February 03-09

This past week I did not teach my Bible institute class because we had
Andy Bonikowsky down to give some guest lectures on Bible Geography.
Those who were involved in the class greatly appreciated his teaching
backed up with his own personal experience in Israel. Maribel met with
the ladies on Friday for their study. The Lord gave us good services
on Sunday. I preached from Ephesians 1 and three about Paul's prayer
for the Ephesians. In the evening Israel led the Bible study as we
looked at the titles of Jesus in Colossians 1. Maribel met with the
children.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

January 27-February 02

Israel hurt his leg several weeks ago and has not been able to go to
work since. This past week I took advantage of the situation and had
him come with me to make several visits on Monday. We visited Antonio
and Gloria. She went home from the hospital on Friday and is doing
much better. I left them with recordings of the services from the last
two weeks that they missed. Then we visited Emilio and Ester. We were
able to get back into our Bible study that we have not been able to
have for several weeks due to schedule conflicts. Maribel was able to
have a Bible study with the women again this week. It has been a while
since they have been able to get together. She is excited about this
renewed opportunity. I am also thankful for my Bible Institute class.
We talked this week about the call to the ministry and gifts of the
ministry. What a blessing it is to know that God never calls without
equipping.

Yesterday our attendance was once again affected by illness. Lorenzo
was sick, but Ana Maria came. We started out with our monthly
celebration of the Lord's table. Then we had our morning service. I
preached on Ephesians 3, about how God has united us to Himself and to
the chosen people through Christ. We ended our service with a call to
Gloria. We were able to sing a hymn to her and then all talked to her
individually. She thinks that she will be able to be in the service
again next week. In the evening we continued our study in Colossians 1
by talking about how God has equipped us to walk worthy of the Lord.
Maribel did a study with the children, during which Daniel publicly
prayed to ask the Lord to forgive him of his sins and save him!

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

January 20-26

Recently I have mentioned Antonio and Gloria often. Well, this past
week Gloria had surgery to remove a cancerous kidney. I called her on
Monday to pray with her before the operation, only to find out that
she had already been operated on. They ended up moving the operation
up a day! So on Wednesday Maribel and I went to visit with them in the
hospital. She is doing well, and the doctors are confident that they
were able to remove all of the cancer. We also began a new course in
the Bible Institute. I am teaching a class about the pastoral
ministry. It is a very small group, but I am very excited. We have a
few who have expressed a clear call to the ministry, so it is a
wonderful privilege to prepare them for the future with an extremely
practical class such as this. In our first class we looked at Christ's
compassion for the multitudes who were like sheep without a shepherd
(pastor). His solution was to pray that the Lord of the harvest would
send out laborers.

On Saturday the young people from Elche came up. We were going to go
and pass out tracts, but the weather was not very good, so we had the
meeting in our house. I spoke to them from one of the parables of
Christ and then we had a time of prayer. On Sunday Israel preached
from Ephesians two about how God has changed us. We had some bad
weather over the weekend, so our attendance was down, but we praise
the Lord for those who were able to come. After the service we had our
monthly church meal and then our evening study. I spoke from
Colossians 1 again about being grateful for what God is doing in our
lives.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

January 20-26

Recently I have mentioned Antonio and Gloria often. Well, this past
week Gloria had surgery to remove a cancerous kidney. I called her on
Monday to pray with her before the operation, only to find out that
she had already been operated on. They ended up moving the operation
up a day! So on Wednesday Maribel and I went to visit with them in the
hospital. She is doing well, and the doctors are confident that they
were able to remove all of the cancer. We also began a new course in
the Bible Institute. I am teaching a class about the pastoral
ministry. It is a very small group, but I am very excited. We have a
few who have expressed a clear call to the ministry, so it is a
wonderful privilege to prepare them for the future with an extremely
practical class such as this. In our first class we looked at Christ's
compassion for the multitudes who were like sheep without a shepherd
(pastor). His solution was to pray that the Lord of the harvest would
send out laborers.

On Saturday the young people from Elche came up. We were going to go
and pass out tracts, but the weather was not very good, so we had the
meeting in our house. I spoke to them from one of the parables of
Christ and then we had a time of prayer. On Sunday Israel preached
from Ephesians two about how God has changed us. We had some bad
weather over the weekend, so our attendance was down, but we praise
the Lord for those who were able to come. After the service we had our
monthly church meal and then our evening study. I spoke from
Colossians 1 again about being grateful for what God is doing in our
lives.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

January 13-19

This past Saturday the young people from Alicante came up and passed
out tracts with us here in Petrer. Then we were able to have a good
time at the house with a challenge and a time of fellowship. We were
also working on a new pulpit. A few weeks ago, Israel's father
approached me about building a wooden pulpit for the church. The
pulpit is coming along nicely and is a nice addition to our meetings.

On Sunday we began a new series of messages on the book of Ephesians,
based on the theme, "See then that ye walk circumspectly" (Eph. 5.1).
I preached the first message from the hymn in the first chapter on all
that God has done to bless us. So often we focus on material
blessings, but Paul here brings us to remember the rich spiritual
blessings that God has given us in Christ. In the evening we met at a
Angel and Patricia's house for our study. Many of our people were able
to make it out, and Angel and Patricia invited some Christian friends,
so we had a very good group. Unfortunately, Maribel was not feeling
well at all, so she had to miss the service as well as several days of
work. I taught from Colossians 1 about walking worthy of the Lord.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

January 06-12

This was the last week of the Christmas holidays. I had a special
highlight for this year. I played in the band for the Kings' Day
parade of our town on Monday. It was a lot of fun to march with the
band and play Christmas songs. After Tuesday, our schedule got back to
normal. The kids are back and school, and Maribel and I are back to
our normal teaching schedules. On Thursday I ate lunch with Antonio
and Gloria. I have witnessed very clearly to them in the past. But
last week I shared with them the concept of making a profession of
faith. It seems that they have slowly come (at least close) to the
point of faith, but they have never made a real profession of faith. I
had to be careful to help them understand Romans 10.9, 13. Antonio
wasn't sure if I was asking him to stand up at church and share all of
his sins. Gloria thought perhaps it meant that they had to go out on
the street and start preaching. In the end it was clear. Antonio told
me directly that he had placed his faith in Christ, even though he
still struggles with doubts. On Sunday morning in the service, he told
the congregation that he knew he was a sinner, but that the Lord is
working in his heart. Every time I spend time with them I am more and
more impressed with what the Lord is doing in their hearts. On Friday
I spent the morning with Israel preparing for the new series of
sermons that we will be preaching on Ephesians. We had good services
yesterday, even though Ana María was out of town and Lorenzo was sick.
Israel preached about love from 1 John 4. Antonio and Gloria were in
the service, and Antonio had some good questions. After the service
they stayed for lunch. We had a good time around the table. In the
evening we had a special service in which we watched the film Flame in
the Wind. The people were challenged by the stand for Christ that was
depicted in the film.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

December, 2008

My weekly summaries dried up in December due to extreme busyness! But I will try to run through the weeks to recall all that was happening.

November 25-December 1

This week was a busy week preparing for my trip to the USA. I was, however, able to meet with the students at the university for another Bible study. It was also a special week because of Thanksgiving. The Tony Hart family came down from the Madrid area to spend the weekend with us. We had our Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, though, to accomodate our schedules. We were pleased that Camilla Becker who lives down near Elche could be with us that day. On Sunday Tony preached for us in the morning service on the topic of gratitude. That afternoon I rode up to Madrid with them and was in their church in Azuqueca for the evening service. 

December 2-8

This was the week I was in the USA. It was a whirlwind of activity, but a wonderful blessing. My major reason for going was to give a series of lectures on Translation Theory and the Bible. The lectures were very well attended, and I enjoyed the time greatly. I was also able to talk to many different classes. It was a special highlight for me to preach for the seminary students on Friday. My cup was full and running over! On Sunday morning I had the privilege of preaching for the hispanic ministry at Hampton Park, and then I was off to the airport to catch my flight back home. Here in Petrer, Israel preached a message to finish off our series of sermons on the miracles of Christ in John.

December 9-15

When I got back from the States, I had another two weeks of classes at the university. Those two weeks were extremely busy. But praise the Lord we were able to get everything done. I continued our Bible study with Emilio and Ester, and even got a chance to meet with Antonio and Gloria over lunch to continue witnessing to them. We were invited as a church to join the Elche church for their adult Christmas meal. María Eugenia came with us that night. Dr. Bob Jones was the speaker and I had the privilege of being his translator that night. On Sunday the 14th, we celebrated the Lord's table in the morning before the service and then I preached about Christ as the gift of God. That evening we went down to Elche to be in their mini-Bible conference. Dr. Bob gave an excellent challenge on a ministry of prayer.

December 16-22

On Sunday the 21st, Israel preached on Mary, the mother of Jesus. We were glad to have some visitors in the service. Bibiana, a Spanish lady we met in Alicante several years ago and visited in London earlier this year, was back in Spain to visit and brought her mother to the service. In the afternoon, we had our monthly church meal which was also a Christmas meal. After the meal we had a Christmas program. We read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke and interspersed different Christmas hymns and special numbers. It was a nice time of fellowship as a congregation.

December 23-29

This was the first week of vacation. It was a wonderful breather for the family. We were able to have fun together and visit with friends and family that we have not had too much time to do things with in the past months. We decided not to travel anywhere, so we took advantage of the time together. On Sunday I preached from Zechariah 4 about the Spirit's roll in setting goals and making plans. Bibiana and her husband Rene were with us again this week, and once again they brought a visitor with them. In the evening we visited the church in Alicante and heard Israel preach. 

December 30-January 5

We had a special service on December 31 this year. I invited the Dodgens to come and Mike to bring a challenge. We had a good group at our house to remember the blessing from the past year and set goals for the coming year. It was another good time of spiritual challenge and fellowship. On Sunday morning I preached about the wisemen, in preparation for Kings' Day (Jan. 6). We were very excited to see Antonio and Gloria back with us after several weeks' absence due to her cancer treatments. I was very pleased that María Eugenia agreed to prepare a study for the children on Sunday night. I led a Bible study for the adults while she taught her lesson to the children. A believer from the church in Valencia came all the way to Petrer to be in our service and encourage us. We were very thankful for this blessing. Also a family from the church in Alicante was with us as well for the evening service.

David & Maribel

davidnmaribel@gmail.com

"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas"  Col 4.17

November 18-24

This was the second week of our Bible study on campus at the university. This week there were three young people at the study. We had a good time looking at Colossians and then a good time of questions and discussion afterwards. On Saturday night I played in a concert for our local band. After the concert we had a meal, and I was able to talk to several people about why we moved here. I trust the Lord will use this testimony to open other doors of ministry.

Yesterday we had a very full day. Our morning service went well. We had hoped to see Antonio and Gloria, but apparently she has not been feeling well at all after her last treatment. I preached on the seventh miracle in John, the resurrection of Lazarus. I focused particularly on three elements: the opposition to Christ's ministry, the love He felt towards Lazarus and his sisters, and the main focus of the miracle, faith. After the service we all went to the Soto's house for our monthly church meal. After a good meal and time of fellowship, we had our evening service. This was the last week of our series on doctrines. I talked about our doctrine of salvation, specifically the details about the atonement. After the service, Lorenzo and I went down to Elche to play in the service there. We repeated the special numbers that we prepared for Valencia last weekend.

November 11-17

Today was our appointment at the hospital in Valencia about David's heart condition they discovered earlier this year. After doing all of the tests on him, the doctor told us that his condition had not deteriorated any, so there was no immediate need for surgery. We thank the Lord for this answer to prayer.
This past week we had our first Bible study on campus. I finally was able to get permission to use a room, so I wrote all of the students from the Elche and Alicante churches. Unfortunately due to scheduling problems, only one boy made it for the study this week, but we were able to spend some time together talking about some details of the study and then give an introduction to the book of Colossians. Lord willing, we will have more present in the coming weeks. We also had a very special study at home. David invited one of his friends over to spend the night. He had already talked to him about the Lord, and since I had planned to do a study with Sergio that night anyway, David's friend sat in on the study. We studied John 3.16. It was a very simple study, but showed clearly the message of salvation. David's friend listened carefully to the study and asked good questions. He took a tract home with him and has since continued to ask David questions at school.
Yesterday it was Maribel's birthday, and we were were gone in Valencia all day. Here in Petrer Israel preached a message on Christ's calming of the storm. In Valencia our brass quartet (including Lorenzo, Isaac, a young man from Elche, and pastor Dennis Flower) played six special numbers. We introduced each hymn with a short biography or story about the hymn, and then after the music, I preached a sermon on praise from Psalm 19. The rest of the group went back home in the afternoon and our family stayed for the evening service. I preached again in the evening, this time from Isaiah on the mark of true faith. It was a blessing to be able to spend this time with the believers there.

November 4-10

In our morning service this week we began early with the celebration of the Lord's table. Antonio and Gloria came early for the service and were present as we finished out time of communion. Gloria expressed interest in participating. We are thankful for this desire on her part, but need to take more time with them to disciple them. In the morning service Israel preached on Christ's healing of the man who was born blind. He did a good job with the application of the text and many commented that it was a blessing. In the evening we met at María Eugenia's house for our evening service. I did a special study for the children from Ephesians 6.1-3.

October 28-November 3

The weeks seem to fly by us as if we were standing still. I can
hardly believe that we are in November already. We have some very
special activities planned for this month with the church. This month
we will be going to Valencia to play our brass quartet there for a
special service. We met on Saturday for a practice and things are
coming along nicely. Yesterday we celebrated the Lord's table before
our morning service. It was a good time of spiritual fellowship as we
shared what the Lord is doing in our lives. We were especially
thankful that in the morning service we had a visitor. Antonio and
Gloria were also in the service yesterday. Each time they come they
feel more and more a part of the congregation. Yesterday I preached on
Christ's walking on the water. I was struck with the contrast of the
disciples' inability to cross the sea when suddenly they see Jesus
strolling across the water with no apparent difficulty. Many times we
are at the end of our strength and ability, but God can complete our
efforts and do the impossible. In the evening we met at Maria
Eugenia's house and I gave a study especially for the children on
Ephesians 6.1-2. After the study we had a good time of prayer together.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

October 21-27

The Lord blessed us this week with an excellent Sunday. It was a busy
week leading up to it. On Monday we received an unexpected visit from
some missionary friends of ours, and then on Tuesday we took our car
into the mechanic to have a small oil leak fixed. The situation with
the car made life a little more complicated, but the visit helped out
because they were able to give us a much needed ride! Yesterday
morning we were missing some of our regular people. Ana Maria is not
feeling too well with the new pregnancy so Lorenzo came by himself.
Also, Sergio spent the weekend in Torrevieja, so Maria Eugenia came by
herself. Israel preached on the feeding of the 5,000, and after the
sermon we had a very good time of testimonies and singing. Nearly
everyone present shared a thought about the message. After the service
we had a church meal together. And in the early afternoon we had our
Bible study service. Last week during our evening service I felt we
needed some more specific instruction about the nature of salvation
and the idea of losing one's salvation. So this week we spent over an
hour talking about the Biblical teaching concerning salvation. Once
again there was good participation by all. I praise the Lord for a
good day together with other believers, spent in worship and
fellowship together.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

October 14-20

This week the Lord gave us a few more opportunities to be a
testimony. I am taking a Valenciano class here in Elda, so I decided
to ask a fellow student for a ride home to get to know him a bit. It
turns out that he is studying English as well. We agreed to get
together some time so I can help him with his English. I trust that I
will be able to present Christ to him clearly as we get to know each
other. Also, Israel and I were able to spend some time in a park
giving out tracts and talking to people. As always there were a lot of
negative reactions, but there were a few who received the tracts well.
Please pray with us that God would give the increase. Saturday was a
very special blessing for us. Enoch Guitierrez, a Mexican pastor, gave
a series of lectures for pastors and workers. Israel and I went down
and spent the day there. I really needed the encouragement and
teaching he shared with us.

Yesterday I preached on Christ's third miracle in John, the healing
of the lame man at Bethesda. The Lord gave us a good service and
hearts were stirred. How often we lie crippled and helpless trying to
find some solution to our problems instead of taking them to the Lord
and receiving His divine healing. Emilio and Ester brought her niece
with them again this week. This is the second time she has been in our
services. We are not sure if she is really a believer. Antonio and
Gloria did not come this week because she was not feeling well after
her chemotherapy last week. In the evening we met with Israel, Maria
Eugenia and Sergio here at our house to continue our study of the
Adventists. We talked this week of Biblical doctrine of the final
judgment as opposed to the Adventist teaching concerning Christ's
investigative judgment.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

October 7-13

This past weekend I preached a missions conference at a church up in
Madrid. The Lord gave us a very good weekend and used the believers
there to encourage us. I preached five sermons around the theme of
missions, focusing on different aspects of Moses' preparation, calling
and service. I also gave my testimony on Sunday morning for the adult
Sunday school class. Here in Petrer, Israel preached on Sunday morning
about the second miracle in the book of John. Then in the evening they
met at Lorenzo and Ana Maria's house and watched a video about the
Seventh Day Adventists.

Last week Lorenzo came to see me one night. They have been under a lot
of pressure with his work and Maria's school situation. He told me
that they have decided to move back to Alicante. They still plan to
come up to Petrer for services, but obviously this changes many
aspects of our ministry to them. This is hard for us to take in many
ways, but we are trusting the Lord to do His work here in building
this church. We would appreciate your continued prayers for our
ministry here.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

September 30-October 6

On the home front this week we had a bit of a scare. Daniel fell on
the playground and injured his arm. At first they talked about
checking him in to the hospital, but in the end they were able to
massage the bone into position and there was no breakage. How we
praise the Lord for His protection. The other activities of the week
were fairly normal. Maribel met with the ladies for their time of
prayer and study and on Friday night we had dinner with an unsaved
couple and had opportunities to share the gospel again with them.

Yesterday I started a new series of sermons based on the sign miracles
recorded in John's gospel. So I started out with the transformation of
water into wine, discussing Jesus's power and authority to transform
lives. Antonio and Gloria from San Vicente were back with us this week
and both commented on the message. Gloria, as I mentioned before, is
going through cancer treatments, which is the reason they have not
been back in the last few weeks. We have been praying for her,
however, and sending her SMS messages on her phone. She expressed her
gratitude for our prayers and encouragement. Lord willing I will be
spending some time with them this week one afternoon. Next week will
be a bit different because our family will be up near Madrid for
special services in a church there. Israel, however, will be
continuing the series from John, and Antonio and Gloria are planning
to be in the service as well. Our afternoon service was rather small.
Israel was down in Alicante to preach there, and Maria Eugenia missed
both services because she missed her bus from Torrevieja where she
spent the day on Saturday. Unfortunately, Sergio took advantage of the
situation and did not come to church either. So in the evening for our
study, it was just our family and Lorenzo and Ana Maria with their
daughter. Please pray for us as we travel up to Madrid on Thursday
morning and as I preach throughout the weekend.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

September 23-29

This week we have been back on our normal schedule. I had the study
with Sergio this week and I talked to him very specifically about some
aspects of his appearance and his attitude at home. He seemed to
receive it very well, and I noticed a few changes in his appearance
yesterday. Maribel continues to have good meetings with the ladies, as
they meet for prayer and Bible study. The Lord protected Lorenzo this
past week in his job. There was an accident with some of the heavy
equipment which could easily have killed him, but by God's grace he
ended up with only some stitches in his ear. We are all praying for
him that he would be able to find a new job closer to home.

In our service yesterday morning I preached from the life of
Mephibosheth. When David returned to Jerusalem after Absolom's
rebellion, Mephibosheth received him with joy. There is a lesson in
his joy, for he was more interested in his fellowship with the king
than all the possessions that his servant had gotten through lying
about him to the king. All too often we find ourselves more
preoccupied with possessions than with our King who can give or take
away those possessions. May we treat as most important that which
truly is most important. At noon we enjoyed a meal with all the
students and teachers for the Bible Institute. It was a good time to
celebrate together what the Lord has done and is doing through this
ministry. And in the evening we met for our service at Lorenzo and Ana
Maria's house. We dealt with the Biblical doctrine of salvation and
its fruits, compared to the Adventist teaching concerning the Law.
What a blessing it is to consider our free salvation in Christ and the
working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

David & Maribel
davidnmaribel@gmail.com
"vide ministerium quod accepisti in Domino ut illud impleas" Col 4.17

September 16-22

Our big event this week was a church retreat over the weekend. But I
had several other good opportunities this week to share the gospel. I
mentioned last week that we had a couple in our service last week who
were asking a lot of questions. On Wednesday I went and visited them
at their house. I spent three hours with them sharing the gospel. It
was a blessed time as they listened carefully and continued to ask
questions. There were wonderful moments when I could see them grasping
the truth. We are praying for them as a congregation physically, as
she goes through chemotherapy, and spiritually. On Friday evening we
drove up to the mountains to a camp site for our first-ever church
retreat. All of us from here were able to go, as well as Israel, a
lady who worked with Lorenzo and Ana María when they first came to
Christ and a couple we've known for years from the church in Alicante.
We stayed in three beautiful cabins and had a wonderful time of
fellowship, relaxation and BIble study. We studied the book of Second
Peter, talking about all the things that the Lord wants us to
remember. We continued the spirit of the retreat in our Sunday
services, finishing up the studies on 2 Peter and eating together. I
praise the Lord for this important time together to encourage the
believers and challenge them once again with the word. We praise the
Lord for the way that He is working here.

September 9-15

Last week the kids started school again so we are back in our normal schedule. I started band practice as well last week. I signed myself up for the local band. It has been years since I have played in a large ensamble, but more than anything, it is a good way to meet people and be a testimony in the city. The rehearsal schedule is not convenient but at least it doesn't conflict with my other activities: we meet from 10:00 to 12:00 at night! Maribel continues to meet with the ladies for their time of prayer and study during the week. I had hoped to have a study with Sergio this past week, but he ended up going out of town yet again.
Our service yesterday was very full! I think we filled almost every chair. Several families from the Alicante church visited us, as well as Israel's dad. One couple was very special. They came to church in Alicante a few times several years ago, but God has continued to work in their hearts. It is not clear where they are spiritually, but it is obvious that the Spirit is working in their hearts. I preached the Gospel from 1 Corinthians 13.11 about the changes in a believers life. In the evening our little congregation went down to Elche for the evening service. We had a special time of recognition of those who have studied in the Bible Institute this past year and who have finished a certificate. One young person finished the first certificate (two years), another young man who feels called to the ministry received his second certificate (four years) and two young men (Fran and Israel) completed the third and final certificate, represented six years of studies. After receiving a certificate and a Bible, Israel preached the message of the evening. He preached from Ezekiel about Judah's sins which brought about the judgment of God. Please pray with us about our church retreat next weekend. We will be studying the book of 2 Peter as we spend a few days together at some cabins up in the mountains.

September 2-8

This past week, there was a children's BIble club in the church in
Elche. It was a good opportunity to get Sergio under more Bible
teaching. He came with us two days. I would have liked for him to have
been there the entire week, but he had exams on Monday and Tuesday and
then he went to visit some friends on Friday. David and Andrea were
able to go everyday, and enjoyed the week greatly. Yesterday morning
we celebrated the Lord's table before our morning service. It was a
blessing to share this time with the believers and hear how God is
working in their lives.

In the morning service, Israel preached from the book of Ezekiel. He
spoke on God's displeasure concerning sin in His people. We were very
pleased to have two visitors in the service. Bibiana lives in London,
where she got saved, but she comes back to Spain to visit her mother,
and yesterday she brought her to church here in Petrer. We visited
Bibiana and her husband in London last February. In the evening we met
at María Eugenia's house to continue our study on doctrine. We talked
about the Seventh Day Adventists and their prophet, compared to what
we have in the Bible. María Eugenia invited Pedro to bring his wife.
Pedro is a believer who has come to the evangelistic Bible studies we
have given, and he even brought his wife, who is not saved, over to
the house. We had a good opportunity to witness to her, but she has
not come to any of the ladies' studies. We were looking forward to
seeing her again, but in the end she could not come because she was
not feeling very well. We trust that the Lord will continue to work in
Carmen's heart and that we will see her saved one day.

August 12-September 1

Last week we were able to take a week off to go on vacation up in the Pyrenees on the boarder of Spain and France. It was a wonderful week to spend with our family surrounded by beautiful scenery in the fresh, mountain air. On Sunday we visited some believers that I had met when I spoke at a camp in Barcelona. We enjoyed our time with them very much on Sunday, and then returned home on Monday. The Sunday I was gone, Israel preached here in Petrer. He is one of my students from the Bible Institute who feels called to the ministry. This summer he told me that he felt it was God's timing for him to start helping us here with the work. I look forward to working more closely with this young man in the ministry. We heard good reports about the service on Sunday morning, and on Sunday evening Lorenzo gave a challenge. This is a very good sign of growth in his life.
This Sunday was the first week that Sergio was back. He is struggling with several issues in his life. But we are very glad to see him back. I preached my final sermon in my series on the life of Moses. It was a review of everything we have seen about Moses and a few ideas to wrap it all up. In the evening, we began to talk about what the Seventh Day Adventists believe.