What a Summer!

I don’t even know where to begin. The things we have been a part of this month, the things we have seen and experienced as the Lord is moving, incredible.

We had a team here from Calvary Chapel York, PA in the middle of July. We broke into small groups and shared the gospel around the community. Many came to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Some were people we had shared with previously with prior teams or through the course of daily ministry here.

One of those in particular was a teenage boy named Mello. He is in our sponsorship program here. We have shared with him many, many times and invited him to countless Bible studies, youth group meetings and activities here at church. He rarely came and was not interested in receiving the Lord.

The group I was with on Thursday happened to come across him while we were out witnessing. Before we approached him and his friend, we were talking about where to go. I said to the group, there is a boy over there who really needs to receive the Lord. So, we all agreed to go over. Mello listened, and his friend, Angel, received the Lord in that moment, but Mello said not yet. So, we moved on. Soon after that, the Lord led the group Jared was with to share with him as well. He still resisted, but said he would come to our Bible study that afternoon. He did not show up. We weren't very surprised, but we were amazed at how the Lord was pursuing him. 

 Sunday morning at church Mello walked through the door. We talked with him afterwards. He still said not yet. But this time he said, very soon. So, we kept talking. About an hour later, Liza, one of the other York team members came over and she gave him the gospel for about an hour and a half. He listened intently, but he still said "soon". But he didn't go anywhere. Already some sort of change was going on in him. Now, it was 1:30 and we were heading out to share the gospel. We invited him to come along and listen and he did! I couldn't believe it. I prayed that whole afternoon for him as we went from house to house sharing the truth. He listened, so intently. He stayed with us the whole time. That evening we showed the Jesus movie. He came to that. After the movie he said he was ready to make a decision to follow Jesus! We prayed and afterwards told him that if he would like to be baptized, to publicly confess his faith in Jesus, we could take him to the beach the next day. He showed up the next morning ready to go! Pray for Mello to stay strong in his faith and to live for Jesus with everything he has.

Mello with Vicente and Pastor Harry

Mello's Baptism

Last week, we had another group here. This was a large group of teenagers from Calvary Chapel Central Bucks County, PA. They did many work projects here on the mountain. They put in 4 cement floors and 4 latrines for families in our community who were without. They also did several outreaches here on the mountain and downtown. Our youth group joined together with them. We performed dramas and puppet shows together. The Central Bucks team spent much time ministering to and encouraging our youth to follow Jesus and to reach out to the community. 

Efrain, one of our youth group kids and Johan, performing a drama downtown.

Our youth group kids were also able to demonstrate their ability to dance. Johan shared afterwards with the crowd that the Christian life is not boring, but full of joy. This is Antonio.

American and Dominican teens putting on a puppet show for the crowd.

This past Saturday we had several new kids at youth group. At the end of the teaching, Jared and Johan told the kids that if anyone wanted to receive Jesus, to come up at the end of the study and talk to them. One of the boys, Edinson, boldly stood up and said I want to be a Christian! He prayed to receive the Lord and told me afterwards that he felt new. Praise the Lord for the salvation and cleansing He offers us.

Church has been going well. The Lord has been showing Himself faithful to speak through Jared each week. We also are so thankful for how the Lord has equipped Vicente with the ability to translate. As we are studying Spanish, we know it is not an easy thing to translate. Please pray for our church to continue to grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord. Pray that they would be not only hearers of the Word, but doers!

Please pray for our youth. We see the Lord doing great things in them. They are coming together as a solid group as they build friendships with each other. Some of them have begun to attend our church services in addition to our Saturday youth meetings. That has been something we have been praying for a while. Our pray for them now is that they would really live for Jesus. That they would see the truth and life that He offers and follow after Him with everything.

It has been a busy, but really great summer. We are excited to see what the Lord is going to do next. Thank you so much for praying for us and for the people we serve. We can’t tell you how much it means to us that you pray for this ministry.