Goldfuss update (February 10)

Dear Praying prayer warriors,

We had much blessing this week.

1. Fernando came!--He is a young single man who has come on and off 2 or 3 times throughout the years. He is very kind and a hardworker, but he left our church last year while we were gone because he was clinging to what he had been taught in a former "christian" church---that Jesus was the son of God, but not God. Last year, Morgan and Ruben really tried to help him see his error, but he left very angry. He is Humberto's brother. We have asked you to pray for Humberto and Ortencia who stopped coming about 4 months ago. Fernando said that Ortencia would be calling Faith---so that is a good step in the right direction as they have not been willing to talk with anyone in the church. (Many have tried to help them, but they haven't wanted to talk since leaving).
2. Praise the Lord it was a full house today. We are going to buy 10 more new chairs!
3. Uriel and Mildred did get married on Wednesday in the civil ceremony. It was a very short 3 minute service with the judge. Truthfully, it was a sad and happy time. Sad and disappointing, because they did not do things in God's order, but happy because they are trying to do what is right now. We had many opportunities to give tracts to Mildred's unsaved family. That was also sad because we felt that under the circumstances the Lord's name was tarnished in front of the unsaved because Uriel is a Christian. However, the wonderful thing about our Lord is that He can use any situation for His glory---and even bring some of her family members to the Lord. We were happy to be there to support Uriel's parents, Matilde and Erasmo
   During the tense time of the ceremony, Uriel's older brother, Ulysses called his parents from Minnesota where he has been working for about three years. He called to send his blessings on his brother and to tell his parents that he had trusted Christ that same morning. There is a Spanish church near where he lives. We rejoiced so much because this is an answer to a 6 year long prayer. Also, how wonderful of the Lord to allow them to hear of the news right when they were going through a stressful time. We praise the Lord that both Uriel and Mildred were in church this morning. Pray for Mildred's pregnancy as she is 6 months along. They are both 18.
4. The ladies meeting yesterday went very well with 12 in attendance. It was very helpful as several are up and down like rollercoasters due to very hard circumstances. The ladies also celebrated America and Guille's birthday.
5. Janet and Vanessa were back today. It seems that Janet has cut things off completely with the unsaved man. Thank you so much for praying.
6. Yesterday afternoon, we got to meet much of Jose and America's families at a birthday party for America. While we were there, it was evident that just their hosting a party for their families was a huge testimony. A year ago, Jose did not even want to marry America, but they had a 7 year old son. Now, he is a changed man. He has built her a house, married her, and is providing for her. They are very happily married and are trying to rear their son, Jose Ruben, in the Lord. They are faithful in church---and it is such a joy to see. Before, he would not take ANY responsability for anything ---and now they had their families to their home with lots of wonderful food, but NO ALCOHOL. Our children had a wonderful time playing with all the cousins and relatives. Praise the Lord, HE has blessed them and they are expecting again!
7. People are taking the family series and relistening to the messages in their homes and giving them to other people. Pray that the Word would have free course in many ways and that the Lord would use it greatly.
   

With all of the blessings, of course there are prayer requests:

1. Alejandro, Guille's husband to be saved and come back to church.
2. Silvia--to be encouraged in the Lord through all of her family trials. (She was at the ladies meeting.)
3. Marta--to be faithful to church and to grow in the Lord--she hasn't been to church now for 3 weeks and it's very difficult to get a hold of her by telephone.
4. Josue--Juana's son who has helped with making up the church calendars, but is not constant in his attendance.
5. We have a men's meeting this coming Saturday and we are continuing our study on Biblical Eldership.
   

Please pray for our family. With the blessings of the church, we have also felt pressures in 5 different areas. Please pray for strength and endurance. It has seemed strange, but some in our family are having trouble with bad dreams. The uncanny thing is that they always come on Saturday nights. Please pray against any Santanic oppression.

On Friday afternoon we were a little worried. Nicolas' mom came looking for Nico our neighbor. She had just seen the news and saw that a young man had been killed downtown and they had found a wallet next to him with an ID. The dead young man's name was Humberto Castro. Nico's son works downtown and his name is Humberto Castro. He is the young man in our church who preached two Wednesdays ago. Anyway, Nico was very shaken when I went next door to see him. He called the office where Humberto was working, but Humberto wasn't there. He had another telephone number to call where Humberto may have been with another man. Praise the Lord that Nico's son Humberto was with this other man and very much alive. It was nice to be able to do another message on the family today instead of a funeral service. Praise the Lord for His protection day by day.

We appreciate your prayers always,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi

Goldfuss update (February 4)

Dear Praying Friends,

I'm sorry we missed getting an update out last week. Last Monday Carissa was on the second to top step. She bent down to help Cherith who was on the fourth to top step---and they both fell down all of our stairs sumersaulting over each other. I took them to get an X-ray on Wed. morning. Praise the Lord there were no broken bones. We arrived home from the x-rays to find out that Cristi had fallen head first off the top of the girls triple bunk bed and also landed on her wrist. I told the girls that it would be nice if they could injure themselves at the same time or at least work it out so that we could all go get their x-rays together. Praise the Lord that none were seriously hurt. Faith had walked into the room to check on Cristi after she heard her "boom" from her fall and mentioned that she was going to have to wrap all the kids in pillows. As she turned to walk out of the room with Caralyn, she banged Caralyn's head on the door. :-( Maybe we should all go to bed for about a week and not get up. :-) In spite of all the calamities, no one had any broken bones---just sprains and bruises. Praise the Lord for His safety and protection each day. We serve a great God.

Praises:

1. Our family series continues to go very well with many people asking for additional help and asking questions during the week to try to put the biblical help into practice. Jose told us two weeks ago after the message on children obeying their parents that that afternoon, their son Jose Ruben was playing and Jose called him. Jose Ruben tossed what he was playing with aside, ran to his dad, and right in front of him said, "Yes, Dad. I'm here." If you knew Jose Ruben you would say that that was a miracle. Please continue to pray for all of the children in the church and for us as adults to not only obey, but to obey from hearts of love to Christ.
2. I have spoken twice recently with Francisco who has missed 4 straight Sundays trying to earn money to pay off a loan he has. Challenging him to remember that the Lord honors those who honor him, I met with some pretty stiff resistance. I had doubts as to whether he would be there yesterday, but praise the Lord he was. We invited them to eat with us and had a very good afternoon/evening of talking about the things of the Lord. Pray for the Lord to continue to work in that family.
3. Erasmo and Matilde continue to have struggles at their new taco stand, but have continued to be faithful in their attendance. I was able to have an excellent talk with them this past week. Please pray that the Lord will clearly show them whether they should continue on or close their taco stand.
4. A great blessing of this past week is that Humberto preached on Wednesday night. He preached on the first 3 verses of James 4. He is soft-spoken and was pretty short, but several people made the comment that he really challenged them with his message. Please pray for him to continue to serve the Lord and be faithful. He is going to be continuing his preaching about once a month.
5. Last Saturday's young people's meeting seemed to be fun for all!!! I made two huge tubs of ice cream and we had a giant sundae party. I will attach several pictures so that you can see how much fun and later agony we had from eating all of the ice cream. The entire table length sundae was gone in 6 minutes flat! Our young people face tremendous challenges and temptations in their daily lives in their public schools. Please pray that they will make Christ their all in all.
6. Senora Maria turned 82 this week. She was praising the Lord for her health and the years that He has given her to serve Him.
7. It was such a great blessing to have Mike's mom with us for about 2 1/2 weeks. She was a real encouragement and a blessing in helping with the younger "distractors" as Faith was trying to work on school with the older ones. She had to leave last Tuesday and everyone is missing grandma now.
   

Prayer Requests:

1. Janet and Vanessa have been very sporadic in their attendance the last month. In talking to them last week, Janet is struggling with a relationship with a young man that she used to know. He is now living with another girl and has a child with her. Please pray for Janet to leave off totally with this young man and follow Christ.
2. Silvia had a good talk with Faith last night, but has been very stretched in her family relationships. Pray for her to love her unsaved husband. Pray also for her son Roberto--who is in drug rehab-- to be saved.
3. Teresa is having back trouble. It is very painful---and she needs to use a pillow even in church. Praise the Lord that she is a shining example of a growing Christian and faith in Christ even with all of the difficulties of her heath and with a completely unsaved family.
4. On Wednesday our family, Uriel's immediate family (he is the son of Erasmo and Matilde), and Mildred's immediate family will be present at Uriel and Mildred's civil marriage ceremony. They have willingly submitted to not having a church wedding. Please pray for us to be an encouragement to all as they begin their lives together. They will be having their baby in 3 months. We dealt with their sin last fall in church discipline---and have been trying to restore them with a spirit of love. Pray as it would be very easy for them to just move in with Mildred's family so that they would not have to pay rent or food. These extended families are very normal and cause many problems---especially since Mildred's parents are Catholic. Pray for Uriel to take a stand and to provide for his new family as well as lead them in the way of the Lord.
   

The Lord has greatly convicted, challenged, and encouraged my own heart recently with a book entitled, My Heart For Thy Cause by a man named Brian Borgman. It is a compilation of pastoral theology from a pastor named Albert Martin who has been a real challenge to me throughout the years. The book deals with a pastor's call, duties and relationship to the Lord, his family and his church. It is the best book I've ever read on the subject, but it has been very painful at the same time. Praise the Lord for the correction and encouragement He gives and allows us as His children day by day. We pray that the Lord will make us more like Him day by day and that we will be useful in leading our children and the church here to be the same.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi

Goldfuss update (January 21)

Dear Praying Friends,

Today's family message was on children obeying their parents and I had about 13 children bring their chairs right up front close to the pulpit and much of the message was directed right at them. The Lord is working in our young families. Praise the Lord that several have asked for CDs. The Lord has completely changed Lilliana's attitude about the things of the Lord in the last three weeks. Thank you for praying. She called very early this morning asking for a CD. In just a very short time God has changed her heart from hitting Adrianita for singing Sunday school songs to desiring to be in church and asking for the CDs so that she can listen to them again. Please continue to pray for Lilliana's salvation.

Two families that have been tested financially are Francisco and Blanca and Erasmo and Matilde. Francisco hasn't been in church for three straight Sundays. Pray that we will be able to talk to him this week. Erasmo and Matilde were there today and are struggling mightily with their new taco stand. They haven't been making much money but in spite of all their neighbors saying that Sunday is the day with the most sales, they continue to close their stand on Sunday and want to be in the Lord's house. Please pray that the Lord will bless their honoring Him.

Silvia and Teresa both continue to face very difficult home situations. Teresa was there today, but Silvia was sick.

Marta's health is much better. Her job as a nurse is very stressful and she needs continued prayer for that. She is still seeking to get her job changed so that she doesn't have to leave after SS and can attend both of our Sunday services. Her boss is supposed to give his verdict on her schedule change this Wednesday. Please pray that God will move in his heart to allow her to have the schedule change.

A blessing today is that Alejandro came. He has missed several Sundays again so it was a real blessing to see him.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. I'm going to be talking to Jose tomorrow, helping him with his car. He and America are doing very well, but they have much work to do with their son, Jose Ruben. He really is a young child with a very obvious bent against God in many ways. Another blessing with this family is that Jose was in a car accident several weeks back. Part of his trunk was damaged and he needed to buy a new one. He told me several weeks ago that the very best day to buy auto parts is on Sunday, but that that was the day the Lord wanted him to be in church. He found several used trunks that were 1800 and 1600 pesos. In God's providence this week, he went somewhere where they "just happened" to have a brand new one and it was 1200 pesos. The Lord really honored him for honoring Him.
2. Morgan is going to be starting a new series on Wednesday nights on the Ten Commandments. Pray for the Lord to give Him wisdom as he preaches God's Word to the body of believers here.
3. Humberto, 23, is going to be preaching once a month on Wednesday nights too. Pray for me to have wisdom and discernment in helping him.
4. Francisco and his family to be faithful and for us to be able to discern the problem and to be able to help them.
5. We have a young people's meeting on Saturday at 3PM. We are going to make a giant sundae together. Pray as we disciple and try to meet the spiritual needs of each of these young people.
6. For the Lord to bless the study of His Word to my own heart so that the preaching will exalt Christ and be applicable to the daily needs of each person.
   

As always, we appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi

Goldfuss update (January 13)

Dear Praying friends,

Praises:

• Liliana (Nico's wife): After last week, Nico went home and tried to apply being a loving husband. The result was that Liliana wanted to come to the ladies' meeting with Faith yesterday for the first time. She asked Faith lots of questions on the way home and really seemed to want to be in church today. She also asked that we tape all the hymns so that she can listen to them and learn them at home since she can't read. This is a direct contrast to two weeks ago when she smacked her little girl Adriana for singing SS songs at home. Thank you for your prayers.
• Silvia: She has admitted in the ladies' meetings that she has always been the leader of her home as she was reared in a home like that. She is applying what she is learning from God's Word and says that this is a very big change for her, but the Lord is really helping her.
• Memo: He has really been leading his family and learning enthusiastically everything he can to guide his family in God's Word. Memo's wife Karina seems very excited to be able to help Liliana. It appears that the Lord is enabling us to equip people to disciple other people and that is very exciting.
• Mike's mom arrived safely on Thursday for about 2 1/2 weeks. She has already been such a blessing and a great help to the family.
  

Today's message was on a "Problem in Many Marriages" and it was about money and why we should be giving to the Lord and helping others in need--because that is what Christ did for us when we were helpless. Many people made comments about how helpful things were. That was a blessing.

Prayer Requests:

• The Lopez family opened their taco restaurant two weeks ago and missed church last Sunday, Wednesday night and today. Morgan was able to talk to them yesterday and encourage them to not let the Lord take second place in their lives.
• Francisco has missed the last two weeks also due to working in his taxi on Sunday. Please pray for these men to trust the Lord to meet their needs. We have invited Francisco and his wife Blanca and son Jonathan for dinner next week. Pray that the Lord will really allow us to communicate Biblical truth to them and that the Holy Spirit will apply it to their hearts.
  

We appreciate your prayers so much. Thank you.
Mike for all the Goldfi

Goldfuss update (January 7)

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you as always for your continued and faithful prayers.

We had an excellent week with the mission team that came from Trinity Bible Church in Greenville, SC with Dr. and Mrs. Greg Mazak. Greg was a great encouragement to Mike, Nancy was a great encouragement to Faith, and the team pitched in with many things, gave out many tracts, saw some different sights, and had tremendous attitudes. Stephanie Capoccia had come before on another team and was a great help to Faith in the kitchen---Faith said she was overwhelmed that the Lord would burden Stephanie to desire to come as He knew just what Faith needed. Praise the Lord.

During the week of busyness with the team, we had a few extra issues. On New Year's night Silvia's son-in-law, Luis, passed away. Silvia called and Greg and I went to the hospital. The hearse took the body back to Silvia's house where there was to be an all night vigil. The casket is placed in the living room for family and friends to come by and see. They sit and drink coffee all night while several men watch over the body to supposedly guard it from evil spirits. I had the opportunity to preach for about a half an hour to the family and friends who were there around midnight. We made it home around 2 AM, if I remember correctly. The next day was the burial and Morgan was able to accompany Silvia and Teresa to the burial. Silvia also has a granddaughter that had to have an emergency appendectomy the next day. Please keep Silvia in your prayers.

Martha, who was in the hospital over Christmas week, is now home. The doctors have put her on steroids and that has helped her but they don't know the cause of her low platelets. We heard from Silvia at church yesterday that Martha has been discouraged and angry about her very difficult situation at home.

Erasmo and Matilde have opened a little restaurant that sells tacos. We took the whole team there for lunch one day last week and everyone loved it. Please pray for the Lord's blessing as they have said that they will close early on Wed.'s so that they can be in church and will not open on Sundays. They had two very bad days of sales on Friday and Saturday so they are being tested.

Nico and Liliana are having some problems. She is becoming more openly defiant of Nico and his leadership in the family, even telling him last week that she wasn't going to church. Please pray for her salvation. She was hitting her daughter Adriana last week because Adriana was singing some SS songs in the house. I had an excellent talk with Nico telling him that he's not alone in all this. There are many ladies in our church in his situation with an unsaved spouse. However, they have to submit to their husbands. At least he's in the position of leadership. He said that he was very encouraged with our talk and, Praise the Lord, his whole family was in church yesterday.

Yesterday we were missing our two older ladies, Sra. Maria and Sra. Gloria. They have been through some hard sicknesses lately. Pray for their health. January 6 is the Day of the Three Kings in Mexico when all the children receive their presents--no Santa Claus, just the three kings, I suppose because of the wise men bringing gifts. Anyway, many people sell in local markets all night long on the 5th. Gabriel and Jose were two who did that and were not in church yesterday, although they have been very faithful recently.

Today starts back up with homeschooling. Please pray for Faith to have the strength that she needs. We just heard on Sat. night from a young lady who may be interested in coming next fall to begin the next school year, and perhaps another one this summer to help us finish up this year. I know we may be greedy, but we'd love to have someone for right now. :-) With Cristi's extra needs and therapies, help even right now would be a huge blessing. Any volunteers? Even for one or two months?

We do appreciate all of your prayers.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfi