Dear Praying Friends,
It's been a while since we've written.
I was in Ohio preaching at the Jr. 2 camp week at Peniel Bible Camp. I was able to preach on 5 doctrinal words from Romans 3--sin, the righteousness of God, justification, redemption and propitiation. It was fun to try to put all that on the Jr. 2 level, (with practical illustrations). All were very attentive and seemed to keep right up. I pray that these truths will sink deep into their hearts. I was away from our church here for two Sundays. Jon taught SS and Morgan preached the first Sunday. Last Sunday they reversed the roles. We heard very good comments for both Sundays. That is such a blessing that I can be away without worry. Praise the Lord. That would not have happened just a short time ago. Morgan has been doing a great job this month on Wednesday nights. Jon preached in June on the Psalms and it was a great blessing to all who were there to hear him.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Faith and the whole church were organizing VBS. The cooperation this year has been absolutely phenomenal. Everybody has contributed and even asked what more that they could do. Therefore, the load on Faith and the others who normally prepare has been greatly lessened. That is a tremendous blessing and another step forward for our church. We thanked them profusely this morning. Just because all the physical things are ready does not mean everything is ready. We need your prayers. The theme is: A Mighty Fortress is Our God. It is about fortresses, castles and such. There will also be an acted out part of Pilgrim's Progress daily. We will have our VBS from Mon-Thurs this week. Please pray for the Lord to work in hearts.
We have had a good number of returning visitors in the past 2 months--Marbella and 4 children; Leticia and daughter, Maria Elena and her family, her sister Lourdes, and their mother, Lala. They come from a very different ministry but are eating up the preaching. Maria Elena's family is more upper class, but the people in church have been welcoming to them and the feeling seems to be mutual. That is such a blessing to see--that in Christ there is neither rich nor poor. Please pray for the Lord to continue to work.
Today, for the first time since Easter, Martha came. Praise the Lord. Many of you have prayed often for her. There are still some definite needs in her life with an unsaved abusive husband (she doesn't live at home,) problems at work, and a man who is after her romantically. She is very drawn to him. Please pray that she will be drawn more to Christ.
Miguel and Alondra came today with their little boy Cristofer again. They are the couple that lives very far away but come anyway when they can. They told us today that Elsa, (sister) is very depressed. Pray that we will soon have a chance to speak with her. Pray for them also to be saved.
Your prayers are greatly appreciated and needed. There is much spiritual warfare. Thank you for all you do for us.
In Christ,
Mike for all the goldfii
Sunday, July 26
Monday, July 6
Goldfuss update (July 9)
Dear praying friends,
Thank you for praying! We had the team here June 13-22nd. It was a nice time and because of all of their efforts, we had 10 visitors. Lately, things have been busy with four new families coming regularly. So that is a big praise.
Please pray for:
Yet, one of our faithful faithful families is moving farther away---Juana and her sister Reme. They will still be able to come on Sundays, but not on Wednesdays because of the increased distance. That means that Wednesday nights will be rather sparse in attendance even though Sundays are full. Many work from very early (7) until 8 or 9 and make it to church there late or not at all. This is so different from just a few months ago when we had almost as many people at prayer meeting as Sunday morning.
Even though the dynamics change, it is comforting to know that our Lord never changes.
Two people have promised to come to church, but haven't yet: 1. Aide, the girls' gymnastics coach. Her grandma is very ill and has asked all to pray. 2. The people at the fruit stand.
We had a 3 hour talk with Erasmo and Matilde about Abigail, their daughter who has left home again. We left after a good conversation. They had been trying everything to get her to come back. They now really seem to see--that even though the situation is very dangerous for Abby, they need to take their hands off and allow the Lord to deal with her. This is a very hard and heart-breaking situation. Praise for the Lord's upholding grace in their lives and that Abby would be saved and not continue to try to manipulate them and make Matilde feel guilty. We were also able to talk separately with Mildred, their daughter- in- law, about her salvation. Uriel, their son, was unsure about taking the Lord's supper. So it was a really profitable visit. Praise the Lord!
Carissa, 9, left last week to go to Camp Peniel--by herself. We just talked with her this morning and she is very excited. Please pray for the Lord's working in her life through the messages.
We are getting Mikey, Cristi, and MIKE(!) ready to go this week. Mike will be preaching at Junior 2 and appreciates your prayers for eternal changes in the lives of the campers. Cristi will be attending with him that week. Mikey will be going to Teen I the following week.
When the cat is away, the mice will play!!! I (Faith) have fun things planned for the three little ones while the older ones are away. It should be a really special time with them.
The church is preparing for VBS upcoming--July 27th-30th. I need wisdom in organizing that.
Mike has been preparing for his absence for the last 2 weeks. Morgan will be preaching the first week with Jon Crocker the next. Morgan is also preaching on Wednesday nights and Jon will be leading the VBS. Please pray for these men! We are very happy to have Jon and Andrea working with us, and of course, we are always thankful for Morgan. :)
Mike has an opportunity to give some English classes to a group of 5 or 6 men and women. Please pray for the Lord to really use that as an open door for the gospel.
We have had two people who came to us asking how to go about getting some problems right with others that they had offended. What a blessing. They went and talked and the Lord has really blessed.
We do truly depend upon your prayers! Thank you!
In Christ,
Faith for the Family
Thank you for praying! We had the team here June 13-22nd. It was a nice time and because of all of their efforts, we had 10 visitors. Lately, things have been busy with four new families coming regularly. So that is a big praise.
Please pray for:
- Alejandro and Maria Elena--they have been coming and are bringing some relatives. Maria Elena's sister, Lourdes, stated that she would make this her home church and came back yesterday. This family is a result of our prayer as a church to bring us people from churches that have bad doctrine. We met this family through Mikey's basketball. He and the son Hugo are good friends.
- Susana and Mauricio--have been coming since a week before the team came. Their church disbanded several months ago and Susana is concerned about her husband's desire for God since then. They have also brought many family members--brothers and sisters with their children and their parents, but Suzanna and Mauricio remain the ones that have come the last three weeks faithfully.
- Leticia and her daughter, Avat, also have come since the team. Her husband is an alcoholic and they need much prayer. We do not believe that they are true believers.
- Marbella and her four children are unbelievable. She gets all of these children ready and sneaks out to come to church. The problem is not her husband, who allows her to come, but her mother- in- law. They live under her roof and do not pay rent so the mother-in-law insists that she stays away from Christians. She sometimes arrives a little late and has to leave early to get back before the mother-in-law does. Her prayer request is that they can find a place of their own so the mother- in-law has no influence over their family. We cannot go and visit her because of her situation. Please pray for this family. The children are unusually attentive and very happy to be there.
Yet, one of our faithful faithful families is moving farther away---Juana and her sister Reme. They will still be able to come on Sundays, but not on Wednesdays because of the increased distance. That means that Wednesday nights will be rather sparse in attendance even though Sundays are full. Many work from very early (7) until 8 or 9 and make it to church there late or not at all. This is so different from just a few months ago when we had almost as many people at prayer meeting as Sunday morning.
Even though the dynamics change, it is comforting to know that our Lord never changes.
Two people have promised to come to church, but haven't yet: 1. Aide, the girls' gymnastics coach. Her grandma is very ill and has asked all to pray. 2. The people at the fruit stand.
We had a 3 hour talk with Erasmo and Matilde about Abigail, their daughter who has left home again. We left after a good conversation. They had been trying everything to get her to come back. They now really seem to see--that even though the situation is very dangerous for Abby, they need to take their hands off and allow the Lord to deal with her. This is a very hard and heart-breaking situation. Praise for the Lord's upholding grace in their lives and that Abby would be saved and not continue to try to manipulate them and make Matilde feel guilty. We were also able to talk separately with Mildred, their daughter- in- law, about her salvation. Uriel, their son, was unsure about taking the Lord's supper. So it was a really profitable visit. Praise the Lord!
Carissa, 9, left last week to go to Camp Peniel--by herself. We just talked with her this morning and she is very excited. Please pray for the Lord's working in her life through the messages.
We are getting Mikey, Cristi, and MIKE(!) ready to go this week. Mike will be preaching at Junior 2 and appreciates your prayers for eternal changes in the lives of the campers. Cristi will be attending with him that week. Mikey will be going to Teen I the following week.
When the cat is away, the mice will play!!! I (Faith) have fun things planned for the three little ones while the older ones are away. It should be a really special time with them.
The church is preparing for VBS upcoming--July 27th-30th. I need wisdom in organizing that.
Mike has been preparing for his absence for the last 2 weeks. Morgan will be preaching the first week with Jon Crocker the next. Morgan is also preaching on Wednesday nights and Jon will be leading the VBS. Please pray for these men! We are very happy to have Jon and Andrea working with us, and of course, we are always thankful for Morgan. :)
Mike has an opportunity to give some English classes to a group of 5 or 6 men and women. Please pray for the Lord to really use that as an open door for the gospel.
We have had two people who came to us asking how to go about getting some problems right with others that they had offended. What a blessing. They went and talked and the Lord has really blessed.
We do truly depend upon your prayers! Thank you!
In Christ,
Faith for the Family
Tuesday, June 2
Goldfuss update (June 2)
Dear Praying Friends,
Last week, Mike and Carissa left at 3:45 AM on Monday to go to the border to meet Jon, Andrea, and Paul Crocker to drive back in with them. What a whirlwind trip! The Lord protected us as we came upon a horrible accident with two tractor trailers. We followed a path made by another truck over rugged terrain to go off the road and around the accident. All of this was an hour and a half delay with another hour delay at the border. We don't have AC in our van since it is not needed at 10,000 feet. The AC has a leak, and we never bothered to fix it. That was a mistake. The official temperature in Texas---99 degrees. :-) On Monday night, Carissa and I were able to buy almost everything that we needed and then took a much needed dip in the pool around 11 PM before going to bed. On Tuesday, we finished our shopping early, cleaned the van, packed, and headed over the border with the Crockers. We arrived at fellow GFA missionaries, the Zartmans in Monterrey about 9:30 PM. The next day we traveled all day to get to Mexico City by 9:00 pm. Usually there is terrible traffic getting into the city. We have waited 3 hours before, but the traffic never stopped and we made it home in an hour! That was such a wonderful blessing after a long, hard trip.
The Crockers are getting situated in the cabin and it is a real joy to be able to share that with people.
Friday and Saturday were occupied in a conference on evangelism, organized by another missionary here in Mexico City. It was an excellent conference; and I was able to take Jon Crocker, Morgan, and Humberto both days. Memo attended with us on Saturday. What an excellent reminder and challenge of what our evangelistic content and faithfulness should include.
We were missing about 30 people on Sunday who are regular attenders. Pray that the Lord would work in different hearts and meet specific needs. There are some who need to make things right between each other in the church. I don't believe that it is an accident that our SS lesson the last two weeks from Hebrews 13 has dealt with: "Let brotherly love continue." Pray that the Lord would work in all of our hearts and produce in us brotherly love for each in our church.
Sunday was an excellent opportunity for Faith to help Nico and Liliana with their little boy and discipline during her Sunday school class in the nursery. Even though that has been a subject of preaching and teaching, sometimes plain examples (using our own little cherubs) have to be demonstrated. There is so much history of abuse in people's pasts that it is extremely hard for them to discipline without thinking that they are abusing. Please pray for the Lord enable them to understand the difference and to truly discipline in love.
Abigail, Erasmo and Matilde's daughter, had left home several weeks ago but returned several days later. She left again this past Thursday and has not come back. Please pray for the Lord to save her and for wisdom for Erasmo and Matilde. Martha has not been for several MONTHS now, not weeks. She will not answer my phone calls. She answered one of Morgan's calls, so please pray that he will have wisdom in trying to talk with her again. She is living in sin and needs to leave a relationship with a man who is not her husband.
Please pray for Faith and two of our children who will be finishing school this week. Summer activities are right around the corner, so we need prayer for them to be able to finish. We need desire, patience and ability.
We are very happy to have the Crockers with us, and we were very surprised at their Spanish abilities. Jon is going to be incorporated into preaching some Wednesday nights. Morgan will be taking over the Teen meetings once a month as well as starting a teen Sunday school class. Jon and Andrea will be starting a Young Couples meeting one time per month. So our Saturdays will be something like this:
June 13---22 we will be having the BJU Spanish team. There is much to be done between now and then. We are planning on having three nights of special evangelistic services. Please pray that the Lord would guide us to people whose hearts He is preparing. There is one particular couple, Rene and Elvira, who attended the three special services last year with the team. They never returned. Please pray that they would come back again this year.
We thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and financial support.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
Last week, Mike and Carissa left at 3:45 AM on Monday to go to the border to meet Jon, Andrea, and Paul Crocker to drive back in with them. What a whirlwind trip! The Lord protected us as we came upon a horrible accident with two tractor trailers. We followed a path made by another truck over rugged terrain to go off the road and around the accident. All of this was an hour and a half delay with another hour delay at the border. We don't have AC in our van since it is not needed at 10,000 feet. The AC has a leak, and we never bothered to fix it. That was a mistake. The official temperature in Texas---99 degrees. :-) On Monday night, Carissa and I were able to buy almost everything that we needed and then took a much needed dip in the pool around 11 PM before going to bed. On Tuesday, we finished our shopping early, cleaned the van, packed, and headed over the border with the Crockers. We arrived at fellow GFA missionaries, the Zartmans in Monterrey about 9:30 PM. The next day we traveled all day to get to Mexico City by 9:00 pm. Usually there is terrible traffic getting into the city. We have waited 3 hours before, but the traffic never stopped and we made it home in an hour! That was such a wonderful blessing after a long, hard trip.
The Crockers are getting situated in the cabin and it is a real joy to be able to share that with people.
Friday and Saturday were occupied in a conference on evangelism, organized by another missionary here in Mexico City. It was an excellent conference; and I was able to take Jon Crocker, Morgan, and Humberto both days. Memo attended with us on Saturday. What an excellent reminder and challenge of what our evangelistic content and faithfulness should include.
We were missing about 30 people on Sunday who are regular attenders. Pray that the Lord would work in different hearts and meet specific needs. There are some who need to make things right between each other in the church. I don't believe that it is an accident that our SS lesson the last two weeks from Hebrews 13 has dealt with: "Let brotherly love continue." Pray that the Lord would work in all of our hearts and produce in us brotherly love for each in our church.
Sunday was an excellent opportunity for Faith to help Nico and Liliana with their little boy and discipline during her Sunday school class in the nursery. Even though that has been a subject of preaching and teaching, sometimes plain examples (using our own little cherubs) have to be demonstrated. There is so much history of abuse in people's pasts that it is extremely hard for them to discipline without thinking that they are abusing. Please pray for the Lord enable them to understand the difference and to truly discipline in love.
Abigail, Erasmo and Matilde's daughter, had left home several weeks ago but returned several days later. She left again this past Thursday and has not come back. Please pray for the Lord to save her and for wisdom for Erasmo and Matilde. Martha has not been for several MONTHS now, not weeks. She will not answer my phone calls. She answered one of Morgan's calls, so please pray that he will have wisdom in trying to talk with her again. She is living in sin and needs to leave a relationship with a man who is not her husband.
Please pray for Faith and two of our children who will be finishing school this week. Summer activities are right around the corner, so we need prayer for them to be able to finish. We need desire, patience and ability.
We are very happy to have the Crockers with us, and we were very surprised at their Spanish abilities. Jon is going to be incorporated into preaching some Wednesday nights. Morgan will be taking over the Teen meetings once a month as well as starting a teen Sunday school class. Jon and Andrea will be starting a Young Couples meeting one time per month. So our Saturdays will be something like this:
- 1st Sat.--Men's meeting
- 2nd --Women's meeting
- 3rd--Teen's meeting
- 4th--Young couple's meeting
June 13---22 we will be having the BJU Spanish team. There is much to be done between now and then. We are planning on having three nights of special evangelistic services. Please pray that the Lord would guide us to people whose hearts He is preparing. There is one particular couple, Rene and Elvira, who attended the three special services last year with the team. They never returned. Please pray that they would come back again this year.
We thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and financial support.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii
Wednesday, May 13
Goldfuss update (May 13)
Dear Praying Friends,
You should see the cabin!!! That's why we have attached pictures. Some men came and sanded and gave 4 coats of varnish. The floor should be dry soon so that we can move the furniture back into the cabin. Then it will have its last clean-over before the Crockers come at the end of the month. Please pray as the Crockers get everything packed up and ready to head for the border. Mike is planning on driving to Texas to help them on the 15 hour or so trip to Mexico City.
Praises:
Here are some of his articles:
THERE is NEVER A DULL MOMENT—NEVER.
Please pray for all of us to know Christ Jesus better and to understand His great love. Pray that this would be a wonderful deterrent to sin in our daily lives.
In Christ,
Mike and Faith for all the Goldfii
You should see the cabin!!! That's why we have attached pictures. Some men came and sanded and gave 4 coats of varnish. The floor should be dry soon so that we can move the furniture back into the cabin. Then it will have its last clean-over before the Crockers come at the end of the month. Please pray as the Crockers get everything packed up and ready to head for the border. Mike is planning on driving to Texas to help them on the 15 hour or so trip to Mexico City.
Praises:
- Marbella and her children came back to church on Sunday!
- Sr. Alejandro and Sra. Maria Elena and their family also came back--this was their second Sunday. This is the family we have met at Mikey's basketball.The ladies are teaching the younger ladies with love and humility, and the younger women seem to be responding well.
- 13 year old Miguel—Nico and Liliana's son is still away from home—probably with relatives.
- Matilde and Erasmo's daughter,Abigail, 18, just left home on Monday. Please pray for these families.
- For those in the church who are struggling under debt.
Here are some of his articles:
Matthew Loves to DrawMikey even puts announcements in his paper: "ANNOUNCING EVERYONE--Brush your teeth. We are going to the dentist on Saturday."
Matthew draws and draws and draws. "I love to draw", said Matthew. Please see Matthew's bed for the results.
Cristi Does Her Best
Cristi Goldfuss, who began school this morning at 7AM finished by 1 o'clock. We here at the Daily Goldfi want to congratulate her on a job well done.
Matthew's Day With Dad
Matthew, who got to go with dad visiting the people, got to spend a whole day with dad. "I saw a boy who got sick by the bicycle path", said Matthew. "His mother was comforting him" noted Matthew who was present at the scene.
Car Gets Stolen At Gymnastics
Paviola's mother was held up with a gun as she waited outside gymnastics in her car. We are glad to report that Paviola's mother was unhurt, but only a little shaken up. Carissa said, "I was getting ready to do a roundoff when one of the workers ran in and whispered to the owner of the gym. Then they both ran out. I was getting ready to do it again when 5 year old Natalia (one of Cheri's friends) ran in and screamed, 'There's a man out there with a gun and they just stole Paviola's car.' (of course, in Spanish) ". When asked if gymnastics class was cancelled, Cristi said, "No, we just kept right on going after we saw that she was alright."
THERE is NEVER A DULL MOMENT—NEVER.
Please pray for all of us to know Christ Jesus better and to understand His great love. Pray that this would be a wonderful deterrent to sin in our daily lives.
In Christ,
Mike and Faith for all the Goldfii
Sunday, May 3
Goldfuss update (May 3)
Dear Praying Friends,
A lady from a supporting church just asked Faith for some specific prayer requests so we are pretty much copying her letter for our update this week.
So much is going on that my head is spinning! All churches were to be closed and they were giving out fines to those who did not comply. Our neighborhood has had 2 very large fiestas through all of this swine flu epidemic. (I guess drinking reunions are permitted, but not worshiping reunions.) We prayed about what to do. Mike decided to close the church and to open our home. If anyone wanted to come we were worshiping with our family. Over 40 people showed up. This is about 2/3 of the church. We were happy with the turnout . Then we had a meal with everyone here. There were 4 visitors. One was Gabriel's unsaved Mormon mother.
Prayer requests:
Faith for the Family
A lady from a supporting church just asked Faith for some specific prayer requests so we are pretty much copying her letter for our update this week.
So much is going on that my head is spinning! All churches were to be closed and they were giving out fines to those who did not comply. Our neighborhood has had 2 very large fiestas through all of this swine flu epidemic. (I guess drinking reunions are permitted, but not worshiping reunions.) We prayed about what to do. Mike decided to close the church and to open our home. If anyone wanted to come we were worshiping with our family. Over 40 people showed up. This is about 2/3 of the church. We were happy with the turnout . Then we had a meal with everyone here. There were 4 visitors. One was Gabriel's unsaved Mormon mother.
Prayer requests:
- We just helped a couple move out of the cabin (Marcos and Ruth) and into an apartment. We miss them. Pray for Cheri and Caralyn as Ximena is their very sweet friend and they are going to really miss her.
- We are getting the cabin ready for new missionaries, Jon and Andrea Crocker, to come at the end of May. Mike has a man coming tomorrow to sand and varnish the wood floor. Pray for wisdom for us to help the Crockers in the best way so that they can get a good start at being missionaries. Pray that we will remember everything that would really be a big help for them to get settled. (Sometimes it is easy to forget how they might feel since it is home to us.) And that we would forget anything that wouldn't be helpful to them spiritually.
- Pray for Juana as they need to get out of where they are and the only place that they could find to live is rather far away.
- Pray for us as we finish homeschooling. Matthew and Cheri are done. Carissa has only Science to finish and Mikey and Cristi should be done within the month. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please continue to pray for Cristi as she will continue to have therapy throughout the summer. She is doing very well.
- Pray as we try to influence our children and our people to truly love God with their whole hearts. Pray that we would love Him with our whole hearts and that the everyday chores would not make us grow cold.
- Pray for Jason Boyle who is with us now and may be coming to Mexico very soon as a missionary. He will be traveling back to the US this next Friday. Pray that we would be able to help him get established here in Mexico very soon.
- Pray for the Victor LaBelle family (who are working here from the States. He is a former missionary kid). Pray as they just returned to Mexico from a business trip to the States--that the Lord would keep the family free from the flu.
- Pray for Rebekah Buccio as she prepares to help us teach school and piano for 1st semester next year. Pray that we would find another teacher for second semester.
- Pray for Reme (our Spanish teacher for the children and all around wonderful helper). She may need to stay with us during the week as her family is moving farther away. This is Juana's sister (see above #3). It would take her 1 hour and 45 minutes in public transportation to get to our home each day. Pray for decisions that she needs to make.
Faith for the Family
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