I write this post as I am preparing to leave to speak at a Youth Retreat. The basic theme of this retreat is "missions on campus" focusing on areas that these young men and women have grown over the summer and now will be returning to their schools this fall. This theme excites me because it is all about missions.

Though missions is not our ultimate aim, it is incredible to be a part of what does bring about the ultimate aim of the church which is, the Worship of God. Missions is only temporary...we will only have missions as long as this world lasts, but Worship of the living God will last forever. We will never stop doing that! Missions exists because Worship does not exist among every nation, tribe, and tongue. (Thank you John Piper for that great thought!) You can read more about this in his book Let the Nations Be Glad.

It is my prayer that as students are returning to their campuses this fall that they might be consumed with a passion to see the Lord glorified and magnified in the hallways, football teams, school bus, and wherever else they might find themselves!

I hope to add some testimony about the event in the next few days!

Praise Reports from Mexico and Arnold, Missouri

First, I just got off the phone with a man named "Jorge" who came to Rockport before we started our services in Spanish. He was here on a work visa for 6 months and lived in South County. He was referred to me by Kurt McClure and his family who had a connection with the apartments where he was working. He attended Rockport for a few weeks before he returned to Mexico. This man was visited by Ruben Moreno from Corpus Christi, Texas while he was here to share with us. Jorge called me to let me know that almost 2 years later he still is following Christ, and his family has not been so supportive of him. He is back on a temporary work visa in Louisiana. He wanted to call to tell me that he truly believes that the Lord saved him while he was here with us and remembers having great fellowship, especially the meal at the Webers home! He also asked if there is any way that we might consider coming the state of Michoacan, Mexico to encourage the saints and work among the people there. Praise the Lord!

Second. Some of you all might Eneida. She attended our Spanish service for a while, went with her kids and others to go camping with many others from Rockport, and has since returned to Mexico. I want you all to know that Eneida keeps in contact with us, letting us know that she too came to know the Lord while she was here among us, and is now faithfully serving Christ in a congregation in Mexico!

I received a phone call today as soon as I got to the picnic. It was a call from someone returning from a mission trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. They received a lot of persecution from the people of the village, but they found sweet fellowship with some brothers who are pastors of evangelical churches outside of this particular village in La Barra de la cruz. The pastors asked this particular missionary if it would be possible to return with some sort of teaching and instruction for them as Pastors. The phone call today was a request for such an event.

Finally, we had a new visitor at the Spanish service this morning. He even came back for our picnic this afternoon and brought his five year-old son. I don't know much about this man yet except that he tells me that he is born again, was able to have a good conversation about the Scriptures this afternoon and is excited about going to a church that is closer to his home. He previously attended a Hispanic Southern Baptist Congregation in the north St. Louis County area, which is a long hall from where he lives.

We also saw David back at the Spanish service this morning and that was a real blessing.

Thank you Rockport for praying, giving, and going. I pray that this testimony might encourage the saints and stir us up unto further good works!

Prayer Request for Bates Creek Camp

I am writing this to those faithful prayer warriors that read this blog on a regular basis. Would you take a few moments to pray specifically for this Youth Camp that is coming up next week? Many people acknowledge that modern day ministries of all sort "dumb" down the gospel and actually preach a different gospel rather than that of the Scripture.

We just came back from a week of camp with Boys (grades 3-6) and I rejoice that we had a week of teaching the meaning of repentance and faith in Christ. The boys could tell you the meaning of these words as well as explain a basic meaning of the infallibility of the Scriptures. There were several young men that wept over their sins during this camp and made public professions that they came to camp as sinners apart from Christ, but God showed them their sins, they repent of their sins and are trusting in Jesus Christ. Let me tell you this was a amazing thing to be a part of. I don't recall seeing anything like this in a long time. It was truly amazing.

Pray this week for the teenagers that are going to be at the camp. Please pray that we would not fall for the world's pressure of trying to make the message "I'm okay, you're ok." Please pray that we will not succumb to the foolishness of trying to make the gospel "relevant" or do anything other than preach the "full counsel of God." Oh that the Lord would be pleased to save some souls this week and would call some people to give up their lives for the sake of missions to areas where Christ is not proclaimed!

Please join with me in asking the Lord to call people from darkness into light and to make His Name Great among the peoples at camp this week! If I have a moment, I am going to update this blog at least once during the week so that I can keep others informed.

Please stay tuned for more information on Mexico missions and Spanish language missions in and near the St. Louis, Missouri area!

Praise be to God!
He has hushed the law's loud thunder!
He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame!
(Issac Watts)

In all things...Christ Preeminent!

Aaron

Prayer Requests from the Spanish Service

Brothers and Sisters,

We have been graced by some visitors that have come by to talk the last few days. These people attend out 8:00am service in Spanish at Rockport. Our group of people have become increasingly interested in the history of the reformation and after sharing with them about the story of Martin Luther, they are very excited about watching the movie. They only have one perspective of this man's life and death...what has been taught by the catholic church. Would you pray for the group of people that came to borrow the DVD and are watching it today?

New People
We had three new people last week: Erika, Guillermo, and Abram. Praise the Lord! One of these is a brother of one of regular attenders, Ismael. This new guy claims to be a believer and at least has some experience with church music.

Resources
Please pray that we might continue to purchase items that we need for teaching, as well as we might receive assistance from a native Spanish speaker that could help provide some guidance for the ministry. My Spanish is very limited. Don't get me wrong, it is better than what it was...but there is so much more that this group of people need to be taught.

Continued Passion for current believers and Church Leaders
I don't know if something like this would be possible, but as an effort to reach current believers, Pastors, and leaders, I would like to see if there is a way to offer something in Spanish in conjunction with our local Founder's conference. To my knowledge, there are not many resources, if any, that are available like this for the Spanish speaking community in North America, specifically the U.S.