PENAFRANCIA - A REMINDER AND A DISAPPOINTMENT
I attached a photo of the Penafrancia idol, which is a statue of Mary.
This happens to be the most worshiped and celebrated idol in the region,
and for the first time, it came to our town. It was a huge disappoint
for us to see a number of those who study the Bible with us participate
in the procession (parade) of this idol through our town. It was a
reminder about how deeply rooted these practices are in peoples hearts,
and we are making adjustments in our ministry to try and address that.
It was also a reminder of how lost people are as I watched them stand in
line for the chance to get close enough to it to rub the idol with a
cloth in the hopes of getting healing, financial prosperity, or
blessing. Pray for the believers here, that God would open their hearts
and minds to depend only on Him for all their needs, and for those who
do not know yet that God alone can provide us with every spiritual
blessing we could possible need or ask for.
JESUS FILM
We showed the Jesus film in a remote coastal town (Maculiu, where I
believe almost the entire population of the town showed up to watch it.
Pray that God would use the film to ignite an interest to know Him more
by studying His word. We are mentoring the believers from one coastal
town (Babaguan) who have been studying the Bible for 2 years now as they
go to the town across the water (Maculiu) and have started a Bible study
there that is growing and maturing. It is exciting to see these new
believers reach out to their friends and family in the neighboring
town. We are there coaching them and helping them when they need it,
but the ministry is totally in their hands, and God is using them more
and more to reach the people in Maculiu.
MULTIPLICATION TRAINING
We held training in a neighboring town where there is an established but
struggling church in a town called Viga. The 2 day training was almost
completely hands-on, and after a little while, they really got the hang
of it. We trained them how to use Bible study materials that are easy
to use and train others to use also, so that we can hopefully see some
multiplication happen. Those attending the training were excited to try
out the new way of Bible teaching. In fact, on the way home from the
training, our teammates saw one of the atendees walking in the opposite
direction of his house. They asked him where he was going, and he
answered that he was going straight over to a family to get a Bible
study started in their home!
2 TIMOTHY 2:2
Trust. This verse says we should entrust the Gospel to faithful men who
will be able to teach others. We have no choice but to delegate and
trust others to carry the message, if we want to see all of the
unreached come to a knowledge of the truth. As I was reading the other
day, God showed me that it is not just trust in other people. Phil 1:6
says, "For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good
work in you will perfect it until the day of Chris Jesus". Paul was
confident that God would continue the work in those that he had
ministered to. So, while I must entrust the word to faithful people, I
must also trust God to work in the hearts of the people. Thank God it
is not all up to me, or the people I am entrusting the Gospel to! We
will be starting a new group that focuses on training people to start,
lead groups, train leaders, and repeat the process this week.
ELIAS TURNS 1!
We had a small, quiet party for him with about 100 of our closest
friends... well, it was anything but quiet, and to be honest, we didn't
know a few of the people who came.. let me re-phrase my description: We
had a loud, crazy, fun party with lots of people (over 60 kids and 40
adults)! Although we didn't plan for 100, we always plan to have extra
people, so we had enough of everything. Everyone had a great time and
it was a good chance to see a lot of the friends we know from the
various Bible studies gathered together.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
Bryan
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