Archives for June 2011

Another One for the Kingdom of God

June 27, 2011 by ecoach Leave a Comment

It was the final outreach.

One last effort in the park to do basic contact evangelism through skits, drama, and a short preaching, followed up by conversations with interested individuals.

It almost didn’t happen.

The team tried to invite people to the area, but there was little visible results at the appointed hour.

Just before getting started, the park security forces sent Brenda on a search for a piece of paper from the close park office.

The weather was not cooperating, with the sound of thunder in the distance.

Our chosen spot was a playground area for small children, but tucked away from the main entrance – few families were around.

Discouraged, I almost called it a day.

We even talked with the team leader and were ready to quit when. . .

That nudge of the Spirit

I got that gentle nudge of the Spirit that warned me not to quit. Rather, I can say the Spirit of God gave me an instant and fresh awareness that he was working.

Quickly, we sent the team out to invite nearby people to the drama spot in the next 5 minutes.

People came, including a mom with a child under 5, who happened to be walking by at the right time.

I invited her to stay and watch our presentation.

She did. I saw tears in her eyes as the Spirit of God spoke to her through the drama, the mimes, and the story given by our pastor. The whole presentation was less than 10 minutes.

The fruit of God’s advance work

She talked with our speaker afterwards. During that conversation, she gave her life to the Lord, making that tearful prayer of surrender.

On Sunday, she joined us for church, and is making steps to connect with a small group for women.

Our presentation almost never made the light of day. Yet in paying attention to the working of the Spirit, we went on and someone’s eternity was changed.

God loves Me But Jesus Doesn’t

June 27, 2011 by ecoach 1 Comment

During last week’s mission outreach, we visited a local private elementary school.

We thank God the rain stopped shortly before our arrival so that we could do the program in the outdoors.

Brenda led the team who put on the assembly for kids aged pre-kinder through 6th grade.

Imagine lots of children

wiggling to music,
eager to volunteer,
quick to point out where the missing sheep is. . .
screaming the names of their classmates who are competing in minute to win it type games
making crafts about the lost sheep
laughing at the comedy skills of the mission team.

Brenda tied it all together with a short talk on

how Jesus loves the little children
how God loves us
how the Lord is our shepherd.

A head turning comment

A young child approached Brenda after the program and dropped this innocent statement on her (not the one pictured):

God loves me, but Jesus doesn’t, at least in my house.

We use this comment as fuel for our prayers, that this child, and others like him / her, may one day discover the grace of Christ.

What’s next.

The immediate impact is impossible to measure in terms of gospel fruit.

However, it is clear that our church built good will with the school and we received a genuine invitation to return to teach again on values. This will give us a chance to further build relationships with the local school and its adult staff.

Engaging the Public High Schools

June 21, 2011 by ecoach Leave a Comment

For the last several weeks, Brenda and I prepared for a mission team to come and help our church serve it’s community.

Our new church development doesn’t want to be a church that stays within its walls, but rather, a congregation that loves and serves the community it is in.

Our target area of influence for this mission team was the public high schools that are in the community of Bella Vista. Just beyond our apartment, there are 3 high schools, representing 8000 students and 600 teachers.

We secured access to two of them for this outreach, working with their English departments to setup classes on English conversation.

Plowing the ground

Serving in the community is more than just sharing the gospel with whomever will listen. It’s also doing the good news and earning the right to be heard. These relationships will open up doors to further community engagement.

Service is blessing the community and seeking its peace. Service is simply plowing the ground. It’s buildling the right to be credible, to be heard, and to be present in the future when they call upon us for a need.

Service without an overt agenda allows us to show that we truly care.

Service also will involve others on our mission as we seek to make an impact in the community as agents of transformation.

It’s hard to make transformation happen in one 2 hour visit. But it’s a start.

At the end of each class, the English departments expressed their appreciation and a desire to come back and do more.

It is up to our church to put the next round of service in place.

June 2011 Church Baptisms

June 4, 2011 by ecoach Leave a Comment

The entire dialogue is in Spanish, but I tell a little about the contents below. It was made for the church on Sunday.

If you know how to dub it or subtitle it, I can use your help for the English speaking audience.

We celebrated baptisms today with Communidad de las Buenas Nuevas.

Pastor starts with a brief explanation of the events of the day, followed by the three baptismal candidates. At the end, Pastor invites people for the next baptism service.

Feed readers: You many need to click through to see the video.