May the Grace and Love of Jesus Christ flow abundantly in
your hearts !!!
“By faith
Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive
as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By
faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder
and maker is God.”
Heb
11:8-10
As I have been reading through the book of Hebrews I found
myself stuck in chapter 11, of course, the “Heroes of Faith” chapter. No matter
how long we’ve been walking with the Lord or what He’s doing in my life today,
it’s certain that He desires to grow my faith in whatever I’m going through
today. “The Just shall live by faith” (Romans 1.17); this means I am to walk by
faith and live by faith for the rest of my life. Thinking of Abraham as the
father of faith and the way he walked by faith, God challenged me in these
three principles from Heb 11:8-10 : 1). Faith will move me out of my comfort
zone. Just as for Abraham, the Lord is calling me out of my comfort zone in a
couple of areas in my life, and to be able to move out I need to exercise
faith. Is your faith moving you out of your comfort zone? 2). Faith challenges
my natural logic. In the case of Abraham, when he left, he did not even know
where he was going but he was already moving and that’s not logical at all. As
I try to apply my human logic to choices and situations in life, God will
challenge my logic having me exercise faith in Him and His word. Are you
walking in faith today or by your own logic ? 3). Faith keeps me heavenly
minded. The passage says that Abraham dwelt in tents in the promise land for he
received the promise, but his eyes were still in heaven. He was really waiting
for the heavenly inheritance. There are promises that God has given me and that
I’m waiting on for Him to fulfill, however no matter when that happens, I have
a heavenly promise, an inheritance with my Savior in heaven forever and faith
allows me to keep that promise in front of all the others so that I can walk as
a stranger and pilgrim on this earth. Is your faith allowing you to see the
promise of heaven way bigger and more important than any other promises for
your life here on earth? May the Lord strengthen and deepen our faith and trust
in Him that we may walk closer and pleasing to Him fixing our eyes on the
things above and not on the things of the earth.
On this update I would like to cover the Outreach to the
Guaymi people which I promised on my last newsletter and couple other beautiful
things that have happened in the month of April.
OUTREACH TO THE GUAYMI
The Lord opened a door for us to go with the Bible College
students to the Guaymi People, an indigenous group found in the south of Costa
Rica and the north of Panama. We partnered with an American missionary that
works with them. Even though we were there for only 3 days, we got to
experience first hand what their life and basic needs are. The two main
purposes of our trip were accomplished: we built the foundations for a pastor’s
house in concrete and we did an outreach for the Guaymi kids. They have their
native language however most of them speak basic Spanish and that’s how we
could communicate with them, especially with the kids. I got to play with the
kids in the river and eat raw cocoa from the trees, but my favorite moment was
the quiet moment of explaining the gospel to all these kids through the gospel
bracelet and seeing them pray to Jesus! Some of their parents did not know they
were there and may have not allowed them to come play with the foreigners but
Jesus brought them and touched them with His love! Amazing! A strong prayer
request is their need for clean water. They currently use river water, which
has brought forth several skin diseases, stomach problems and other health
issues. Help us pray for a mission’s trip later this year or next year, and for
the funds to be able to bring and install a community filter for them, for they
truly need it. If you feel God leads you to donate for this, please email me
letting me know before you donate it to me, so that I can set it aside. Here is
a slideshow of our visit to the Guaymi. Hope you enjoy it and pray for them !!!
BEAUTIFUL WEDDING
This is a praise report! All of us attending and serving in the
church plant here were blessed to witness a beautiful wedding of a family that
attends our fellowship. Junior and Odelva, with two kids that are part of our
children’s ministry, decided to take this step of faith and commitment with the
Lord and with each other before the Lord. It’s worth saying that we had prayed
for this for several months and God answered prayers and brought them to the
altar. Their faces were shining, and there was so much joy!!! Students and
staff decorated the school house and transformed it into a wedding reception
room. There was such joy in all of us, to celebrate with them, and their family
the blessing of seeing them married before Jesus!!! Please keep them in prayer,
as they stand as a testimony for Jesus in this town where there are so many
unmarried couples living together!!!
WOMEN’S MINISTRY
This ministry has been going on for a while, in conjunction with
other missionaries in town. However, at this point, as many more women have
come to faith, the Lord is leading us to a new stage of consolidation of
unified group of women that meet to study the Word together and fellowship in
His love. It’s amazing how many women there are in this town, many more than
men; and the ministry here reflects the stats. The biggest spiritual need in my
opinion is the woman’s value and identity in Christ Jesus and as a consequence
establishing her priorities, decisions and relationships based on that new
identity. Please pray for us, as we are meeting weekly to pray for the women we
know and have relationships with, that God may lead the next steps for this
ministry through the power of His Spirit. We are planning a worship night
towards the end of May and a special kick off event in early June to study the
book of Philippians. May the Lord move in all the planning, give us His favor,
and give us insight into their lives and spiritual needs so that we pray and
plan according to His will for them.
Here is a picture meeting with Nicole and Ivannia, two girls that come to
the Bible Study, and Shavi, our intern. The ocassion was Ivania's birthday.
My last prayer
request is regarding the Sunday Bible Study! The Lord is so faithful to his
Word, and as Ryan is used by God to teach the Bible in a relevant and practical
way here every Sunday, there is a pretty steady group of believers that keeps
growing. It’s such a blessing to see the Lord bring His people and to talk to
some of them and see the joy of the Lord that comes from being in His Word.
Please keep Ryan in prayer, as our pastor, that the Lord may continue to use
his Spanish, his illustrations and his applications of the Word to break and
change every heart, to bring light and truth where there was darkness. Pray for
his spiritual wisdom, discernment and vision for the Bible Study and for each
individual as well. And please pray for all of us in the serving team, that we
may serve humbly and wholeheartedly and that we may be a blessing to the family
of believers that God is giving us here ! Here is a recent picture of the
Study!
Thank you for all
your prayers and support, which allow this ministry to go forth in the power of
God. May God continue to open the way before us ....
