Koinonia--Alma y Verdad

Yesterday was the final Koinonia (all four of our sites meet together) for 2016.  The first Koinonia was a kick-off for the 25-anniversary of the church.  The second Koinonia was the enormous anniversary celebration and this featured a concert by the Orquesta Sinfonica Cristiana (Christian Symphonic Orchestra) of El Salvador.  The 80-person orchestra and 20 person chorus presented a program of ten songs, including Majesty, You are the Air I Breath, Agnus Dei, Amazing Grace, Oceans and Revelation Song.

The theme for the concert was "Alma y Verdad" (Truth for the Soul) and after all the beautiful praise music, Pastor Steve preached the message of salvation.   The greatest blessing was the number of people who made professions of faith at the end of the service.  Praise the Lord for a church that finds ways to reach the lost and is faithful to preach the gospel.

Let the Celebrating Begin

Vida Nueva, 25 Years--Celebrating God's Grace

As I have mentioned before, churches here in Central America celebrate their anniversary each year.  So, as you might expect, the 25th anniversary calls for a really big celebration!  Twenty-five years ago this month, a group of 18 people met at Pastor Julio's home to discuss the formation of a Baptist church.  So, we started the 25-year celebration yesterday with a Koinonia service.  The actual first service of the church was in June of 1991, so the "real" party will be this coming June.

Yesterday, there was special music and an excellent sermon from Pastor Steve's, but the highlight of the day was the ordination of David Aguilar and Cesar Monico as pastors of Vida Nueva.

What a privilege to be in a church that preaches the word, reaches the lost and celebrates Jesus!

Koinonia 2014

Since our church has multiple sites, every three or four months we have a joint "Koinonia" service.  Yesterday more than 1000 member of the various Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva sites met together to hear Pastors Julio Contreras and Steve Kern present the 2014 vision for the church and witness the ordination of 24 new deacons.

As you can imagine it is amazing to hear and be a part of more than 1000 voices singing praises to our God.  Yesterday's music included "Our God," "Great is Thy Faithfulness," "We Adore You," "In Christ Alone," "The King" and "Praise and Honor."  Some of the songs you will recognize, but others were originally written in Spanish.

 

Pastor Julio presented the 2014 vision for the church, "Expansion3.0," which included:

• Continuing to advance all of the ministries of the church
• Sending a two missionary couples to Bogota to plant a new Vida Nueva church
• Adding additional services at the Lourdes and Apopa sites to accommodate growth
• Remodeling the sanctuary at Miravalle and constructing an anex for the administrative offices
• Offering seminary classes online
• Offering a new cycle of IDEM (discipleship 2) classes
• Searching for God's strategy on how to unify the Miravalle and Crown Plaza sites
• Establishing the program "Love and Respect" to reach married couples for Christ

We also witnessed the ordination of 24 new deacons who were nominated by the church members and approved by the pastors.  There were new deacons from each of our four sites (Apopa, Crown Plaza, Lourdes, Miravalle.)  What a blessing to see Godly men willing to take on a greater leadership role in the church.

Pastor Steve preached from Acts 11:19-25 focusing on the importance of having the hand of the Lord upon the church/the believer, seeing the grace of God in the life of the church/believer and working with purpose of heart to see people added to the Lord.

It was an awesome service and one typical for a Koinonia (started at 10:00 AM and finished at 12:45 PM.)

Last Campaign of 2013

We started the campaign in Managua, Nicaragua, on Saturday evening, November 30.  On Sunday morning we held the first-ever Koinonia service here in Managua, with the two church campuses in Bolonia and Los Robles coming together with Salvadorans and North Americans for a joint worship.  What a blessing to be a part of this service and to hear all the voices lifted in praise.  

Happy Anniversary Vida Nueva

Here in Central America, church anniversaries are celebrated every year.  I really like this idea!  It gives the pastors and congregation a time to reflect on what God has done in and through the church in the last 5, 10, 15 (fill in the blank) years and to dream about the future!

Yesterday, we celebrated the 22nd anniversary of Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva.  Pastor Steve Kern took a minute to explain that we pattern our annual celebration on Jehova's message to the nation of Israel to celebrate their rescue from Egypt every year during the passover season.  As Christians, we no longer celebrate passover, instead we celebrate Christ's resurrection.  But, the idea of remembering what God has done for the church (from one year to the next) is one that serves the church well.

These days, the church meets at four different sites and has six distinct services.  This Sunday we were 1000+ strong at the Crown Plaza Hotel.  Wow!  The music, the historical video, the message and the fellowship were awesome.  I've included a couple of pictures from the celebration!

When you read this, take a moment to reflect on the history of the church you attend.  When was the last time you looked back to the rich history of your church and clearly saw the hand of God moving.  If you haven't done that lately, I encourage you to try it--it's a great way to build your faith!

"Better is one day in Your house than 1000 elsewhere!

 Praying for our newest missionaries who are going on a 2-week survey trip to Bogota, Colombia.

 A view of part of the crowd.

 Pastor Julio bringing the message from the book of Esra.

 Birthday cake and the Salvadoran birthday song!  

Five pastors blowing out the 22 candles!

Cake for everyone!  Happy birthday to Vida Nueva!