Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your prayers for the Lord's working and blessing last week.
On Saturday we had a young people's meeting--our young people can be anywhere from 11 to 35. We have a young man who is 27 and a young lady who is 35. :-) (I'm there leading and will be 40 in three weeks, so that makes many of you also "young.") We went to a volcano that we can see right from our house. We have never climbed it though. It's only 5 minutes from our house so we took the group and had quite a hike up the mountain. All of the guys were brave and went down into the crater. (Please do not worry. The volcano last erupted 400 years ago.) The crater is just massive. It was steep getting down with a good number of spills and it seemed even steeper when we sought to walk back up and out. One of the guys brought a football and I ended up carrying it as we were trying to climb out of the crater. About 150 yards up the steep grade out, I dropped it and it went all the way to the bottom again. Fortunately, one of the other younger men went back down to get it. :-) We had a very good time with 11 young people (besides myself) and even had a picnic. After the "death hike", we came back to our house and had our devotional in the living room by the wood stove. (It has been COLD. The cold is really felt in cement/concrete, brick houses. This morning we saw our breath when we woke up. Everyone snuggles down under a PILE of blankets.---How's that for Mexico!). Anyway, our devotional was on Proverbs 4:23 and keeping our hearts and we started a study on how to do that from Philippians 4:8.
Yesterday's services were very good. Again, it was very very cold and many people came with big coats, hats and scarves and most people kept them on during the whole service. We have a little space heater, but its hard work goes for naught every time someone comes in and opens the door. :-) Praise the Lord, there is no extra room at church. We may need to rent another room on the other side of the building for Sunday school. It is hard to take a step in our little Sunday School room with 20 children ranging from 3-12. Please pray for the Lord's will regarding this.
Alejandro came back yesterday and it was a real blessing to see him again in church. Please pray for his salvation. Tere was able to come again after her husband had not let her come for three straight weeks. Her sister Sylvia is struggling greatly right now with her son Roberto's drug problem. He keeps causing problems at home by stealing and she has a hard time not giving in to him. She wants to keep "helping" him and he keeps taking advantage of her. This has really affected her physically, emotionally and spiritually. Roberto is 38 and I mentioned to Sylvia that "whoso spareth the rod hateth his son," and while we normally use that for little children, it applies to her oldest son in the aspect that she needs to stop rescuing him from the consequences of his sin and be firm. Please pray for her and her husband to really have the strength to put their "foot" down and to allow Roberto to experience the consequences of his sin so that the Lord will deal with him and bring him to salvation.
For the first time in three weeks, Martha, Sylvia's friend didn't come to church. Continue to pray for her growth in extremely difficult circumstances. Sra. Lupe who has come to prayer meeting for a month straight and last Sunday also showed up with her two sons (Daniel and Roberto) and her husband (Manuel). Please pray for the salvation of each member of this family. They were invited by Matilde. It is such a blessing to see our people inviting others and to see the invitees coming.
This coming Saturday we will have our second men's meeting. There has been a great interest on their parts to study Timothy and Titus and this week we will be looking at the different characteristics of Elders. I have assigned each of the men two characteristics to study and explain on Saturday. Please pray that they will understand that whether they will be elders or not in the future, many of those characteristics are what they should be striving for as godly men.
Thank you for praying. The family series is being received well. Pray for lasting changes and praise the Lord for at least four or five entire families attending!!!!
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
Monday, October 29
Monday, October 22
Goldfuss update (October 21)
Dear Praying Friends,
This morning as I was in my office early making some last preparations for today's services, our neighbor man, Nicolas, who has been a tremendous encouragement in our church approached from across the yard to my window. He let me know that his 12 year old step-son Miguel (1 year older than Mikey) had left yesterday because he didn't want to work around the home. He is in the neighborhood in the home of some of his mother's family members. He told them that Nico ran him off when the truth is that he ran away. Nico has struggled greatly in how to deal with Miguel Scripturally. He is to the point that he doesn't want him to come back. Please pray for Biblical wisdom for Nico and his family in dealing with this situation and for backbone for Nico and Liliana to lovingly discipline and instruct Miguel as he needs to be.
For the second straight Lord's Day, Martha came, this time without Sylvia. What a blessing to see her come on her own and devour everything that she hears. She is a nurse and has to work after SS but she says that next month she will be able to be with us all day long for the services instead of leaving early. Please pray for her to continue to grow.
We also had Lupe attend our worship service today. She has come three straight Wed. nights with her two boys, but today was her first Sunday service. I have tried unsuccessfully during the last two weeks to personally talk with these ladies and their husbands (who have not attended). Please pray for open doors in these homes.
Today's family message was on 1 Peter 3:1-6 and a wife's submission to her husband, especially those who have an unsaved husband. That passage is especially applicable to a number of women in our church who have unsaved husbands. There was a good spirit in our services today and for that we praise the Lord. We were missing about 20 people who could have been there today, but still were very full. We are really praying as a church family for a permanent building for the church to have more Sunday school rooms for more individualized teaching to the different age groups.
Please also pray for Teresa. Her husband has prohibited her from coming for the last 3 Sundays.
Faith had a wonderful ladies' meeting yesterday with 11 in attendance. She said that the ladies' participation was excellent and that they made many excellent Biblical and thoughtful comments. Rosie, one who has been a regular in church for 10 years, but who has never come to anything other than Sunday morning attended the ladies meeting---and her growth in the Lord was very evident in her answers. She is now allowing her son to attended the young people's group. Please pray for the upcoming young people's group this Saturday.
As always, we appreciate your prayers and support greatly.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
This morning as I was in my office early making some last preparations for today's services, our neighbor man, Nicolas, who has been a tremendous encouragement in our church approached from across the yard to my window. He let me know that his 12 year old step-son Miguel (1 year older than Mikey) had left yesterday because he didn't want to work around the home. He is in the neighborhood in the home of some of his mother's family members. He told them that Nico ran him off when the truth is that he ran away. Nico has struggled greatly in how to deal with Miguel Scripturally. He is to the point that he doesn't want him to come back. Please pray for Biblical wisdom for Nico and his family in dealing with this situation and for backbone for Nico and Liliana to lovingly discipline and instruct Miguel as he needs to be.
For the second straight Lord's Day, Martha came, this time without Sylvia. What a blessing to see her come on her own and devour everything that she hears. She is a nurse and has to work after SS but she says that next month she will be able to be with us all day long for the services instead of leaving early. Please pray for her to continue to grow.
We also had Lupe attend our worship service today. She has come three straight Wed. nights with her two boys, but today was her first Sunday service. I have tried unsuccessfully during the last two weeks to personally talk with these ladies and their husbands (who have not attended). Please pray for open doors in these homes.
Today's family message was on 1 Peter 3:1-6 and a wife's submission to her husband, especially those who have an unsaved husband. That passage is especially applicable to a number of women in our church who have unsaved husbands. There was a good spirit in our services today and for that we praise the Lord. We were missing about 20 people who could have been there today, but still were very full. We are really praying as a church family for a permanent building for the church to have more Sunday school rooms for more individualized teaching to the different age groups.
Please also pray for Teresa. Her husband has prohibited her from coming for the last 3 Sundays.
Faith had a wonderful ladies' meeting yesterday with 11 in attendance. She said that the ladies' participation was excellent and that they made many excellent Biblical and thoughtful comments. Rosie, one who has been a regular in church for 10 years, but who has never come to anything other than Sunday morning attended the ladies meeting---and her growth in the Lord was very evident in her answers. She is now allowing her son to attended the young people's group. Please pray for the upcoming young people's group this Saturday.
As always, we appreciate your prayers and support greatly.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
Monday, October 15
Goldfuss update (October 15)
Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for all of your prayers from the past week. The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad.
Fidel and Juana's hearing was on Thursday before the magistrate. Supposedly there is a legal document that will be sent out today commanding them to leave their property. We aren't sure if they will have one day or eight days to leave. Several of their family members are already up here living with us. Please pray that Fidel will look for a place to live and that they will be able to live in their own place quickly.
Saturday was our very first men's meeting. Of the 13 different men in the church, 12 of them attended. We are studying the purposes of Elders and Deacons and their requirements so that they will know what they need to be striving for in their own lives and so that they will know what to be doing in our local church. The men wanted to meet again in two weeks, but due to our young people's meeting, we will have to make it three weeks from now. I am planning on dividing the lists of requirements for elders and giving each man 2 or 3 to study and explain at our next meeting. Pray for our men.
Yesterday, Martha, the lady that Ruben was able to speak with and who also made a profession of faith, came to SS with Silvia. She listened extremely well. In spite of the incredible amount of tremendously difficult trials in her life, she was present and seemed to really enjoy it. Our SS lesson was on remaining faithful to Christ, not apostatizing, and not being deceived by the deceitfulness of sin. Oh how each one of us is so prone to an "evil heart of unbelief" if we are not daily walking with our Saviour.
We had our second message on the family yesterday. It has been very well received. On the way back up the mountain bringing several different families and people home, there was much discussion of the message. Some had questions and others had some very insightful comments. Please pray for the Lord to raise up Godly families for His glory.
Last week, we had invited Guille, Morgan, Christian and their family to dinner. They said they couldn't come then. Morgan called on Saturday night asking if they were still on for Sunday. "Um, ah, er, well, Yes!" The thrilling thing is that Alejandro (the dad and husband) came to church with them for the first time in 4 or 5 months. Memo and Karina (Guille's son from before being married) also came to dinner with their three children and we had excellent and profitable conversation. Please pray for Alejandro to return again to the services, and for the Lord to save him.
Many of you have prayed in the past for Elsa, Alondra and Miguel with their little boy Christopher. Elsa and Alondra are the two twin sisters that have been sporadic throughout the past 4 years or so. Alondra, Miguel and Baby Christopher all came last Sunday and what a surprise (and great blessing) to see them show up again yesterday with Elsa also. Please pray for each of these young people to be truly converted to Christ and to grow in His grace and knowledge.
Things are always busy. Pray for the Lord's grace in dealing with family and ministry day by day.
With love in Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
Thank you for all of your prayers from the past week. The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad.
Fidel and Juana's hearing was on Thursday before the magistrate. Supposedly there is a legal document that will be sent out today commanding them to leave their property. We aren't sure if they will have one day or eight days to leave. Several of their family members are already up here living with us. Please pray that Fidel will look for a place to live and that they will be able to live in their own place quickly.
Saturday was our very first men's meeting. Of the 13 different men in the church, 12 of them attended. We are studying the purposes of Elders and Deacons and their requirements so that they will know what they need to be striving for in their own lives and so that they will know what to be doing in our local church. The men wanted to meet again in two weeks, but due to our young people's meeting, we will have to make it three weeks from now. I am planning on dividing the lists of requirements for elders and giving each man 2 or 3 to study and explain at our next meeting. Pray for our men.
Yesterday, Martha, the lady that Ruben was able to speak with and who also made a profession of faith, came to SS with Silvia. She listened extremely well. In spite of the incredible amount of tremendously difficult trials in her life, she was present and seemed to really enjoy it. Our SS lesson was on remaining faithful to Christ, not apostatizing, and not being deceived by the deceitfulness of sin. Oh how each one of us is so prone to an "evil heart of unbelief" if we are not daily walking with our Saviour.
We had our second message on the family yesterday. It has been very well received. On the way back up the mountain bringing several different families and people home, there was much discussion of the message. Some had questions and others had some very insightful comments. Please pray for the Lord to raise up Godly families for His glory.
Last week, we had invited Guille, Morgan, Christian and their family to dinner. They said they couldn't come then. Morgan called on Saturday night asking if they were still on for Sunday. "Um, ah, er, well, Yes!" The thrilling thing is that Alejandro (the dad and husband) came to church with them for the first time in 4 or 5 months. Memo and Karina (Guille's son from before being married) also came to dinner with their three children and we had excellent and profitable conversation. Please pray for Alejandro to return again to the services, and for the Lord to save him.
Many of you have prayed in the past for Elsa, Alondra and Miguel with their little boy Christopher. Elsa and Alondra are the two twin sisters that have been sporadic throughout the past 4 years or so. Alondra, Miguel and Baby Christopher all came last Sunday and what a surprise (and great blessing) to see them show up again yesterday with Elsa also. Please pray for each of these young people to be truly converted to Christ and to grow in His grace and knowledge.
Things are always busy. Pray for the Lord's grace in dealing with family and ministry day by day.
With love in Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
Tuesday, October 9
Goldfuss update (October 8)
Dear Praying Friends,
The day that everyone was dreading came on Thursday. Ruben had to leave. He has gone back to Indianapolis to be with Heidi. Please pray for a doctor there that will really be able to give them some help with Heidi's health. Please also pray for the Lord's direction for their future service.
It appears again that Juana and Reme and their family have lost their land case and will have to move out of their property where they have lived for the last 35 years. We are praying that Juana and Fidel will not be sent to jail. They have to go on Wednesday of this week to the magistrate's office to find out their sentence.
Christian, Alejandro and Guille's son, has faced some extremely serious temptation in his school. His main problem is that he does not want to submit to Christ. Please pray for Alejandro to come back to church and for both he and Christian to be converted.
Martha, Sylvia's friend who made of profession of faith in Christ last week with Ruben, is facing some extremely difficult circumstances. She still has not been able to come to church. Sylvia was also not able to come on Sunday. Her son Roberto was getting out of the rehab place that he has been in for the last three months. Pray that they will be able to attend this coming Sunday. Roberto's only hope is not rehab but regeneration.
The rainy season is just about gone. Every year in October, the rains leave and the pollution is not washed out every night so it accumulates. Many people are suffering with strep throat and sinusitis--so several were sick on Sunday. Cristi has had it this week in our family. Even so, we were excited to begin a study of the family. Sin has made such a mess of all the families that are in our church and they have really had no training in what real Christian families are. The danger in a series like this is to focus on externals without the heart. Please pray that we won't just have good families who do what is right, but Godly families who do what is right from a heart of love to Christ.
This coming Saturday is our first men's meeting. We are going to be studying the requirements for deacons and elders so that the men will know what they should be striving for and also what Biblical leadership in the church should look like.
Thank you for your faithful prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
The day that everyone was dreading came on Thursday. Ruben had to leave. He has gone back to Indianapolis to be with Heidi. Please pray for a doctor there that will really be able to give them some help with Heidi's health. Please also pray for the Lord's direction for their future service.
It appears again that Juana and Reme and their family have lost their land case and will have to move out of their property where they have lived for the last 35 years. We are praying that Juana and Fidel will not be sent to jail. They have to go on Wednesday of this week to the magistrate's office to find out their sentence.
Christian, Alejandro and Guille's son, has faced some extremely serious temptation in his school. His main problem is that he does not want to submit to Christ. Please pray for Alejandro to come back to church and for both he and Christian to be converted.
Martha, Sylvia's friend who made of profession of faith in Christ last week with Ruben, is facing some extremely difficult circumstances. She still has not been able to come to church. Sylvia was also not able to come on Sunday. Her son Roberto was getting out of the rehab place that he has been in for the last three months. Pray that they will be able to attend this coming Sunday. Roberto's only hope is not rehab but regeneration.
The rainy season is just about gone. Every year in October, the rains leave and the pollution is not washed out every night so it accumulates. Many people are suffering with strep throat and sinusitis--so several were sick on Sunday. Cristi has had it this week in our family. Even so, we were excited to begin a study of the family. Sin has made such a mess of all the families that are in our church and they have really had no training in what real Christian families are. The danger in a series like this is to focus on externals without the heart. Please pray that we won't just have good families who do what is right, but Godly families who do what is right from a heart of love to Christ.
This coming Saturday is our first men's meeting. We are going to be studying the requirements for deacons and elders so that the men will know what they should be striving for and also what Biblical leadership in the church should look like.
Thank you for your faithful prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi
Tuesday, October 2
Goldfuss update (October 2)
Greetings again to all of you our praying friends,
We had a nice five days down at the coast. It was hot and restful. The kids got really really sunburned a couple of days, but they didn't want to leave. We had some very good opportunities to witness to some different people and give out a number of tracts. Please pray that even on a short vacation that the Lord would bring fruit from labors. Mikey was sick two of the days and is still battling some type of stomach ailment.
Ruben did a great job of holding down the fort here in Mexico City while we were gone this week. He has been a huge blessing to us and to the church this past year and a half. He is going to be leaving on Thursday for Indianapolis. Please pray for the Lord's direction in Ruben and Heidi's lives and for Heidi's health to improve there in Indianapolis. She is going to be seeing a doctor that has some hope that she will be able to help Heidi. Please pray for healing in the Lord's perfect will.
Silvia was not able to attend last Sunday but invited two ladies who did come for the SS hour. They left after SS, one saying she would not be back but the other said that she would like to come again. Ruben had a great opportunity to witness to her (Martha) on Friday. I'll give you his words about the happening:
Praise the Lord for this. Martha didn't come today so please pray for her. Silvia will be very faithful in talking to her.
On Saturday we had a youth meeting. We took a hike in an ecological park and then came back to the house where Faith had prepared a mammoth amount of spaghetti. After dinner, Ruben gave a good talk on how to interpret God's Word. Pray that the young people will really get into God's Word on their own.
Sofia, the lady who visited last week after her husband had played basketball with Mike seven years ago returned today. There were several regulars missing as well as several visitors present today in the services.
We are beginning a series on the family this next Sunday. It is something that is greatly needed as we have some young families and even older ones who do not practice Biblical principles. As I've been preparing for this, several books have really been challenging me in my own leadership of our family. Please pray for all of us.
In Christ's love,
Mike for all the Goldfi
We had a nice five days down at the coast. It was hot and restful. The kids got really really sunburned a couple of days, but they didn't want to leave. We had some very good opportunities to witness to some different people and give out a number of tracts. Please pray that even on a short vacation that the Lord would bring fruit from labors. Mikey was sick two of the days and is still battling some type of stomach ailment.
Ruben did a great job of holding down the fort here in Mexico City while we were gone this week. He has been a huge blessing to us and to the church this past year and a half. He is going to be leaving on Thursday for Indianapolis. Please pray for the Lord's direction in Ruben and Heidi's lives and for Heidi's health to improve there in Indianapolis. She is going to be seeing a doctor that has some hope that she will be able to help Heidi. Please pray for healing in the Lord's perfect will.
Silvia was not able to attend last Sunday but invited two ladies who did come for the SS hour. They left after SS, one saying she would not be back but the other said that she would like to come again. Ruben had a great opportunity to witness to her (Martha) on Friday. I'll give you his words about the happening:
Hello Everyone,
I had the great privilege today of speaking with a young woman named Martha. It's a long story, but I'll try to make it short.
After a long conversation, she willingly recognized that not only does she sin --she is a sinner. She had previously come to some fear of judgment and of sin. So after an explanation of sin and salvation, even understanding that salvation involves death, a taking up the cross, to follow Christ. I believe she really understood that Christ is not an anodyne for her problems, but the sovereign Saviour from sin. She expressed her desire, her eagerness to abandon herself to Christ, with no plan b, with no other mediator. And so I have high hopes that the angels are celebrating the genuine repentance and faith of a new daughter of God.
Please pray for Martha, that her profession of faith would have been genuine, and that she would, as a newborn babe, desire the unadulterated milk of the word. She is facing great problems on about every front that the human mind can conceive of; but if she has been justified by faith, she has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: and that is greater than the largest problems.
Ruben
Praise the Lord for this. Martha didn't come today so please pray for her. Silvia will be very faithful in talking to her.
On Saturday we had a youth meeting. We took a hike in an ecological park and then came back to the house where Faith had prepared a mammoth amount of spaghetti. After dinner, Ruben gave a good talk on how to interpret God's Word. Pray that the young people will really get into God's Word on their own.
Sofia, the lady who visited last week after her husband had played basketball with Mike seven years ago returned today. There were several regulars missing as well as several visitors present today in the services.
We are beginning a series on the family this next Sunday. It is something that is greatly needed as we have some young families and even older ones who do not practice Biblical principles. As I've been preparing for this, several books have really been challenging me in my own leadership of our family. Please pray for all of us.
In Christ's love,
Mike for all the Goldfi
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