I hate to have to apologize again for not writing, but it’s been a month and a half…
When I last wrote, I was hopeful that construction would finish on my new apartment and that furniture would be delivered within a week. Well, I’m still waiting on the furniture and the construction should be finished by mid-June. To say that the waiting has been frustrating is to put it mildly, but I won’t go into all of that.
The new believers’ class has been a joy to teach. There are five new believers who form the core group and have been very faithful. There have always been a few visitors and now about six others from the church have joined the class. Last week I tested them on the six verses we’ve had to memorize and I was very pleased with the results. I’ve also been very encouraged to see them participating in the youth activities and coming to church services.
The adolescent and youth ministries are moving ahead. We held the two workdays (one per ministry) and have been making changes to the ministries. We’ve been baking and selling cookies to gather funds to put on a program for Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day June 5th (in the middle of the two celebrations). The adolescents have prepared a drama and the youth have a drama and a song. I’ll also have time with the parents to explain what we want to accomplish in the ministries and to seek their support. At the same time, the adolescents and youth will be filling out a survey to gather info. Please pray for that meeting – that a lot of parents come with their adolescents and youth, that the program runs smoothly, that relationships be built, and that we have good communication.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV) Youth leaders
That is for this Saturday. The following Saturday the two ministries will have their separate meetings and it will be a kick-off to the new format. The leaders and I have planned the meeting, but I won’t be there, so please pray that it will be a good experience for them. I will be traveling to a congress in Quito, Ecuador June 7-13 along with the pastors from the church. Please pray for safety traveling and for ability to absorb all I can from the teaching and youth-related workshops.
Thank you for your prayers and e-mails and your patience waiting for me to answer. This week is busy getting ready for June 5th and the week after I’ll be traveling, so it will still be a while before I’m able to tackle getting caught up on correspondence. Please do pray for me to be able to make wise use of time.
God bless!
Brenda
