Hey everyone! Hope you are having a great start to your week. We continue to see growth in our church here Manta. The Ladies groups are taking off and over all it has been a very good thing. Ladies have been encouraged to receive phone calls and realize that someone noticed they weren't in the service. They have also been able to share their prayer requests and needs.
As we continue to work and plan, please keep this new phase of the ministry in your prayers. Setting up "networks" for people to be able to stay in touch and encourage one another is a great thing, but also poses the risks of someone using them for things that they weren't intended for.
We are excited that Tony was able to purchase the steel, for the building last week. Tomorrow morning is he meeting with an "earth moving" company, to see about getting the property leveled off.
We had 100 yesterday morning in our worship service! The place was pretty much busting at the seams. We will be trying something new next week. We will be dividing the younger children, 3 years old - 1st grade, into two groups... 3-4 years olds, and kindergarten and 1st grade, for the 2nd hour. It would be wonderful to be able to divide this group for the Sunday School hour, but there just is not another room, to use during that first hour.
Plans are in the works for a 6 week Ladies Bible study session to start Oct. 3. Please pray as we work out all the details for this ministry. Also in the plans are the special Ladies Day, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
I have a meeting Friday morning with a lady that has been attending the church a few weeks. Please pray for Monica. Tony has a couple other meetings also on the schedule for this week. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we meet and try to give comfort and help to people. The 2nd Leadership Team meeting is this coming Sunday evening.
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy Labor Day!
I want to wish you all a wonderful Labor Day! Hope you enjoy the day off from classes and work.
We have had a great week-end. God is blessing the work here in Manta, and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it.
This past week-end 14 ladies from our church went to the Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We were thrilled. We have 16 signed up and only 2 that weren't able in the end to make it. They had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun, but also gave wonderful testimonies yesterday of how the Lord used the Bible teaching to work in their hearts.
Another special blessing to me, was the last session of our Teacher Training seminar. We had 25 sign-up and start 5 weeks ago, and I am praising the Lord that 21 people completed the program! We will be handing out certificates on the 14th. It is so exciting to think of what can be done in our Children's ministry with so many trained and dedicated workers. Please pray with us and we plan for monthly kid's nights, the Children's Christmas party in December, VBS in March and then the possibility of Neighhood Bible Clubs as a follow-up of VBS. We are so thankful to see how the Lord is working and bringing people along side to minister with us!
Some upcoming events we would really appreciate your prayers for...
This Wednesday, Tony will be starting a new series in our CODA meeting, (this is our weekly small group/prayer meeting time).
On Sunday evening, September 21, we will be starting a class on "How to Discipline" for parents, "want to be parents" and even grandparents. Please pray with us. Tony will be using a video series we purchased while in the US as a springboard for the sessions. Each video segment is about 10 minutes and then he will be teaching. This is a huge need here as we are seeing more and more problems in our Sunday School and when we talk to parents, the answer is always the same, "I don't know what to do" or "I don't know how".
Wednesday afternoon, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to start planning some special events for the Ladies. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we go forward with these plans.
We appreciate so much your prayers and concerns for the ministry here. I would love to hear from you, whenever you have a chance.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
We have had a great week-end. God is blessing the work here in Manta, and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it.
This past week-end 14 ladies from our church went to the Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We were thrilled. We have 16 signed up and only 2 that weren't able in the end to make it. They had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun, but also gave wonderful testimonies yesterday of how the Lord used the Bible teaching to work in their hearts.
Another special blessing to me, was the last session of our Teacher Training seminar. We had 25 sign-up and start 5 weeks ago, and I am praising the Lord that 21 people completed the program! We will be handing out certificates on the 14th. It is so exciting to think of what can be done in our Children's ministry with so many trained and dedicated workers. Please pray with us and we plan for monthly kid's nights, the Children's Christmas party in December, VBS in March and then the possibility of Neighhood Bible Clubs as a follow-up of VBS. We are so thankful to see how the Lord is working and bringing people along side to minister with us!
Some upcoming events we would really appreciate your prayers for...
This Wednesday, Tony will be starting a new series in our CODA meeting, (this is our weekly small group/prayer meeting time).
On Sunday evening, September 21, we will be starting a class on "How to Discipline" for parents, "want to be parents" and even grandparents. Please pray with us. Tony will be using a video series we purchased while in the US as a springboard for the sessions. Each video segment is about 10 minutes and then he will be teaching. This is a huge need here as we are seeing more and more problems in our Sunday School and when we talk to parents, the answer is always the same, "I don't know what to do" or "I don't know how".
Wednesday afternoon, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to start planning some special events for the Ladies. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we go forward with these plans.
We appreciate so much your prayers and concerns for the ministry here. I would love to hear from you, whenever you have a chance.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this week. I had started a post yesterday morning and our power went out, so that was the end of that! :-)
Today is Ashley's birthday! It is hard for me to believe that 23 years have past since I gave birth to her! We are so thankful for her and the wonderful Christian lady she has become.
We had a great week-end. Our Saturday night teacher training series is progressing. We have had great participation throughout. This coming week will be our final meeting. We are having the meeting on Sunday evening this week, because 16 of the ladies from church are going to be attending a Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We are so happy that so many of them are able to go! The ladies are very excited about this.
We had a "full house" on Sunday. I really have no idea what the count was as I forgot to ask, those doing the counting. But there were few chairs empty. :-)
It has been exciting to see how the people are growing and taking on more responsibilities for the ministry. Sunday evening, we had our first meeting of a new "leadership council" that Tony has formed. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for this new group.
Last week our plans were approved by the city and the permits were all granted. This morning, Tony is meeting with our architect as we prepare to break ground for our building!
Thank you for your prayers!
Joy
Today is Ashley's birthday! It is hard for me to believe that 23 years have past since I gave birth to her! We are so thankful for her and the wonderful Christian lady she has become.
We had a great week-end. Our Saturday night teacher training series is progressing. We have had great participation throughout. This coming week will be our final meeting. We are having the meeting on Sunday evening this week, because 16 of the ladies from church are going to be attending a Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We are so happy that so many of them are able to go! The ladies are very excited about this.
We had a "full house" on Sunday. I really have no idea what the count was as I forgot to ask, those doing the counting. But there were few chairs empty. :-)
It has been exciting to see how the people are growing and taking on more responsibilities for the ministry. Sunday evening, we had our first meeting of a new "leadership council" that Tony has formed. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for this new group.
Last week our plans were approved by the city and the permits were all granted. This morning, Tony is meeting with our architect as we prepare to break ground for our building!
Thank you for your prayers!
Joy
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