Goldfuss update (September 29)

Dear Praying Friends,

To be very honest, this has been a difficult week. We got a horrible cold front which would have been no problem except that we kept losing electricity--once for 24 hours and once for 12 hours. This would not have been a problem either because we have our wonderful wood stove, but we have had a problem with the gasket not fitting right and smoke has been escaping into the house. So as of right now, no wood stove usage. It was so cold that we could see our breath. Everyone in the whole family was very sick and it just seemed like we were not able to get much accomplished. But before you all feel bad for us, we realized that this was very good for one and all. We are so used to ease and comfort and that may not be in any of our futures. We were able to help the children use their heads and make the best of everything and just keep going. The Lord allowed us to do school even without the electricity. We just wore tons of clothes, wrapped up in blankets and did our best. The Lord has given us much to be thankful for.

On the worst day, when it seemed like we were just barely maintaining instead of "accomplishing something for Christ", the Lord in his incredible love sent us 2 letters that were extremely encouraging. (The electricity came on for 10 minutes and we got them via e-mail). One was an extremely encouraging letter from a church that supports us. Another was a letter from a young man who we were able to lead to the Lord when we were in language school almost 13 years ago. His name was Rene. We lived on a ranch, and he was the nephew of the owners of the ranch. Faith and I have wondered about Rene for years---really hoping that his conversion was real. He wrote and said that he had asked his uncle about us and finally found our web site. He now is 28, married, has 3 children, and works for the border patrol. This is what his letter said, "I'll start first by giving all praise, honor, and glory and thanks to our heavenly Father for sending his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, making it possible for us to go to heaven, when we deserve hell....I want to thank the Lord for using you to witness to me and 'sow the seed' in my younger years. I truly to this day believe that the Lord used you to change my life today. I use you and Faith as part of my testimony that God was calling me to Him at a very young age. It was me who wasn't listening to his voice. Some of my hobbies now are basically spending time with God..." We were thrilled to see that he is a godly father--leading his family in the Lord! AND actively witnessing to all around him. But we then again were overwhelmed.....Why would the God of the universe take the time to move this young man to write to us (truly nothing people) at a time when we really needed encouragement? It was a wonderful reminder that God is the One who does the work. We are just privileged to be the means to somehow get that truth to His people. We are merely the tools---and broken tools at that. It was an encouragement to just keep plugging along, loving the Lord, teaching that to our children, and allowing little difficulties to work their purposes in our lives.

On Sunday (yesterday), I was very sick and didn't feel at all well during the SS and preaching services. I thought that the delivery wasn't very good; but then again, it isn't about me. The people trickled in...many are also sick. All were wondering if we would ever again see the sun---AND the Lord blessed us with that on His Day.

Good news:

• Marcos and Ruth had their little baby--Joana (after Juana--the new grandma). She is beautiful and we went to see them yesterday after church to pray and rejoice with them.
• Teresa mentioned that her grandson Jonathan--who left after coming to church 3 weeks ago--is still not home. The Lord is using this situation greatly in the life of Teresa's daughter Vanessa. We have known her for years, but she has never wanted to bow the knee to the Lord. She told her mother--- in front of her very critical sister that the Lord has shown her her horrible sin--and that she has repented of her sin and asked Him to forgive her and be her Savior! We were thrilled. These are not just words because Vanessa is NOT the type of person that would just say something like that. Pray for her that she would come to our church or find a good church closer to her as she lives 2 hours away (still in the south of the city).
• Janet came after 3 months of not coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Janet had been dating an unsaved man for 3 months. She is still is struggling spiritually, but it was wonderful to see her with her sister Vanessa (another Vanessa). All of the church people hugged her and welcomed her with open arms!
  

Prayer Requests

• The owner of the church is now offering to rent us the other side for $200 more per month. (Thankfully his daughter's belly dancing business has gone belly-up!) Yet, the men need to meet to pray and decide whether we should take this next step. This would give us three extra rooms for more classes, another bathroom (really necessary), and another room for a stove and kitchen like area. Our total would be $500 per month. Pray with us for wisdom and the Lord's perfect will. We are not sure whether to keep renting there at all as some of the people who live there are being very mean to our people as they enter church. The wonderful thing is that it does not bother our people. The people who live there are normally kind to us gringos, but to their own, they treat them rudely.
• Normally, I make a yearly trip for supplies as some things are half price at the border. I usually do this in November, but may need to do it sooner as we decide about a generator or not. We want the Lord's perfect will on this matter--and don't want to purchase it if it is not really necessary.
  

Thank you so much for praying!!!!

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (September 22)

Dear Praying friends,

We haven't seen the sun for almost a week now. It has been cloudy, drizzly and rainy and pretty cold. The family is going through one of our pretty hard cycles of cough/sinus and throat problems. We appreciate your prayers for the Lord's grace in this time. We do have a wood stove but I recently replaced the door gasket and it is a bit too small so we can't use it right now as smoke comes out and fills the room. We hope to be able to get a new one from the States by the end of this week. A small request but it would be very helpful for our family.

Our communication has been a bit hampered also. We have been without telephone service for over a week and very limited internet. When you receive this email, you will know that our internet service is back--at least for a few seconds or minutes. :-) The telephone company told us that they will try to fix the problem today or tomorrow so we shall see.

Erasmo is still in some pain from his surgery. Please pray that he will be able to recover fully and quickly and be back to driving his taxi so that he can provide for his family.

Sra. Gloria and her mom Maria have been able to make it the last couple of months to our services but Gloria's shingles are still bothering her. The last couple of weeks she has only been able to stay for SS.

Martha missed last Sunday but was there yesterday. She is struggling with illness and the great burden of unsaved family at home and an abusive husband. He will not supply for any of the needs that his family has but still expects Martha to make food for him. She works as a nurse to make about $150 dollars a week. Things are extremely difficult for her physically and economically, BUT to see her in church as she hears about the Lord Jesus and what He has done and is doing for her is such a joy to see. You can actually see her face change during the service and when she hears a pertinent point about Christ, she just kind of closes her eyes, sighs deeply and smiles. It is such a blessing.

Another blessing is to see people whose lives are filled with physical difficulty and suffering actually in tears as they sing and worship during the service. Sometimes I am arrested with my own lack of worship or thought in the songs as I see someone who is actually so involved in their singing and the message of the words that they are brought to tears. May the Lord truly give us hearts to be filled and affected by what we say we believe.

This past Wed. night our longtime friend Pedro (unsaved) showed up for our Wed. evening service. He was with his bother Alejandro, and his wife, Norma with their little girl. Please pray for the Lord's saving work in each of their lives.

School continues to progress. Melissa has been a wonderful help to Faith and our family. Because of Cristi's intensive therapy last year, we were not able to begin school until October of last year. However, in two weeks Mikey should be completely caught up with school and Carissa should follow him very soon. We praise the Lord for allowing Melissa to be with us which has allowed us to get caught up. Cristi is doing so much better with her dyslexia challenges. Our monthly therapies continue. Thank you for praying.

Melissa is offering her piano playing abilities to the entire church. Eighteen people have signed up to take lessons. Only about 10 had their lesson last week. I announced that this next week is the last opportunity. Then we will revise the list if they do not come. Please pray that the church people would take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Our next young people's meeting will be this coming Saturday. If the rains stay this week, we will have our third straight creek walk. The kids are hoping for that. We'll try to send some pictures next week.

Thank you for all of your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (September 8)

Dear Praying Friends,

We had an interesting week that was anything but normal. Several things have happened this week that have made living here very difficult. We definitely appreciate your prayers.

On Tuesday night, we received a call from a Mexican friend with whom we attended BJU. He is a fine Christian man serving here in Mexico. He said that he was coming the next day on a bus and asked if we could pick him—but he first mentioned at the airport??? Then he mentioned at the bus station. In the next 10 minutes, it was very hard to understand him and there were not many things in the conversation that made sense. He said that we were to pick him up the next day at 10 AM and he would be staying with us for 15 days. I told Morgan that so much didn't make sense in what he was saying that to me he sounded drunk or on drugs. This was extremely hard to believe as this man has served the Lord faithfully here in Mexico for many years. I said, "Morgan, do not go and pick him up. Something isn't right."

The next day, the man called at 11:30 AM saying he had just gotten there. OK, so I was wrong. I told him to get a taxi to a place about ½ hour from our house and that Morgan would pick him up there. About 45 minutes later, he called again saying that the police had stopped the taxi that he was in and found the gun that he was bringing. WHAT!!!???????? "Why on earth are you bringing a gun?" His reply—"It's the one I'm bringing you." Oh Great. It is a felony offense to have a gun in Mexico. So, now the guy is being hauled off to jail and wants me to help get him out. It was a very worrisome situation. He teaches in a Bible School, has a wife and three children, and is coming to Mexico City for 15 days, with a gun, to do what??????????

Fortunately, Tuesday night after our first conversation by phone, I wrote an email to my friend stating that he we had received a call from him, it was hard to understand, but that he wanted Morgan to pick him up in the bus station the next morning at 10. If that was correct, he was to confirm by responding to the email. We prayed for this man on Wednesday night as a church and Morgan and I were going to go search in the different municipalities the next day to look for him. When we returned from prayer meeting, we had an email from my friend that said, "Mike, I haven't communicated with you for quite a while. It must have been a misunderstanding." Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! What a relief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The whole situation has been a bit unnerving though. It appears that the guy, whoever he was, was trying to extort money from us and how he found out our names is not clear. We ask that you continually pray for the Lord's safety for our family and other workers here in Mexico. We DON'T watch the news—if we did, we would never set foot out of our house. :-) The church family is in fear for us, but we are going about our normal duties telling them that we will be careful, but we need to live our lives. We cannot allow fear to curb the work here. The blessing is that our friend is still faithfully serving the Lord and that was the part of the situation that was the most disturbing about the whole situation.

2. Please pray for Erasmo who had his gall stones removed this week. He is home now but in a lot of pain. Juan Jesus had his hip replacement two weeks ago and is also home now and in much pain. Pray that the Lord would use these two physical trials to draw these two men—to Himself or closer to Himself. We know that Juan Jesus is definitely not saved.

3. We had a good men's meeting on Friday night with very good discussion about elders. Pray that the Lord will raise up men here, men who love each other, are unified in the Spirit and in doctrine, and men who will be able to faithfully lead the Lord's flock. We have another meeting this Saturday morning.

4. We started a series yesterday on the Gospel and our Evangelism. Please pray that we will be an evangelistic church that knows the gospel and is so consumed with our God and His glory that we can't keep it in to ourselves. Psalm 96:3—"Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples." We want to be a mission church that is missions minded.

5. Faith gives some different people English lessons when the girls go for their PE classes in Gymnastics. A lady doctor, Josephina, who studies with Faith invited us to her birthday dinner party on Saturday. It was a first class event and we had the opportunity to meet her brother in law. Josephina's sister died several years ago of cancer and Mike had a really good opportunity during the dinner to speak with Gualberto about Christ. He has had some other experiences in the past with others who call themselves Christians but have no saving knowledge of Christ. Please pray that Saturday's conversation with Gualberto will plant the seed, that it will be watered and that God will graciously save him.

6. Marta was there yesterday after missing the last two weeks. Please continue to hold her up before the Lord. She seems so distraught with her family situation where her husband won't help with anything and uses the little bit of money that she earns for whatever he wants—even though he works too. The burden almost seems too great for her shoulders at times, but she seemed to be very encouraged in Christ from Heb. 9 in SS yesterday. Please pray that the Lord would bring some type of resolution to her difficulties in His perfect way.

Our electricity went out last night at 6 PM and as of this moment, 10 AM, it has not come back on. So I need to save this and close it down so that I can send it as soon as the electricity comes back. The problem is that we cannot pump water from the cistern to our tanks on the roof without electricity. School is also hectic without being able to do the children's DVD classes. We have just heard that a main transformer has blown. Pray for wisdom as we are considering getting a generator and want to only do this if it is a true necessity. The electricity does go out frequently, but it is USUALLY restored quickly.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

In Christ,

Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (September 1)

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you for your prayers in the past week.

We had an excellent first week of school. Melissa Pate arrived on Friday and that will help Faith out even tremendously. Faith has spent so much time getting things organized. She is such a great blessing to our family and our church. I don't know what we would do without her. Melissa has also been an encouragment already. We took her and our two birthday girls (Carissa, 9 on Saturday and Cherith 4 today) down to the horses on Saturday. I'm enclosing a few pix of the birthday girls, one of Caralyn on the roll cart in the kitchen, the kids in their school uniforms and the Mexican Fife and Drum Corp. :-)

Please keep praying for Juan Jesus and Analilia's family. He had his hip replacement last Tuesday morning and lost a LOT of blood. He hasn't been able to walk yet since the surgery. He has now been in the hospital for 17 days. Please pray for the Lord to really get a hold of their hearts and save them.

Tomorrow Erasmo has his gall bladder surgery. Please pray for their family. Matilde continues with a severe kidney infection and mentioned yesterday that her aunt has terminal cancer. Please pray for the Lord's grace in this family's life.

Saturday night/Sunday morning at 4:00 AM Faith said that someone was knocking on the door. I, of course said, "There is no one at the door." She got up to investigate and it was Miguel, Nico's son from next door who had been knocking for a half hour. Nico was terribly ill and was wondering if we had any more of the shots that we had to give the team when they were here. We had one for the infection and so Faith and I went next door to administer it. We were extremely surprised to see him at 10:30 AM with his family ready to head down the mountain to church with us. He ended up having to leave after SS to return home but praise the Lord that he wanted to be there. Please pray for him to recover quickly.

Jose and America's new little baby has a pretty bad infection also and America and the baby were not there yesterday. Please continue to pray for them to grow.

We had a very good time in Hebrews 9 in SS yesterday and followed that up with the preciousness of Christ from 1 Peter 2:1-8 which we followed up with the Lord's Supper. Several commented that it was a real blessing.

This coming Friday night we have another men's study in our book about Biblical Elders. Please pray for that.

Please pray for us to be shining lights in this dark city and that we would show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii