Tuesday, March 30

Goldfuss update (March 30)

Dear Praying Friends,

We had a wonderful time this past week in Houston with Faith's mom and dad. The church apartment where we stayed was just perfect for our whole family. The weather was beautiful and it was wonderful to just spend time with family with no other responsibilities.

We have heard good reports about little Cristofer from last week. When we wrote last week, he was down to the use of about 1/2 of one lung. He has a staph infection, but praise the Lord he is now improving and doing much better. Pray for his Dad and Mom, Miguel and Alondra, that the Lord would use this in their lives to draw them to Himself.

We drove down here to McAllen, Texas today from Houston. We have heard that there was a big drug lord shootout in Reynosa today for several hours and the army closed off all roads in and out for several hours. Reynosa is where we have to cross over tomorrow to head to Monterrey where we are planning on staying with the Zartmans overnight and then on Thursday plan on driving the rest of the way to Mexico City. We do appreciate your prayers for the Lord's will and our safety.

Sunday we are planning our third Resurrection sunrise service followed by breakfast and then our regular service followed by lunch--at our home for the whole day. We are looking forward to this wonderful highlight to our year.

Thank you for your prayers,

In Christ,

Mike for all the goldfii

Monday, March 22

Goldfuss update (March 22)

Hello All,

Thank you to some of you who knew to pray for our trip from Mexico City to the border. We are travelling to Houston today (Monday) to meet with Faith's parents as they have not seen the children in three years. So this should be a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa.

There have been drug wars around the border, especially between Monterrey and Reynosa, the last 2 1/2 hour leg of our trips to the border. Last week there was a two hour shoot-out between the army and drug lords. The drug people have taken over in this area and have been stopping cars to take whatever they want. (This we found out after making the trip). We did drive by the shoot-out place, and the Lord kept us safe the entire trip.

We stayed with the Zartman's for Saturday night and Sunday service, and then made it safely to our friends Jack and Mollie at the border in McAllen. It was a sweet time with both and we are so thankful for their hospitality.

Even though we are looking forward to a wonderful time with grandparents, our hearts are in pain. When we were at the Zartman's, Jon Crocker called to say that Miguel and Alondra's little boy Cristopher is in very serious condition. They went to the socialized medicine and the doctors said that little Cristopher was fine. He was not getting better however, and now now he has a collapsed lung and the other is working at 50% capacity. All of this due to pneumonia. The doctors give him little hope for survival. We beg you to pray for this young couple. We have three little ones in our nursery that were all born within 2 weeks of each other: Alejandra, our baby Caralyn, and little Cristopher will all be turning 3 in the next 2 weeks. Our hearts are heavy that we cannot be with them at this time. For many of you that might remember, Alondra was one of the twins that our church people were able to help for about 3 years. Now both twins are married. Miguel and Alondra have desired to move closer to the church as they come a couple of times every 3 months or so because they live 2 hours away. Please pray for the Lord's perfect working in their lives ---however hard that might be---even though our hearts cry out for the Lord to completely heal little Cristopher. We must remember that our ways are not HIS ways and we must submit to his loving divine will as He knows how this perfect picture is being painted.

The men are leading in our absence. Morgan is preaching and Jon is teaching Sunday school. Both Marcos and Memo will be leading the services. Praise the Lord all of the men are working together and two are reaching out to have newer less established people into their homes for the purpose of discipleship and encouragement in the Lord. Only the Lord can take the fighting that happened for several months and make us all better for it. He is a marvelous Lord. Please again remember little Cristopher. We love you and thank you so much for upholding our people and ourselves in your prayers.

In Christ,

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

PS--We received word this evening that little Cristofer has become more stable. Please continue to pray.

Tuesday, March 2

Goldfuss update (March 2)

Dear praying friends,

Thank you so much for praying for our church. The only thing that we can say right now is that God is answering your prayers. His power has been so overwhelming that even though we are in the middle, we can only stand back in awe and praise the Lord. This situation has involved five different men. After dealing with the situation for over three weeks now, in the last three days, four of the five men have explained how the Lord has showed them through His Word of their need to change. One other man has been changing gradually as well. This is only a result of your prayers. Mike still needs to talk to one more man, but praise the Lord for His work. The last three nights, one with each man, have been physically exhausting. But praise the Lord for His work and His strength. It is so obvious that it is not our work nor our strength. Please continue to pray that the meeting will go well. It very well may be tonight. Pray for humility and a biblical Christ-like response.

We are grateful to each of you who have prayed and ask that you continue to do so. Thank you so much for holding the ropes. The Lord has worked, is working and will continue to work and build His church.

Praise His name,

Mike for us all