I want to express my deep appreciation for each of you and your prayers on my behalf and on behalf of the ministry here in La Paz, Mexico.
Before the urgent request, I’d like to point out a couple of areas where God’s blessing is evident.
Last week a team from a church that partners with El Faro was here involved in several ministries. They put on a movie night on Wednesday and then they did a LEGO event for the kids while the adults attended a workshop with Belkis that also incorporated LEGOs. Each time Belkis has led a workshop, the attendance has increased, and people are challenged to apply the Word of God to their lives. I understand that there were 177 in attendance Wednesday and just under 50 in each of the groups on Friday. As part of the follow-up, we’re planning an afternoon of family-oriented games for Friday, March 13th (a holiday here). Please pray for that event as well.
The Ladies’ Group has also been increasing in attendance and last week we had 26 ladies. It was the first time for the ladies that I’m training to participate. Three of us taught different aspects of the lesson. They did great and we were all thrilled with the enthusiasm of the ladies. One lady who isn’t a believer yet went home last week and taught her husband what she had learned. Others have commented on how interesting the study is and that they are learning a lot. It’s neat to see them taking notes and working together at their tables. Last week I was very encouraged to be a witness to God at work in the group. Let me tell you about one of the incidents!
We begin with prayer and praise followed by almost an hour dedicated to praying in small groups. That’s followed by a short break and then almost an hour of Bible teaching. When we began the prayer time, one of the ladies called me aside to tell me that she knew one of the ladies visiting for the first time… because she had sinned against her before she was a believer. Now that she’s a believer, she said that she wanted to talk to the other lady to ask forgiveness. There wasn’t a private way to allow them to talk then, so I suggested that they talk at the end of the meeting. For the Bible study, we’re using “lots” to assign the seating so the groups are different each week by God’s design and they can get to know one another better. This lady said she was going to arrange to not sit with the offended party, but I suggested she sit wherever God assigned her. Wouldn’t you know it, they were at the same table! At the end of the meeting, this lady called me because the offended party was leaving, so I quickly ran up the stairs and explained the situation. The two ladies opened their hearts in very respectful and mature ways, forgiveness was requested and granted, and they’ve begun a process toward reconciliation. I prayed for them and encouraged them and heard later that both felt a huge weight lift. That’s the way it should work. (For those in La Paz, I’m sharing this confidentially and ask that you please keep this confidential.) Please pray for the Lord to continue to bring healing to both ladies.
So here’s the urgent request… that we could see the same thing happen in the El Faro church. I’ve shared about the conflict between two key couples that is polarizing the church. I haven’t had time to write earlier because I’ve been very involved in helping to put a process in place with the goal of reconciliation. We’re following the instructions of Matthew 18. Both couples agreed to enter into the process, but after several preliminary meetings, on Tuesday, one couple pulled out. This couple has raised a lot of key issues which the church is working on to correct, but they seem to have a different agenda. Tomorrow (I’m writing late Saturday night) the sermon is on unity in the church and will incorporate Communion into the message. Please pray that the Lord work in a powerful way to change hearts and bring about unity.
Please also pray for wisdom for the leadership in this difficult situation.
Extremely grateful for your prayers and support!
Brenda
