The month of August was a month filled with different stages. Without a doubt, it has been one of the months that has taught me most this year. I want to start by commenting on some of the good things, about which many of you are praying. It is possible that this month we have had, by the grace of God, another conversion. If it is a sincere conversion, as it seems, then this is the second person that the Lord has saved through our ministry of evangelism that does not have any evangelical background. Our church is composed of many people that have been saved who at one time thought they were saved, but realized they had never truly known the Lord. But, by God’s grace, this month we are seeing the powerful arm of the Lord saving people that have never been part of a church. How marvelous it is to see people that never thought they would follow Christ, now treasuring Him above all else and delighting in Him to the point of giving up everything just to have Him!

In addition to that, I would like to point out the growth in the knowledge of the Lord that the church in general is seeing. The Holy Spirit is helping us to know more of our precious Jesus, and new fruits are being seen in the lives of those who continue to grow. In these few years that I have been pastoring this church, I have come to see that the principal taught by Jesus with regard to discipleship has proven true (Luke 6:40). That is, I am seeing that the understanding that the Lord has given me is beginning to be passed on to the next generation of believers, and some of those whom I have discipled are now discipling others.

Truly, if we teach men that are apt to teach to instruct others in the things that they learn, in conformity with the model Jesus has left us (how important it is to point that out!), then those men will be able to instruct others to know and live in conformity to the character and will of our Lord. I have seen that no other method of discipleship other than that which Jesus practices is sufficient: person to person, face to face, in study and in practice, private and public, by example and in accompaniment, with specific application, with a fatherly care and with patience. If we do not seek to raise up those we teach to the same level of understanding and practice that we have, then the generations to follow will be more and more inferior, and in the end we will not have fulfilled the biblical principles of the Great Commission.

On the other hand, we have suffered loss this month, as there have been some that have returned to the world. Each time that someone goes out from us, loving sin more than Christ, we are very hurt, and the wounds are seen in the sheep that remain. Satan has taken advantage of this situation also to attack me personally in different ways. Inwardly, he has attempted to lead me to discouragement, to the point of depression, and telling me that I should not strive so hard to serve the church, since, according to him, the work is not worth it. The darkness began coming over me with strength and I was in a very difficult state for several days. Some days, the inward trials would last all night, into the early morning, and I was unable to sleep. But finally, the Lord gave me freedom from the attacks the Sunday morning that I was to preach in our church. One moment I was surrounded by the dark lies of the enemy, and the next the Sun shone and the darkness fled. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I was able to find great comfort in that moment in the truth of our God, and I was able to preach that morning with joy, imparting comfort and nourishment to my brothers and sisters.

I thank you enormously for taking the time to read this report. May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Do not stop praying for the things that I have written about; do not forget that we depend on your prayers. Pray above all else for Esteban and me, that the mind and heart of Christ would be in each of us. Please pray also that He would give us more laborers that are apt for every good deed. Every time you remember us, beg the Lord that He might guard us as a church from every temptation, and that we would fulfill the Great Commission with great joy and much hope.