I think I just realized on Friday that I had not written the update last week. It was kind of a crazy week with lots of ups and downs. We thought everything was settled about the loan, but then they gave us a new option that is better than the previous one. There were some tense moments there as it seemed that the real estate agent was not cooperating with the bank, but, praise the Lord, it is all coming together. Lord willing, we will sign on the house Tuesday morning. This Saturday, the young people from Elche and Alicante will come up and we'll have our first official church activity in the house!
Last week I preached in Alicante from 1 John. It was also a special week because the man from Mexico who was here last year working on his doctorate came back for three weeks for a short course and is staying at our house. It has been a blessing to be in contact with him and now to have him in our house. Their family was a real blessing during the year they were living in Alicante. And it has been neat to see how the Lord has really worked in them. On Saturday I had a Bible study with Lorenzo and Ana María to talk about baptism. They have been saved for several years now, but have never been baptized. Lord willing, when the weather gets a bit warmer, they want to be baptized. It is exciting to see the progress in their lives.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
February 6-11
The Lord has been working and we finally have a favorable response from the bank about our loan. This week we should be finalizing details, and we should be signing for the new house sometime in the next two weeks. We are looking forward to making the move and starting to make more contacts as we live there and get to know more people. This weekend we were able to take the young people from Elche and Alicante up to Petrer to pass out tracts. We are trying to systematically cover the city with tracts, and these young people have helped us once again with that effort. We trust that the Lord will continue to give us contacts in this way.
Yesterday I preached in a church down in Murcia for a missionary who is back in the States now. We had good services both in the morning and the evening. It was a special blessing to spend time with one of Maribel's friends who got saved in Elche but now lives in Murcia. We were able to spend the afternoon with her and her two girls. In the morning I preached on two passages from 1 John that describe how we can call God a liar with our actions (1.10 and 5.10). Then in the evening I preached about when God calls us a liar because our actions do not match our confession (1.6, 2.4, 4.20).
Yesterday I preached in a church down in Murcia for a missionary who is back in the States now. We had good services both in the morning and the evening. It was a special blessing to spend time with one of Maribel's friends who got saved in Elche but now lives in Murcia. We were able to spend the afternoon with her and her two girls. In the morning I preached on two passages from 1 John that describe how we can call God a liar with our actions (1.10 and 5.10). Then in the evening I preached about when God calls us a liar because our actions do not match our confession (1.6, 2.4, 4.20).
Monday, February 05, 2007
January 30-February 5
We still have no movement on our . . . [the phone just rang and it was someone asking about our apartment]. We are still waiting on the Lord and trusting Him. This weekend I preached in the church in Elche on Sunday morning. They had asked me to come and share a little about how things are going with our plans to move. I preached from Isaiah 28.16: he that believes shall not make haste. It was a passage that the Lord has been using in my own heart to calm me and keep me trusting in Him as we wait. But the Lord used it to touch other hearts too! In the evening I preached in Alicante on walking by faith, not by sight. After the service, the church had planned a special gathering to recognize the eight years that I have served as pastor in this church. We had a very good crowd and many people shared parts of our ministry that had touched their lives. It was a blessing to hear how God has used us here in Alicante and a challenge to remain faithful to the Lord and allow him to continue to use us in this new ministry.
One interesting thing of the weekend was a wedding we attended on Saturday. The daughter of my parents-in-law's best friends got married, so we went to the wedding. After the ceremony we went to the banquet, but the mother of the bride came to me and told me that we didn't fit at the table with my parents-in-law and that she wasn't sure where to put us. So she put us at the table with the two catholic priests because she thought that we would fit in ok there. One of the priests asked me what I did for a living, so I told him that my profession was teaching but my vocation was preaching the gospel. He wasn't interesting in going too much further, but the other priest's mother was sitting right next to me, and we had much more opportunity to talk.
One interesting thing of the weekend was a wedding we attended on Saturday. The daughter of my parents-in-law's best friends got married, so we went to the wedding. After the ceremony we went to the banquet, but the mother of the bride came to me and told me that we didn't fit at the table with my parents-in-law and that she wasn't sure where to put us. So she put us at the table with the two catholic priests because she thought that we would fit in ok there. One of the priests asked me what I did for a living, so I told him that my profession was teaching but my vocation was preaching the gospel. He wasn't interesting in going too much further, but the other priest's mother was sitting right next to me, and we had much more opportunity to talk.
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