I can't believe I almost forgot!
The women's Bible study is going so well. They have had a great response.
Also, VBS is going well, just as always.
The big news however, is that the evening Bible study is bringing in more families than we've ever had in the past! I plan to get more specifics on this tonight when Aaron calls. He told me that several families were attending. Folks, although several doesn't sound like much, when you consider there were only about 4 women and their children attending in the past....several families is a considerable amount.
Also pray that the men in the village will continue attending, and that even more may show up tonight! This is exciting!
Ok, well that's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else in about 5 minutes!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Update
Well, things are going just wonderfully in Centenario! The Lord is good, and he is bringing people out of the woodwork!
The people were sooooo happy & excited when our team arrived! They had once again been anticipating our arrival. As I've mentioned before, there have been many close relationships formed, and much trust has been gained over the past 4 years. The Lord has truly opened the door for us to share with the people there.
Friday was spent setting up camp, and catching up with a few friends.
Saturday, a few of the men went to San Juan (about 45 min from Centenario), to conduct a pastor's conference. One of the other churches that is participating with our group this year, brought a nice collection of books to give to each pastor in attendance. (Aaron will update with a list of the books, and the name of the church, later, I'm sure.) The books were all in Spanish, and were happily received. What a wonderful gift!! After a day of preaching, teaching & worshiping, it was back to Centenario. They were invited to come back to the church in San Juan on Sunday.
Sunday morning, Rick led worship, and Aaron did some teaching. About 20 people from our group were able to attend. Also, I hope I'm not making this up, but I'm pretty sure that Aaron said some of the locals went with them. (This is what I get for not posting immediately after talking to Aaron!) Then in the afternoon, they were able to attend a soccer game with some of the young men from the village.
Last night, (Sunday), the teacher from the school approached Aaron. The young men that are graduating this week, asked the teacher if Aaron can go on their "Senior Trip" with them. It's just a little field trip to the capital of the state Taumalipas. It is called Ciudad Victoria. They will be visiting a little museum and walking around the city. I'm not sure what day this will be. Maybe today?? This is an even greater sign that the Lord has opened a door with these young men. Even with the teacher, as he must have a great deal of trust with Aaron to invite him to come along.
Many of you are well aware that we had to make the trip shorter than originally planned. The desire was to stay in Mexico for 10 days this time. That was not a possibility due to the increased travel expenses. Normally, we are able to fly round trip for about 210. This year, one way was more than that! Please pray that the Lord will use their time there greatly.
Many of you have asked about Carmen. She is the lady that had the death saint around her neck. Last year, she ripped it from her neck, gave it to Aaron, and asked him to destroy it. She had placed her trust in Christ, and wanted nothing to do with the wicked way that she had been following! We thank the Lord for this over and over. Carmen is doing well. She continues to profess Christ as her salvation. She has been helping with the cooking this week.
Please pray for Can Can (Ivar) & Rudy. That their eyes might be opened to Christ!
Please pray for safe travel to & from the different towns in the area.
Please pray for me (Rachel) as I try to handle all things Bates Creek while Aaron is away. And for little Olivia who is REALLY missing her daddy! The last two times he went to Mexico she was only 3 months & 7 months. I wasn't convinced that she really knew what was going on. Now that she's almost 1 (July 5), she is really missing him. And she ABSOLUTELY knows what is going on! Every time my phone rings she says "Daddy!" She's just waiting to hear his voice on the other line! I can't wait to see her reach for him when he gets home!!!!! It's weird to think that last year's summer trip had me a nervous wreck, wondering if Olivia would come while he was gone! My how time flies.
Love to you all!
The people were sooooo happy & excited when our team arrived! They had once again been anticipating our arrival. As I've mentioned before, there have been many close relationships formed, and much trust has been gained over the past 4 years. The Lord has truly opened the door for us to share with the people there.
Friday was spent setting up camp, and catching up with a few friends.
Saturday, a few of the men went to San Juan (about 45 min from Centenario), to conduct a pastor's conference. One of the other churches that is participating with our group this year, brought a nice collection of books to give to each pastor in attendance. (Aaron will update with a list of the books, and the name of the church, later, I'm sure.) The books were all in Spanish, and were happily received. What a wonderful gift!! After a day of preaching, teaching & worshiping, it was back to Centenario. They were invited to come back to the church in San Juan on Sunday.
Sunday morning, Rick led worship, and Aaron did some teaching. About 20 people from our group were able to attend. Also, I hope I'm not making this up, but I'm pretty sure that Aaron said some of the locals went with them. (This is what I get for not posting immediately after talking to Aaron!) Then in the afternoon, they were able to attend a soccer game with some of the young men from the village.
Last night, (Sunday), the teacher from the school approached Aaron. The young men that are graduating this week, asked the teacher if Aaron can go on their "Senior Trip" with them. It's just a little field trip to the capital of the state Taumalipas. It is called Ciudad Victoria. They will be visiting a little museum and walking around the city. I'm not sure what day this will be. Maybe today?? This is an even greater sign that the Lord has opened a door with these young men. Even with the teacher, as he must have a great deal of trust with Aaron to invite him to come along.
Many of you are well aware that we had to make the trip shorter than originally planned. The desire was to stay in Mexico for 10 days this time. That was not a possibility due to the increased travel expenses. Normally, we are able to fly round trip for about 210. This year, one way was more than that! Please pray that the Lord will use their time there greatly.
Many of you have asked about Carmen. She is the lady that had the death saint around her neck. Last year, she ripped it from her neck, gave it to Aaron, and asked him to destroy it. She had placed her trust in Christ, and wanted nothing to do with the wicked way that she had been following! We thank the Lord for this over and over. Carmen is doing well. She continues to profess Christ as her salvation. She has been helping with the cooking this week.
Please pray for Can Can (Ivar) & Rudy. That their eyes might be opened to Christ!
Please pray for safe travel to & from the different towns in the area.
Please pray for me (Rachel) as I try to handle all things Bates Creek while Aaron is away. And for little Olivia who is REALLY missing her daddy! The last two times he went to Mexico she was only 3 months & 7 months. I wasn't convinced that she really knew what was going on. Now that she's almost 1 (July 5), she is really missing him. And she ABSOLUTELY knows what is going on! Every time my phone rings she says "Daddy!" She's just waiting to hear his voice on the other line! I can't wait to see her reach for him when he gets home!!!!! It's weird to think that last year's summer trip had me a nervous wreck, wondering if Olivia would come while he was gone! My how time flies.
Love to you all!
Mexico 2008
Hey Everyone! So sorry for the delay getting the first post up regarding our peeps in Mexico. This post is just a little blurb that I wrote up for our church, so that they can be praying accordingly each day.
The team has arrived in Centenario as of about 1pm today (Friday). They will be setting up camp and making initial visits this evening.
Saturday-Tuesday will be spent making home visits, having VBS, men's & women's Bible study, and helping with the locals in any way possible.
Saturday & Sunday, Aaron and a few of the other men will be conducting a pastor's conference in San Juan. They have a wonderful collection of books for the pastors that will be attending. It should be a wonderful time of discipleship & fellowship for the brothers that are living there in the neighboring villages.
Wednesday will be spent packing up & heading back across the border into Texas.
Thursday their flight leaves Harlingen at 9:00am and they will arrive in St. Louis at 1:30pm.
Please pray that this group would once again be well accepted among the community. Great accomplishment was made last year when the town officials gave us a letter of welcome to come there and minister as often as we would like. A great deal of trust has been gained through the repeated visits to this area in Mexico. We want the families there to realize that our people are there not to entertain them, and not for a vacation, but rather to show them the love of Christ.
Please pray for their safety while in Mexico, but also during their return.
The team has arrived in Centenario as of about 1pm today (Friday). They will be setting up camp and making initial visits this evening.
Saturday-Tuesday will be spent making home visits, having VBS, men's & women's Bible study, and helping with the locals in any way possible.
Saturday & Sunday, Aaron and a few of the other men will be conducting a pastor's conference in San Juan. They have a wonderful collection of books for the pastors that will be attending. It should be a wonderful time of discipleship & fellowship for the brothers that are living there in the neighboring villages.
Wednesday will be spent packing up & heading back across the border into Texas.
Thursday their flight leaves Harlingen at 9:00am and they will arrive in St. Louis at 1:30pm.
Please pray that this group would once again be well accepted among the community. Great accomplishment was made last year when the town officials gave us a letter of welcome to come there and minister as often as we would like. A great deal of trust has been gained through the repeated visits to this area in Mexico. We want the families there to realize that our people are there not to entertain them, and not for a vacation, but rather to show them the love of Christ.
Please pray for their safety while in Mexico, but also during their return.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Why do they leave when they graduate?
I am thankful to hear that there is a stirring in some of the leaders within the churches of the Jefferson Baptist Association (Jefferson County, Missouri). Recently the question has been asked, "why are teenagers leaving the church when the graduate and what can be done to keep them." Well, I would love to have a little conversation about this for those who would like to chime in. The reason why I am excited to hear that there is a stirring is because I think that people are waking up to realize that many, if not most, of the people in our "youth ministries" today are unregenerate and have never experienced the "new birth" that is in Jesus Christ. Second, there is a different phenomenon going on...that is that we are seeing people that are "graduating" from youth ministries and they are not entering in what should be "mature Christian adulthood" within the congregation. They are half-hearted about participating within the body of believers, they don't really know what it means to be accountable, etc.
There is a book that I am reading through regarding some of these issues. Now, as I would not agree with everything in this book, it has been useful on some points, and I would like for our Student Ministry Team at Rockport to discuss it's contents. The name of the book is "Family Driven Youth Ministry" by Mark DeVries. It has been sitting on my shelf now for quite some time and I am just now getting around to reading it. On page 26, I would like to quote the following statement.
Now, obviously there are some flaws with the above statement, however I would like to look at the intent of the quote that we have failed to present people as "mature Christian adults." I can't agree more. Perhaps the reason is because many, if not most, have failed to actually preach the gospel in their youth ministries (like me), thereby most of their teenagers have never heard their need to repent of their sins and to trust in Christ. Or perhaps even those with a great teaching and preaching of the gospel, fail to realize that having young people together just for the sake of "having young people together" makes no good sense at all.
Well, I have already commented more than I wanted to for this first post, because I am curious what others would say to this.
There is a book that I am reading through regarding some of these issues. Now, as I would not agree with everything in this book, it has been useful on some points, and I would like for our Student Ministry Team at Rockport to discuss it's contents. The name of the book is "Family Driven Youth Ministry" by Mark DeVries. It has been sitting on my shelf now for quite some time and I am just now getting around to reading it. On page 26, I would like to quote the following statement.
The crisis in youth ministry is, simply put, that the ways we have been doing youth ministry have not been effective in leading our young people to mature Christian adulthood. Even with the massive increase in funding and training for youth ministry, even with the exponential increase in the number of resources available to those of us doing youth ministry, we are seeing no appreciable increase in the percentage of adults in our culture who are living out their faith for themselves.
Now, obviously there are some flaws with the above statement, however I would like to look at the intent of the quote that we have failed to present people as "mature Christian adults." I can't agree more. Perhaps the reason is because many, if not most, have failed to actually preach the gospel in their youth ministries (like me), thereby most of their teenagers have never heard their need to repent of their sins and to trust in Christ. Or perhaps even those with a great teaching and preaching of the gospel, fail to realize that having young people together just for the sake of "having young people together" makes no good sense at all.
Well, I have already commented more than I wanted to for this first post, because I am curious what others would say to this.
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