September 2023 Prayer Letter
Our Pastor who taught us with the pastors we are training.
Another month has quickly come and gone. We have hosted more groups (a total of 138 people) this year than ever before and most of them within the past 2-3 months. We are thrilled to have had so many come to the field where God has placed us. The work that was accomplished and the many souls reached were only because we had these individuals sacrifice their time and money to come help us. We hope each one went home feeling just as blessed as we do.
August was just as busy as the months previous. The highlight was to have our pastor and a team of 15 others from our home church come to Bolivia. Their time here was an encouragement to our whole family. Sometimes having familiar faces and voices around you can do that. During their time here we hosted an international meeting of South American pastors and missionaries associated with our mission board with 7 different countries represented. Several Bolivian pastors each brought a man they are training in the ministry to be a part of a “Timothy” sponsorship. Though many in the group had never met before, it was a wonderful time of fellowship. The local pastors left more excited about the ministry than I have ever seen them.
After the week of conference, we tended to some ministry business and took our home church team to see the last two churches we have planted. At our current church, Eternal Life Baptist Church, we held a special weekend of meetings. On Saturday, we had a large children's meeting with over 200 young people hearing the gospel. This was the largest gathering we have ever had in the new building. While it was a challenge to control that many children, it was a joy to see the church so full. On Sunday, there was a special emphasis on the family. Our members invited their family members to attend the services with them so they could hear the gospel.
One event during the conference we would like to not have experienced was a drunk driver rear-ending our main vehicle and then fleeing. He was later caught but not before hitting another vehicle and a power pole. He is currently in the local prison while his case goes through the legal process which would require him to pay for the damages. Considering how the legal process works here, it could take months to receive a judgement. We doubt he will actually pay for the damages, so we are going to go ahead and fix it ourselves. Please pray for the driver, Richard Chokllu, that God would use this experience to reach him. We gave the family a Bible to give to him, and we invited them all to church but they have not been receptive to us so we don’t know if he will ever receive the Bible.
Now that all the visiting teams have left, things are slowing back down to a normal pace. We are focusing attention on a project we have wanted to do since last year. In April, we had a supporting church come pour a concrete floor in the back yard of our first church, Mount Carmel. Now we want to enclose that floor and use the extra space to create a larger sanctuary. Because the building was originally built as a home, it is limiting the growth of the congregation. This is a project I had in mind when we first bought the property but until now, there was not as much of a need. If we can cover the back floor, it would provide a more open area like we have in our other 2 churches, which has proven beneficial. We have an estimate of $12,000 for the work. We are praying about this, and we are excited to see how God will provide. I would love to see this happen before Christmas.
It is hard to believe we have been at Eternal Life Baptist Church for almost 3 years. When we started, we only had a few people meeting under a small, rented awning struggling to recover from the pandemic. Now there is a strong core of believers under the leadership of Pastor Arturo, and the church has their own place to worship. We have been preparing Pastor Arturo for this, and we believe it is time for them to be autonomous and continue to grow on their own. This church has a promising future, and we are confident they will do well. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to move in that direction. We anticipate this happening before the end of the year.
Thank you for allowing us to represent you here in Bolivia. As we celebrated our 10-year anniversary here last month, we feel honored as we remember all of you who have sacrificed for our family to serve here. As the Lord allows, we look forward to the next 10 years continuing in His service.
