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)
