The other day I asked for prayer for our special family day.  It was our desire that God would work in a great way, not just to give us numbers, but to work in the heart of each individual that would come.  We prayed for people to hear the Gospel, for God to be glorified, and for people to be edified.

All in all it was a tremendous day.  We had 41 people in total, our highest day yet.  However, a number really doesn’t mean anything.  The largest church in the USA averages 43,500 people per week but if the true Gospel isn’t being preached, if the Word of God is not being taught, what’s in a number?  If the people are only hearing men’s philosophies and not the Word of God, what’s in a number?  The number of people that came to our service is not what is important.  What is important is that each person has a soul that needs God and the teaching of His Word.

What’s important is that Robertson and Laura came...a couple who we have been working with who are struggling to make ends meet.  Laura has confessed that she is not a Christian.  They need forgiveness for their sins and to meet the Lord Jesus Christ.

What’s important is that Eduardo came.  Eduardo found us through our website www.estudialabiblia.com and requested a Bible.  Even though Eduardo lives an hour away from us, we decided to go and give the Bible to him and at least give him a clear presentation of the Gospel even if we never saw him again.  Even with the distance, he came.  Eduardo is struggling to find work, having problems with his wife, and really, really searching for the truth.  This morning Eduardo raised his hand expressing his desire to give his life to the Lord.

What’s important is the owner of our building came with her mother and daughter.  There is a good chance that they have never heard the message of Salvation that we find in scriptures and this was their first time.  They were able to listen to songs that talk of God’s amazing love.  They were able to hear the testimony of Alberto Puente, a Spaniard who was saved years ago in Spain under my father-in-laws ministry and is now in the ministry serving the Lord.  They were able to experience a Bible message about Family and Faith.

No, the number “41” is not important.  What is important are the lives and the souls that make up that number.  The ones who were able to catch a glimpse of God’s awesome love through the preaching and teaching of His word.  Many of those precious souls remind me of myself at age 19 when I first walked into Beacon Baptist Church and heard a clear message from God’s Word.  May the Lord work in their hearts as he did mine and may they return time and time again to hear the life changing message that we can only find in God’s Holy Word.

Thank you for praying.  God answered all my prayers and much more.

This coming Sunday we are having a special day.  The theme will be on the Family.  We haven’t done a huge campaign, just simply made invitations for all of our current contacts.  If they all decide to come, this will be more then we can handle in our present location.

I was at the church on Thursday making up some packets of information to give to the first time visitors that will come on Sunday.  While I was waiting for the envelopes to finish printing, I decided to go and pray for the people who might come.  I remembered the verse in 1 John that says if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us.  I was not asking for numbers.  I was not asking for Him to make it an exciting day.  I didn’t ask Him to fulfill our desires.  Not that these things can't be according to His will at times, but I wanted to ask Him for what I know for sure is His will according to the Word of God.  Here is what I asked for:

1. That the people who come would hear the Gospel and be taught the things of God. - Matthew 28:19 - 20
2. That the Christians would hear the Word and apply it to their lives - James 1:22
3. That Christ would be glorified and those that don’t know him would see that He is Worthy - Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 5:12
4. That people would be saved - 2 Peter 3:9
5. That the Word of God would do it's work in the hearts and lives of whoever hears the Word.  - 2 Tim. 3:16
   

Would you help us pray for this special day?

Watch the Video or read about it below.

I wanted to give you an update on how God is working through this DVD Project. We have been able to give out 23,329 Gospel DVD's.  If we calculate that there are 3 people per household that means we have given 69,987 people a chance to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel.  Our goal is to saturate our city with this DVD.  The DVD has a gospel presentation, clearly given for those who have never heard it.

So far we have had over 2,000 pageviews per month on the website that we have created.  This means that many who have received the DVD have watched the whole presentation until the end where the website is displayed and then accessed the website for more information.  It is every church's desire that in the lifespan of their ministry every person in their area or city will come through the church doors at least one time so they can hear a clear Gospel presentation.  However, we all realize that in the life of our ministry, only a small percentage of the people in our town or city will ever walk through those doors.  So what we have done is given the people of our city a chance to have the preacher come to them.  In the comfort of their own home, they can watch and hear a sound biblical message on salvation.

Please pray with us as we endeavor to finish getting DVD's to the rest of our city.  Also help us pray about our next project, " a Bible in every home."  Just as the title suggests, we want to get a Bible in every home in our city.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

Almost always when I pray to the Lord, I thank him for the privilege of being in the ministry.  This is something that I have always felt in my heart and soul.  I truly believe it to be an honor and a privilege that God would allow someone like me to serve Him.  I have always felt this way.  Serving him is not limited to those that we have labeled to be in "full-time" ministry.  Serving Him is something that all Christian can and must do.  The Bible talks of us being like parts of the human body.  We all serve a purpose and whether we are the foot or the ear, we all work together for a common goal.  Everyone is important and has a purpose in God's work.  We must seek the Lord and find what that purpose is.  I believe that we should all be able to say what a privilege and honor it is to serve the Lord. 

As we serve the Lord, the path is not always straight.  Sometimes it is bumpy and at times dark.  However, no matter the situation, we serve the same Lord and we must always recognize the great privilege and honor He has given us to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

We thank the Lord for what He is doing in our ministry.  We are a very new work.  We began meeting with one believer in my in-laws home in October of 2009.  My in-laws had only been in Spain for a few months and My wife and I had just finished our internship at the church we were working in.  We were making plans and trying to locate a building to start our church.  In November of that same year, we found a building and began renovations.  It took us about 3 or 4 months to renovate the building and get it ready for use.  Finally, in February of 2010, the building was ready enough to where we could move from my in-laws house to the building.  We held one Bible Study in the building and then our family took off for the USA to begin our adoption process and Home Study.  We returned in April and continued holding Bible studies in the building with Isabel.  However, even though the inside of the building was ready, the outside still needed work.  As far as the people knew, the building was still closed down.  We worked on getting the outside taken care of and the escaparate finished.  (An escaparate is the window of a building that displays certain things about that business, like advertisements.  They are very popular in Spain.)  We finally got the escaparate and outside done around the first of May 2010.  It was exciting because many people stopped by and read what was on the window. On May 23rd, Stefan was walking by the building and noticed the escaparate.  He began reading the things on the window.  About that time, Isabel, the one person that we were having Bibles studies with, walked up and said, "Do you like what you see?"  They begin talking and she invited him to stay for the Bible Study.  8 weeks later, he trusted Christ as his Saviour.  Since that time, we have been able to put up a sign and now people know we are there and are open for business. 

It amazes me how God brings people.  We work hard to get the Gospel out and make contacts but God seems to keep us humble as he brings in people that we have never met, nor had contact with.  We have pretty much had visitors almost every Sunday since Stefan walked through the doors.  This past Sunday, we had a high day of 19 people in church.  We were very excited and we could tell our people were excited to see others come.  Our goal is not to promote ourselves, nor our ideas, rather to focus on Christ.  We give honor and glory to God for this wonderful day. 

Honestly though, as exciting as that was, our goal is not to have high numbers.  Yes we would love to see 40 or 50 people next week, but that is not really our goal.  If you have been reading our ministry philosophy, you have learned that our goal is quality, not quantity.  We want to grow people in Christ so that they will have a solid relationship with the Lord and a true Love God.  Out of their love for Him, they will in turn share the Gospel message and help grow those that become new Christians.  We want to see the kingdom of God expand with dedicated, faithful servants who also count it a great privilege and honor to serve Him.  

My husband and I will celebrate our 30th year as missionaries this coming December.
We have served in Spain and Venezuela.  In these two countries we have been able to participate in the start of 3 Baptist churches.  I remember each one of these churches and the excitement we felt as people began attending services, making professions of faith in Jesus Christ and growing in the Lord.  We look back at how these churches are still preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how people are still getting saved and how young men are being called into the ministry from these churches.  There is something very exciting and awesome about beginning a new church!

We are now in the process of beginning again!  A little over one year ago we arrived in Spain once more and moved to the city of Parla.  During this year we have, along with the other members of our team, studied the city, strategized as to how we can reach the city for Christ, rented a building and made the necessary repairs to use it for services.  We have also done a lot of praying, planning and preparing.  In April we finally opened the doors to our building to begin having Sunday morning services.  At that point we had one lady who came faithfully every Sunday.  She has been a real blessing in our church as every week she witnesses to people she meets and invites them to our services.  She is very excited about seeing the work grow.  Right now we are laying the groundwork for the ministry.  We are evangelizing the city, trying to share the Gospel with every person in the city of Parla.    As with past experiences in starting churches, we know that if we do what God has told us to do, then He will bring the increase.

We are excited, just like we were 30 years ago when we first began our missionary endeavors.  We don’t know how fast the work will grow, who will get saved, who will remain in the church serving God, who will be called into the ministry, but we know that God is going to do His work here.  We are just vessels to be used by God to do His work of planting the seed of the Word of God.  Then God will give the harvest. 
How exciting it was when two months ago a man entered the church to find out who we are.  That man has since, come faithfully every Sunday, brought his wife and son and three weeks ago, trusted Christ as His Savior.  Two weeks ago, a middle aged lady came to know Christ as her Savior in her home while we were visiting with her.  These are the firstfruits of the work in Parla.  How exciting!  Already we can see some new contacts whom we are working with and who seem interested in knowing more about God.  We are using all the means we can to get the Gospel into homes, through DVD’s, tracts, billboards, webpages, newspapers, etc.  We are beginning to see fruit and it is the most exciting experience that a servant of God can feel.  This is just the beginning of what God is going to do.  We have the same promise that God gave to the apostle Paul in Acts 18:9-10, “..Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” 

2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Starting a church is very hard work and takes much patience and prayer.  However, there is nothing more amazing then when someone realizes their need for a Savior and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord though repentance and faith.  But not only that, being able to teach them the Word of God and watching them grow and understand the principles of the Bible is one of the greatest joys of the Christian life. 

We have had the privilege of seeing 2 people saved in the last 2 weeks and also being able to begin teaching 3 people the Word of God on a personal, one-on-one basis. 

In the photo above, Isabel, who trusted Christ last year at a family camp and Estefan, the man who was saved 2 weeks ago, have begun learning the basics of the Word of God.  We praise the Lord for His goodness. 

God has done another amazing thing in our ministry.  Last week, I mentioned that Estefan, a man who has been coming for several weeks, was born again by the Spirit of God.  We are excited about being able to disciple him and teach him through our lives and the Word of God. 

Yet again, God did a great work.  A young couple, Robertson and Laura, came to our Bible Studies two weeks in a row.  The last time they visited, they mentioned that they were going to return the next week and bring their Aunt.  They didn't make it back after that so we decided that someone needed to visit them.  On Saturday, our team members, Julio and Andrea Velasquez, went to visit them.  The aunt was there and everyone was very happy to see them.  They said that they chatted for a little bit and then Robertson went to the back, grabbed several Bibles, came back and handed one to each person and they sat there staring at the Velasquez ready to hear and learn whatever they had to say.  Julio and Andrea began to share the Word of God with them.  They showed them scriptures and explained the sin that we all posses, but also God's remedy and forgiveness for our sin.  The Aunt (Sonia) bombarded them with her own questions.   At the end of the conversation, Julio asked Sonia if she would like to accept the gift that God has given us for Salvation.  Without hesitation, she emphatically said yes.  As she prayed, Andrea mentioned that she was really broken and truly seeking forgiveness for her sin against our Holy, Almighty God.  We praise the Lord for saving another soul. 

God is truly amazing and is working here and all over the world.  God works in so many different ways.  We continue to work hard at getting the Gospel to our city, not just a few here and there, but to our entire city.  We are reminded of what Paul said: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."  We (as well as so many before us and with us) are planting and watering, planting and watering, however, it is God who gives the increase. God is the only one who can forgive a Soul and save it from impending judgment. 

We praise the Lord for what He is doing in us and in our ministry.   

What a day it was on Sunday.  As most of you know, Spain won the World Cup.  It was indeed a historical moment as they did what they had never done before.  Spain had never gotten past the quarter finals in the World Cup...ever.  Everyone was excited, the players, the coaches, the fans, and the country. 

As exciting as that was, I am not referring to that when I say, "What a day it was on Sunday."  For the first time in our ministry, we had someone come to Christ as a direct result of our ministry.  We are still in the very beginning stages of our Church Planting ministry, but God has blessed us with Estefan, a man who has been coming for the last 7 or 8 weeks.  If you remember, he is the man who I have asked everyone to pray for.  He passed by the building one Sunday morning and saw the "escaparate" (window with information). Isabel, one of the ladies who faithfully comes to our bible studies walked up and said, "Do you like what you see?"  They began talking, she invited him to stay, and sure enough, he did.  He came to every service since that time except for one.  Before and after each service, my father-in-law and I would talk to him extensively together and separately about the Lord, sin, salvation, repentance, the Bible, etc.  Every service he heard sound biblical preaching and teaching on salvation.  We took him out for coffee and went over to his house.  We have prayed for him ever since the first day we meet him. 

This past Sunday, he came into the church and said he had a surprise.  He said he was reading his Bible and he read a verse where Jesus said, "Come to me."  He told us that that day he accepted Christ as his Savior.  We were excited.  Today, he came out with us for the first time to deliver the Gospel on DVD into people's homes. 

It is always exciting when someone comes to Christ, but this one is special, being our first.  Lording willing we will be baptizing him soon.  Continue to pray for him as he grows in the Lord. 

The DVD project is going well. We have gotten out over 16,000 DVD’s into 16,000 homes in Parla, Spain. This means that if there is an average of 3 people per home, 48,000 people have had the chance to hear and watch a clear presentation of the Gospel. We are excited about what God is doing through the DVD project. I will update more on that later.

For this post, I wanted to concentrate on our friend Estefan. Estefan has come 3 Sunday’s in a row. It is always nice to have visitors but when they come back it is even more exciting. Estefan came because he was out for a Sunday morning stroll and he passed by the building and saw the posters and books we had in the escaparate (window). He joined us for the service and has come back every Sunday since then. The amazing thing to me is that we haven’t even officially opened the doors of the church yet. The escaparate had only been up and visible for one week when he passed by. Up until about 3 or 4 weeks ago, the metal door that protects the window had been closed and it looked like the building wasn’t open. We haven’t made a big announcement, passed out flyers, etc. letting the community know that we are starting a church. We are still a little ways from being able to do that. We don’t even have a sign up yet. People don’t yet know what we are. You see, our purpose is two-fold. Not only are we starting a church, but we are trying to evangelize our city, our entire city in a systematic, organized fashion. What does that mean? That doesn’t mean that we are going to win every single person to Christ, however that would be nice. What it does mean is that we are going to give every person in our city a chance to hear the Gospel at least once, but if the Lord allows and we fulfill all that we have planned, we will give every person a chance to hear the Gospel over and over and over again in a very systematic fashion. I am not talking about standing in a populated area passing out tracts or randomly witnessing to people on the street. There is nothing wrong with that and we will do that, however, there is no way to measure that. But what I mean is getting the Gospel into every home by means of various ways in an organized fashion, so everyone has the chance to hear the Gospel. Our first attempt at this is being accomplished through the DVD project. We have done a lot, but much more needs to be done. So all that to say, so far we have been concentrating on seeding our entire city before we actually have our grand opening. We are also dealing with paperwork (which is a process in and of itself) and waiting for our last member of the team to arrive before we open officially. In the meantime, as we saturate the city, we have been systematically thinking through how we can make our building as appealing and informative as possible so people will be curious and stop in. We are offering free Bibles via our website www.estudialabiblia.com, Facebook.com and will soon be offering them via our escaparate (window) and possibly by way of Billboard or advertisement. Much groundwork is being laid so it amazes me that God is already bringing people.

That leads me back to Estefan. I ask that you pray for him. As I said before, he has been to 3 of our Sunday Morning Bible Studies in a row. My father-in-law and I had the privilege of taking him out for coffee yesterday and just simply “shooting the breeze.” We have “laid on pretty thick” the salvation message in our conversations before and after the Bible Studies so we decided just to go out and do a little “relationship building” with him. He, like so many others, is struggling in this economy without work. He tries to be a “good” person and even thanks “God” for many things, but he still lacks the repentance and faith that brings us into a true relationship with God. So please pray for him. Pray that God will draw him to Himself. Pray that Estefan will have a tender heart to the Lord’s conviction and that we will be able to be used of the Lord to help meet his need.

It is great to be back!!!  You may have noticed that our website was down for a few days.  We quickly put up a temp page and worked on getting the site back online.  Unfortunately, our site was compromised and flagged for sending out malicious spam mail.  We were able to figure out the problem and here we are again.  Sorry for the interruption and inconvenience.  We will be blogging over the next several weeks about our ministry, how things are going with the DVD project, our team members, etc.