Goldfuss prayer update (11/3/2011)

Dear Praying Friends,

 We are sorry that we have been extremely lax in the last few months about writing. We went through about 2 months where our internet service was very bad. It would take hours to send a simple email. There have also been a number of discouragments, but the Lord has been showing Himself strong and faithful in spite of each difficult circumstance. The Lord has been using difficulties to strengthen the men in the church here and mold them into leaders. Just in the past several weeks, they have made some big spiritual decisions for the church and two of them, Nico and Gabriel, have preached for us. Pray for the Lord to continue to raise up men to lead His church here. A few interesting ministry opportunities have presented themselves recently.

• Mike had the chance to preach at an Alcoholics Anonymous anniversary group several weeks ago. There were 200 people in attendance. During Mike's message, probably around 1/3 of the people just kept on talking and laughing at their tables, totally disregarding what was being said. There was a lot of noise as well from kids running around. Praise the Lord though that the gospel was given--three folks from our church handed out tracts to everyone as soon as the message was done. Pray for the Lord to bring an increase from this sowing of the seed of His Word. Last night at our midweek service, we had a lady visit for the first time due directly to the fact that she was at that meeting. Please pray for Jessica and many spiritual needs.
• The past several days in Mexico have been the "days of the dead." There are altars set up in many homes, schools, streets and cemeteries to honor the dead. Food and drink are placed at these different altars. Supposedly on these nights, the souls of the dead people come back to eat of the food that is offered to them. Just on Monday alone, we had the opportunity to speak to three people about why death exists and to use that as a springboard into giving the precious gospel of Christ who came that He might deliver those who through fear of death, have all their lifetime been subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14,15).
• Faith takes the kids down the mountain for their different activities normally 4 afternoons per week. She has recently begun English studies with a good number of ladies and has had several good opportunities with some of them. Please pray that in all of our family's activities our highest goal would be to think correctly about Christ and to have other people think correctly about Him as well through our words and actions.
• The following little letter was written by Carissa and given to the Hearts and Hands ladies at our home church, Bible Community in Ohio. These ladies wanted to hear/read about the ministry through the eyes of one of our children. We really enjoyed the letter, and we think that it would be a good primer on our family and ministry here in Mexico City, so we would like to share her letter with you also. 

"I want to thank all of you for praying for us as we serve Christ here in Mexico. I, Carissa Goldfuss, on behalf of my family write to inform you about our ministry. Mikey is 15, Cristi is 13, I'm 12, Matthew is 8, Cherith is 7, Caralyn is 4, and as for my parents, they would rather I not say. The church is in an area called Padierna. We have a total of about eighty people. The church is growing spiritually, even through the some serious trials that God has sent. A few weeks ago, a man in the church that my dad has trained, preached for him while he spoke at a different meeting of unbelievers. It's amazing how God is opening doors for us to minister to the people. We live about a half hour from the church next to a mountain (still in the city) that is called "El Pico del Aguila," which means, the beak of the eagle. It is called that because it looks like an eagle with it's wings spread out, flying. Because we are basically on the mountain, it gets about 10° C cooler than down in the city. In the winter, sometimes it gets cold enough to get a small amount snow on the top of the mountain. But even then, in the city in the summer, it can get to the into the high 70's or even 80's. When it gets like that, the weather is beautiful for us because we are up in the mountains. Most of the people are very open to the gospel and are friendly. Sometimes the people think that they are lower than Americans because they are darker and for that reason, they hesitate to look you in the eye and give short answers and act as if they are unworthy to speak to you. We are accepted by them because we talk to them and they feel happy that we want to talk to them. My favorite things about being a missionary are being able to speak and understand Spanish. Being able to speak the language allows me to tell others about Christ and what he has done for us by sending us his Son to die for our sins on the cross. I have been 12 years on the mission field, and our church is 15 years old. One of the challenges that we face is the traffic. On Wednesday's, we go from our sports to church. It's only about ten minutes away, but with traffic, it can be up to a half hour or more! I have lots of favorite verses, but my favorite one is 1Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you." It is my favorite one because we don't have to worry because God has everything under control and He cares for us. If you would, please pray for the church, that it would truly grow spiritually and in number. As well, please pray for the men, that they would continue to take more leadership. As well, pray for more Bible studies to be established. Also, pray that God would supply a godly man to take control of the church so we can move on and start a new one. And finally, please pray for a man that was in our church and was a leader, that he would come to repentance, and may God let him see his sin. I want to thank all of you for praying for us as missionaries in Mexico and that God would keep using us to plant the seeds of the Gospel and we will wait and pray for the Lord to send the rain and fruit. Thank you all for your support and prayers,

Love, The Goldfuss Family (Carissa)

Prayer update (8/15)

Dear Praying Friends,

It has been quite a full and busy summer. We praise the Lord for His safety, blessing and guidance throughout each activity, blessing and trial that He has brought our way.

We were very blessed to have Mike's mom visit in May. The whole family enjoyed her visit as it's been about 3 years since she got down to our neck of the woods. :-)

Also in May, a single girl in our church, Vanessa, was able to leave to go to a Christian university in Monterrey for 3 months. She just arrived back 2 weeks ago. We greatly missed her and her ministry to our church for those three months, but trust that the Lord has taught her many things that she will be able to use the rest of her life in our Lord's service.

Our new building has been a blessing. We have had several new visitors for which we praise the Lord. A wonderful blessing is that Pedro and Veronica have been attending almost every Wednesday night since we moved in. Pedro helped Mike when we first arrived in Mexico by correcting all of the grammar in his sermons. Please pray that the Lord would graciously save them.

For the first time, thanks to Rachel and Jessica, everyone was able to finish school in May. We were wondering if it would be a possibility to go to Houston, Texas to visit with Faith's mom and dad. Due to their schedule and ours, there was only about a 1 week window where it would work out for both of us. We were waiting for our Mexican residency papers to be renewed and were not sure if we would get them in time for that one week window. The Lord worked everything out and we were able to all meet in Houston (Faith's parents live in PA.) We were able to spend a very nice week with them. Greenwood Village Baptist Church in Houston has an apartment that they loaned to us for the whole week. It was wonderful and they were very kind to us. The weather was over 100 degrees each day, and the air conditioned apartment was perfect.

On our trip back down to Mexico City, we stopped in Monterrey and were able to visit Vanessa. That was a blessing for us and hopefully for her as well. As many of you know, the situation in Mexico with the drug lords and violence is very dangerous. The Lord allowed us to pass 6 army caravans all headed north as we drove up to the border and we were thankful for the added protection. On our way back down, we had an equally uneventful trip. We are truly thankful to the Lord for His protection.

Many of you may remember that we had major plumbing problems back in February. We were waiting to get the funds and helpful workers for a number of months to try to get that fixed. As soon as we arrived back home from Houston, we found out that the construction worker had been able to come. He had torn out the whole floor in our bathroom and about 1/2 the floor in the kids bathroom. One of the copper pipes had a fairly good sized hole in it--hence the gallons and gallons of water that poured through down into Mike's study for several MONTHS. After about 3 or 4 weeks, we were finally able to get the pipes fixed, the concrete repoured and new tile laid again. Thank the Lord that we are back to being able to use those two bathrooms upstairs after almost 6 months of them being out of commission.

On July 7, a team of teens from our home church visited for 1 week, lead by the Wickmans. They were a big help with some projects around the house, with putting labels on tracts, passing out tracts and just being friends with our kids. It was challenging because our two bathrooms upstairs were out of order. Then one of the other bathrooms had a breakdown as well. But we all managed, without complaining, and the Lord helped us to get many things done that He wanted us to get done.

On July 14, our three oldest, Mikey, Cristiana, and Carissa accompanied the team back to Mentor, Ohio for camp at Peniel Bible Camp. They were not able to attend last year, so they were very excited for camp this year and for the chance to see friends that they have made there throughout the years. It is great to have them back home again though.

Two weeks ago we had our VBS. We started on Monday with 22, Tuesday with 35, Wednesday with 37 and ended on Thursday with 43. It was great to be able to proclaim the gospel to our church children as well as a good number of children who had never heard it before. Please pray as we seek to follow up on the new families.

The last two Lord's days brought us a good bit of unwanted excitement. Last Sunday, during our Sunday school hour (and a half), a taxi backed right up to our van (out of sight of the church) and stole our full size extra spare tire--right out from under the van. Mikey and Elias walked out right as they had loaded the tire in their taxi and when they got down to look under the van, the taxi drove off with the tire. That's when they realized it was ours. This morning we arrived at church to find our offering box outside, broken into and ruined. Someone late yesterday afternoon or last night broke into the church and was obviously looking for money. There were a number of things strewn about but praise the Lord the microwave and our small sound system were still there. The thief or thieves made off with only about 20 dollars and the electric keyboard that the children's class uses. Please pray that the Lord would give us protection, wisdom in how to make things a bit more secure and faith and trust in Him. These situations have been very unifying for the church. I wish you could have heard Nico's prayer this morning as he prayed for the thieves and for ourselves to not become bitter. Mike also made us realize that we still have our salvation---and that, no one can steal away from us!

We praise the Lord for two school teachers again to help Faith this year. Lauren and Bethany have arrived and are all ready to begin the new school year with Faith tomorrow. I think most of the kids are even ready. :-) Pray for a good beginning to the school year and for our children to learn and be prepared for whatever our great God has for them to do.

We greatly appreciate and depend on your prayers.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update 5/15

Praise the Lord we are in the new building!
After 4 1/2 months and work parties almost every Saturday, the Lord allowed us to have our first service in the new building. An excellent group worked from 9:30 AM until 7:30PM last night finishing and moving the church! The Lord gave us an incredible group, but we haven't had our official GRAND OPENING yet. We have a few more things to try to get finished, but we are in. We are going to have several weeks of rest on Saturdays hopefully, and then plan to spend a couple of Saturdays inviting people around the new building to our services. Then we will have a special GRAND OPENING THANKSGIVING service. This was an area where we previously lived, so we know so many of the people. Praise the Lord that all pitched in so much! We have included pictures. Thank you for supporting us with your prayers.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (April 12)

Dear Prayer Partners,

The work on the new church building continues to progress. When all the work is with cement, brick and concrete, not to mention construction workers who don't show up, extreme makeover in one week is impossible. :-) We have been working now for over 4 months almost every Saturday and a good number of the church people have helped just about every possible time. This is a big drain on a lot of the people as of course it's their only day off for the week. Praise the Lord for the good attitudes of many helpers. The new place is right around the corner from where we first lived when we came to Mexico City 15 years ago. We still have a lot of contacts, friends and acquaintances from that area where the seed was sown for several years. Some have already told us to let them know when we move in to the building there. They said they would come and visit. Pray for the Lord to be preparing hearts and drawing more people to Him for His glory. Pray for this physical work to be useful for a spiritual harvest.

At the beginning of January, we moved out of the building we had been in for over 10 years. We moved into Sra. Gaby's good sized living and dining room. Due to many trials in her own family, they, and consequently we as a church, are going to have to move out of her house. We still have several weeks of work left in the new building before we can move everything over there. Pray that we will be able to finish up the work quickly.

The believers here have a saying that Satan does not just sit around with his arms crossed. This is true. We have been studying the Christian's War in this world and the armor that God has provided. This warfare has been raging in the church here. There are many problems in the church as well as much spiritual growth among the believers. We have really felt a sifting in the past several months. Some people did not receive our last prayer update in which we mentioned that Morgan and his family have left the church. It has been an extremely difficult time for several, including us. Pray that the Lord would grant them repentance to make things right. The intensity of the many problems has a two fold effect--it is refining those who are true believers, and it is also weeding out those who may have just a false profession of faith. Please pray for the Lord's protection and care for His flock here. We need your prayers so much.

On a postitive note, Vanessa is going to be going to a Christian university in Monterrey for 3 or 4 months. We are going to miss her greatly in the work here. Pray for her to grow and be a testimony of Christ's grace in her life as she is away from us. She will be leaving us on the night of Resurrection Sunday. Faith will be accompanying her for 2 or 3 days. I am going to fly them up due to the violence in that area---and also to get Faith back here sooner. :) Please pray for grace, strength and protection for both of them.

Over a month ago we had more leaking in my office ceiling. It got progressively worse throughout Sunday and Monday. Monday night I finally took a drill and drilled through about 5 inches of concrete and rebar to release all the water that was collecting up there. When I finally made it through that layer, water came out like a faucet had been turned on full force. We filled up a 5 gallon bucket in less than two minutes. We have had over 100 gallons of water come through the ceiling. The pipes to that section have been shut since the day after the drilling, but we continue to have constant drips (over 4 weeks later) due to so much water collecting there. To our horror, the leaking became worse when the toilets were used! So somehow the leak involves everything in both bathrooms! Having sewer water dripping around all of my wonderful books is not a real blessing. BUT the Lord is in control, and I have had some good salvation conversations with the worker that will be helping us try to deal with this problem. We are going to have to break up tile again and try to find out where the leak is coming from. Hopefully the worker will be able to come this Thursday and begin the task. (Please pray for his salvation--Jose Luis.) Pray that we won't have to break up both bathroom floors entirely to find the source of the problem--There is tile on top, several inches of concrete, then the pipes in some light stone/gravel, and underneath, the other level of concrete and rebar. We haven't been looking forward too much for what is next.

Thank you for your prayers. We covet and appreciate them.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (February 28)

Dear Praying Friends,

During the last 3 months, as a church we have been studying about spiritual warfare. We have seen our fight against our own flesh, the world and the devil. We have seen how our enemy has only hatred for us and his goal is to take us all to hell with him. How we praise God for the victory that was won for us through Christ and His cross and through union with Him.

Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. We have seen some extremely strong attacks in the past week--a week of intensive and difficult ministry. As you know from our updates last week, Jorge and Cecilia, our couple from Peru, went through some legal problems here due to being hoodwinked on a car sale (he ended up buying a car that had been stolen.) The Lord rescued him from having to do any jail time (except overnight on Sunday night.) During that trial, some other issues came to light about another family in our assembly. They have been with our church for almost 10 years. When I went to see them this past Thursday, they informed me that they will no longer be attending our church. This has been a great blow to us in several ways--we had hoped that the young man would especially use the gifts that God has given him to be a leader in Christ's church here. It is our prayer that the Lord would work in this family and even if it would never be in our assembly, please pray that the Lord would make them faithful servants to the Lord Jesus Christ somewhere else for His glory. Please also pray that the young man would be "useful to Him in the ministry," as Paul was able to say years later about John Mark. Please also pray that extended family would not be influenced to leave.

As much as we hate to lose anyone from a small church, and especially someone who has been a leader, the spirit was very good in our services yesterday. People were very sad about the circumstances, but there seemed to be a renewed love for each other. We had our monthly class for married couples (and even a few that aren't even married attended.) All in all, 50 people came to our house for a potluck meal and then Memo lead the class (let me give a quick plug for the book, "When Sinners Say I Do" by Dave Harvey.) There was very very good participation and excellent ideas put forth to help us in our marriages to remember that Christ is the only one who can make our marriages glorify Him. Even after the class was over, it was thrilling to see so many who have had problems in the past between them, stick around and talk amongst themselves.

We were also truly encouraged by our children. Cristi and Carissa planned a very detailed tea party for all the little girls to have during our study time. The little girls loved it! Mikey and another teen from the church, Yoltic took care of the boys outside. Yoltic, though only 16 has also been a real encouragement with his desire to serve the Lord. He is now burning all of the CDs of the messages as Jon Crocker is no longer here to do that.
Please pray that the Lord would raise up from this group, men who will faithfully be able to lead His local church here. We have experienced a setback in our plans, but it is not a setback in God's plans. God is faithful.

Thank you for your prayers,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update (February 22)

Jorge spent Sunday night in jail. Yesterday Morgan took Cecilia and I downtown to the the precinct where he was being held--it's called "the Bunker" here. Cecilia was not able to get a hold of one lawyer lady. Another 2 lawyers looked like they had just graduated from the CJ school of law (That would be Cracker Jack.) When you look at and are in the middle of situations like this one, things appear so helpless and hopeless except that we have almight God watching out for His own. Humanly speaking, it really was absolutely hopeless.

Cecilia and I spent from about 9 AM til 9:30 PM there. Jorge had to give a statement (It lasted 2 1/2 hours) to the police. The cracker jack lawyers were supposed to be there to accompany him at 1:30. His statement started at 2:15. They showed up at 2:35. Then they wanted Ceci to pay them. I said, "Cecilia, give me all the money you have. I will have it and you will have no money to pay them. They should have showed up to do their work and they could have gotten paid." So Cecilia was Jorge's lawyer during his statement. ?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was about 15 feet from where they were this whole time. I tried observing all around the office to see who the important men were. I figured out who one was and after about 1 1/2 hours, was able to talk to him. I said, "I'm not a lawyer, but I'm here to plead for Jorge." I told him the whole story, but at the end, he didn't give much hope.

When Jorge still had about 1/2 hour to go in his testimony/statement, the school where he is studying his doctorate sent their own lawyer. HE WAS EXCELLENT, PROFESSIONAL, AND A BLESSING FROM OUR GOD. However, around 6:30 PM, he came by me and said under his breath, "He's in," meaning that Jorge was going to be committed to the prison. I just prayed and said, "Lord, Shadrac, Meshac and Abednego heard the same line--You are going into the furnace--and you saved them--of course, they did get in their for a very short time, but YOU are the only one who can help us in this situation." For another three hours the lawyer talked to the head of everything and finally came over about 9:30 and said, "He's going to be set free." After a few papers were signed, Cecilia and I walked out with Jorge. They took all of his belongings the night before--shoe strings, socks, and everything else. It appears many people have committed suicide in the past when they get put in jail. So the owner of the school, her husband, Jorge and Cecilia, another lawyer's assitant and I all piled into this little tiny car for the ride home. Even at 9:30 traffic was tremendous and I got out feeling very pretzelly. We had really not eaten anything all day, so Jorge, Cecilia and I all enjoyed a supper of tacos. It was an exhausting day, but thank you SO MUCH for approaching the throne of grace with us through Christ for Jorge and Cecilia. They were so thrilled last night--as was I and they asked us to thank all of you who have prayed.

We live in a wicked world. Praise the Lord that He is sovereign and in control and that His children can trust in Him no matter what. Please pray for all the tracts that we were able to give out yesterday, that the Lord would continue to call out for Himself, more people from this wicked world, to the kingdom of His dear Son. Father, hallowed, exalted, sanctified, glorified, lifted up be your name today and forever.

In Christ,
mike for all the goldfii

Urgent Goldfuss update (February 20)

Dear Praying Friends,

We are asking you to pray for the young couple from Peru (Jorge and Cecilia) that lost the two babies. This time last week, Cecilia's body was not responding to any of the antibiotics. She was literally at the point of having the infection throughout her whole body. Our church pleaded with the Lord for her on Wednesday night that He would be glorified in her, and we asked specifically for Him to heal her. The Lord healed her. Today in church Jorge gave an excellent testimony of what they have been through and how surprised the doctors were at Cecilia's clean bill of health. They were totally praising the Lord.

Right after church, someone had an appointment at their home to buy a car that they had recently bought over the internet here in Mexico City. They had bought a minivan recently when Ceci's family came to visit and wanted to trade that for a smaller car, which they did about a month ago. They had had a lot of problems with their newer car and finally seemed to have gotten them fixed. So they decided to sell it. What they did not know was that the car was stolen and sold to them. The original owner saw it announced over the internet and came to test it today at Jorge's house. It was a sting operation and they were both taken to jail this evening. It's a long story but the end result is that the authorities said that all could be done with if Ceci would just make up a bill of sale that they were lacking and sign it. Ceci said that she would not lie--therefore it appears that her husband may face some substantial jail time, unless our Lord intervenes dramatically. They have done nothing wrong, except for mistakenly not getting a bill of sale. Even the owner who organized the sting today recognizes that they are not the ones who stole the car from him. But here, you are presumed guilty until proven innocent. This couple has really been through the wringer the last few months. Please pray that the Lord would honor Jorge and Cecilia as they have sought to honor Him. The God who rescued Shadrac, Meshac and Abednego from the law of King Nebuchadnezzar is the same God of Jorge and Cecilia. Please pray that the Lord would honor and exalt His name in this. Please pray for the Lord's protection of Jorge in jail. Please pray that the Lord would intervene and allow Jorge to get out tomorrow. We covet and need your prayers desperately,

In Christ,
mike for all the goldfii

Goldfuss update (January 20)

Dear Prayer Partners,

1. Thank you for your prayers. The people are working well together on the new place of worship. (Kid-power is a wonderful resource rarely used in this day. We are making good use of it, and the men are amazed with all that the children can accomplish!) We are enjoying the non-permanent home that Sra. Gaby is providing for us. There has been pretty good attendance and wonderful fellowship.
2. On a very sad note, Jeorge and Cecilia lost the other baby that she was expecting. This has been very sad for all, but it has also helped to unite the church as several have sent food and a few ladies have spent the entire day with Cecilia (on different days). Jorge needed to leave her alone to attend his classes as he is working on his doctorate.
3. The Lord has opened doors through the use of MP3 players! First of all, the Lord began burdening Mike's heart to purchase several MP3 players for our church people. As many travel on buses sometimes as much as 3 hours one way to work, he thought that it would be an excellent way for them to listen to Scripture and / or messages. It has been a tremendous tool. We have a steady stream of people coming by the house to get more messages downloaded onto their MP3s. Well, it occured to us to try this with our unsaved friends. The idea was to loan and not give them the MP3s; and then if they wanted more messages, we could keep putting more on for them. If not, then they could just give us the MP3 player back for us to use with someone else. We were surprised at the results! We have been so happy that we wanted to share this idea with you so that you could do the same with your co-workers and friends. People's problems can lead them to the Person who is the solution to their greatest --a Savior from sin! Please pray for Lorena and Jadiel, 2 unsaved friends who are listening to messages. Pray especially for Jadiel who came to the house with several specific comments last Friday night--several questions about the messages and about salvation.
4. We are plowing along with school. Rachel and Jessica are worth their weight in gold--they actually aren't very heavy! Rachel has taken over the Crockers' school responsabilities and Jessica is helping the older 3---especially Cristi. This leaves Faith free to mainly help the little ones. We are really enjoying their joyful personalities, and Mikey enjoys teaching them about Mexican culture although they are not sure whether they should always follow his advice.
   The last 8 days have been difficult for Cristi. She has not be sleeping well. We are sure that it has to do with the dyslexia, growing, and possibly trying so hard. A childhood friend and also a missionary here in Mexico, Deborah (Gassman) Perez is helping us get some supplements that have really helped her son with his neurological problems. We pray that this will work! Please pray that she will be able to sleep in the meantime.
5. We have taken over the Crocker's couples ministry. We had an excellent turnout on Sunday with eight couples present and we started the book When Sinners Say I Do. Please pray for a new couple, Josue and Lupita. Josue grew up in our church, but has not attended for about 3 years. The other couples were very welcoming. Pray that the Lord would meet all of the spiritual needs there.
6. In the Crockers absence there have been more responsibilities. Adding to the work days on the church, there have been different problems that have been draining. The constant need can be overwhelming if we don't keep our eyes on the Lord. For example, two nights ago, a lady arrived at our home with her two children. She had been living out of her car for several days. Her extended family locked her out of her house because she is helping her father who is dying of cancer. Evidentally, he abandoned the family when they were young. She does attend our church, but is still in need of salvation. Please pray for Lydia. We have opened our school room to her when she needs a place to stay.

We have another work day on Saturday and please remember to pray for the Crockers as they are on deputation to come back here to Mexico. We have felt their absence. Although we are very tired, it is wonderful to know that, as Mike preached last night, we do serve the King of Kings! This is a humbling privilege!

In Christ,
Faith for the family------Mike, Mikey, Cristi, Carissa, Matthew, Cheri, Caralyn ----Jessica and Rachel.

p.s. The pictures are from last Saturday's work on the new church and of our new school teachers.

Goldfuss update (January 6)

Dear Prayer Partners,

We have two serious prayer requests:

1. Marta Garcia----(the nurse who attends our church and has had health issues). She called yesterday morning and her brother, who was a policeman in Cuernavaca, was shot to death by one of the cartels. (Cuernavaca is a city about an hour south of us.) Please pray for the family---and pray for Marta --that the Lord would use this even in her life to make her more faithful to Him.
2. Jorge and Cecilia----are a lovely couple who has come to us from Peru. He is getting his doctorate here in Mexico. The church was so excited to hear last month that they were expecting. Well, today was a very sad day for all of us when we heard that the baby's heart had stopped. She was 8 1/2 weeks pregnant.
   As she was arriving at the hospital, she did miscarry. They were then planning on doing a complete D&C. Evidently the hospital has a policy of doing their own ultrasound before any procedure, Jorge asked them NOT to waste their time because she had already had 2 ultrasounds---but the hospital insisted. Well, they found ANOTHER baby! This baby is over 5 1/2 weeks old and already they can see a strong heartbeat! How unusual! Please bathe these dear ones in prayer--as they have really been through it today. Praise the Lord for his preserving of this new little one---and please continue to pray as Cecilia is still very weak and things are still unstable.

Our work meeting last night was not well attended as many were sick or otherwise busy. But the ones who came worked hard (all 22 of us) and joyfully. We finished at 11:15 pm with all of the work completed and we are completely out of our former location. We will be temporarily meeting at Senora Gabby's home until the new location is finished. Please pray for all who are working---for wisdom and endurance.

Praise: the girls that the Lord has sent our way---Jessica and Rachel --are joys to have. The first week of school has gone really well!

Thank you so much for uplifting us in prayer,
The Goldfi
Mike, Faith, Mikey, Cristi, Cari, Matt, Cheri, Cara, Rachel, Jessica, and Shadow:)

Goldfuss update (January 3)

Dear praying friends,

The meeting with the men about the building situation/move/fixing up did NOT take place. The main men did not come to the service. Several of them have been really struggling.

1. One man's family (wife and children) stopped coming entirely. We know the wife is unsaved, but she has come pretty faithfully with her husband. Now she and the oldest son (about 15) are being openly antagonistic. Needless to say, this man has been very discouraged. We were thankful for the opportunity to have him for dinner yesterday and to be able to talk and encourage him with God's Word. (This really has nothing to do with the building project.) :-)
2. Another man is shirking the responsibilities of leadership--that does have to do with the building project.

We had good services yesterday. We have mentioned several times our series on Spiritual Warfare and can constantly see this in our own lives and in the lives of the people to whom God has called us to minister. The atmosphere yesterday was a bit uneasy due to the work to be done and the lack of leadership. We could very easily do this ourselves and have everything look very good--and we have at times in the past. BUT, that is not the point. Please pray for the men to step up and lead this project as they offered to in the beginning. They are more than capable of taking leadership in this. Pray that they will by God's grace. Please also pray that the Lord will give Mike much wisdom as he seeks to train faithful men to train and teach others faithfully. The progress seems painfully slow at times, but we know that God's church here is His, He has started a good work ,and He will continue to perform it. Please keep praying for His work to progress in His way and His time.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii