A Heart Story of God's Love

In January, 2007 I went to see my cardiologist for a routine visit. For the last several years, I have been ever six months so that he can monitor the degeneration of my congenital heart valve problem. My visit in January was not much different other times. As on previous occasions, he informed me that my condition was slightly worse than the last visit, but he asked me to have an ultrasound at the hospital to get a second opinion and to be able to make more precise measurements of the valve and the aorta. The hospital called me to schedule the appointment for March 15th.

Thursday, March 15th began like any other day. At noon I went in to the hospital for the ultrasound. The actual ultrasound was very normal; however, when the doctor finished, he turned to me and told me point blank that I was in pretty bad shape. The diameter of my aorta was within the risk zone. It had been stretched to the point that it was in danger of rupture. He told me that I needed surgery soon. The following morning, my heart specialist called me at home to let me know that he was going to be talking to the surgeons that morning and would try to schedule the surgery for as soon as possible. I assumed that there would be a significant amount of time between the diagnosis and the surgery, but he suggested that it would be best to have the surgery within a month's time. He sent me immediately to begin all of the tests that would be necessary before the operation and scheduled me to talk to the surgeon two weeks from that Friday. The next two weeks were very difficult weeks. We had just purchased a house in Petrer and were trying to paint so that we could move over the Easter holiday. All of the sudden, all of our planning came to a screeching halt. But until I talked to the surgeon to find out the date that he was planning on, I didn't want to tell everybody.

Finally, Friday, March 30 rolled around. I was ready to talk to my surgeon. I had downloaded and watched a live video of the operation that I would be having. I had done some reading up about the surgery and the recovery and was ready with all of my questions. What I was not ready for was the date! My doctor, complaining that he had not received the results of my CAT scans yet, turned to the nurse and asked, "How am I supposed to operate on Monday if I don't even have the CAT scans yet?" I reluctantly asked him which Monday he was talking about, and he informed me that he was talking about that Monday, in three days. He sat down with us and explained the procedure to us and all of the risks involved. A bypass, he told us, was a bit easier: the heart would be stopped for 15 to 30 minutes. A normal valve replacement would mean stopping the heart between 30 minutes and one hour. But since they had to replace the section of my aorta which had been stretched (and that involved fooling with the coronary arteries), my heart would be stopped anywhere from one hour to an hour and a half. There was always a danger that for some reason my heart would not start back up or that some of the other organs could shut down since the heart was not functioning. My only thought was that I was completely in the Lord's hands. The surgeon was very confident about his part of the surgery. The major risk was out of man's hands. And so they then scheduled me to come in on Sunday morning. I managed to get permission to sing in the Easter cantata at church on Sunday morning as long as I made it to the hospital by 1:00. So I spent my Sunday morning in church and Sunday afternoon preparing for open heart surgery. I wrote two letters to my wife, only one of which would be read. But I wanted to be prepared for the worst. And the Lord gave me a peace about what would happen the next day. I did not feel an absolute confidence that I would come through the surgery without problems. But I was ready to accept whatever the Lord had in store for me. Psalm 23:5 was a great comfort to me: I could count on God's presence, even in the valley of the shadow of death.

Nearly Perfect Surgery

Monday, April 2 began early with all the preparations for surgery. By 8:30 I was in the operating room with the anesthesiologist. My next memory was a strange sensation that I couldn't open my eyes or breath. And then I opened my eyes and saw my wife and my surgeon (and a student of mine who works in post-op). The doctor later informed me that my heart was stopped for 71 minutes while they worked on the valve and the aorta. They found that the portion of the aorta that was stretched out was above the coronaries so they were able to save some time and not have to re-implant the coronaries in the synthetic aorta. Everything had gone better than planned. Monday and Tuesday were full of discomfort and, at times, pain. The worst part was probably the severed sternum. Any movement in my upper body, including breathing, was painful. After slightly more than 24 hours, they moved me back up to a normal room to continue my recovery there. By the following day, my doctor got me out of bed for the first time, and I took my first steps. Everything was exhausting at that point. I remember feeling completely worn out after eating a bowl of soup. Sleeping was complicated by the fact that I had to lie on my back, and the plasticized mattress cover made me to sweat a lot. But every test I had seemed to indicate that I was experiencing a better-than-normal recovery. On Saturday, my surgeon offered to let me go home one day early, but I decided to stay the full week and go home after they had changed my bandages the next morning. When I arrived home on Sunday afternoon, I felt decent. It was just nice to be back home after what had seemed (at that time) like a long time in the hospital.

On Monday afternoon we learned that Vicente, a dear man from our congregation, had gone home to be with the Lord that morning. Maribel and I ended up going to the funeral home that afternoon and plans were made for the funeral the following morning. And so, on Tuesday, a week and a day after my surgery, I stood up before a group of mostly unsaved family and friends and preached a funeral message. But for as much as people told me that I looked great, I did not feel great. Every night that week I woke up in a cold sweat. And my temperature was almost constantly slightly higher than normal. However, my doctor had told me that a low fever was normal, especially in younger patients. He had told me not to worry about it as long as it was not a high fever. Finally, after nine days at home, my temperature started to rise, so we returned to the hospital for what I assumed would be a little bit of blood work.

Complications

I realized how wrong I was when the nurse brought me my pajamas, the uniform I would wear every day for the next 51 days! A new doctor explained to me how serious my situation was. The fact that there was no apparent reason for the fever which I had been experiencing over the last week and a half led them to assume that I had an infection in my blood stream which was attacking the new heart valve, and since the valve was made of non-organic material, the body was not defending it. I began an aggressive antibiotic treatment immediately, and over the next few days the doctors began to eliminate other possible causes for my fever. During one of the tests, the same doctor who had seen me just a month earlier when all of this began examined my new valve with an ultrasound, and then asked me a question which really surprised me. "Did they tell you that your valve has a slight leak?" Of course they hadn't told me anything like that. When I went home everything was in perfect shape. "Well," he continued, "you've got a leak now, and there appear to be small nodules on the valve's outer ring." My surgeon came to visit me immediately when he received the results. It was the worst possible news. The nodules appeared to be the encrustation of the infection, and the leak meant that something had already destroyed enough of the valve that there was a slight flow of blood around the valve instead of through it. Everything was still pretty sketchy, but they had the first solid evidence for a plausible cause for my fever. At that point I was still upset about the thought of having to spend more time in the hospital, and I feared that this might mean I would have to spend all six weeks that the antibiotic treatment would take. The surgeon, however, informed me that there was little to no hope that the antibiotics would do anything to kill the infection that was already attacking the valve. Since it had already encrusted itself on the valve, the antibiotics would not be effective. The only solution was to repeat the operation. The following day, another doctor discovered an abnormality in my right eye. The diagnosis was that microscopic pieces from the valve had flowed through the blood stream and formed a clot in the tiny blood vessels in the back of the eye. When my doctor came to see me on Wednesday, he was no longer tentative. I had an endocarditis, and the only solution was to operate. He had already cleared a slot for me the following Thursday in the operating room and was ready to perform the surgery again. I asked him if there was not another option, but he told me that it was the only way. What was more, he informed me that this operation was much more complicated and dangerous than the first. In that operation, they had been dealing with a strong heart with a valve problem. Now, however, they would be operating on a heart that had just been through major trauma, with the added complication that the area around the valve had been under attack by a virus. The risk factor was now six times higher. And if we waited any longer it could jump to double that.

That was a very low moment for us. It was very hard to understand why God had allowed me to come through the first surgery just to go through it all again. At that moment, some 25 days after open heart surgery, I felt that I did not have the strength to go through it again. I was sure that if I had to go back into the operating room, I would not come out alive. I told a friend that night, that I saw only two options for myself: I could get bitter at God for allowing me to go through a situation that was really unfair, or I could accept this too as part of his "good and perfect" plan for my life (James 1:17). I knew the second was the only option that could really help me, but it was strangely difficult to accept. I also had to realize that when I gave my life to the Lord years ago, submitting myself to His will, it was not just for that which I approved of. My surrender was for whatever God wanted to do with my life. And now, if He had a purpose in taking me to heaven "early", even though it seemed that it would have been easier in the first operation, I had to accept that as part of His plan. Maribel and I cried and claimed the victory. We knew once again that we were in the Lord's hands.
God's doings

But that is when things started to change! Friday I suffered through another ultrasound, this time from inside the esophagus (yes, swallowing that wand was not comfortable). The same doctor who had done my other two ultrasounds spent 15 minutes examining the valve from every possible angle (even from within the stomach looking back up toward the heart) and finally gave the verdict: no infection. I almost skipped back to my room (even though I was far from being able to skip, physically speaking!). And then came my surgeon with the best news: no operation! God had answered our prayers. Just two days before, my surgeon had assured me that surgery was the only option; the same man was now standing in front of me, telling me that I no longer needed the operation. The slight leak was still there, but it was not a problem as long as the infection was not continuing to eat away at the valve.

The only bad news was that I would have to finish out the six week antibiotic treatment that I had already started. But compared to going through the surgery again, six weeks in the hospital was nothing. In fact, there was even the possibility that I could go home and finish my antibiotics at home. As the weeks dragged on, however, and I could not go home because of a conflict between the antibiotics and the anticoagulant, it became harder and harder for me to stay in the hospital. One of the most difficult things was when the kids came to visit and I began to realize that after spending so much time away from them, I was no longer the same part of their lives that I had always been. I felt like I was just a person they visited, but I was no longer their daddy. But the hospital was full of other opportunities for me. I was able to read quite a bit, and the Lord gave me many opportunities to be a witness and a testimony for Him.

Coming Down the Final Stretch

Finally, Wednesday May 30th came when I received my last antibiotic treatment through the i.v. All that was left at that point was for the oral anticoagulant I had been taking for weeks (the one that was canceled out by the antibiotics) to start taking effect so that they could unplug me from the anticoagulant i.v. My doctor promised me that I would be home by the weekend. But it did not happen. On Sunday, however, my levels were slightly better so they disconnected me for two hours and let me leave the hospital with Maribel and the kids. But after two hours I was back and hooked up again. But that time was so special. I cannot describe the emotions I felt to wear something other than pajamas, feel the sun on my skin again, and best of all, spend time with my family outside of the hospital! Back in the hospital though time kept dragging on. And then came the big scare again. On Wednesday night I felt my temperature rising. It was the first time I had had a fever since late April when the antibiotics had kicked in and controlled the fever that had returned me to the hospital. That night I lay in my bed shivering and thinking about what this would mean. Many days when my doctor had come to see me, she had asked me if I had had a fever. That could be the sign that the infection had hidden somewhere in my body, and now it was back. That night I cried again as I prayed to the Lord. Could it be that I would still have to face that surgery? When my doctor came to see me in the morning, I asked if this meant more time in the hospital and more antibiotics. "No," she told me. "If the antibiotics didn't kill it before, they won't work now." But the Lord did not leave me in that valley for long. As it turned out, it seemed to be an infection of the i.v. They moved the i.v. to the other arm, and the fever never returned. In fact, on Thursday June 7th, my anticoagulant levels came into range and they sent me home.

Conclusion

"Why did all this happen to you?" is a question that some have asked (and perhaps many have thought). And to be truthful, I asked it as well. All I can say is that God is much greater than we are. We tend to think in terms of a single purpose, but of course God can control a much greater area than we can imagine. I suspect that God did not have one single purpose in this whole situation. Rather, God was doing multiple things in many lives. I know in my own life He did many things. There is nothing like having to face death to remind us how to live. There were also lessons of faith and surrender. I was reminded like never before that my life was not my own. And I was tested, as I had not been in years, about whether or not I would accept God's will no matter what. God gave me the opportunity to witness to many people through this situation. I even had many special opportunities with believers. Several church people opened up to me about problems, and I was able to give Biblical counsel from my hospital bed. But I know that God has done and is doing things that are beyond what I can even imagine. All I can say is that God is truly good, and I praise Him for His infinite love that never abandoned me.

David Bell, Petrer, Spain 2007

August 19

We have been living here in Petrer for a month and a half. There have been so many things to do to get settled and to prepare for the ministry that the Lord has called us to. We have had services here at the house during this time, and we praise the Lord for the wonderful times of worship and fellowship. Lorenzo and Ana María have come up every week from Alicante and are hoping to be able to move here sometime before the end of the year. We have had several other visitors from the Alicante church that have encouraged us greatly by their visit. We continue to work with María Eugenia, a lady we met here. Her situation, however, has gone through a rather drastic change. She and her unsaved husband came over last month and spent the morning with us. Everything looked very encouraging. That evening, however, he informed her that he wants a divorce. She has been to several of our Sunday services and come by the house a number of times to talk. But if the situation continues as it is, she will probably end up moving away from Petrer. We continue to pray for her and trust that the Lord will work His will out.

At the end of July, I went up to Guadalajara to speak in a youth camp. The Lord gave me to opportunity to share with the teens some messages from the book of Ecclesiastes. I felt a special freedom as I spoke, and the Lord moved hearts. It was truly a special opportunity to see the Lord work. This coming week we will be headed back up to camp for a week of family camp. Then, Lord willing, we will be headed up north to visit a former neighbor of ours. Felisa came to services in Alicante on several occasions, so we trust that this visit will give new opportunities for witness.

We have been preparing several projects for this new ministry in Petrer. One is the legal organization of an association through which we will be able to organize various aspects of the ministry such as open bank accounts, rent buildings, print literature, etc. We are also working to prepare an evangelistic website to back all of the tracts that we will be handing out.

Finally, preparation is on for an Intensive Bible Institute in the Basque region of Spain. Lord willing, the second week of September we will be headed up that way to give a series of lectures on the book of Ezekiel. We trust that the Lord will use these messages to touch hearts and encourage believers.

July 10

After so long, it is hard to know where to start. My life was abruptly interrupted in March with the news of heart surgery. Just when I seemed to be over the worst of it, a new phase began that I had never imagined. It seems that I managed to catch a virus during the operation that threatened the new new valve. I went back into the hospital and wasn't able to come back home for almost two months. The Lord was very good to us in answering our prayer and in the end a second operation was not necessary, even though it seemed immanent. While in the hospital I was able to read a lot and do some thinking. I was also able to witness to quite a few people. It was even a profitable time to minster to church people. Many of the ones who came to visit me really opened up about problems.

When I finally did get out of the hospital, the group of students from BJU was here already and waiting for me. We had a good month of classes with them. I did some of the teaching along with Maribel, and I gave the majority of the daily challenges from the Bible. This year was special because we took a longer trip with the group up to Toledo and Madrid. We were able to spend Sunday in Madrid, and we all participated in the services. We sang as a group, and a good number of the students gave testimonies. It was a blessing to get to know these students, and many of them had a very strong impact on the Spanish families they stayed with.

Just two days after we finished classes with the students, the Musical Mission Team from BJU came to visit us. The highlight of the visit for us was a concert here in Petrer. This was the first public evangelistic activity we have had here. We have distributed tracts and done some witnessing on the streets, but this was our first opportunity to share the gospel to a group of people. The town hall allowed us to use a very nice auditorium (and even printed posters of the group) and there was a good turn out from the town (along with many believers from both Elche and Alicante). We are so thankful for the seed sown in people's lives through the music and testimonies. The group also participated in the services in both Elche and Alicante on Sunday and were a blessing to church people and visitors there as well.

The day the choir left, Maribel left for camp with David and Andrea. I ended up staying at home with Daniel. The Lord gave them a good week at camp and helped us out at home as we tried to survive on our own! The Sunday after camp was a very special one for us because we held our first service here in Petrer. We will be meeting in our house at the moment. Lorenzo and Ana Maria, the couple who is taking steps to move to this city to help us with the planting of this church, came up along with two other families from the church in Alicante. We had a very simple but nice service. We are excited to see how the Lord has been working to build His church. We have several contacts that we pray the Lord will touch, and we plan to continue our work with evangelism, trusting that the Lord will give us more fruit. Please pray for us as we labor here!

The months I was in the hospital were very hard on Maribel and the kids. I praise the Lord that He helped them through those months. Since I got out of the hospital, things have been kind of wild for all of us. The kids finished school, we taught the BJU students, we took 14 college students on a five day trip, we organized a concert for the BJU choir team, we moved from Alicante to Petrer and we held our first service! It has been a busy month, but one that has been full of blessing! Thank you so much for your prayers for us.

First Service

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Originally uploaded by David_B_Bell

This is our first service. We are meeting in our garage right now. There were several families from Alicante who came up to be with us this Sunday.

BJU Musical Mission Team

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Originally uploaded by David_B_Bell

Here is the BJU Musical Mission Team singing in Petrer. We had good attendance for this first public evangelistic outreach in our new city.

El Cid

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Originally uploaded by David_B_Bell

This is the view from our front door. Here the clouds are coming up from behind and flowing over the top of the mountain.

February 27-March 5

        On Tuesday, Feb. 27 we signed on the house in Petrer. We rejoiced as we considered all that the Lord has done to try our faith and strengthen us through this situation. It truly has been a miracle. On Saturday we had the young people from Elche and Alicante over to the house for their weekly meeting. It was a blessing to be able to meet with them and challenge them in this new house. We want it to be a place that God continually uses to gather believers and encourage them in their walk with Him. We have a beautiful view of a local mountain out the front door, so I spoke to the young people from Zachariah 4.7-8 about God's ability to move mountains. But in order to move mountains, first there must be a mountain, and many times we see that God allows a mountain in our life to teach us many lessons.

        On Sunday I preached in the evening in Alicante. I spoke from Matthew 15 about the gentile lady who came to ask Jesus to heal her daughter. It seemed as if Jesus ignored her at first. Then his answer was very direct and could even have been interpreted as insulting. But all this seems to have been a test of her faith which caused her to exercise that faith even more. Many times the Lord does not give us what we ask for immediately, but it is not because He ignores us. Rather He brings us to the point of exercising our faith so as to increase our faith. As I mention this, I continue to think about the sale of our apartment here in Alicante. I have prayed fervently about this matter and am continuing to trust in the Lord that He will give us the buyer that we need.

February 12-26

        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.

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).

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.

January 23-29

        We waited all week to see what the Lord would do with the sale of our apartment. But in the end, it looks like the Lord has a different plan. The couple that wanted to negotiate a price was not in the position to do so yet, so we are going to have to begin to move our other options with the bank that will allow us to buy the house in Petrer and then sell the apartment in Alicante. It is a good option, but it is a little bit more expensive in the long run. But we are trusting in the Lord.
        This week I finished up the Bible study with the young couple about raising children. But they are excited to continue! So we are going to talk some about Bible study and other topics they have questions about. They have also expressed interest in moving to Petrer with us. We are waiting on the Lord to do that. I want to make sure that it is really His moving in their lives.

January 16-22

        This week we were able to get back to our Bible study with Lorenzo and Ana María. They continue to grow spiritually and ask good questions. It was also an encouraging week for us about our house. As we have mentioned before, we are waiting on the Lord to sell our house so that we can make this move and begin to have a presence in Petrer (and continue the work, of course). On Friday I was a bit down because it seemed that there was no movement. I asked the Lord for something, and not two hours later, the phone rang. It was a lady who wanted to come see the house. She came on Saturday and really liked it. She will return this next Saturday to sit down and negotiate a price with us. We are praying that all will go well.
        On Sunday I preached here in Alicante. I spoke from Philippians 2 about the humble attitude of Christ which can bring unity in the church. But the fleshly attitudes that are native in us will ruin that unity. Paul tells the believers that nothing in the church is to be done with strife or vain glory. These are diametrically opposed to humility and to unity.

January 8-15

        Much of our activity this last week revolved around an intensive Bible institute class up in the Madrid area. A missionary there asked me to come up and teach on the book of Ezekiel. This book has been a very special book to me, so I was excited to work on it again and take of the challenge of trying to give an overview of the book in a one day class. We traveled up to Móstoles on Friday afternoon. Saturday was an extremely full day. Breakfast was served at the church at 8:00. The class started at 9:00 and we did not finish until 5:00. We had a few breaks of course during the day, including about an hour and half for a wonderful lunch. But the group listened careful and asked good questions. I focused my study of the book on the concept of glory. It begins with a vision of God's glory and a call to the prophet to minister so that people will know that God's prophet was among them. As he preaches, we see that the people reject God's glory, but that there is a constant theme running underneath all of the judgement that God will one day restore his people for his own glory. And finally the last section gives Ezekiel a vision of a new and glorious temple.
        On Sunday I preached in the church in Móstoles on Ezekiel 24: God took away the delight of Ezekiel's eyes, his wife, as a sign to the nation, and yet the death of his wife did not embitter him or cause him to sink into depression [as the fall of Jerusalem did to the exiles in captivity], for obviously the prophet had a greater "delight." He had seen God, and nothing could move him. This passage is a challenge to all of us to place our eyes on the Lord and run the race with patience.

January 1-7

        My parents left on Thursday so we have been working to get back into our routine after the holidays. Last Sunday was my last official day as pastor in the church in Alicante which was very emotional for me. But now I can focus my efforts on starting the new work in Petrer. The first big step, however, is for us to move. Once we are living there, we will be much more effective making contacts and we will have a place to meet with those contacts.
        I had a meeting with the real estate agents on Thursday, and we are going to extend the contract for two months so that we can sell our apartment. This is a major matter of prayer for us! As soon as we have a buyer, we can start setting up the move. The Lord encouraged us because while I was in the meeting with the real estate agent, someone called about our apartment. We are trusting in the Lord that He will sell our apartment.
        Much of my study this week has been devoted to Ezekiel. I will be teaching an intensive Bible institute in the Madrid area this Saturday on the book. When that is over, I need to return to my studies on the Church which are preparing us for the work that we are going to begin in Petrer.

December 18-31

        With my parents here and all of the special activities, I got away from writing my Monday reports. So once again I find myself trying to catch up! We had a great visit with my parents and enjoyed our time together as a family. We also had a good end to the year. The Sunday before Christmas we had a very special day with a church lunch after the morning service. We had good attendance and then we followed it up with a mid-afternoon service. Different members read portions from the Christmas story in Luke and we sung appropriate hymns between readings. It was a very nice time to spend together as a church family. Last Sunday, my father was asked to preach in Elche for the morning service, so we all went and I translated for him. In the evening we finished out our year with a celebration of the Lord's supper. It was a very special celebration for me because it was my last official service as pastor here in Alicante. I have communicated to the church my desire to withdraw from Alicante so that I can focus my efforts on starting a new work in Petrer, about 30 minutes away from Alicante. As we celebrated the Lord's new covenant through the symbolism of that special meal, we recalled all of His blessings to us and the ways in which we all desired to be more faithful in the coming year. It was a beautiful way to finish out a year.
        For our prayer services this month I have been speaking on the prayers/psalms that we find in the first chapters of Luke. It has been a blessing to study Zechariah's, Mary's and Simeon's prayers to see what Christ's birth meant to them. I have also been continuing on with our Bible studies with Lorenzo and Ana María. We are constantly encouraged by their desire to learn and do what is right. They have even expressed the desire to move with us to Petrer to help out with the new ministry. We are praying that the Lord would do His will in giving us the people that He wants us to have.

December 4-17

        I just realized that last Monday I did not write an update. We've had two very busy but good weeks. Last week we had our children's program at church. The kids did a great job with their drama. They all worked very hard to memorize it and act it out. We had a lot of visitors at church for the program, so we praise the Lord for the seed sown in hearts. This week we presented our Christmas cantata. Once again, we were thrilled with the good number of visitors. Our choir joined together with the choir from the Elche church to present "The Greatest Gift." The Lord really blessed, and the message came through very clearly. We pray that the Lord will use this in people's lives to bring them to himself. On Saturday night, my parents arrived, so we are enjoying the time with them. Praise the Lord, they are doing well with the jet lag so far. This week I am praying especially about the sale of our house. We need to Lord to do his will about the sale of our house. We would really appreciate your prayers for us.

November 27-December 3

        It is hard to believe that another month has gone by! It is even harder to believe that we are in December all ready. The unusually warm weather for this time of year has made it even harder to believe. Last week was my last week of classes for the Bible institute. We dealt with the introduction to Acts and talked about several themes, including tongues in the New Testament. The students are now preparing for their final exam today. We are continuing on with our Bible study with Lorenzo and Ana María. We are dealing with what the Bible says about raising children. How I praise the Lord for their desire to learn! Our choir continues to work on the Christmas cantata we are preparing with the choir from Elche. Things are going well. Our son David is playing the xylophone in the orchestra, and both he and Andrea are singing in the children's choir. They are also preparing a Christmas drama with the other children to be presented next Sunday. The cantata will be the following Sunday.
        Yesterday we had a very special day. In the morning service we had a baby dedication for the couple that I married a year ago. The Lord has blessed them with a little boy, and they wanted to publicly show their desire to raise him for the Lord. They invited unsaved family members for the special service. In the evening I preached on a topic that at least one family in the church was struggling with. They did not understand why we did not let the women preach. I spoke to them yesterday morning to let them know that I was going to be preaching on that topic but that I was not trying to single them out. Rather I wanted to explain why we do what we do from the Bible. I tied the whole message together with the idea of submission: are we, as the bride of Christ, willing to submit to the pattern for His Church that He has set up? After I preached, I spoke with the husband again and mentioned to him that we could get together to discuss the issue more or to answer any questions, but he told me that it was not necessary because he now holds to the same conviction that we have! All he needed was to hear the topic presented from the Bible! Praise the Lord.

November 20-26

        Our week revolved around our special meetings at church this weekend. On Thursday, however, before the meetings started, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with an American family who lives close to us and some other believers. We had a good time recalling God's blessing and abundant provision for us. For our special meetings this weekend, my co-worker invited a missionary from the Madrid area to come down to challenge the church about missions. We had a very full weekend, but the Lord definitely was working in hearts. On Friday night we had a film about William Carey. Then on Saturday morning, a small group of us went up to Petrer to witness on the street. We had some wonderful opportunities as we took a survey about people's knowledge of the Bible. This simple survey allowed us to start good conversations with people and share the gospel with them. On Saturday evening, Sunday morning and Sunday evening, Bill Williams preached about evangelization.
        Our choir continues to prepare for our Christmas cantata that we will be presenting together with the choir in Elche. We trust that the Lord will really use this presentation of the Gospel to touch people's lives. Please pray for this effort. We also would appreciate your prayers for us as we sell our flat. We are trusting the Lord for a buyer so that we can make our move to Petrer to begin this new work.

November 13-19

        This week got off to a rough start! The trip to Madrid last week made the start of the week very difficult, but the kids did well getting back into the swing of things. One special event this week was Maribel's birthday. We had a nice day on Thursday, and then on Friday she invited all the ladies from church over to our house. Saturday was a very busy day. While the kids were at church for their weekly children's club, I went up to Petrer with Israel to pass out tracts. Lord willing, we will be taking up a group next Saturday to do a survey with people on the street. The survey consists of five questions that ask about people's knowledge of the Bible. That opens up the door nicely to leave them with a tract and perhaps witness further. Israel and I had some good conversations, and I am excited about going back next week with more people. Saturday evening was a bit more difficult. I had to visit a family from our church that has decided to leave and start attending a large charismatic congregation. Those kinds of visits are never fun. Yesterday we had good services with very good attendance. We are getting ready for special meetings next week with a missions emphasis. I preached in the morning on baptism as a testimony of new life. It was especially pertinent in my mind because I had attended a going away party at another evangelical church in town this week. What I saw there in the young people amazed me. It was as if there was no difference whatsoever between them and the young people in the world. If we have been baptized in Christ, we are giving testimony to the fact that we now walk in newness of life! May that newness always be evident to all!

November 6-12

        The big event this week was a trip to Madrid. On Friday at noon we picked up the kids from school, jumped in the car and headed out for Madrid (four hours away). On Friday night, Saturday night, and for both of the services on Sunday I spoke at a church pastored by Jack Loveday. It was an evangelistic conference, and the people had really done a good job inviting the unsaved. In each meeting there were at least three or four unsaved people. It was also a very nice weekend personally with the Lovedays. They really made it special for our kids as well. After the evening service on Sunday, we travelled back to Alicante and made it home by 1.00 a.m. That made Monday especially hard, but the Lord gave strength, and we survived! We thank the Lord for His protection as we travelled and His blessing in the meetings. It was a special blessing to talk to unsaved people who were very open about their need of Christ and asked for prayer. The believers were also very tender to the Word and appreciated the messages.

October 30-November 5

        We had a holiday (November 1st was saints day) this week so that made for a nice little break mid week. We got together with Lorenzo and Ana María for our weekly study and also had some time to work on music for the Christmas cantata. We continue to progress in Bible institute. We finished our survey/introduction of Mark and will continue on to Luke this week.
        The children have started work on a play for the Christmas program. David and Andrea are learning their parts and are very excited about the production. They will play the part of a elderly couple! The church people are very excited about the opportunity and are getting involved. We continue to work on the music with the cantata with the choir, and little by little we are making good progress.
        Today I preached from 2 Timothy 3 about all of the characteristics of the last days which are things that people do not have (lack of love, lack of gratitude, lack of obedience, etc.). But how interesting it is to notice that Jesus had all of these characteristics in Him. And he desires to transform our character too!

October 16-22

        Things were very busy this week, as all of my classes have now started. I had good Bible institute classes on Monday and Wednesday. The students are excited and asking good questions. Our Thursday prayer meeting was back down to normal attendance, but we had a very good service. On Saturday we met with Lorenzo and Ana María for our weekly Bible study again. They continue to respond well to the teaching. Yesterday was a very interesting day. We drove up to Elda, the city right next to Petrer where we plan to begin a new work in January, and we took Israel, one of my students from the Bible institute who feels called to the ministry and who will be helping us start the work in Petrer. The purpose of the trip was to visit the only non-charismatic church in the area. It was a good opportunity to clarify our goals. Please pray for us as we continue to take steps towards this goal.
        I preached in the evening from 1 Thes. 4 in the last of my series about not being ignorant. Here Paul instructs us about the resurrection. The difference between us and those who are without Christ is our hope. Those who died in Christ will return with him and we will see Him together with them. The emphasis on Christ is beautiful. Heaven is not a time just to be reunited with loved ones; rather it is a time to be with our Savior. This makes the joy and comfort even greater. After the message we had the Lord's supper. It was the first time that Viviana had ever experienced this celebration. She was very touched by it and is looking forward to being baptized soon!

October 9-15

        This past week was a rather strange week because we had two holidays (Monday and Thursday), so there were many special activities instead of our normal routine. On Monday we were able to spend the day with Lorenzo and Ana María, and we visited several families in the church. On Thursday we spent the day with Juan and Cristina and then had our couples' study with Lorenzo and Ana María in the afternoon before church. Since Thursday was a holiday, we had an extra large attendance at church for prayer meeting.
        But the biggest activity of the week was our men's retreat on Friday and Saturday. Pablo Portugal came down from Barcelona to be the speaker, and we had a total of 25 men. The topic was prayer, and the studies were very practical. The Lord was so good to us in many ways. Emilio was a great help to me for the last retreat, taking care of all of the food and other organizational matters, but he went to the hospital last Monday morning with yet another heart attack. When I visited him, he told me that he wasn't going to be able to be at the retreat. But he got out of the hospital on Wednesday and was there helping out and entertaining at the retreat as if nothing had ever happened to him. On Friday morning I checked the weather report and noticed to my horror that they were calling for rain Friday night and thunderstorms during the day on Saturday! I could just imagine all of our tents getting washed off the camp site. But the Lord overruled, and we had perfect weather all week end. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers about this retreat.
        Yesterday I preached from 2 Corinthians 1.8-9 about another of Paul's "ignorant" passages. In this case he warns us not to be ignorant that even the strongest trials can be used by God to teach us to trust in Him.

Bell Nouvelles 9.4

October, 2006
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Bell Nouvelles in short:
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Praises
- a good start to the Bible Institute (10 students)
- a good trip to Austria (a great encouragement to us)
- Viviana, new contact at church
- we found a good house in Petrer
Requests
- the sale of our current flat!!
- Men's retreat next weekend
- evangelization in Petrer
------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

I'm trying a new format. I have started writing a weekly summary which I am posting on my blog for those who would like to follow our ministry in more detail. In my email, I am mainly going to focus on our prayer requests. The weekly summaries are included down below for those of you who cannot make it onto the blog.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

David Bell
davidbbell@bluebottle.com

October 2-8

The Lord gave us a good week. We were able to make a down payment on the house in Petrer that we have been looking at for over a month now. We also put our present flat up for sale. Now we pray that the Lord would help us sell it soon so that we can move. My Bible institute class is going well. I have ten students this semester for the New Testament Introduction class. We have been covering some general topics like the canon and the historical background of the NT. Our study with Lorenza and Ana María continues to go well. They continue to be very open and interested in the topics we are covering about marriage. Dr. Garlock spoke this morning about Joseph's God-centered view that made the difference in his life. This evening I preached my second sermon in my series about not being ignorant. I spoke from 1 Cor. 12 about spiritual gifts. This week we will be getting ready for the men's retreat next weekend. I'm really looking forward to that time.

September 25 - October 1

This last week was the start of academic life once again. My classes at the university began on Monday as well as the classes that Maribel is taking. The kids went back to school after our time in Austria, and I began my class for the Bible Institute. I have a nice group of about 10 students for my New Testament Introduction class. We began by talking about the canon of the New Testament. I feel that is especially an important issue in the wake of the DaVinci Code and other such material. Viviana has been a special blessing this week. She started coming to church a few weeks ago through a contact with a lady in our church. She is in a motorized wheelchair and through that situation came to know the Lord through a local charismatic group. Since she started coming, she has been very faithful and seems to really be drinking in the teaching. She especially thanked me for the study before our Thursday prayer meeting. On Saturday morning we had our monthly men's prayer breakfast. Dr. Garlock was visiting and spoke. I found his challenge very direct, and it was a real blessing. He has been preaching on the family in Elche all weekend. Today at church I preached about one of the things that Paul warns believers not to be ignorant about: past blessings do not guarantee future success (1 Cor. 10.1-5). We had two visitors last night. After the service I spoke with them and found out that they are strong Catholics. They enjoyed the service and especially the preaching, but do not think that they should read the Bible. Reading and understanding the Bible, in their opinion, should be left to people who are trained to do so. They were just content to listen to the "exerts". I praise the Lord for the opportunity to preach to them, but I encouraged them to read for themselves. May God touch their hearts (they did promise me that they would attempt to read) and bring them to a personal relationship with Christ! After the service we had a time of fellowship to say good bye to Claudia who will be returning to Argentina this week.

September 18-24

We returned from Austria on Friday. We had a great week with the Sheltons. On Monday we spent the day in Vienna with a girl from the church. Then in the afternoon, the Hudsons came over. On Tuesday afternoon, Kai Soltau came over and we were able to spend some good time together. On Wednesday and Thursday we were able to see some more of the city. I am very thankful for the time that we were in Austria. Besides being able to relax some and see some of this beautiful country, we were able to spend time with others who are in the ministry and learn from them. Back in Spain, we hit the ground running with an evangelistic film for children on Saturday morning. We were very pleased that our neighbor came with her two daughters. She was very moved by the film and once again thanked us for inviting her (she made several good comments when we showed Treasures in the Snow). Yesterday we had a good day at church. I preached on God's grace as opposed to human merits from Romans 11.5-6. If we understand correctly what God's grace is, we will realize that we are in no place to bargain with God. He deserves our all!

September 11-17

This week we have been in Austria. The scenery was beautiful in Salzburg, and we were able to spend a little time visiting the city. I was able to spend time with a missionary church planter here and ask a lot of questions. It was a blessing to be able to learn from this ministry and get ideas that we may be able to put into practice as we begin a new work in Petrer. On Sunday we were in Vienna with Stan and Grace Shelton. They have just begun a new work here, so it was very nice to meet with a little group of believers in a living room and see how the Lord is building His church here. We are looking forward to more times of fellowship over the next few days with the Sheltons and other Christians in the area.

September 4-10

I want to try something new here. I used to write an update every month here and then send it out by email as well. Lately it has been more and more difficult for me to get around to writing, and so I have dropped to every two months. My new idea is to write a short update every week for the BLog and then edit them together once a month with the most important information. In this way, if someone wants more information from us, it is available from the BLog. And when it comes around to the monthly letter, I'll just have to put the information together from the weekly summaries.

This week I don't have too much to write because I published the monthly letter just three days ago. I'll simply comment on the weekend. I did the youth meeting in Elche on Saturday. We had a Clemson student come from Alicante who will be studying here this year. We showed _The_World_at_War_ from the _Left_Behind_ series. There were good comments from the young people. Sunday morning I preached from Romans 15.1 about how we all have an obligation to bear the infirmities of the weak. The verse implies a beautiful contrast. Our obligation is to be involved in the problems of others (to help); but we have no obligation to please ourselves. This "others" mindedness should characterize our church and pervade all of the conversations and activities. I really feel like the people received the message.

David

parati semper en MMVI dare omni rationem de ea quae en me est spe

Bell Nouvelles 9.3

http://bellnouvelles.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbbell/

September, 2006

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Bell Nouvelles in short:

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Praises

- blessings from  BJU students

- good summer activities (camps)

- first contacts in Petrer!

- Lord's working in the Romanian couple

Requests

- new Bible Institute class

- evangelization in Petrer

- a place for us to live in Petrer

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Dear friends and family,

I have so much to tell! These have truly been exciting months for us in the ministry. The months of Man and June were very busy for us, but they were full of blessings. In May we hosted the BJU mission team. Besides their ministry in the church which was a great blessing, we were also able to take them up to Petrer, our new target town where we will be starting a new ministry soon, Lord willing. The group of 16 students and the Casillas did a fantastic job getting literature out and talking to people on the streets and in a park. This was our first official effort in this town, but the Lord allowed us to even see some initial response. I almost felt like it would have been too much to ask, but I told the Lord that it would certainly be encouraging if we heard something back from the tracts. And when I went to check the mail that week, it was with a sense of awe and wonder that I opened a letter from a person responding to the tract and asking for a Bible and a video.

In June we hosted a group of 12 students from Bob Jones who came to study Spanish for a month. Through contacts at the University here, I was able to set up a program for them to study at the University of Miguel Hernández in Elche for one month. We were able to bring in some Christian graduates from our church here to teach the students, and we were able to place the students in families from the church. Along with the studies in Spanish and culture, we were able to include a daily Bible study for the students in Spanish, as well as encouraging them to use their Spanish to witness and get involved in the youth group at the church. How I praise the Lord for the wonderful opportunity to work with these students this summer. I know that they made a big impact on the families here, and I trust that the Lord planted a seed in their hearts that they will never forget!

In July I was able to take David Jonathan up to Guadalajara for the anual children's camp and participate myself in some of the activities there. Then I began my final preparations for a family camp in August up in Barcelona where I would be giving a series of 13 studies going all the way through the book of Revelation. The Lord, however, had one more activities to keep us busy in July. Back in March, the Lord brought a Romanian couple and their small daughter to our church after the mission in Oliva (a town about an hour north of us) closed down. But as it turned out, they had started living together before they got saved, and they desperately wanted to get married and do what was right before the Lord. They came before the church and told the congregation why they wanted to get married. Their testimony was so special. He told the church that he did not want to be a stumbling block for anyone, especially the young people. He told them that what they had done was wrong and was in no way a pattern for others to follow. We asked them to live apart until the wedding, which we were able to plan for the following week. We had never planned a wedding in such short time, but it was a simple yet beautiful ceremony that the whole church participated in. I truly believe that the Lord was glorified in this family. Praise the Lord for their tender heart and their desire to do what is right. Since then we have seen them grow as a couple and as a family. We are having weekly studies with them right now and it is a blessing to see their hunger for the word.

As soon as that wedding was over, we loaded up the car and headed north for Barcelona. We were able to see our dear friends in that area and worship with them on Sunday, and then we headed up to Girona for the family camp with Dr. Martin Valcarcel. Preaching through the book of Revelation two studies a day for just over a week was a real challenge, but it was also a wonderful blessing to my heart. The believers who were there were very kind and paid excellent attention and asked good questions. When we returned from Barcelona, we finally had some time to be able to spend extra time with the people from our church. It was great to have them over and do special activities with them that we do not normally get to do. We were also able to head up to Petrer and do a little more canvassing and start the process of looking for a place to live. Last weekend I took the young people from our church and the church in Elche up to Petrer again to do some more work with tracts. We were able to cover another section of the city with tracts. After we had finished, Maribel commented on how nice it would be if we just had a contact that was a believer who could help out. On Sunday night the phone rang! It was a man named Pedro from Petrer who is involved in a church which does not do a lot of evangelizing. He is excited to help out in whatever way he can as we seek to pass out tracts and share the gospel with others. We drove up again yesterday so that I could meet with Pedro and find out a little more about him. We had a truly blessed time together as he shared with me his testimony and his burden to share Christ with others. While I was talking to him, Maribel met a lady who is a believer; she is looking for a place to live in Petrer to move there from a city about an hour away. She was so encouraged because as of yet, she had not made contact with any church or believers in the city. We are praising the Lord for the way He seems to be opening doors for us in this new city. Please pray for us as we seek to find a place to live and continue evangelizing. Pray that the Lord would give us more contacts and open doors of ministry.

Just a few more matters for prayer from previous updates. I am still looking at the possibility of teaching a Bible class here at the University. I have turned in a proposal to the head of the Greek department and will be meeting with her soon. Please pray that we can get the approval that we need to go ahead with the course. It may not, however, come through for this year. I am leaving it in the Lord's hands. Also, I would appreciate your prayers for the Bible Institute. Our Greek class last semester went great. Lord willing this month I will be beginning an Introduction to the New Testament. Please pray that the Lord will bless in that class. Finally, our family will be taking a little trip up to Austria next week for 10 days. We found some very good tickets last year and decided it would be a nice break for the family and a good opportunity to see the ministry in another part of Europe. Lord willing, we will be able to spend some time with other missionaries, including some friends from college, Stan and Grace Shelton.

I'm sorry that this message is so long. I will try to get back into the swing of writing messages more frequently so that they do not get so long! Thank you again for your prayers. 

In Christ,

David & Maribel

davidbbell@bluebottle.com

parati semper en MMVI dare omni rationem de ea quae en me est spe

Bell Nouvelles 9.2

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

Visiting with the Young People

100_2739.JPG
Originally uploaded by David_B_Bell.

Last month we had the young people from church over and decided to get them involved in the ministry in a special way. Since we have several older people who can't make it out to services, we took this group of young people and sang for them. It was an encouraging time for all involved!

100_2650.JPG

100_2650.JPG
Originally uploaded by David_B_Bell.

Just wanted to put a few pictures on the Blog. This is a picture of Maribel and me at our annual couple's banquet at church. What a blessing it was to have good evening of Christian fun/fellowship/food with other believers and a few unbelievers.

Bell Nouvelles 9.1

February, 2006

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Bell Nouvelles in short:

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Praises

-a wonderful youth retreat

-a special wedding

-a good start to 2006 and our theme of evangelism

-spiritual growth in new converts

Requests

-increased growth in church members

-wisdom for future plans

-new contacts

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Dear friends,

I would like to begin this letter by commenting on a few changes. Let me first of all mention that I now have a page with pictures of our family and ministry for anyone who is interested in taking a look (http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbbell/). I am trying to put a new picture there at least once a week, so if you want to bookmark the page, you can look at it from time to time! Also, I sent out a letter in January, but it is too large to include here. If you follow the link below, you will be able to download the file (but only during the next week). If you cannot manage to download the file and would like for me to send you a copy, please feel free to write and ask for it.

2006update.pdf (662 KB)

Well, to get down to the news about the ministry. The last time I wrote we were just heading into the Christmas season, and we had a youth retreat ahead of us. The Lord gave us a wonderful time with the young people as we studied the book of Haggai. How I thank the Lord for the opportunity to share with them what the Lord had laid on my heart through that book. Our Christmas program was also a blessing; we even had several unsaved people in attendance. The Lord truly seemed to be working through that program. We trust that we will continue to see fruit through this type of effort.

We have chosen a theme/motto for 2006: "Always prepared to share our hope. (1 Pet. 3.15)" We are trying to keep this before the church constantly encouraging our people to take advantage of opportunities to witness. Besides the blessing and challenge that this has been in my own life already, we have been blessed with testimonies already of how the Lord has opened doors for different ones in the congregation to share our hope. I trust that the Lord will use this emphasis to build up His church this year as individuals catch a vision for sharing Christ with others. Please pray for this theme that we will see fruit this year.

We have had other special activities recently. In January we had our first wedding in the church in eighteen years. The Lord allowed us to have a beautiful ceremony for Elias and Maru, and there was a very clear gospel presentation and testimony in both the ceremony and the banquet. Please pray for this new couple that the Lord help them build their relationship firmly on His word. In February we had our annual couple's meal. Once again this year we had several unsaved people in attendance, and they were able to enjoy a nice evening of food and fellowship, as well as hear a challenge from the Bible.

Maribel has been going back to school this year. She is working on another degree at the university here in educational psychology. It has been a blessing to see the ways that the Lord has opened up doors for her to be a testimony with her classmates and teachers already. We are also excited about the future doors for ministry that this degree will open up. I know she would appreciate your prayers as she juggles her duties at home, church, and now school.

I would like to ask your prayer for one more detail. We have been feeling like perhaps the Lord may be opening up the door for us to plant a new church here in Spain. We are not sure yet where the Lord will lead us exactly, but we sincerely desire your prayers for us as we seek the Lord's guidance and then make plans for this new step in the ministry.

On the home front, the kids are doing great. David continues to grow and amaze us with his tender heart for the things of the Lord. Every day we see how Andrea is maturing and helping out with all kinds of details around the house. She is definitely a little mother to her brothers at times, whether or not they want it, of course. And Daniel is such a sweet blessing to us. His joyful spirit is truly an encouragement for us many times.

David & Maribel

david.bell@bluebottle.com

parati semper en MMVI dare omni rationem de ea quae en me est spe

Bell Nouvelles 8.5

December, 2005
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Bell Nouvelles in short:
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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:

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Praises:

    -Good week at camp

    -Good spirit among the young people

Prayer Requests:

    -Newly saved

    -Preparations for a trip to the States

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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

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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