Prayer for "The Greatest Journey" Discipleship

The "Operation Christmas Child" ministry continues even after Christmastime! 
The children who received shoebox at evangelism events are invited to "The Greatest Journey": a 13-week discipleship program at their local churches to learn more about Jesus through the Bible. 

This discipleship needs PRAYER!! 
Most families happily send their children to Christmas party events for them to receive gifts, but then adamantly deny their children permission to attend a weekly Bible lesson at a Christian church.  Only the Holy Spirit can work to open doors for the Bible, and transformation

in the children and their families. 

The 70 participating local churches in our state of Tlaxcala joined together for united prayer for this discipleship: for the children, their families, the Bible teachers, the churches, the communities, the Samaritan´s Purse organization and leaders, and more.

After our prayer session, we gave the churches the opportunity to share testimonies of the Lord´s work in their discipleship programs so far this season: and our mouths were left open!  Stories of a man healed when a Greatest Journey teacher prayed, of children who received shoeboxes and

the Gospel on the street who are now faithful participants in the discipleship, of a church who had zero students attend the second lesson but then prayed and prayed and now have 15 students attending.... now we wait to hear more miracles in answer to our prayer for the remainder of the season.

Kids´ Club Explosion!

Kids´ Bible Club if offered every Friday- with games, songs, crafts and snacks to emphasize our weekly Bible lesson. We are currently studying the Gospel of John.  

During the years of our church plant, kids´ club attendance has varied greatly. Recently, we normally have about 8 students. However, this month, we had 17 children attend our Friday class!  

Though the club is designed for 6-12 year olds, everywhere from age 1 to 14 arrive and participate. It is really a special group- all the older help direct the youngers in love. 

Obviously the Holy Spirit is present and active in these children. I thank the Lord for each one that He has set apart as His children.

Sunday Church Service OUTSIDE!!

Our church has a "good problem"... our growing congregation barely fits inside our church building! (Now, I am not talking about hundreds of people. For our rented space, anything over 40 people is pusing the seams).

We have prayed that one day the Lord would add more people to His church so we could make regular use of our new, outdoor tent structure; though honestly we were imagining it would be toward the end of 2020.  But, already, at the end

of February, we made the offical move: our Sunday worship services will officially take place outside!

Logistically, we are still working out details: purchasing necessary sound cables, installing better electrical conections, praying about a proyector and screen for worship songs and announcements, forming a team for weekly outdoor set-up and take-down, and many other details. But we are excited!  Fortunately, the

Lord "planned" this move after our cold winter season. Our current 70 degree weather is inviting outside :) 

Marriage Conferences for Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, love is represented by paper hearts and chocolate.  However, on Valentine's Day at Calvary Grace and Truth, we wanted to represent love through God's perspective revealed through the Bible.

The "Singular" ministry arrived with a speaker, Dave, from Atlanta, Georgia and representatives from Queretaro, Mexico to challenge and equip the couples from both our and our sister congregation to effectively show love to one another. 

The workshop-style conferences specifically focused on communication skills- like eye

contact, physical contact, and active listening. 

During the application session, many couples had tears as they shared and listened to their spouses facing one another knee to knee. 

We were pleased to hear of a couple of the pairs implementing these practical communication tips even the week following the conferences.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to unite these couples and trasform them in His image of

love.

Servant training

Our small church is growing! As well as the needs of the congregation and opportunities for ministry!

Obviously, we can not serve this growing church alone, nor is that the Lord's plan! He wants all of His children to serve in His example. 

Paco started offering regular "servant training" meetings, to any interested, in serving the church- where we not only study Christ's example of service in the Bible, but also discuss and delegate needs and ministry opportunities we witness in and around the church. 

Gosh!- the Holy Spirit is certainly moving and building up a team of servants. Already this month we have seen so much initiative in the participating brothers: arriving early to pick up trash outside, coming midweek to change the sink fixture, planning a women's gathering, washing the coffee mugs, cleaning the children's classroom after service, and more.  What a joy to witness the Body of Christ in action!!

Valentine's Day Women's Fellowship

I so look forward to our weekly women's Bible study at Calvary!! As our small church grows and new women add to our group, our studies are enriched by their testimonies of the Lord's work in their lives.  Tears are frequent as we comfort eachother with promises from the Word. Gosh- many of these women come from very difficult circumstances! Their faith is such a light in their darkness. 

We celebrated our friendship and sisterhood in Christ with a Valentine's Day breakfast along with our Bible study. 

The Lord is obviously forming a special, sisterly

bond in our group, as one lady invited everyone in our study to be her bridesmaids at her summer wedding! 

Lots of littles at Sunday School!

We are excited about the plans that the Lord has for our church, Calvary Grace and Truth, this 2020 year!  Already this first month, we have witnessed God directing multiple new families to seek Him.
I was shocked (and a little nervous) this last Sunday to have eight littles in my nursery Sunday School class (ages 1-4 years).  However, the Holy Spirit was also present because the  children were happy and calm and even attentive to the Bible story! (I know classes like that are not thanks to my skills as a children's teacher- I know my own limitations!)  I was floating with joy all day remembering my fun class with the toddlers.  And, Paco and I are praying for more wisdom to guide these new families in His truth.

Pastor and wife from Ixcamilpa visit us in Puebla!

Only one pastor ministers in the isolated county of Ixcamilpa.  Pastor Domingo, with his wife Liovi,  teaches only 1 to 10 people on a given Sunday.  Paco always meets with Domingo and his family on his visits to the Ixcamilpa communities- to encourage and bless this pastor who, in his isolated area, has limited access to Bible resourses, teaching or experience. 

For our servant conferences this last month, we invited Pastor Domingo and his family to join us (obviously offering to fund their trip).  Our desire was to bless this family of Jesus' servants, as well as encourage them in their work by gathering with brothers and pastors from multiple other churches. 

Domingo, Liovi, and their 22-year-old son, Eli arrived by bus for the weekend with only one bag in hand.  We realized later that the bag held candied pumpkin which they had prepared as a gift for us as hosts! They had not brought a single change

of clothes with them for their 2 day stay, nor sufficient outer wear for our much colder temperatures here. Paco gave shirts and vest to Domingo, recognizing that they would be cold.

During the conferences, Pastor Domingo was invited to share his testimony. His very humble and honest experience of coming to know Jesus was a clear reminder to us all of the power of the Holy Spirit to save people anywhere- even in isolated communities. 

Paco also set up a table with information about Ixcamilpa and his ministry in the region, so that conference participants could be informed and sign up to join the ministry on future trips!  We were especially pleased a couple physicians approached with a desire to lead a medical missions trip to the area.

After the conferences, we took the family to a fast food rotisserie chicken restaurant. However, even at such a simple

meal, the couple was shocked at the cost of the bill, which for them was extravegant. 

Though the family could not stay more than two days, we hope to receive them again, as together we pray for God's work in their communities!

Liovi, in Ixcamilpa, about to prepare this chicken for lunch!

Domingo and Liovi's grandson outside their house.

The church building in the county seat of Ixcamilpa.

Hosting Ministry Conferences- in our new BIGGER space!

We have a BIGGER church building!
Actually, it is the same rented building, but, through a loving donation, we built a tent struture over the outside patio. Now, our church space practically doubled in size!

More size obviously means... more people capacity! 
For our first time ever, we organized and hosted conferences open to multiple churches in our area.  Members of 7 different churches joined us, y 6 pastores served as conference speakers. 

The conference theme: Serving like Jesus. 
Paco is passionate about discipling/training

members of our small church as a ministry team: a committed group of servants, after Jesus' own heart.  The conferences were geared toward applying  Christ's life example of service to ministry in our own congregations. 

It was FABULOUS to get to gather with brothers from multiple churches, and be challenged by Bible teaching from other pastors. 
We are already witnessing the fruits of the conferences in our church body- as brothers are

starting to arrive earlier to church, staying longer after service to help clean, and offering their time mid-week. We marvel to witness the work of the Holy Spirit in the people He is raising up for Him.