Built Upon the Rock:
When I was a child, I can remember singing about the wise man that built his house upon the rock, and when the rains came the house stood firm. There was also the man that built his house upon the sand, and when the rains came, his house was destroyed. I truly believe that this second scenario is where we see many teenagers today and even Christian teenagers. They are not building their lives on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the focus of our youth conference this year was “Built Upon the Rock”. Now we didn’t sing the little song but each night we encouraged them to build their lives on the only firm foundation, that is Jesus. This years conference was probably the best we have had in a long time with great attendance and many decisions for the Lord. Each night the attendance grew until the last night where we had well over one hundred between the three churches and a few visitors from other churches. Each church participated by having a special presentation and a special song that went along with the theme. Our church did a presentation where a young man comes out and begins to tell how he has decided to sell out and serve the Lord. He then sits in a chair and different people (parents, friends, girlfriend) come out and discourage him from serving the Lord. As they talk to him they are walking around the chair with a rope in their hands and by the end he is so tied up that he can’t move. Then the pastor comes out at the end and encourages him and unties him so that he can go and serve the Lord. It was a simple illustration but one that shows what often happens when young people decide to build their lives on the rock. I would like to ask you to pray for these teenagers that made decisions because they are the future of the church.
Not Ashamed:
I had the privilege this past month to visit a good friend of mine, Jason Holt, who is a missionary in Chile, for their youth conference. The theme for the conference this year was “Be Not Ashamed of the Gospel”. During the day we had classes for the teens on things like, being the person that someone would want to marry and how to know the will of God, and at night there were services for both teens and adults. The place was packed each night with the high attendance being well over two hundred. There were many decisions made during the conference and many teens that decided to be a bold witness for the Lord. It was also great to catch up with a pastor friend, Jeremy Vance, that I went to school with, who was also preaching in the conference. Both he and I traveled with our daughters, which was a great experience for both since it was one of the first times they had been able to travel. During the day we were able to see different sites around the city like the Costenera Center, which is the tallest building in Latin America with 64 floors. We also went up to mountain overlook and was able to see many areas of Santiago where there are no churches. With a population of over seven million, there is a great need for the gospel in the city. Please pray for Jason and the ministry there in Chile, as they seek to reach it with the gospel.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our upcoming pastor’s retreat in September.
2. Pray for the church in Quillacollo as they look for land.
3. Pray for Bolivia and our government that they will not hinder the church.
4. Pray for our new church in Pacata that we can see people saved and growing.