Bell Nouvelles 8.5

December, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------
Bell Nouvelles in short:
------------------------------------------------------------
Praises
-a good trip to the USA
-special meetings have been a blessing
-new outreach in the park
-spiritual growth in new convert
Requests
-youth retreat
-goals for the new year
-new contacts
------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,
Since the last letter I sent, it seems like so many things have
happened. How we praise the Lord for the good trip that he gave us to
the United States in August and September. We were able to spend four
weeks visiting churches, family, and friends. It was a special
blessing for me to share with many of you what the Lord in doing in
His church here in Alicante. I returned with a renewed desire to be
faithful in the ministry.
Since we got back, things have been very busy. Among the normal
activities of life and ministry, I have made two trips to preach in
other churches. It was a special blessing to be with Juan Alvarez up
in the Basque Region for a weekend of special meetings. We were very
thrilled to meet the believers who have joined the church since the
last time we were there five years ago. I was also able to speak at a
special prayer meeting up near Madrid. The time there with other
pastors and misionaries was a great encouragement as well.
We are very excited about how the Lord continues to work at church.
One ministry that I would like to highlight is our outreach to
children. One of our deacons reorganized the weekly children's club
to be able to have it out in the public park during the warmer months
before winter set in. It was a wonderful testimony to have new
children listen to the Bible lessons and missionary story every week.
We even had two boys come to church one morning for Sunday school!
Maribel was able to sit down with them and explain the entire plan of
salvation with them. Both of them made professions of faith, although
they have not been back to church since. Please pray for the seed
which was planted in their lives.
We continue to see spiritual growth in the lives of the church
people. We are very encouraged by Mari. She accepted the Lord as her
Savior earlier this year, and in spite of many difficulties in her
life, she has remained faithful to the Lord. Her son has also shown
real signs of spiritual growth. This type of growth is a wonderful
encouragement to all! We also appreciate your prayers for a young
couple in our church which will get married in January. This is the
first couple to get married in our church, and we are very excited
about how the Lord has worked in their lives. Please pray that the
Lord will make them a firm family in His church.
As we move into the holiday season, there are many special
activities before us. Please pray for us this weekend as I preach at
a young people's retreat for the Elche youth group. Also, we are
working very hard on our Christmas cantata which, Lord willing, we
will present the Sunday after next. We have encouraged our people
about inviting the unsaved for this program. Please pray that
visitors will come and hear the gospel.
On the home front, the kids continue to grow and mature. Daniel
turned three last month, and he continues to bring much joy to the
family. David and Andrea are full of excitement and activity. How we
praise the Lord for the family He has given us and pray that He will
work in their lives.

Thank you so much for taking time to read about our ministry and pray
for us when you think of us. May the Lord bless you.

David & Maribel
davidbbell@bluebottle.com
En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans

Bell Nouvelles 8.4

!!!!! Please note our new email address: davidbbell@bluebottle.com !!!!! Our old email address (davidbbell@ono.com) will no longer be valid as of next week.

August, 2005

Bell Nouvelles in short:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Praises:

    -Good week at camp

    -Good spirit among the young people

Prayer Requests:

    -Newly saved

    -Preparations for a trip to the States

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear praying friends,

This letter is going to be a short one. I just wanted to take a minute to write a short update before we leave for our short trip to the States. The first week of August I accompanied the young people up to Guadalajara to a Christian camp. The Lord gave us a good week of camp with some good teaching/preaching about letting God control your life. I was able to help out with the teaching during two of the morning sessions. This year we had a very small group at camp from our church due to some conflicts with work schedules for several of the young people. But I am very thankful for the way the Lord is working in their hearts. During the summer months we always try to schedule some special meetings for the young people, and we have been enjoying these times of fellowship.

We would really appreciate your prayers for the Lord's working in hearts. We are seeing some real growth in several, but there are other situations that could show signs of spiritual danger. Please pray for continued growth in the church.

David & Maribel

davidbbell@ono.com

En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans

Bell Nouvelles 8.3

July, 2005

Bell Nouvelles in short:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Praises:

    -Good Men's Retreat

    -Good Children's Camp

    -Salvation Decision

Prayer Requests:

    -Summer camps

    -Preparations for a trip to the States

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear praying friends,

Let me start with one of the biggest blessings of the month. One of our families invited a neighbor, and after three Sundays of attendance, she has accepted Christ as her Savior. What a blessing it is to see how the Lord has been working in her heart and that she is responding. Her son is also responsive to the Gospel! Praise the Lord for this new believer. We still have some others who have attended services recently who need Christ as Savior. Please continue to pray.


June began for us with a men's retreat. We have been holding two retreats a year for the past four years or so with the goal of strengthening the spiritual lives of the men in our church. Many times, they are too busy with work to get involved in other activities, so it is important to have a time organized for them when they can be together and grow in the Word. We invited missionary Juan Álvarez from up north in Spain to come down and give the studies. We had a wonderful time at a camp grounds up in the mountains. How I praise the Lord for what He is doing in the lives of these men!

The last weekend of June, we had a special service to recognize all of the students who have taken a class in the Bible Institute this year. We were also able to give out six certificates for those who have completed the first level of studies. Once again, we thank the Lord for the lives that He is building through this effort. Plans are already under way for our next academic year, as these young people continue learning and growing in the Word.

The first week of July was children's camp up in Guadalajara, near Madrid. We had two young people from the church who went to help as counselors, and two children who went as campers. For our son David, it was his first time at camp. He was so excited about going! Maribel also went to do the driving, to help in the kitchen, and to teach the Bible lessons each morning. She taught about Noah and the ark. Meanwhile I stayed home with Andrea and Daniel. We had a good week together and managed to survive the week without Maribel! Needless to say, we were all glad to have her back when camp was over!

As we look forward, we still have one more camp! I will be going up with the young people from the church the first week of August. I would really appreciate your prayers for that camp. This summer we have had several visitors. Two students from Bob Jones have come to Alicante to study Spanish at the University here. We also had a visit from Amos who teaches Spanish at Bob Jones Academy. Finally, we have a missionary's daughter from Austria who is visiting with us for a few weeks to practice her Spanish. All of these visitors are always a blessing and an encouragement for the Church.

On the homefront, last month was also very special because Maribel and I celebrated our tenth anniversary. We were able to get away for a few days together for some much needed relaxation. When we got back, it seemed like the kids had grown so much, especially Daniel!

The date is approaching quickly for our short trip to the USA. We have many details that we need to work on before we leave, but we are looking forward to being able to see many of you and share some of the many blessings the Lord has given us.

David and Maribel

davidbbell@ono.com

En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans

Bell Nouvelles 8.2

June, 2005

Bell Nouvelles in short:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Praises:

    -Good Easter services and activities

    -Children's club

    -Bible Institute

    -Good visit with my parents

Prayer Requests:

    -Men's retreat

    -Unsaved visitors at church

    -Summer camps

    -Preparations for a trip to the States

    -the salvation of my sister-in-law's husband

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear praying friends,

The short, dark days of winter have finally given way once again to the long, bright days of summer. This May has been a very full and important month for us. It started with the celebration of our tenth anniversary. It was back in 1995 that Maribel and I flew back to Spain after our first year of grad school at BJU to get married here in her church. The Lord has done so many things in our lives in the last ten years that we can only stand back and marvel at His grace to us. The month was also special because my parents came for a visit. We had a wonderful time with them doing numerous activities not only as family but also as they participated in various aspects of the ministry here. Finally, it was also a special month because I presented and defended my dissertation on Bible translation at the University of Alicante. I was so happy that my father could be here for that special occasion. The title of my dissertation is "A Comparative Analysis of Formal Shifts in English Bible Translations with a View Towards Defining and Describing Paradigms." The topic of the Bible has opened up numerous opportunities to be a witness here at this secular university.

But going back a little, I would also like to tell about our Easter activities. The Lord gave us a good Easter, with an excellent cantata -- our choir joined together with the choir from our sister church in Elche --, a wonderful time of communion on a church outing, and finally a good sunrise service in a local park. These activities were all a blessing to the people of the church and an opportunity to give a public testimony for Christ. We had several unsaved visitors for the cantata, including one of my coworkers from the English classes. She was very touched by the program and thanked me so much for inviting her. She even spread the word to others about the program. On our outing, we ended up at a rather crowded camp ground, so when we started to sing and then have a challenge, we had many people listening. And our sunrise service, although not very big, also caught the attention of others who were in the park that morning. How good it is for us to give public testimony for the Lord  in this way. It encourages my heart, and it is a stimulus for our people as well.

After Easter we started our final trimester of the academic year for Bible Institute. I taught a class on Old Testament Introduction. I had a much smaller class this time than last year when I taught the first half of the class, but I am very happy with the group. They have studied very hard, and they each did a project on one of the minor prophets to present it in class. It is a blessing to see these young people get excited about the Bible as they dig deeper into God's word. In April we were also blessed with a visit from Pastor and Mrs. Yearick and Dr. and Mrs. Shelton. Their short visit was a real blessing and encouragement to us.

Please pray for us and for our ministry. This weekend we are having a special men's retreat, and we will have several unsaved men there, as well as several believers with specific problems. We also covet your prayers for the church in general. We have had several unsaved people attending services. This opportunity is very rare, and we have been witnessing to them, trusting that the Spirit will bring them to the point of salvation.

Here at home, the kids continue to grow. What a blessing it is often to see their sincere faith as it develops. We praise the Lord for what He is doing in their lives.

David and Maribel

davidbbell@ono.com

En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans

Bell Nouvelles 8.1 Pictures

I've decided to make a separate post this month with some special pictures, either of family or of people at church.


This young lady has been very special to us this year. She is an exchange student from France who is studying at the university here in Alicante. A missionary in France contacted us a year ago about her time here, and she is currently living with a lady from church. Her sweet Christian spirit has been a blessing to all, and her willingness to be involved in the minstry is a wonderful testimony. We are really going to miss her when she goes back to France at the end of this year!


For Valentine's Day, we had a special meal for couples. This gentleman has been coming to our church for about a year and a half. He was a Flamenco musician when he was younger, and he entertained us with some special guitar music during the supper. I have been working with him on a special number of a hymn to play in a service sometime soon. It has been very enjoyable for both of us.


The Soto family were in our church over ten years ago. Then he took a job in another part of Spain and they left. The Lord recently brought them back, and they have been a real blessing. Emilio has a real gift with people, and they have brought several unsaved vistors with them over the past few months. What a blessing it is to see the people of the church with a burden for souls.


The other day it was snowing up in the mountains, just 45 min. from our house. So we took the kids up to play in the snow. I took this picture of Maribel and liked it so much I decided to publish it here. I realized that I normally publish pictures of the kids, and my wife doesn't get much coverage. So, here she is!


David and Andrea, besides going through chickenpox together with their little brother last month, are also going through the toothless stage. Here they are showing off their respective gaps!


Andrea just turned five this month. Here she is at her party. The kids really had fun hitting this piñata until it finally started to break (we had to help it along a little, or they would have destroyed everything inside). I should have gotten a picture of the kids diving for the toys, but oh well.

Bell Nouvelles 8.1

March, 2005
Bell Nouvelles in short:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Praises:
-Good family retreat
-a good start to new year
-the Lord's working in some families
Prayer Requests:
-Easter cantata
-the children's testimony at school
-increasing emphasis on evangelism
-a new class in the Bible institute
-the salvation of my sister-in-law's boyfriend
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear praying friends,

It is hard to believe that we are coming up on Easter all ready. The year seems to be flying by at a frightening pace. The children are doing well in school, although we pray for them everyday that they would be a good testimony for the Lord there and that He would protect them from bad influences. The activities at church are going well. We are very encouraged by the growth that we see there.

This year I am teaching the adult Sunday school class. We are studying the book of Revelation. It has been a joy for me as I prepare these classes and then teach them to our people. I trust that the Lord will continue to use this study in my life as well as the lives of the church people. The children continue to enjoy their Saturday morning class. Maribel has been organizing the sessions this year; she and the young people have been teaching about spiritual armor. The children have been making their own armor each week. When they finish they are going to wear it for a Sunday morning service to present what they have learned about. That will be a sight!

We have had some very busy weeks recently. Our mother church in Elche held two conferences on the family last month. We were very glad to be able to have a good group present from our church to listen to the preaching/teaching. I was especially glad that my sister-in-law's boyfriend came. He is not saved, although he has been to church several times. The other day I went to his house to help him with some projects and was able to talk to him a little bit more about spiritual things. Please pray for him. He is not closed to the gospel, but it is hard to know if he is really open, either.

The weeks ahead of us promise to be very busy too. Next Sunday we will have our Easter cantata. Please pray that we will have good attendance. We have really encouraged our people to invite unsaved friends and family members. We trust that the Lord will work in hearts through this program. At the end of this month I will be starting another course in our small Bible institute. I'll be teaching about the prophetic and poetic books of the Old Testament. I'm really looking forward to this class, and it looks like I'll have a good group to work with (between 10 and 15). I desire to open their eyes to the beauty of these books of the Old Testament so that they see them in a new light. May God prosper his word.

As many of you know, I have been doing some very concentrated work on my dissertation for the last few months. Things are coming together, praise the Lord, and I if all goes well, I will present it and graduate in May. The Lord has been very good to us in these extremely busy months. I am thankful for all I have learned, and I know the Lord will give me the strength to finish the last push on this project. On the homefront, the children are doing well. Andrea just celebrated her fifth birthday this past weekend. We are thankful for the way the Lord is working in our children's lives, as well as our own.

Thank you for your prayers,

David and Maribel
davidbbell@ono.com
En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans