Ministry in Ballesta

For the past month we have been blessed with the opportunity of ministering in the town of Ballesta (pronounced Bi-yesta with the long i sound).  It is a little town 20 minutes outside Turbana the city about 1 mile from where we are.  The people there are in desperate need of Christ.  We are able to send a team out to evangelize and run a children's sport program every other week.  In the off weeks we hold a Bible study for interested members of the church. The class is covering the 5 solas of the reformation by Ligonier ministries and a study by Steve Lawson on the doctrines of grace in the book of John.

One part of the ministry is to the kids.  People from the church go and play soccer or volleyball and teach a message from the Bible.  The plan is to start teaching the ABC's of God, a program by Desiring God.  Others minister to the adults in the area by sharing the gospel.

A God of Restoration

 

We were blessed to have another couple in the church marry July 12th.  This couple are the parents of the man in our first wedding. This couple was convicted that they should be legally married.  They have been together for  over 35 years, have 3 children 2 grandchildren with 2 more on the way.  After hearing of Jesus and accepting Him in their lives as Lord and Savior they have been faithfully growing in faith and understanding of God and his desires for us.  After growing for the last 3 years and watching their son's marriage they felt God telling them to marry legally. They are a great example to those in the church and the town around them, showing it is never too late to turn from sin to honor our Heavenly Father.

Church News

 

The workers have been busy working on the church building.  They have been adding more stucco on the interior walls and working on the roof structure.  We were also blessed to have a group come out for a day and help deep clean the inside and surrounding area.  It is great and amazing to see how quickly things are progressing.  We are all looking forward to using the church and classrooms on Sundays for Bible study classes and corporate worship.

 

 

More praises!

We were blesses to celebrate our third anniversary as a church this month!  God is good and faithfully bringing people to hear the gospel.  We have added a few to the membership, held a large baptism and focused on teaching and training those in our care.  Our celebration included an acrostic poem of the word Iglesia (church) done by the teens in the congregation, communion, lunch and cake.  Thank God for another year!

Praises!

We are excited to announce that we were able, by the grace of God, to receive two-year visas. All the fees for obtaining visas went up this year but by being granted two years we will be able to save money over the next two years by not having to pay for airplane flights and visa fees this coming year.  Glory to our savior!  It is always a busy time getting and organizing paperwork, making sure to have all the possible paperwork needed before the guys leave the country.  Us gals are happy also that we will have our husbands around.  It gets a little lonely with them gone for weeks at a time.  

While the guys were gone we postponed some of the work on the church building.  Since they have been back the work crews have resumed and have made good progress.  In the last blog the guys had just finished the concrete slab for the second half of the building.  Here is a look at the progress.

The second half of the building now has all its block walls.

Yesterday one side of the building was drywalled.

Today our welder is working on the roofing structure.

The electricity inside the building has been wired and the guys are starting the work on the drywall.

The building consists of the main sanctuary, four rooms and two bathrooms.  We are excited by all the progress on the church and ask that you pray for all the souls the Lord blesses us to work with.

Update on the New Church Building

Here are some pictures showing the progress on the church building.

These two pictures show the beginning block work being done.  The workers are really quick and know what they are doing.

The workers have made quick work of the walls and columns on the first half of the building and we have framed the second half for the concrete floor.

Concrete floor done. Time to start the block walls on the other half.

 

Projects completed!

What a blessing the last few months have been.  We gained three new boys at Christmas and have been quite busy since.  We had a team from Oregon come out and help with various projects.  One project was finishing up the remodel for an office and a school room in our existing outbuilding. It is so nice for the kids in Jerusalem house to have a place on the farm to go for school.  Luz is such a wonderful help as she has taken on the teaching of the Colombian children on the farm.  We are excited to be able to homeschool the kids on the farm this year.  All students are in first through third grade the oldest kid 15 and the youngest 9.  Pray with us as Luz strives to meet the unique needs of each child. 

Another huge answer to prayer was receiving a grant to build a new church/multi-purpose building. The team along with Mike and Josh were able to lay out and pour the foundation of the new church building. We are so excited to see God working and moving here.  Please keep us in your prayers as we fight the fight and share the gospel.