Prayer Letter - December, 2007 |
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December 2007
Mexican Thanksgiving! We had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving Mexican-style (we had tamales and frijoles instead of turkey and dressing) as we celebrated with our church folks and many other guests at the dedication of our church building November 14-18. We had special services each night and the Lord blessed with an almost-packed house on Saturday night when we had 75 in attendance- some deaf folks came from as far away as Ciudad Victoria which is four hours away!
It was a great joy to have several guests from the States in attendance: The pastor of our sending church (First Coast Baptist Church) and his wife- Richard and Brenda Edwards; the leaders and members of the deaf ministry there; and Michelle Porath from Hope For Life Baptist Church (also in Jacksonville) all came for several days beforehand and willingly pitched in to help us clean windows, hang lights, paint, install plumbing fixtures, clean up, set up and pray!
It all came together on time for us to have our first service in the new building on Wednesday night, even though we did not yet have electricity or drainage hooked up. We just ran an extension cord over to the neighbor's house for lights (with her permission, of course!) and kept the services short. Praise the Lord, on Thursday the water department came and hooked up the drainage so we had a bathroom to use!
We held an ordination council Thursday afternoon for Francisco with six preachers present. Francisco passed with flying colors. On Friday night Pastor Edwards preached the ordination service and we had the laying on of hands. It was an emotional night for us to see our 'Timothy' take this next step in his ministry. Please pray for Francisco as he takes over the pastorate the church. On December 1 we will be holding the organizational service for the church and turning over the work officially to him.
Prayer requests
Pray for us as we seek the Lord's will as to where to serve next. At this point in time our plans are to stay in Tampico and work in the church as we plan a furlough for some time in 2008.
Please pray for our grandson Jaiden. He continues to lose weight, and doctors are at a loss as to why. Today (November 30) he had another feeding tube put in, this time through his abdomen. Pray that the doctors will be able to find the cause of his weight loss. Pray for his parents during this trying time.
We wish all of you a Christ-centered Christmas and New Year 2008!