Fruit that lasts

Today we had a special day at Grace Baptist Church. Our children's Sunday School was packed out and the children had a wonderful time of learning more about the Lord Jesus Christ. And then when it came time for the adult worship service we had a good crowd as well. But what was it that made for such a special day? Was it the amount of children who were in the 10 am service? Or was it the amount of adults who were in the 12 pm service? No. Although we were pleased to see so many people come out for the services, what really made it special was the group of people that showed up.
Last January Pastor Kelly Carlson (North Casnovia Batist Church) and I came down to Curaco for a couple of weeks and were able to minister to the flock down here at Grace Baptist. One of the highlights was being able to baptize five of the believers. We had to go back to the States but now my wife Ruth and I have come back with our family (and Kristina Erbes) to continue on in the church planting work. Today at Grace we had a baby dedication. Osvaldo and Miriam brought their 10 day old baby Yvonne to be dedicated unto the Lord. I had the opportunity to explain what baby dedication represents and what it requires of the parents and the congregation of the saints. So this of course was part of our special day. But it wasn't all that made it special. What made it "especially special" to me as a pastor was that Miriam was one of the five who were baptized 14 months ago and here she was still in the church, still seeking after the Lord. And then to look out into the group and see the four others who were baptized on the same day that she was. Jorge, Evleyn, Mari, and Juan. The Lord has given us fruit and it has been fruit that lasts. Praise the Lord for His work in the lives of His people. And please pray for these brothers and sisters and the others at Grace Baptist Church of Curaco de Velez.
As mentioned earlier in this entry we packed the place out this morning and afternoon. For some time we have been praying and seeking a larger meeting place. Yesterday we became aware of a possibility. At the close of the service I asked the brothers and sisters to pray for this. And then this evening Ruth and I were able to check the place out and supposedly we will hear back this week as to it being available unto us or not. We don't want to count this as a "done deal" seeings that we have had the rug pulled out from under us several times in situations like this one. So please pray for us and for those who are in charge of this property. If this is the will of the Lord may we be able to rent the place for a reasonable amount. The reason for wanting the larger space is not just to have a bigger place. What we want to do is have more room to receive more people and to split the kids up from one big Sunday School class to several smaller ones. And of course our main goal is to glorify the Lord and make disciples and that they would bring forth much fruit and that it would be fruit that lasts!
Daniel

Who's that knocking on my door (part 2)

Knock knock. Who's there? Waiting for the punchline? Well there won't be one. Probably a good thing since the majority of people find my jokes in english and spanish quite lame.
The last time I shared about people knocking on my door I wasn't very pleased with the visitors. Today was a bit different. The kids always get excited when someone knocks on the door. They love the wonder of "who it may be" and "what they might have brought" with them. So this morning the "knocker" was a man named Alvaro. He is from Brazil and came to follow up on our request for him to teach us Portuguese. (Ruth and I would like to learn Portuguese for potential ministry purposes and then be able to pass on to the kids another language) Alvaro stated that he would like to work out some kind of exchange of us teaching him English for him teaching us Portuguese. We told him that this sounded like a good idea and hopefully next month (April) we can get started with our classes. He ended up knocking on our door several more times throughout the day and we were able to help him with some things and generally get to know each other better. Please pray for Alvaro and for our relationship with him. We hope that through our time with him that he will hear a clear presentation of the gospel and that the Lord would draw him unto Himself.
Then there was the afternoon when I went over to Achao to help another pastor friend with some errands. He needed to move some desks from a different town back to his church. And since I have a truck I was the one that he asked. That's what friends and brothers are for, right? To encourage and help out one another. So on the way over to pick him up I came across four young ladies hitchhiking. This is still quite common down here. As we drove the 12 minutes over to Achao I struck up a small conversation. I asked them where they studied and where they were from. They told me that they studied in Curaco (our town) and that they lived in the dormitories alongside of the school. When I mentioned that my family is down here planting a church one of the young ladies (Marjorie) said that she had grown up in a Christian family and had always gone to church. What was so neat about this is the fact that Ruth and I had been praying for the kids in the dormitories and for bridges to be built between them and our church. And here was a neat opportunity to meet another believer and we hope for the opportunity to encourage her in the faith and to reach out to her peers with the gospel. Please pray along with us for the 150-200 young people that live in the dorms. And please pray for the people who are in charge at the dorms, that we would find grace in their eyes and be able to have easy access to the students.
Then this late afternoon/early evening Ruth had guitar class and then English class right after. English class was especially well attended and the kids are excited about what they are learning. And we were excited to see them there and of course encouraged them to come back on Sunday for Sunday School. Please pray for these kids and for their families.
And to round off the day we had a special time of studying God's Word in our adult Bible Study. Tonight we talked about the security that we have in Christ. We as believers belong to God, we are His children. No one can pluck us out of His hand. He has began the good work in us and He will complete it. What hope we have in Jesus! Praise His Name!
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. We love you in the love of Christ.
Daniel (for Ruth and the kids)

Padre Gatica

There is a saying in Chile that goes like this: "Padre Gatica predica pero no se practica." The translation goes like this: "Gatica the priest doesn't practice what he preaches." I had that thought in my mind as I pondered upon the bottoming out dollar. The dollar has lost about 20% of its value in the 5 months that we have been down here. And the prices of things have not gone down, but they have gone up. So what does this have to do with Padre Gatica? Well I remember a message that I shared in November 2005 during a North American missionaries conference here in Chile. At that point the dollar was "way down" in the mid 600 range (it had been up to 740 in July of 2003) and I reminded the brothers and sisters about the sovereignty of God over all things including exchange rates. "We need not worry", I reminded them, "our trust and our hope is in the Lord." And of course I believed this when I shared it and I believe it just as much today. But the interesting thing is that through this time of financial uncertainty I have been crunching the numbers a little more than normal and have read more articles about inflation and recession than I had ever before in my life. So what happened? Had I forgotten about the Lord and His provision for all of our needs from past to present and of His promise to take care of our future? (physical needs yes, but more importantly our spiritual needs) Once I noticed this sin of unbelief and let go of it I received great peace from the Lord. I know that the Lord is still on the throne. I know that the Lord has brought us to this town of Curaco to preach and live out His gospel. I know that He holds the future. So I decide, so I desire to no longer be live like Padre Gatica but to live like an obedient, trusting child of the Most High God. Trusting Him for who He is, for what He has done, for what He is doing and for what He will do; all for His glory and for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose.

M&M

M&M is the "artistic name" given to my mother-in-law and to her best friend Monica. (Mother-in-law's name is Maria) They spent the last three weeks down her with us, helping us with the children and generally supporting the ministries of Grace Baptist Church. They left today in the morning and their time here will be long remembered. In the post below you can see and listen to them share special music in one of our Sunday morning worship services.
(Y si M&M estan leyendo esto, de nuevo le decimos "muchisimas gracias y que Dios les bendiga grandemente!")

Always something going on

When was the last time that you were bored? The last time that you just felt that there was absolutely nothing for you to do? I remember when I was a kid that there were quite a few boring moments. Although there probably were lots of things to do I felt like there was nothing to do. But not anymore. There always seems to be a lot going on!
I cannot believe that a whole 8 days have passed by since Ruth, Tabitha and I got back into Curaco after a few days away. As the old saying goes, "time sure flies when you are busy." Today our friend Dana left Curaco and began her journey back to Michigan. We enjoyed her visit with us and trust that the Lord used (and will use) her trip for His glory and for Dana's growth in Christ.
Today was a full day with some quality visits and contacts with the people. Please continue to pray for the people and for their spiritual needs. May more and more people truly bow the knee to Jesus Christ. Not just ritualistically nor legalistically, but sincerely. May the Name of the Lord be praised.
Let us as the servants of the Lord be busy about the Master's business and not just sit around twiddling our thumbs. With so much to do (and who know's how much time to do anything) may we be found faithful to the preaching and living out of the gospel. Remember, God has always got something going on. Don't miss out on it. Get involved in it.

Intercepted?

Again I have fallen behind on my blogging. Sorry. But I can say that it hasn't been for lack of things going on. Maybe my inconsistency is more a result of a busy schedule. So whatever it is (or isn't) here is something interesting that happened on Friday.....
Ruth, Tabitha, our friend Dana and I got back to Curaco on Thursday night. After Bible Study Jorge borrowed my truck and I planned on picking it up in Achao on Friday morning. So I hop on the bus and head over to Achao. On the bus with me is a family that I know and I offer to take them back to Curaco with me after we all get done with our respective errands. They indicate that it sounded good for them and we would meet up later at the bank. Cool. I went out and did my errands and made it back to the bank. We meet up and they said that they needed to go to the hardware store and I said "I'll meet you there." So I go and wait for them and they don't show up. And they don't show up. And they don't show up. I'm starting to think that someone else has picked them up. Maybe they have been intercepted. So I start back to Curaco. The distance between Achao and Curaco is 11 kilometers or 6 1/2 miles. About 3 kilometers into the trip I come upon three hitchhikers. I'm not going to lose these passengers! So they hop in and we proceed on to Curaco. I invite them over to lunch and we have a really good meal and some good conversation and an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our new friends names are Sandor, Daniella and Tomas. The first two are from Chile and the third is from Colombia. Please pray for them. After lunch Ruth and I were able to take them to the next town and drop them off. Along the way more seed was planted and each of them was sent off with a copy of "God's Bridge to Eternal Life" and a prayer that the Word of God would touch their hearts and that they too would come to know the Living God and His Son Jesus Christ. So all this is said not to bring glory nor adulation to a man (me) for what he has done. It is said to give glory to God that He is sovereign and He has a plan and He will always complete with it. Whereas I thought that someone had "intercepted" my passengers that wasn't necessarily the case. The Lord had other passengers for me to pick up and share with. If I had taken the original passengers I wouldn't have been able to take Sandor, Daniella and Tomas. Looking back on the situation I realize that again I have been humbled into realizing that the Lord's plans and thoughts are much higher than mine and I am thankful for that. He worked things out in a way that glorified Himself and that is what I want more than anything. May the Name of the Lord be praised!