From Bolivia to the World
When Jesus said to His disciples “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” I truly believe that He meant it. It is our responsibility to take His gospel to every part and every creature in this world. This means that every individual and every church should be doing everything possible to take the gospel to those that have not heard. That is my desire personally and the desire that I have for our churches here in Bolivia. Every year in October we have our mission’s conference as a church and present faith promise. This year we had a special guest with us to preach in the conference, missionary Lorenzo Laura, who is working here in Bolivia, in the city of Cobija came down to be with us. The conference was Friday thru Sunday and I praise the Lord not only for the preaching but the participation of the people from the church. Each night we had a great group and many that responded to messages. The focus was on our responsabilidad to Pray, Give and Go to the ends of the earth. On Sunday we took up Faith Promise cards to see how much was promised for this year to give towards missions. In total we had roughly 2,300 bolivianos or a little more that $300 promised for the year. I am truly excited and pray that we will be able to support two or maybe three more missionaries with this amount. We pray on a regular basis for several missionary families and now it will be great to be able to also support them financially. Our greatest desire though is that the church that we plant realize their responsabilidad to take the gospel to and world that si dying without Christ.
Preparing for the Work of the Lord:
We are now in the last of our three trimesters that we are having in our Bible Institute for the year. This will be the first complete year that I have taught with they guys that are preparing for the ministry. Last year they came to me wanting to study full time instead of just having a class or two each semester. Even thought I am the only one teaching I decided to do everything posible to prepare them for what the Lord has called them to do. I am teaching three classes each week for three hours each and then they are taking a correspondence course from the Bible College in Peru each trimester. Also I have one or two people come between trimesters to give a modular class that last for a week or so. This will allow them to complete their studies as quickly as if there were in a full time Bible college if not a little faster. Our desire though is not just that they will finish but that they will be prepared to do the work God has called them to. I am very proud of these guys and the way the Lord has worked in their life. Over the last few years they have truly grown into men of God and I know He is going to use them greatly in His work.
Getting Away:
One of the things that we are trying this year that is new is to take a few days near the end of the year to get away from it all and work on our calendar for the next year. A few weeks ago we decided to go to Chapare which is a tropical area about three hours from us to do just that. In this area you can really see the diversity of Bolivia because leaving our city it is very dry and arid and by the time you arrive all you see is lush jungle. It was a great few days that we were able to plan many of the activities and plans for next year in the church. Please pray for our church that all that we plan will be for the honor and glory of the Lord.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for the guys preparing for the ministry.
2. Pray for the activities that we have planes for next year.
3. Pray that we can support several new missionaries this year.
4. Pray for our meeting that we have in Quillacollo as we make plans for the future.