Saturday, June 27, 2009

MEETING AT LONG TABLE

Mesa Larga, This means long table in Spanish and justly represents the name of the village. It sits on top of a mesa high in the mountains. Years ago we had begun a work there that was suspended because of conflict between two indigenous groups. It was a bitter land conflict between the sponsoring church’s village and the missions’ village. Although Christians were not involved it was unsafe to visit the mission. As things changed and the conflict was resolved we began to visit again. Last Monday we drove up the mountain to have church at Mesa Larga. During the invitation a man stands up and in a loud voice said “I want you to pray with me, I need forgiveness” . This is rare because the Aztec people are usually shy and quiet in public situations. I asked him his name and said if he would repent and accept the gift of eternal life. The weeping man replied yes! We have high expectations of what God is doing and will continue to do among the Aztec people as faithful men continue to carry the saving message of Jesus to those who most desperately need it.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

50 saved in Evangelism Explosion Clinic

Eric, JosuĂ© (pastor of FBC Huejutla), Jose Manuel (missionary in Huautla new mission) and I just returned from a week long Evangelism Explosion Clinic in Coayuca, Puebla. Eric and I went as teacher traineres and our pastors were trainees. The clinic was hosted by two churches The Church in Coayuca and the Church in Axochiapan. When we arrived to teach the first class we were surprised to see almost 50 people present. The good news is that all but 16 were not there for certification training but wanted to learn to evangelize the EE way. The bad news was there were only four trainers Ricky Williams, Jorge Mesa, Eric and I. We were going to be really busy all week long. The clinic is part of the ongoing education program that Bro. Ricky manages in conjunction with the Jacksonville Theological Seminary. As a part of the training we go out and look for the lost all over. We find them at hospitals, bus stations, business and their homes. The churches in both towns had arrainged visits in the homes of church contacts in about. So, we had one class a day and “ground pounded” visiting people and sharing the Gospel with them. The idea is that the trainees can observe the Gospel presentation for a week and be able to participate by the end of the week. God blessed in a great way with 50 solid professions of faith. The remarkable thing is that we only presented the gospel about 36 times. In many homes we led both the husband and wife to the Lord. We are tired but glad to be home. In the end we had trained 16 people for certification and about 20 more in an informal manner. Help us pray for these two churches, the 50 converts and the new soul winners that are continuing to work in these towns.