This week marks the end of our second term here on the mission field and the start to our second furlough. Needless to say it has been one of the busiest and craziest times of my life. On top of packing up our things and doing repairs on our house, getting it ready to turn it over to the owners, we had two very special events at our churches here. This past week we finished our second trimester at our bible college with six guys taking classes and two new teachers helping out. We also had two guys that finished up their final requirements which allowed us to have our first graduation. Both Isaac and Pablo have been taking classes for several years and working in the ministry here and I have watched how the Lord has worked in their lives preparing them for this time. They will be leading the two churches that we have started here and while we are on our furlough in the US. Being that this was our first graduation it was something very new for the church so we wanted to make it very special. I explained how that from the time we arrived here in Bolivia our desire has been to have a place where men and women could prepare to serve the Lord. We also had testimonies about the guys that were graduating and also gave them a trowel with a verse on it, symbolizing the work that they will be doing in the ministry. This was our first graduation but we are excited to see the new guys that are studying and all the men that the Lord is going to raise up in the future to do His work.
Also we had a special organization service for our church in Quillacollo. We have been having full time services now for around nine months and the church is averaging between 30 and 4o in attendance. Pablo has been carrying the majority of the load visiting and discipling the people of the church. Since the church has been moving along so well we thought it was the right time to official organize it so that it will be an official church. I preached both in the morning and that night about the importance of the local church and being part of it. We all the people that had been saved and baptized and taking our membership classes come forward and sign the book marking the founding of the Vision Baptist Church in Quillacollo. I am very proud of these two guys and how the Lord has used and is going to use them. I would like to ask you to pray for them as they will be carrying a big load over the next year.