It was great to have Jason and Danielle here for three weeks. They will be getting married in December and then Lord willing, during the next year returning to do language study. Please pray for the Lord to guide them and bring them in His perfect time.
We are planning a baptismal service in several weeks. We have had four people mention that they would like to get baptized. Please pray for them as they write out their testimonies this week and that we would have wisdom in dealing with them.
We have a place where we go to get fresh fruits and vegetables. Faith has had some excellent opportunities to speak with Jasmine. She is married to Jorge and they have a ltitle baby. She really wants to come to church and says that she needs a lot of spiritual help. Jorge is not very open to the idea though. Please pray for the Lord to open hearts and doors there.
This Friday night, we have a men's meeting to meet again to study our book on Biblical eldership. Please pray for a good spirit.
Morgan will be leaving this Thursday at 7:00 AM for a 3 hour flight to Panama and then about a 9 hour flight to Uruguay. He will be assisting the Garwoods there for 7 weeks in their ministry. He has never flown before, so that part of the trip is a little bit daunting. In our service yesterday, we had a time of explaining what a missionary does from Acts 13, mainly, proclaiming God's Word, and then a time of dedication and prayer for Morgan to the Lord's service in another country. It was a real blessing to see the church here be able to send one of our own out in to another part of the world. We would like to share the following letter that Morgan wrote several weeks back in preparation for his trip:
hi every ones!!
I want to communicate with and keep up to date the people God has allowed me to know in the years I've been saved, as a blessing to me, though in His providence they are living far away and in other places. And that is why by this means I want to share with you all another event in my life, which is an opportunity to serve God away from my native country. So I can't stop asking myself why God saved me, and even more, why God has decided to use me in His service.
And therefore it is that "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." The fact is "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
Some of you perhaps already know, whether from me or my pastor or someone else, that I have served God for some time in my church, preaching or teaching, not wholly or perfectly, but I have done it with all my heart, not to earn God's favor, or salvation, but from love and gratitude for His free election and His great salvation, in showing me His grace in the work of Christ on the Cross for me, the chief of sinners. So then God, through some of His servants, like my pastor, first of all, and later another great friend, and many other preachers and books, but above all and primarily by means of His holy word, God has given me a little bit of knowledge for His work, not so that I would be proud, but that "as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." (1 Corinthians 1:31.) So may all the glory be for the Lord for all ages. Amen.
So then my friends and brothers in Christ, it is my great pleasure to share with you this important news: God has called me to go to Uruguay to help in the ministry of a missionary, Pastor Donald Garwood. In addition I want to share with you this great blessing from my God, and a great opportunity to announce the Gospel of Christ. I also write and share this news so that, as the Apostle Paul says: "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:18-20).
Of course I'm not in chains, or a prisoner (not yet anyway), but I do hope that in all your prayers you will remember this insignificant servant of God, and I will be able to announce the Name of Christ and His glorious Gospel with boldness. I would also like for the following petitions to be included in your prayers for me:
Some of you should already know that God had already sent me to another state here in my country (the State of Michoacán) to take the Gospel to a family. However, they didn't want me to come anymore because they decided to work Sunday: still, I continue speaking to them by phone and communicating with them. I will add some pictures of that experience also. And now God takes me out of my country to proclaim His glorious Gospel.
- That I would avoid profane and vain discourses that will lead to more and more ungodliness.
- That I would depart from iniquity because I invoke the name of Christ, because thus I will be a vessel of honor, sanctified, useful to God, and prepared for every good work.
- That I would be sober in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill my ministry.
I will keep up a weekly report, so that you will be up to speed with what happens in Uruguay, and also pictures and videos.I will travel to Uruguay on September 24.
Whoever does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, be anathema. The Lord is coming. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love in Christ Jesus be with you all. Amén.
Morgan Bernal
Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
