I greet you all from Argentina, desiring that this report finds you growing in the knowledge and work of our Lord. Thank you for the time that you devote to reading this report, and even more thanks for your prayers. I hope that in these few lines the Lord will enable me to deposit to you some burdens that will encourage you to take us before the throne of God through your prayers.
I will begin by telling you about some personal matters. The most pressing thing that has been before me and my wife right now is the soon arrival of our son, Natán. In less than a week, Maqui will be 37 weeks pregnant, which is considered a pregnancy that is full term and that our boy could be born at any moment. We are joyful and also fearful before the work that has been entrusted to us to raise a child in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. Please, do not cease to pray for us, that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and able to fulfill this great responsibility. [Baby Natán was born on November 9]
With regard to the church, the Lord continues to work in our midst. These past weeks we have seen some testimonies of the His work among us. In particular, I would like to mention two testimonies, one of them an older man and the other a young woman.
The man’s name is Ruben. He came to Family of Grace church a little more than four months ago, coming with a friend that was also visiting us. Ruben is about 50 years old, but he had lived such a bad life that he appears to be older. When we met him we found out that he had lived a poor and miserable life, having for many years an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Because of his involvement in conflicts with drug dealers, he was shot in the leg and now has difficulties walking. Sometimes he consumed so many drugs and alcohol that he slept in the street or in a vacant lot, or wherever he passed out. In addition to his drug problems, he had also attended a Mormon church for a long time, which resulted in him being full of false teachings. His situation could not have been worse!
Nonetheless, from the time he heard the Gospel, his life began to be transformed. In a way that he could not understand, the sins that had dominated his life began to lose their power. Even though there did not seem to be a dramatic reaction at the moment that he received the Gospel, as the days passed the dramatic changes in his life began to appear: bad habits were gone, no longer a disorderly life, no more violence. And in exchange for those things, there was now joy in Christ, hunger for His Word, a life of prayer, desire to be with the church, efforts in evangelism, and every type of good fruit.
The change was so surprising that other people that knew him for years were so impacted by Ruben’s testimony that they became open to hearing the Gospel. Blessed be the Lord! Currently, Ruben is in membership classes and he will soon be baptized.
On the other hand, the young woman about whom I would like to tell you comes from a completely different context than Ruben. Her name is Priscila, she is 27 years old, and she attended an evangelical church from the time she was born. In fact, her grandfather was a pastor for many years, and she was in the third generation of professing Christians in her family. From the time she was a young girl she was committed to church activities, having a good public testimony before everyone.
In addition to this, she spent four years in a theological seminary, and to everyone who knew her she was an exemplary Christian. At the beginning of this year, through her boyfriend, she began to learn more about reformed theology, the doctrines of grace, and historic Christianity. Since the church they were attending did not share many of the same convictions that Priscila and her boyfriend had come to have, but rather strongly opposed them, they decided to look for another church. Through our website, they found us. From the time they arrived at our church, she appeared to be a Christian, a woman that was devoted to sound doctrine and had even suffered something of persecution for her faith. However, through the preaching that she heard in the church, and particularly through the personal discipleship that she had begun with Maqui, little by little her heart was being exposed.
Finally, one day she confessed all the sins that she had held on to for years; specific and deliberate sins that she willingly embraced for a long time. Really, she had deceived everyone, her parents, family, and church, and now it had been uncovered by the Lord who has eyes like a burning fire. Maqui shared the Gospel with her once again, and Priscila came under a state of conviction of sin like she had never experienced. Though she had spent 27 years in the religious world, her own words testify that she had never felt lost, had never experienced repentance, and had never been conscious that she was on a road to hell.
Afterwards, Maqui left her alone that day. Her desperation lasted several hours, until finally, before the day ended, she found rest in Jesus; rest in Him that has remained as the weeks now pass. Blessed be our God and His glorious Gospel! To Him be the glory! Truly, our God raises the dead, and His arm is not so short that it cannot save. It doesn’t matter that a person might be buried in the tomb of drug addiction or religious hypocrisy, ours is a God that raises the dead.
People continue to show up at the door of our church. These are just two testimonies, but I could share with you several others. For example, this Sunday five men visited us for the first time. They come from a charismatic megachurch and they are looking for the Gospel. For a year they had been meeting together in a home while they looked for a church, and as a result they had found us on the internet. Each of them is married, and some of them have children. They promised to come next Sunday with their families. How will we be able to care for these five families and the rest of the people that are arriving at our door? Please I beg you to not stop asking the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers. We need more men and women that can work arm in arm with us, and we need it urgently.
