Fall Update
It has been a fairly long and busy fall. We wrapped-up our three month furlough at the end of September with our sending church’s missions conference. We had a wonderful time with our Pastor, church staff and of course with our church family. It is truly a blessing to be sent out of such a missions minded church. During our furlough we traveled over 20,000 miles, visited over 30 churches and traveled through 28 states and 2 provinces in Canada. We do apologize for not being able to make it to all of our supporting churches.
When we arrived back in Spain we got back into the groove of ministry straight away. Our boys started back to school in a brand new school, and we began to think of ways to cultivate relationships with the parents of our boys classmates for the purpose of sharing the gospel. We hosted a get together at our house for all of their classmates and parents. We had a great turn-out with over 40 parents and classmates and began friendships with a number of parents.
In November the Olive Grove Baptist Church celebrated it’s first anniversary. It was a wonderful day of preaching from a visiting preacher, Francisco Puente, and fellowshipping with our regular attenders. In our first year as a church we have passed out 55,000 tracts with an invitation to the church and a gospel presentation. God has moved in the hearts and lives of the people attending as evidenced by visible fruit in their lives. God has produced fruit, maybe not in the way we want or expect, but God is always faithful to do His part. As we started our second year as a church we refocused our evangelistic outreach and we are consistently and consciously working to build our recognition and testimony in our local community.
December has been a busy month as we focus on celebrating the coming of our Savior. I have been preaching a series of messages focusing on the “Gifts of Christmas”. Our kids sang a special christmas song and shared the story of the Candy Cane on our Christmas morning service. It has been a blessing and an encouragement to have my sister-in-law Hannah and her friend Greta here with us during this special season. They are currently serving as teachers in China under the Rays’ ministry.
As we look forward to this coming year, we feel greatly honored and privileged to serve with you in reaching Spain for Christ. Please pray for us as we desire to see the people of Dos Hermanas saved. Pray for us as we consider the possibility of a second church plant in the near future. Thank you for your faithfulness. We pray you had a great Christmas and that you will have a blessed new year!