On the Right Path:
This past month we had our annual youth conference here in Bolivia. The theme this year was “On the right path” following Him. It translates better into Spanish than it sounds in English but the idea was that many teenagers choose the wrong path and follow friends and the temptations of the world. All the teenagers worked really hard decorating, and preparing the skits and music. The church was converted into a highway that ended into two roads divided, one being for the Lord and the other for the world and Satan. Also we had with us, preaching the conference, pastor Juan Pacheco and five students from the Macedonia Baptist College in Arequipa Peru. Pastor Juan has always been known as a passionate preacher and the first night was no exception. The message was about how the Lord has put a barrier of protection around us, (parents, pastor etc) and how when we ignore that barrier we put ourselves in danger of the enemy. There were several people that were dealt with about their salvation and many that made decisions to rededicate their lives to the Lord. Each night the attendance grew larger with close to 70 on Friday and close to 80 on Saturday night. Between the two nights there were probably 10 that were dealt with about their salvation and many more that made decisions to serve the Lord. The teenagers did a tremendous job with the skits, games and especially inviting visitors. We averaged between 6 to 8 visitors each night of the conference and many of them returning the following nights. In all we had a great time with the group from Peru and the services were a tremendous blessing to the church. I am very grateful to Pastor Juan Pacheco and the group of students that came to be with us during the conference. I think they had a great time and were impacted by the great need here in Cochabamba for the gospel. On Sunday we had one of our largest crowds in a while. There were almost 100 adults and more than 20 children. The message was about how to be the parents that the Lord wants us to be. Many went to the altar both parents and children, some even praying together.
San Juan:
This past month we had a holiday here that is called San Juan or Saint John. Traditionally this is a Catholic holiday where the people take all of their old things like cloths, toys and even furniture and burn them. This is supposed to give them good luck and for the old things that they burn they are supposed to get new things. It has now been outlawed to have fires because of the pollution that it caused but there are still lots of people who get together for cookouts etc. On that Saturday the youth group had an activity where two teams had to see who could make the largest and best sandwich. The good thing is I got to be judge over which was better tasting. One of the sandwiches was about ten or twelve long and the other one was shorter but about eight inches wide. Both were really good but I chose so the longer one got biggest and the other got best tasting. They had close to 30 there with three or four first time visitors. I was able to preach to them about spiritual maturity and often the lack there of.
Birthdays:
This time of year is birthday time for us. In June we had both Grace and Taylor’s birthdays. On the 1st Taylor turned 7 and on the 17th Grace turned 9. We allowed them to have a few friends over for their actual birthdays but we had a larger get together with both of their friends on a Saturday between the two. It is hard to believe that they are quickly turning into young ladies and now are more concerned about things like what cloths they are wearing and how their hair looks. I say this every year but it is true that it seems like it was just yesterday that they were crawling around in diapers getting into everything. Oh no now I sound like my mom.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our upcoming anniversary in a few months.
2. Pray that we can find the right piece of land for our church.
3. Pray for our country and government.
4. Pray that the Lord will call men into the ministry here in Bolivia.