May campaign--El Salvador

 A team  from Bells Shoals Baptist (Florida) along with two other individuals (Don Laity and John Ulrich) arrived yesterday.  We've spent the first two nights of the campaign working to help our church campus in Lourdes.  

Tomorrow morning the group will be sharing the "Respect" lesson in a local school, we, however, we will go back to immigration with our corrected residency paperwork.  We will catch up with the team at church in the afternoon before driving north for a family festival and evangelistic campaign in Coyolito.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Happy 3rd Anniversary

We drove to Nueva Concepcion yesterday afternoon because Pastor Manuel asked Stephen to sing a couple of songs for the anniversary service.  The service started at 4:00 p.m., but since there is road construction in Apopa, we left at 2:00 so we wouldn't be late.  

The service was well attended by members of all three of the Vida Nueva churches up north, IBVN Aguilares, IBVN Coyolito and IBVN Nueva Concepcion.  It was good to see old friends and meet several new families that are fruit from the October campaign.  

Stephen sang two songs, "Poderoso" and "Tu Gracia Abunda en Mi."  The songs are quite different from the typical congregational singing, but I think that's the reason the congregation enjoys them.

I'm not singing, just holding the microphone.

After the service, there was "dinner on the grounds."  

Us with Pastor Manuel and Pastor Joel.

We didn't stay because we knew our trip home would be long.  Unfortunately, we spent about an hour trying to get through a 2-mile stretch of Apopa and then when we finally made it to the other side of town, we realized that our exit was completely closed and we were forced to continue toward San Salvador a different way than normal.  It took quite a long time and a couple of "lucky" turns to reach a place we recognized.  All in all, it was a 2+ hour trip.  

This is exactly what it looked like as we drove through Apopa.

Nevertheless, God was glorified in the service and two people prayed to receive Christ--our inconvenience is nothing compared to their new lives!

Lives Were Changed

The 40+ people who came from Valley Baptist, Bakersfield, CA; Copper Springs Church, Clovis, CA; Faith Baptist Church, Youngsville, NC; and Crossroads Church, Benson, NC, and the group from Vida Nueva saw God do a great work this week.  There were more than 700 professions of faith and, with the exception of a few group presentations downtown and after the movie each night, these decisions were the result of faithful one-on-one sharing of the gospel message by the team.  Although a large number of professions of faith is not abnormal, they are usually the result of a combination of sharing lessons/gospel in the schools in the mornings and one-on-one in the evenings.  Not so this time.  Because the decisions were made with individual team members and their translator, the personal information they gathered is likely to be complete and accurate which makes the follow-up process much easier.

The campaigns were divided among our various church sites:  Friday and Saturday night we worked with Pastor Koky Lopez and IBVN Lourdes;

Monday and Tuesday with Pastor David Guadron and the IBVN Crown Plaza site;

Wednesday with Pastor Alex Hernandez and the IBVN Miravalle site;

Thursday with Pastor Chitty Lopez and IBVN Apopa 

and Friday with Pastor Manuel Orellana and IBVN Coyolito.  

I know I've mentioned it before, but if you've never had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip, then you have missed out on an unbelievable blessing.  A trip is "life changing" for those who are now part of God's family and for the team members who were able to see God work through them.  Please pray about what God would have you do--we'd love to see you here in Central America this year.