We are living in a church in Belen. The community is great, and very hospitable. Some of the ladies have been preparing our meals for us according to our budget, and have offered to do luandry for us at a good price. It is such a blessing to have that kind of help. It frees us up to spend more time doing ministry and spending time with the kids.
Yesterday was a very full day. We started out with a women´s group in the morning for three hours. Then we took a brief break for lunch before doing some door 2 door. There is a new barrio going in next to the church that nobody has visited yet. We took some ladies from the church along and went door 2 door giving them a gift of some beans and rice, and inviting them to come to the church programs as well as a BBQ we will hold for the community on Sunday.
Many of these people have little or no exposure to church, so it was much more an outreach just to get to know them and invite them to come and meet the people of the church. It was hard in some ways, because in most of the places we have been, our ministry was one of harvest. Here, it is much more a ministry of planting. Somebody else, the church, will be the ones to harvest and see the fruit.
It has been great to include the church members, and teach them about outreach. The church has become a little stagnant in recent years, and is in need of this kind of a boost. They are about to get a new pastor, as the current one is older and would like to step back a bit. The new pastor is lined up, but he is waiting for his house to be built because he is from out of town. The guys were helping with the building yesterday, and we hope to have the men from the community join in on Monday. My vision was to bring the community together much like a ¨barn raising¨.
Another big need in the church is men. The church currently is made up of mostly women. There is a real lack of male presense and autourity in the church and in the family here. The men need to be challanged to rise up and be men of God, husbands and fathers.
Please pray for this church and the community. And pray that our time here will help to motivate and encourage the church in it´s growth as it take on this new vision of outreach.
As was posted earlier by our media team, we are fairly distant from internet at this time. I would still love to hear from you, but it may take me a while to respond. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement.
