. Study your Bible more. 3. Think outside the box. 4. Work harder than anyone else. 5. Dream big. 6. Constantly step out on Faith. 7. Maintain your focus. 8. Be flexible. 9. Be merciful (more than you want to) 10. Forgive and Forget. 11. Never think it can’t be done in any place or any time. 12. Set goals and do whatever it takes to accomplish them. 13. Stay close to God. 14. Stay away from Women. 15. Speak with passion. 16. Share your dreams. 17. Don’t quite even when times are tough. 18. Don’t be afraid to change. 19. Be humble. 20. Stick to the Bible. 21. Love people. 22. Expect God to do great things through you. 23. Expect to be hurt. 24. Expect Criticism. 25. See people where they are and where they could be. 26. Be accountable. 27. Help people sacrificially.
Celebrating Kids:
This past month, the 12th of April, we had a national holiday that is called kids day here in Bolivia. It is a pretty big day with special parties and activities at most restaurants where they have bouncy houses, clowns, balloons etc. In most cases the kids get free food or special meals at a low price and usually a free gift. On Wednesday night we decided to celebrate with the kids in our Patch the Pirate club. We had a mini carnival with all the typical games like going fishing and bowling where they received tickets to play the games and then won candy if they were successful. They could then trade their candy in for bigger prizes like toys or other chips. For the message we had one of the teenagers from the church that has a puppet do ventriloquism and present the gospel. There were close to 60 kids and many heard the gospel for the first time.
Praise the Lord:
I want to thank each and every one of you that pray for our ministry here. The Lord has been so good to us in so many ways. The Lord has been really blessing our church with not only great attendance but also with many people making decisions and growing in the Lord. Also we are continuing to help the church in Irpa Irpa and this coming month we are looking at starting to go once a month on Sunday instead of Tuesday. There are some there that are interested in getting baptized so we hope to do that when we go. One of the most important parts of our ministry is our Bible Institute. We now have three studying full time for the ministry, taking classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Since I am the only teacher at this time that is about as much as I can handle. The guys also are taking several classes per semester via correspondence from the Seminary in Peru. This will allow them to take close to a full load. Please continue to pray for us and the ministry here.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our upcoming youth conference in July with Bro. Jeff Bush
2. Pray for the many visitors that come to the church and hear the gospel for the first time.
3. Pray for our church, the church in Irpa Irpa and also the work we are starting in Quillacollo.
4. Pray for our youth group and children’s ministry as we reach out to the next generation.