March - May Ministry Update

Here's an update on what we've been up to the last few months.

New Co-workers

On March 8, I went up to Texas to help our friends and new co-workers, Jonathan and Wendy Latham (and their beautiful two-year-old daughter, Gloria) cross the border and come to Monterrey. We are very glad to have the Lathams here now. Jonathan and Wendy's coming to serve at UCLA is a huge answer to prayer. Jonathan began teaching his first class about two weeks after they arrived so we're already reaping the benefits of the Latham's ministry here. And as an added bonus, they're renting just a couple of houses away from ours, so that makes us neighbors. It's exciting to see how the Lord continues to bring more laborers to work in the ministry here.

Graduates' Ordination Service

One highlight of the semester for us was the opportunity that I had to participate in the ordination services of four of our graduates. Two of these men, Alejandro Pelayo and Juan Oscar Mares, serve as pastors of other mission churches near ours. The other two plan to go to South America as missionaries. Chuy Alanis, the former pastor of our mission church, will be going to Ecuador (in 2009, Lord willing) and Krim Lashinat, assistant pastor at the Iglesia Bautista Geneseret, will be moving to French Guiana later this month. It is exciting to see these graduates going out from UCLA to serve the Lord. Please pray for these men and their families.

Pictured (L to R): Chuy Alanís, Juan Oscar Mares, AJ Gibson, Alejandro Pelayo, Krim Lashinat

Tenth Anniversary Conference

The biggest event of our semester was the school's 10th anniversary conference, held at a convention center down-town Monterrey. The conference went very well and was a wonderful celebration of God's grace in the first decade of the university's existence. As we look back on the past, it is abundantly clear that God has done a miracle here. Here are some photos from the conference. The first is a picture of some of the pastors that attended and the second is from one of the preaching sessions. The final picture is of the school's orchestra and choir ministering in the conference.




Mission

Our ministry at the mission this semester has been fruitful. As you may remember, in January Chuy and Edith Alanís left the mission to go on full-time deputation. Since that time we have taken over the leadership responsibilities. God has been good and we've enjoyed serving in this new capacity. We continue to be challenged and stretched. Preaching several times a week on a regular basis has been a new and enjoyable challenge for me. Because we would like to formally organize the mission as a church within the next year, I've been preaching on the church from Ephesians 4. Our goal is to help our people come to a clear understanding of God's plan for the local church and of their responsibilities within the church. Please pray for continued growth and maturity in this little assembly.

In addition to two Sunday services and a mid-week (Thursday) prayer service, our mission also holds a Saturday morning kid's club for kids from the neighborhood. In addition we also hold a club in a neighboring colonia called Monte Cristal. Each Saturday a group of 8-10 students from the university go with us to the mission to help with these two ministries. Two weeks ago we held a special event in the two clubs to celebrate Mexico's Día de los Niños ("Children's Day") and had almost 200 kids between the two groups! One of the byproducts of our kid's club ministry in Monte Cristal is that 2 or 3 parents of children have been coming fairly regularly to our Sunday A.M. service.

Lord willing, beginning this week we will be constructing the walls for our new auditorium at the mission. Last summer a mission team constructed the roof, and so we are excited to finally be finishing up that project.

Pastor's Conference

This last weekend (May 8-10) my colleagues, Matthew Bixby and Russell Raymer, and I were privileged to host a three-day pastor's conference/class here in Monterrey like the one we did in Saltillo, Coahuila last October. Matt Bixby and I each taught for about 8 hours on the topics of homiletics and pastoral theology, respectively. The conference was held in Iglesia Bautista Getsemaní, pastored by one of our students, Abraham Alvarado. As always, it is a great privilege to serve pastors by helping to further equip them for their ministry. As we've mentioned in the past, our plan is to host a number of these conferences each year in different cities around Mexico. Lord willing, we will be doing another one of these in Tampico, Tamaulipas in September.

Modular Class

Our regular school year has now drawn to an end for our theology students. Our students are currently enjoying a two-week modular course on youth and camp ministry taught by missionary Jim Gardner.

Summer

Lord willing, we will be staying here in the Monterrey area this summer. We hope to spend much of our time working in the mission. Besides our work at the mission, we are looking forward to hosting two mission teams from the States, one from BJU and one from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Greenville. Both of these which will be helping us with special teen and children's outreaches in the mission.

Prayer Requests

1. For wisdom and strength as we minister in the mission this summer.
2. For the mission teams that visit us.
3. For our students as they return home to minister in churches, camps, etc. for the summer.
4. For the salvation of our boys, Jonathan and Christian.
5. For the salvation of the husbands of several of the ladies who attend the mission.
6. For the salvation of Julio and Asunción, two men who have attended the mission off and on for several months.
7. For Rosy, a faithful member of our assembly who has been undergoing a time of difficult trial.
8. For Obed, a young believer who has been growing very quickly in Christ.