We're back!

Hey, it feels good to be back in the "blogosphere". I'm not sure if that's actually the correct wording, but it is good to be back to blogging about God's gracious working in and through the ministry of Grace Baptist Church.
It has been around 5 months since the last blog, just before we left from Curaco. Why you may ask did we take so long off from informing you of the happenings? Well, it definitely hasn't been for a lack of things to fill you in on. Much is going on at Grace Baptist Church in Curaco.
As mentioned before, our last blog found us preparing to leave from Curaco and come back to the States. Our departure was bittersweet. Whereas we knew that we were to go back to see and share with many of our loved ones, we also knew that we would be leaving the little flock at Grace Baptist Church and the many people of Curaco that we were hoping to reach with the gospel. Well, now we are back in Michigan and excited about our opportunities to minister here and equally as excited about the current and future ministry in Curaco.
When we left from Curaco in April, the assembly was meeting in an old building without any modern conveniences. No water, no bathroom, no electricity, etc. But we praised the Lord for the place that He gave us to meet together and worship Him. It was beautiful to see the group of people that the Lord brought together: men, women, boys and girls. Many hearing the gospel story for the first time. And as we read from the Scripture, about the Scripture, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Just two months ago in late July I (Daniel) made a two week trip down to southern Chile. The main purpose of the trip was to encourage our partners in ministry, to check on the well-being of the sheep, put on a VBS, and do some intense discipleship and teaching. Our co-workers Jorge and Viviana were being faithful in their shepherding of the sheep and they were all greatly encouraged by the visit. It was also a wonderful time to strengthen some relationships and start some new ones.
The last night that I was in Curaco I went to play basketball at the local gym. Right before we started to play, a friend named Omar came up to tell me that the building that we had been using for our services was about to be demolished and that we (obviously) were going to need to find some where else to have our services. I thanked him for the heads up and spent the rest of my time in the gym not only playing hoops but also playing scenarios around in my head of what we could do about obtaining a new place to hold our worship gatherings. I returned to the house and shared with our partners in ministry about this new challenge. Interestingly enough we had just went through a study on the providence of God and prayer. So we got to business. We prayed about it and trusted that God would make a way where there seemed to be no way.
And He did!!! (Of course)
The next morning I spoke to Jorge and I encouraged him to talk to the man who had rented us a building to use as a fitness center. This is the man, Francisco, who told us that we could rent the building to use as a fitness center, but not as a church. His reasoning behind this was to avoid persecution for himself. But over the past six months we had built a pretty good friendship and I felt that the Lord was leading us to approach Francisco about this matter. And he said "Yes!"
So now the assembly is meeting in a place where there is water, a bathroom and electricity. What a huge change! Please pray that the Lord would draw Francisco and his family into a saving relationship with Himself. There is much opposition to the gospel in Curaco and we want so much for there to be a testimony to His glorious grace.
Now we are in the process of raising the funds necessary to return to Curaco for the long-term. We are seeing our calendar fill up with opportunities to share the ministry in other churches and we are of course praying that the Lord would touch the hearts of people that He would have be a part of this exciting ministry.
Please pray for us, that we would be found faithful to share the gospel as we ought.
(Ephesians 6:19) Thank you again for your prayers and your support on behalf of us and the people of Curaco de Velez.
Daniel (for Ruth and the kids)