So, brothers and sisters, the work continues. The past two weeks have no doubt been blessed, but they've also been frustrations.
First of all some of the good. The Church at La Esperanza's transition period has been hard for the people attending. The first week after the pastor's absence, there were few people in attendance. However, God's chruch is not built by men, nor is it kept by men. If God wants La Esperanza to prosper, it will do so despite the leadership change. And indeed it has. This past Sunday, many of the people who were worried about the church returned.
Alex, a local and one of the elders in training, gave an amazing sermon on what Christ accomplished on the cross. The service ran smoothly, and no, the sky isn't falling here. So be encouraged. The Lord is continuing his work.
Much of our time here is spent in training the elders to take over the church leadership when we have to return to the states. It's encouraging to see them talking and debating over spiritual matters. They are serious about their calling, which is encouraging, because Paul wrote Timothy: "If anyone sets his heart on being an elder, he desires a noble task."
There are three elders in training, all three good men worth their salt:
- Alex is the man who first received the gospel in the United States.
He took it back to El Salvador and is the main reason we are here. He's a good man, a hard worker, and a doctor. God is using him in many ways here, and many of his co-workers have come to faith.
- Eduardo is a younger man who works in the local hopsital. His family is quite well off here (which is nothing compared to the states), but he and his family are also very generous people. The joy of the Lord is quite clear in his life.
- Renee is the oldest of the three. I don't know as much about him, but he seems serious about his faith, and wears a smile continually.
These three men will govern the church, shepherd its people, and preach the word. Please be praying for them, as I care for them all dearly. They are all three very busy men with families and jobs, so pray that God will give them the wisdom to balance their family and the Lord's work here. Pray that God will turn them into the men they need to be to lead this church.
As for my time here, I've spent much of it ordering La Esperanza. It's fallen into disrepair over the past few years, and we don't want to leave the elders with a mess. So in order to serve them, we've been cleaning and organizing the whole church property, a massive project. No doubt, we've braved scorpions, unbelievable heat, and fire ants, but we're making progress. (And yes, as a wonderful surprise, they DO have fire ants down here)
Yet it's been discouraging somewhat. Even though Mike and his wife, Sandy have legal guardianship over the orphan they're adopting, the organization in charge of the orphans has refused time and time again to give them custody. It's ridiculous. They sit in air conditioned offices with all the latest equipment, and the orphans in their "care" are suffering from malnutrition. And even with all their job perks (air conditioning is a HUGE perk here, believe me, I miss it every day), they refuse to help adopt a single orphan. You have no idea how angry this makes me, but we're stuck waiting for the Lord to act in our favor. So while Mike's been trying to sort this all out, a lot of the projects and things I've wanted to do while down here have had to go on hold, which is discouraging. And last but not least, I've been trying to remove viruses from the computer lab we've set up for the local children and pastors to use. Yes yes, I thought I'd escaped the evils of computing while I was in the third world... I was wrong. While we were away, someone accidentally loaded a virus onto them, so they're all infected. Worse yet, everything I've tried to disinfect them hasn't worked yet so far. When (or if) I get the lab working, we'll be able to use it to train the locals on computers, as a resource for kids to do research, and as a resource for pastors when they visit. Be praying that I don't get discouraged.
We're going to Honduras this weekend to visit the persecuted church plant there. Be praying friends!
So while I am somewhat discouraged, remember that the Lord is doing a great work here.
Things to pray for:
- The church to Grow
- The elders
- Sophia, the orphan that Mike and Sandy are trying to adopt.
- The demonic computer lab I'm trying to fix
In Christ,
- Pablo
