Pastors Conference, Graduation, Evangelistic Outreach, Strategic Planning

We praise the Lord for His rich blessings this past week at the pastors' conference. We had approximately 65 pastors and about 15 women attending sessions throughout the week. The emphasis on Christ's Preeminence in ministry challenged all of us to move away from man-centeredness and to be more like Christ in character and ministry. Here you can see a picture of some of the pastors that attended the conference. You can see more pictures by clicking here. You may also listen to the conferences (they are in Spanish) by clicking here or here.

We also celebrated the university graduation on Wednesday. It was a blessing to see 14 preparatoria students and 14 university students graduate. Our prayers are that each one of them will go out and serve the Lord well. Daniel Salvatierra, a young man from my in-law's church in Chile, also graduated (he's the first one in the back row). We are thankful that he will be returning to help in the ministry in Antofagasta, Chile.

We were also grateful for the effective ministry of the BJU Spanish Ministry Team. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, the Gospel was shared with over 100 children and young people as well as numerous parents who came to observe the activities. The Lord graciously provided several people on the team that could use their art major training to give us a more visible presence in the neighborhood. Pray as we seek to follow-up on the people who we made contact with.

On Monday and Tueday, we carried out two exhausting days of strategic planning for the university. It was exciting to consider the possibilities and plans for the future. It was also daunting to remember our own smallness and the magnitude of our task. It is at this time that we remember that our God is greater than any task or enemy. We require His assistance, so please lift up your prayers on our behalf.

Please continue to pray as we have still not received our paper work. They continue to tell us "two more days." So far, it has turned into tw more months! I will be leaving for NBBC on Saturday after a wedding (a current student is marrying a graduate!). Pray for my trip and those who will be staying behind, especially since Susan is probably suffering from a case of strep throat.

Escalating Violence

Last year I blogged about the increasing drug-related violence in Monterrey (click here and here). The situation continues to spiral out of control. Today, CNN had a story on their website that highlighted the bloodiest battle between police and drug gangs. Although that specific incident happened far from here, we have seen a sudden increase in violence here in Monterrey. While all of last year, approximately 50 people died in this kind of violence, we have already shot past that number this year (no pun intended!). The violence is also spreading geographically in the metropolitan area. While the shootings used to occur almost exclusively in Monterrey proper or San Pedro (the ritzy area of town), that is no longer true. Recently several violent incidents have taken place right near our area. One shootout left two men dead. Mrs. Montes, the pastor's wife, woke up in the middle of the night and heard the shots. Another shootout happened just a few blocks from the university. Apparently, some man had kidnapped the children of drug-related person. He was chased by this man's associates. The chase ended in a shootout right near the university. The kidnapper escaped, only to be found shot to death the next day in another area of town.

While this kind of violence sounds spectacular and certainly is, daily life has not been greatly affected for the majority of people in Monterrey. However, our prayer is that the violence would decrease instead of increase. It would truly take divine intervention for this to happen. Although the new president has taken a harder stance against the drug cartels, they continue to kill with impunity. Several high-ranking police officers in the Monterrey area have been shot and killed. One police chief in a town near Monterrey was decapitated, and his head was left on the steps of the police station. The most discouraging fact is that not one single person has been arrested for these killings. Yet in all this, we remember that our Father is stronger and more powerful than any drug cartel. He controls where their bullets fly.

Busyness, Busyness

Thank you for your prayers. Here are serveral items to pray for as we head into one of the busiest times of the year. Sunday morning I will be preaching the final message on 1 John. I began the series in February just over two years ago. Since that time I have preached 21 sermons. This will be number 22. I praise the Lord for what I have learned as I have preached. Most of all, I am grateful for the absolute security we can have in Christ as we demonstrate faith, love and obedience.

On Sunday at 7:00 pm, we will be starting the pastors' conference. The theme is The Preeminence of Christ in Ministry: A Christ-centered church. We are hoping to have somewhere betwen 50-100 pastors here for the conference. Please pray that they will be encouraged, inspired, and challenged to have a biblical philosophy of ministry. The conference runs from Sunday through Wednesday noon. On Monday night I will be preaching on the conference theme. The others speakers will be: Pastors David Cortez, Noé Mendoza, Julio Montes and Carl Herbster. Drs. AJ Giboson and Ken Casillas (prof at BJU) will also be speaking. Russell Raymer will be doing two one-hour sessions on church finance in the afternoons. One of the special "attractions" of the conference is the wonderful music (with choir and orchestra). Many Mexican pastors have never heard this kind of music. Pray that the musicians and music will exalt God and focus our attention on His Preeminence. Wednesday at 1:00 we will have the University graduation. Pray for the graduates as they go out to serve the Lord. Pray that the activities will be memorable and a blessing for these graduates. Although our graduating class is a little bit smaller this year than other years, we are grateful for those that have persisted and grown through their time here in Monterrey. On Wednesday and Thursday nights of next week we will also be having an outreach for teenagers out at the mission church in Santa Mónica. We are really not sure how many teens will be there, especially since we have a junior high located straight across from our location. Pray that the games and activities will draw young people so that they will hear a clear Gospel message. We also need the Lord's assistance in the followup. We are praying for the Lord's guidance concerning when and how we should begin Sunday services. Pray that the Lord will continue to provide for the basic material needs involved in starting up regular services (hymn books, keyboard, etc.). From there, I will be attending a class at NBBC from June 4-8. I am excited about the class topic: Preaching from the Old Testament. Since I teach four semesters of preaching, this subject will be a great help to me. Pray that my flights will go well and that my family will be safe during my absence. Pray especially for Susan as she will be alone and now has three active children to take care of.

Another major project that is taking up some of our time is the graduate school we are seeking to open here at UCLA. The first graduate degree we would offer would be in Education. Six of us travelled from Monterrey to Greenville from May 1-4 to visit with various administrative personnel at BJU. The wisdom and experience they shared with us was invaluable. We especially appreciated and enjoyed the amount of time that Dr. Phil Smith dedicated to us. We praise the Lord for their assistance as we seek to open a Spanish-speaking graduates school with a truly Christian philosophy of education.

We would also appreciate your prayers concerning our FM-3 (visas). We are having some difficulty in getting them. Although we fully expect to get them, they have delayed and charged more this year than they ever have. We would really like to have these documents before I leave for my NBBC class on June 3rd. Pray that these papers will come through soon. This has also led us to seriously consider obtaining Mexican citizenship. Since we have Mexican children and have lived in Mexico for several years, we can now apply for this. Each year the FM-3 costs us approximately $500. The one-time cost of applying for Mexican citizenship would be approximately $1000. Pray that the Lord will provide these funds. In so doing, we will save ourselves the annual cost and headaches associated with the FM-3 renewal process.

Thank you for your prayers. We covet them. This semester has been the absolutely busiest semester we have had since being here in Monterrey. We desperately need our Savior's presence, strength and grace to survive.

I'm baaaack!

After a several month hiatus, I am officially back on the blogosphere. I'm thankful for the encouragement of the ministry team from Inter-City Baptist in Allen Park, MI, (and Bill Golden in particular) to keep this page updated.

Honestly, it's hard to believe that I haven't updated the blog since the New Year. This semester has been busier than normal. Spring is always busy, but this one...wow!

In February we celebrated the 5th annual Harvest Rally. With over 3000 in attendance and somewhere between 150-200 professions of faith, we were excited to see the Lord's blessings. Pray for plans that are being made that will greatly affect the future of the Harvest Rally in Mexico.

About that same time, the Lord graciously opened doors for the rental of a house in Santa Mónica for the mission church. Until now, we have been meeting in the living room of a dear family, but we were very tight for space. This rental, while not solving the space problem totally, certainly alleviates it.

We have also had two ministry teams here. Joel Morales, a graduate of UCLA who is pursuing a masters degree at NBBC, brought a group of 7 Northland students and staff members. They were able to get some work at the house in Santa Mónica. We were able to celebrate our first mid-week Bible study while their group was here.

Last week we had a group from Allen Park, MI. Among several other projects, they were able to put a laminate roof over the front of the property in Santa Mónica that will allow the children to have their classes in the shade. We are always grateful for the blessing that God gives us hosting misnistry teams.

There are several prayer requests in the previous post. Let me add a few here.

1) Starting tomorrow AJ and I will be having a two day retreat with the theology majors. We hope that it will be a time to challenge them in their personal life and walk with God.
2) I will leave the retreat early so that I can join a group of six people going to Bob Jones University. We are exploring the possibility of starting a graduate program in Education. As we visit Bob Jones, we hope to glean some knowledge from the teachers and adminstration there.

Thank you for your prayers.

Prayer requests:

1) The upcoming pastors' conference (May 20-23).
2) Graduation (May 23rd)
3) The mission church in Santa Mónica. We are praying for guidance as to when to start Sunday services. We also need a few basic necesities before we can start (the main one being chairs). Pray that God will provide.
4) Wisdom in dealing with the increased spiritual awareness that especially Aaron is demonstrating. 5) Florencio's salvation (husband of Rosa, a lady from Santa Mónica who has faithfully attended services)