Blessings

Every Wednesday Matt is gone all day to La Carpio. You may be thinking, "I thought you were going to La Carpio, Brooke?" Well, I was for most of the "summer" months. However, once we started school, I quickly realized I was not going to be able to manage both a day away in La Carpio and also get in a full week of school with Ethan and Isabelle. So, once Matt finished his classes at ILE, we switched places and he now goes each week. God's timing is perfect because the week before we made the switch there was a group of 8 new boys wanting to be discipled that Matt is now discipling each week. Please pray for these young boys as they grow in the word of God and for Matt as their teacher, that he may be able to keep them under control and also understand their conversation and questions and answers. There names are Melvin, Gravin, Elvis, Noel, Michael, Ismael and Justo and Josue, who cannot read, but sits each week with the group and listens to the lessons.

Matt gets back around 4:00 and we leave for Tejarcillos prayer service around 4:30-4:45. The church in Tejarcillos has been struggling for some time. We have seen a dramatic change in the church since we have been here. We now see God building up the faithful servants he has in Tejarcillos and are beginning to see a community of believers forming. What is even more amazing is that we are starting to see entire families come to church together to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For some time now, attendance has been very scarce on Wednesday nights. Sometimes, it felt as if maybe we should not even have the service. However, in recent weeks, we have seen God working. We see God bringing adults back to the church. What was truly a church full of children when we first came to Tejarcillos two years ago, is now a church where God has placed two families who are truly committed to serving Him. We are trusting God will work in their lives to mold them into who he has created them to be, and also that God will use them as examples to others. We are convinced that God has plans to prosper His Church in Tejarcillos, not plans of harm. We know God has plans to give the Church in Tejarcillos hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Last night was a beautiful service. I pray always that I will enter into the Court's of our King each time I enter a time of worship, whether at a service or in the privacy of my own home with praise and with an attitude of reverance for our God. Last night, this was made easy by the presence of our Holy God. About 35 of us were gathered on what had been a cold, rainy day, although the rain had stopped for a few hours. Before the service starts each week, a man named Fran, a leader in the church, has been leading a Bible challenge game. We are separated in to three teams. Everyone has their Bible and he calls out a chapter and verse and then says the book that we can find the passage in and then we are free to open our Bibles and begin searching. It has proven to be a fun way of starting the evening.

After the game, Pastor Rogelio started the service with a challenge for each of us and himself as well. "How many times do you personally sit in the service each week, get filled up with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, enjoy the company of brothers and sisters, and then go home and in no more than a couple of hours forget the gift God just gave you? How often does this happen that we go to church or our discipleship group and then don't take the very lesson we have just learned and apply it to our lives? How wonderful it would be if we could just take the time to seek the Lord, remembering to take our burdens to Him. He is waiting for us to say to him, "I am so tired of this in my life. God, I trust you to help me rid my life of this sin." But how often we do NOT do that and the sin festers and grows in our lives and we find ourselves distanced from our Creator."

He then proceeded to ask if there was anyone who desired to come before the throne of Christ right now and lay down the burden's of their heart. What followed was a wonderful time of prayer and laying down our hearts before the throne of God. Each person there shared their hearts and personal prayer requests, after which was a wonderful time of prayer. I personally shared of how thankful I am that even though I fail my God every single day as His daughter, as a wife and as a mother, his mercies are new every morning and his grace and love are never-ending.

The service ended with several beautiful songs that served as offerings of praise to Jesus. One of the songs has become a favorite of mine. It is called Que Sería de mí. The words say:

What would I be if you hadn't reached me?
What would I be if you hadn't forgiven me?
I would have an emptiness in my heart.
I would wonder about without a course and without direction.
If it were not for your grace and for your love.
If it were not for your grace and for your love.
I'd be like a wounded bird that dies on the floor.
I'd be like a deer that cries for water in the desert.
If it weren't for your grace and for your love.

I love the words of this song. They are so true. What would I be if not for Christ's grace and love?

Generally, after the service we have a time of fellowhip and coffee is served. As Rogelio closed the service, the couple that is in charge of the coffee realized something had happened with the coffee maker and the coffee was not ready yet. So, instead of everyone hurrying off to their homes, no one moved. It didn't seem to matter that the service was over and we had no coffee to share. So, a few people offered to share songs of praise. A woman who was at the service for the first time sang the first stanza and chorus of Because He Lives. It was by far perfect, but she sang it joyfully and for the Lord. Then, two of the teenagers got up with Audrey and sang one of our family favorites, called La Niña de Tus Ojos. This is a song the girls love and know all the words to. After that Fran and Ariel led the congregation in one more song about the freedom we have in our God. It was really beautiful watching people freely make offerings to God. Of course, I thought it was neat that the two youth and Audrey were singing together :) By then, the coffee was ready and still, people seemed eager to sit and chat with each other. It was 8:00 before people finally started to gather their things and begin leaving. Rogelio was smiling so big after the service. I thanked him for sharing and for the evening. He commented on how beautiful it was.

Jeremiah 29:12-14 says, "Then you call upon me and come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity."

Matt and I pray fervently that God will bring back the people of Tejarcillos from captivity. Would you join us in praying this as well? Would you pray for the spiritual growth of the people already actively ivolved in the church. Would you pray that God would allow these servants to evangelize to the lost and that God would bring new believers to be part of this church. Would you pray that the discipleship of all the believers would remain the priority of the leadership of this church. Would you also pray that as the church grows, God will continue to uphold the cause of the oppressed, give food to the hungry and release the people of Tejarcillos, who are prisoners of sin, from the bondage they currently live in. (Psalm 146:7)