Dear Praying Friends,
We praise the Lord for a good week and for the things that He continually teaches us, both from His Word and in the daily experiences that the Lord permits in our lives, both good and bad.
Marta (the nurse who has come with Sylvia several times) was back again today and brought her two children. She said that she is planning and can't wait to come to both services next week--she had to leave again after SS.
Sylvia has struggled through two excruciating weeks with her drug addict son in the house. Please pray that the Lord would remove her son Beto from their home so that she may be able to get the rest that she needs--physically, emotionally and spiritually. Please also continue to pray for his salvation. Please pray for her continued faithfulness in spite of other troubles also.
Saturday's men's meeting was again tremendous. We had 12 again, which is only missing one other man who could possibly attend. Francisco came last time but did not this time. Marcos missed the first time but came this time. With 22-24 different requirements of elders/pastors/bishops in 1 Timothy and Titus, I divided them giving each man two different ones to study for the past week and to explain them to the whole group. We had an excellent discussion, they gave some excellent feedback of things that they had seen in previous churches and it was very very profitable. Our next meeting was supposed to be sometime in December but one man can't make it so we needed to reschedule it. They all decided unanimously that they wanted to do it again this coming Saturday. So, we are doing it again this Saturday.
Many of you know that we have prayed for years for some men who will be faithful. A number of these men who have been attending are unconverted, but several of them have truly been born again and their participation and enthusiasm has been a real joy and encouragement. In this society where Maria is "king" or "queen" however you will, women take the leadership in their homes constantly and the men let them. These studies have been liberating for these men in a sense and they really are seeing the need for the men to be leaders in their church at least--hopefully, Lord willing, they will do it in their homes as well.
Our service attendance was a little bit down today but there was an excellent spirit. We finished Hebrews 3 in SS remembering that we disobey God's Word through a lack of faith in what God has told us. Again we had excellent participation. Our worship service was very worshipful today and we had our fifth message on the family, focusing again on the duties of husbands to love their wives. Our Savior chose us when we were ugly and vile in our sins and had nothing beautiful about us. Then He set us apart, and his bride, the church, doesn't get older and "ugly" with age, but is being cleansed and made more and more beautiful--she'll be without spots or wrinkles or any such thing. Why? So that He can present her unto Himself as a glorious church. Most of the time the father of the bride presents her to the groom. Jesus Himself is the one who presents His bride to Himself. Anyway, before I preach at you, it was a blessing to me and hopefully a blessing to the people.
There have been some serious financial difficulties for families in the church lately. Pray that the Lord would supply the needs of each who is being faithful to Him.
We had to have our piano insides taken all out and totally redone after the piano had been sitting for three years while we were trying to build our house. The man who is doing the job came for about four weeks straight doing different things on the piano. He hasn't been here for the last three weeks though and we need to be able to use our piano. Pray for him to come quickly to finish the job.
Please continue to pray for good health for the family. The dry season has begun and the pollution causes us many problems.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
In Christ,
Mike for the Goldfi
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