Prayer update

God has been blessing at our mission church. The last few months we've had a good number of visitors that have continued to return fairly regularly. In addition, it seems that God is doing a work in the lives of several of our members. Here are a few prayer requests.

1. Please pray for Julio and Joel, two middle-aged men who have been attending very regularly for a couple of months. Julio professes to know Christ and has invited a number of friends to church, but we are still unsure of his spiritual condition. Joel has not yet professed Christ, but both he and Julio are attending a weekly Bible study with David, a member of our congregation.
2. Please pray for a number of married ladies who are regular members of our assembly whose husbands are not believers. Pray that God will use their testimony to bring their spouses to Christ.
3. Please pray for some special evangelistic outreaches that we will be doing from now until the end of the year.
4. Please pray for Obed, a 20-year-old young man who was converted here in the mission about three years ago. For about one year Obed was very faithful and manifested much fruit of conversion. But a couple of years ago he seemed to suddenly lose interest and quit coming. On many occasions we tried to meet with him and encourage him, but always to no avail. But the last two or three weeks Obed has been showing up at church. Please pray that God will work in Obed's heart. If he is a believer, we know that God will bring him back to himself. If he isn't truly a believer, we are praying that he would be converted.
5. Please pray for Rosy, a middle-aged woman who is one of our most faithful and long-term members. Rosy has been going through some very difficult trials lately. Without going into detail, it appears that God is graciously bringing difficult circumstances into her life to force her to make some very difficult and costly (but necessary) decisions. From a pastoral perspective, it is encouraging to see Romans 8:29 played out in the life of our people: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Please pray the sanctifying fire of God's providential dealings in Rosy's life would result in her further transformation into the likeness of her Savior.
6. Please pray for a few other individuals who have attended the mission fairly regularly for some time and profess salvation, but do not evidence clear fruit of conversion. Pray that the gospel will continue to be clearly proclaimed and that the Holy Spirit will perform his convicting and regenerating work in their lives.
   
7. As I've mentioned before, Chuy Alanís, who has been serving as pastor of the mission for the past year, is currently raising support to go to Ecuador as a missionary. Chuy hopes to begin full-time deputation in the spring, which means that the mission will be needing another pastor. Please pray that God will meet this need. Finding a pastor for this area is pretty difficult. The "colonia" (neighborhood) in which the mission is located is very poor and is a difficult place to live. Because of the nature of the area and it's people, it is will be very important to find a pastor who is able (and willing) to live full-time in the colonia.
   

Thank you for your prayers.

Photos:
Top: A church-wide meal a couple of Sundays ago.
Bottom: Some of our students (from the university) who help at the mission.