Goldfuss update (May 27)

Dear Praying Partners,

It is such a joy to serve the Lord here in Mexico. Most of the congregation is now arriving for Sunday school also. What a blessing it is to have prepared people with their lessons completed ready to answer and participate. Almost everyone was in attendance today. All are excited about the upcoming baptismal services next Sunday.

Praises:

• Gabriel--who has been working on some Sundays was in the Lord's house today.
• It appears that Juana and Fidel are going to lose their property but they will not have to go to jail. They are to appear before the judge in one month. Thank you so much for praying.
• Noemi's property situation--I am not sure if this is a praise, but Noemi's courtroom date was changed from last week to this next week. The neighbors who assaulted her and her son were sent to jail for two days before they paid money to get out. They are now even meaner than before. Noemi is scheduled to go back to the judge this next week. Please keep praying. The praise is that Noemi is not in jail (yet). Keep praying for calmness for Noemi.
• Mike had a safe trip to Ohio to attend his grandfather's funeral. Grandpa's life was spent serving the Lord and serving others and it was very evident in the funeral.
• Two more ladies have agreed to teach the children's Sunday school class. So we now have five teachers which gives everyone four out of five weeks to be in Sunday school.
  

Prayer requests:

• THE BAPTISMS----JUNE 3RD!!!
  11:00 Sunday School
  1:00 Church
  3:00 We will all load up in cars and go to the swimming pool down the road for the baptisms.
  5:00 Back to the church to eat dinner.
  6:30 Film--Behind the Sun--This is a film about a Muslim man who becomes a Christian and the consequences of his decision.
• Pray for wisdom in individually speaking with the candidates. We now have 8 that are interested---and we have not been able to speak with all of them due to Mike's trip last week. Some may need to wait for the next bapitismal services to increase their understanding.
• Pray for the people to use this as an opportunity to invite unsaved friends and relatives.
• Pray for everything to go smoothly in the services---Whenever we have a big day planned like this, it can be very hectic. In the beginning of our church, people would forget to bring plastic forks or very needed items. Then they progressed to bringing everything, but not coming to the services because they were preparing the food. After much teaching, they now come with food prepared-----and they come early! This is such a praise. We do pray though that everyone would be safe as we go back and forth from the baptism and that we wouldn't lose any children during the confusion. :-) Pray for all visitors to feel welcome.
• And mainly, please pray that everything done would bring honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
  

The trip home for Mike from Cleveland was rather eventful on Thursday. All planes were grounded in Dallas due to very bad weather. Mike had to spend the night in a very smoky hotel room WITHOUT his luggage or a change of clothes. The airline said that he was booked on Friday on the 6PM flight, but he could possibly fly standby on the 9AM flight. After arriving early and waiting a very long time, Mike was the very last person to get a seat on the morning flight! Nearly everyone was traveling with someone else, and there was only one seat left. He arrived home at 4PM looking rather disheveled and "scruffy" ---- BUT we did not care! We were just glad to have him home. By the way, Faith and Amara survived. :-)

Thank you for praying,

Mike, Faith, Mikey, Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew, Cherith, and Caralyn Goldfuss

Goldfuss update (May 20)

Dear Praying Partners,

Again we praise the Lord for a blessed Lord's day. Mike preached on baptism as we are preparing for our baptismal service on June 3rd. Pray for the 6 canidates that will be interviewed. Pray also for Memo and Carina as they have more questions about being baptized. We also enjoyed the Lord's Supper together.

Praises:

• Señoras Maria and Gloria, (the elderly ladies), were able to attend for all 4 1/2 hours!
• Do you remember the 18 year old twins, Elsa and Alondra, that the church people "adopted" when their mother abandoned them? They were with our church for 2 years at least, but stopped coming about a year and a half ago. Well, they were both there today. That is a wonderful praise. Alondra is living with her boyfriend, Miguel, and has a new little boy who is about two months old. Pray that they would all come back again to be under the Word.
• Janet and Vanessa returned after not coming for two weeks. Thank you for praying. Vanessa is very discouraged. She has asked the Lord to forgive her, but she wants to go and ask someone else's forgiveness for something that she did against them. That person will not talk with her. She feels the weight of the unresolved conflict.
  

Prayer Requests:

• Gabriel---is a workaholic who provides for his family well, but has been putting work before the Lord.
• Marcos and Ruth---for complete dedication to God.
• Juana and Fidel--You may remember praying for this family who was in danger of losing their property unjustly. This was the family where thirty men came at 6 AM three years ago and threw out all of their belongings into the street. Well, they found out that they lost the case. It seems as if the judge was paid off. They may lose their home and property or lose their home and property and go to jail. Juana is one of our most if not THE most faithful lady in our church. She has a wonderful testimony and has looked at this trial as an opportunity to again preach to the people inside the jail if that is the Lord's will. Please pray hard for this situation. Tomorrow morning they have to again go before the judge. Their son, Abram was unjustly accused of punching the man that is trying to get the property. (Abram never did anything.) Please pray that all will stay out of jail if that is the Lord's will. And pray for this situation to work in Abram's heart as he grew up in our church and has stopped attending since he was eighteen.
• The above situation was not Noemi's property situation that we mentioned two weeks ago. Even though the judge miraculously ruled to give her freedom (after her neighbors falsely accused her to get her property), for some reason they want her to come back before the judge on Wednesday. So please pray for calmness for Noemi and for fairness in these horribly unjust courtrooms.
  It is amazing to us to see what these people have had to go through. These ladies are both relying in the Lord and looking at their trials as permitted by the Lord to strengthen their walks with Him.
• Mike's grandfather, Vince Ostrander, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday. He had just turned 97. Grandpa was an incredible man who seemed to always be busy serving in the Lord's work and serving others. He fell off a ladder at our school gym while he was helping to build it when he was 80! Mike's brother graciously bought Mike a ticket to fly back to Ohio and then called to let him know. All seven siblings will be there to be with their mother. Please pray for Mike as he will be gone from Monday evening to Thurday. Pray that the Lord would be honored in the funeral. And also pray for Faith as she "holds the fort." (Morgan will be continuing his series in Hebrews on Wednesday.) We praise the Lord that Amara, Faith's neice, will still be here to "hold the fort" with her.
  

Thank you for praying,
Mike, Faith, Mikey, Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew, Cherith, and Caralyn Goldfuss

Goldfuss update (May 14)

Dear Praying Partners,

We praise the Lord that we were very very full today. It was hard to breathe—literally. We are praying for a new building. Please pray with us. We need more space and the landlord will not allow us to put up a sign where we are presently meeting. Some men in the church have looked into renting in another place, but the rent prices are very high.

Praise:

• Sras Maria and Gloria (the elderly ladies)---Thank you so much for praying! Sra. Maria went to the cardiologist this week. Her heart is strong and there is no problem with her kidneys. They had been either staying home if her legs were swollen or only coming to Sunday school if she was doing better. The doctor did find that her sugar levels were a little bit elevated---and they will try to fix those with diet. They were rejoicing because they feel that staying for both services will not be detrimental to her health. Both ladies stayed for both services today and were thrilled that they were able to do so!

Prayer Requests:

• Silvia's son Luis (a 31 year old man who fell off the top of a truck last year and landed on his head) is very weak. Pray for his salvation and strength for Silvia as she takes care of him.
• Faith is a little stronger, but still has the back problem. Her doctor seems to think that exercises may help to prevent future surgery. Amara, Faith's niece, continues to be indispensable. She is really helping with homeschooling--especially since Cristi needs to have extra help with her dyslexia.
• Janet and Vanessa---are two teenage sister who come, but whose parents are Catholic. Please pray for their testimonies in their home and that their parents will continue to allow them to come. They have not been in church the last two weeks.
• Ruth and Marcos---for putting God first in their upcoming marriage; they also missed today.
• Gabriel and Lilliana---still are unsure whether they will be able to adopt a little girl that they have been waiting for. It has been a roller coaster ride for them.
• Matilde and Erasmo--are trying to earn extra money as Erasmo is unable to work due to his amputated fingers. Please pray for wisdom also regarding homeschooling their children.
• We have so many opportunities for ministry each week. We would appreciate prayer in knowing what exactly the Lord would have us do in using our time wisely. Please pray for more workers.
• Upcoming events--May 20, Lord's Supper; May 26, Youth Group Event at an inquisition museum; June 3, Baptisms; June 25-July 1, Evangelistic Meetings with the BJU Spanish team; August 4, Marcos and Ruth's wedding.
  

Thank you again for your prayers.

In Christ,
Mike, Faith, Mikey, Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew, Cherith, and Caralyn Goldfuss

Goldfuss update

Dear Praying Partners,

Thank you for your ministry in prayer. Here are some of the answers!

Praises:

• Blanca's medication by injections seems to be really helping her with her rheumatoid arthritis. The swelling is dramatically reduced in her hand.
• Mario and Noemi thank the Lord that the judge miraculously gave her papers to be free from jail!!! Thank you for praying. When Noemi went before the judge, the judge said, "Why are you not in prision now?" An acquaintance of Noemi's who works with the judge spoke on her behalf and the judge gave the needed papers to be free. The neighbors, who beat up Noemi and her 11 year old son to frighten them so that they would leave their little piece of land and home, are now facing some jail time. Noemi was able to testify before the judge. When the judge asked if she wanted to be paid for damages, Noemi replied,"No, all we want is to live in peace. The Lord says in His Word that vengence is His. I will leave this to Him."
• Erasmo--was in church both on Wednesday and on Sunday. He is praising the Lord that he is still alive after falling 3 stories off of his roof while he was trying to fix his roof from leaking.
• Esther (from years ago) returned today with her two little girls Hadassa and Hania. The people warmly greeted her. Pray for them to return and for her and David to be reunited as they are separated.

Prayer Requests:

• Señoras Maria and Gloria (the elderly ladies) are again very ill.
• Silvia's son Luis (a 31 year old man who fell off the top of a truck last year and landed on his head) seems to be declining. Pray for his salvation and strength for Silvia as she takes care of him.
• Ruben and Heidi--as they are in Arizona seeking the Lord's direction for ministry.
• Faith---Some of you wrote and asked how she is doing. Well, to be honest, it has taken a long time for her to build up her strength since her serious infection after the baby was born. She seems to be weakened and has had an ear infections and other illnesses. Praise the Lord that she is doing much better now. One disappointment was that we thought that the sciatic nerve problem, which caused back and leg pain, would go away once the baby was born. At times she can walk perfectly with no problem at all, and then there are times that she is unable to walk due to the pain. It seems to depend on how she turns and moves. This brings us to a praise: We have a very special blessing. Faith's wonderful brother and sister in law, Ron and Bridgette Markell, heard about our setbacks with Faith's recovery. They decided to send their daughter back to help us . Amara Markell (Faith's 18 year old neice) returned to Mexico this week! She already has been such a blessing in so many ways. She will be here for six weeks helping with homeschooling and wherever needed.

We will now leave you with this thought: Morgan preached on Wednesday night and he said,"God not only gives us the gift of heaven to look forward to. The true gift that He gives is Himself for us to enjoy for all eternity."

Thank you again for your prayers.

In Christ,
Mike, Faith, Mikey, Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew, Cherith, and Caralyn Goldfuss