http://bellnouvelles.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbbell/
March, 2006
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Bell Nouvelles in short:
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Praises
-good meetings with Marvin Robertson
-the Lord's continued working in members' lives
Requests
-Bible Institute class
-Easter program at church
-a Bible class at the university
-the Lord's direction for a new church
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Dear friends,
Another month has drawn to a close, so I want to take a few minutes
and let you know a little about what the Lord continues to do in and
through us here in Alicante. This month we began with some special
meetings with missionary Marvin Robertson who came down from Madrid
to hold some special meetings at our church. The Lord used him to
touch on some very good topics, and we are thankful for his teaching
and consistant testimony. I am also very thankful for the way our
emphasis this year is going. As I have mentioned before, we are
trying to emphasize personal evangelism in a special way this year. I
have been very encouraged by testimonies from various members of the
congregation about ways that the Lord has opened up doors for them to
witness openly with different people they have contact with. Even
though we may not see many conversions here in Spain, we do see
growth in people's lives as they become more and more bold at sharing
their faith with others.
As we look forward to this coming month, there are two big activities
that you can remember in prayer. First of all, I am teaching another
session in our Bible institute. I will be teaching Introduction to
Biblical Greek. The Lord has given me a class of ten students who are
excited about learning some of the language which the New Testament
was written in. But we are also going to be taking some time to deal
with other matters such as commentaries, word studies, computer
tools, etc. My prayer is that the Lord would use these studies to
strengthen these young people and make them better servants of the
word. We are also working hard with the choir to prepare a short
Easter cantata. Please pray that we would have a good opportunity to
have a testimony before unsaved friends and family members this year
through this program.
I have some very special and exciting prayer requests to share this
month. In the first place I would like to ask special prayer about
the possibility of teaching a Bible class at the University of
Alicante. When I started working there part time four years ago, I
wondered how the Lord would use me there. Over the years as I have
slowly been learning more about the system, I have noticed that
teachers can propose classes in various fields (some of which are
even outside traditional academia) which the students can take for
credit. Lord willing I will be proposing a Bible class for next
year's term. I know that I have several students who are interested
in the class, but the main hurdle right now is to get a department on
campus to back the class (or at least OK it). I need prayer that the
Lord will lead me to the right person, because if I end up at the
wrong person, all the doors could be shut for this and any further
opportunity. I am very excited about this possibility. It could be a
wonderful tool for reaching out to the unsaved. Please pray
specifically for me in the coming weeks as I meet with people who
could possibly back my proposal for this class.
Also, I would like to ask your prayers for the activities that we are
planning this summer. In the first place, we have a special
evangelistic team coming from Bob Jones University in May. We are
looking forward to their ministry in our church through special
services, as well as their work in doing some evangelistic work out
on the streets. Please pray that the Lord would use them to touch the
lives of believers and make contact with unbelievers that we can
follow up. Also this summer we will be having a group of students
come to study Spanish. We are excited about the opportunity to teach
these young people and expose them to the ministry here in Spain. I
trust that the Lord will use their time here in Spain to burden their
hearts for the needs here and around the world. Finally, we would
appreciate your continued prayers concerning the possibility of
planting a new church in a city which is about 30 min. away from
Alicante. The Lord has continued to lay this burden on our hearts,
and we are excited as we start to take steps toward following the
Lord's leading. Pray that the Lord would continue to open doors to
make this step possible and that He would be glorified in all we do.
On the home front, we celebrated a birthday this past month. Andrea
turned six! It is hard for me to believe that we have already reached
that milestone. David and Daniel are doing well too. We were
especially impressed with Daniel tonight. As we were driving along
together, he suddenly called out from the back of the car, "Look at
that castle, kids." I guess that he has learned the common form of
address that mommy and daddy use! Maribel has kept busy by adding new
studies to her schedule. On top of being a mom and organizing studies
and children's classes at church, she has been working towards an
advanced degree in educational psychology here at the University of
Alicante. I am convinced that the Lord is going to open special doors
for future ministry through this training. But it has also been good
for her to make new contacts and be a testimony for Christ among her
classmates and with her teachers.
Thanks again for your prayers.
David & Maribel
david.bell@bluebottle.com
parati semper en MMVI dare omni rationem de ea quae en me est spe
