This month there are a lot of national “kingdom” celebrations – Canada, US, Venezuela and Peru all celebrate their independence. That includes pretty much everyone who receives this prayer letter, so congratulations to all of you! As Christians, we can also celebrate leaving behind the kingdom of darkness for the freedom and incredible benefits of belonging to the kingdom of light. “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” (Colossians 1:11-14) We have a lot to joyfully celebrate!
I enjoyed supervising another short-term worker the beginning of June. Tammie came on a vision trip and stayed a couple weeks later because she is seriously considering becoming a missionary. She was involved in various ministries. One of the first was an evangelistic event for children and their representatives creating unique bears. I translated her teaching on how God created each of us as someone unique and a special object of His love and then I shared, using the Wordless Book, how we could become new creatures in Christ. Tammie also helped with the Transformed sports ministry and worked with me organizing the visuals and songs used in ministry at El Faro church. Please pray for the Lord to clearly direct in Tammie’s life.
Of course, I had to take her on some adventures. Some new firsts included exploring a canyon, driving out on El Mogote which is a sandy peninsula like Long Point, Ontario, and spotting this little White-tailed Antelope Squirrel. 
We also enjoyed a couple of beaches and kayaking. We were able to do that while the weather was still nice, but now it seems like the summer heat and humidity is here and will only get worse.
Another June evangelistic event was the Father’s Day celebration. At the end of the service we had prayer and some fun events for the fathers. They each received a card and token and then we shared in a delicious meal. The ladies on our committee and from the church worked hard making the decorations, handcrafts and meal so the fathers could enjoy their day, be challenged with a Biblical message, and develop new relationships. Please pray for the men to take steps to be better fathers and husbands and for the Lord to be drawing the visitors to Himself and His kingdom. We also promoted another evangelistic event. A sister church put on an excellent drama that revealed false beliefs held by people about salvation and the only way to enter the kingdom of light. A good number of people from El Faro went along with invited friends. Pray that the Gospel message will penetrate the hearts and minds of those in attendance who were still in the kingdom of darkness and also that the believers would be better equipped to boldly share their faith as the Lord presents opportunities to do so.
More reasons to celebrate from June were that I was able to teach more at the ladies’ meetings and that the audio-visual ministry continues to advance. I’m grateful that we were able to purchase PowerPoint to continue to use that program on the new (to El Faro) computer and that there are a couple of people willing to get involved. Please pray over the next few months that we would be able to form a team. I thoroughly enjoy preparing the visuals, running the projector, recording the sermons and then editing and posting them, but we need to have people in the church trained to do it as well. So far, all the people who expressed interest have moved to another city or started jobs that occupy Sunday mornings. There is one couple interested but they have the limitations of a newborn and a demanding job and another couple who are short-term missionaries. Please pray for more interest and commitment.
July’s evangelistic event is a Vacation Bible School that will be held July 17-23. Ana Rita and Paty are organizing it. Please pray that all the people involved in the many different areas will be faithful to their commitments, that we will all exude the love and joy of Christ, and that there will be many decisions made to leave the kingdom of darkness and enter the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
This collage is to celebrate answered prayers for safety. I’ve mentioned before the different animals and people one has to watch out for, but I really wasn’t expecting to see cows crossing the road here in La Paz. Please do continue to pray for my health and safety, especially as we have entered hurricane season. I’d be great if no hurricanes hit the Baja peninsula this year!
I continue to enjoy seeing new birds. I saw the Common Moorhen and the breeding Pied-billed Grebe after dropping Tammie off at the airport. The Snowy Plover was spotted after taking some new missionaries to the beach and it became species #153 from my time in Mexico. If you’d like to see more birds, go here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!ApirIiDEtXgYomcoQfOV_LDuXrhj
If you’d like to see more photos of the evangelistic events, go to El Faro’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/iglesiaelfarolapaz/photos/?ref=page_internal
or here: https://www.facebook.com/iglesiaelfarolapaz/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
As always, I’m grateful for your prayers and support.
Yours for the Kingdom,
Brenda
