God is so awesome!

In our regular Thursday evening service, a group of 5 of our friends, some of the youth involved in the local gang, came in and joined us for the sermon/Bible discussion!

This is an awesome breakthrough, because they’ve shown a lot of interest when we talk with them and pray for them out in the plaza, and they’ve come when we do special stuff to invite them, like a movie night. But the only one who has come before to a regular service on his own is Mario. And this time a whole group of 5 of them came!

It was great, because God worked so beautifully through it all! Gera (Gerardo), a young man with a real passion for God from another church who God has called to work with the Vineyard for about the past 6 months, shared his testimony with them and talked about the amazing call that God has for them to join with Him in serving and reaching out to the other youth. And everybody else at the service had words of encouragement and wisdom for them.

Please pray with us for these youth, because the enemy will definitely attack them, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, and we know without a doubt that God will have the victory in their lives! He is fulfilling His Word, rescuing those without hope, and giving them new life and a worthwhile purpose. And He’s fulfilling the vision that He had given for the Tierra Blanca Vineyard, that it would be a church that would raise up powerful radical lovers of God who would go out to transform their neighborhoods, their families – and only God knows what more? the city? the nation? … with the power of God’s redeeming love!

Praise be to the Name of Him Who Is Worthy!

• For our friend, Ivan, about whom we sent our last emergency email… As far as we know he has managed to stay off drugs for the past few months.  Praise God.
• For water.  We’ve had some rain over the past few months! (Nice job prayer warriors!!:)
• For generous financial support, which has allowed us to anonymously bless some families in need during the recession that Mexico is facing…
• For the Expo congregation, which is now independent and growing.
• That God has been faithful to raise up more leadership in all three churches…
• For a recent widening in the scope of our ministry… For God’s grace in allowing us to minister not only to congregation members but also to their unchurched families. Praise Him.
• Again, for the continued move of the Holy Spirit, who is so faithful to minister to our people in all of our services.
• For all of our friends and family who faithfully support us in prayer… We do not know what we would do without you, since you literally pray the prayers that we do not have time to pray.

• For water.  It is very scarce nowadays and in the afternoons we have had to bathe with a bucket more often than not, but we are at a point where we’re truly thankful for every bucket that comes out of our tap.  Praise God for them and in His faithfulness may He keep sending them !!
• For NINA’S Husband, Tavo – Do you remember him?  He’d been working in another city for some months now, but when he returned on a visit he shared with us about the restoration of his marriage and his involvement in one of the local churches there. And as we talked about the scriptures over dinner, Tavo listened this time with all of the wide-eyed intent that we love to see in a new believer.  Tavo is still struggling with his addictions so we do ask you to continue to pray for him …
• For “Pancho”, who, coerced into selling drugs for one of the dominant trafficking rings here, was able to escape the attack of an armed group of vehicles sent to his selling site by the opposite ring. Miraculously, he was able to walk through the bullets, hail a taxi, and ride home. His sister, who is a Christian, heard the shots from blocks away and started praying and claiming the promises of Psalm 91.  Please pray for the families of Pancho’s friends, since as we understand it all of his comrades died from the bullets of the attacking vehicles that day.

• For Kim’s cousin Marti, nicknamed “Lazarus” after waking up from a state of coma in Midland, TX this November. Doctors had diagnosed her as being brain dead, so they had chosen to take her off all life support. Two days later she woke up, and since then she has recovered perfectly. God answers prayer.
• For generous gifts to our ministry that are helping us get back on our feet and also allowed us to get a more reliable car!
• For God’s faithfulness in allowing us to see and minister to our friends and loved ones in the U.S.
• For Kim’s sister Krissy, who (since she visited us here in Mexico) has dedicated her life to God in an awesome way and is now playing in the praise band of her church!!