APRIL NEWSLETTER

¡SALUDOS!
Greetings everyone! We pray that all are well and that Christ is continuing to make himself real in your lives. We have lots to share with you.

MINISTRY NEWS
In February, we had two family conferences directed by missionaries Doug and Jan Taylor. The first one was specifically for married couples while the second one was directed towards youth and also parenting. They did a great job and many of our youth commented on how the message spoke to them. A message on how we tend to believe the lies of the enemy instead of what God’s Word says about us.

We also had a Student Leadership Conference with some pastors from Texas. This was the third year for this conference and the message was focusing on what the Kingdom of God is, where it is, and how we can tangibly share it with others. It was very good and made an impact when we walked through the streets brainstorming. At one place we stopped in front of the Jr. High/High School where there was garbage strung out everyone; it was very messy. What message are we telling God about his creation by littering the streets? What message are we communicating to the townspeople by littering the streets? What message would we be sharing if we picked up the garbage and stopped littering? Interesting topic and it’s something that hit home.

In March, those same pastors brought their students to work alongside our students in an effort to take the Kingdom of God to others. We had an Amazing Race style event where they were to run all over town to gather items for their final challenge—making a meal for a needy family. In this event, they cleaned town hall, milked a cow, went fishing with a net in a semi-dry river, and a few other “fun” things. It was a great way to experience working together as a team, experience new things, and serve a family in the process.

Making tortillas for the family.

The next day they served a town by cleaning up the park. When we got there, the park was completely overgrown and in two hours, the place was clean and all the brush was burned. They were able to make a difference by meeting the need of a town. Two nations working together to serve; it was great!

The clean park in Las Pilas.

Construction on the new church facilities has been rapidly progressing. With the last two short-term mission teams, the whole roof of the first story has been poured. That will allow progress on the second story.

FAMILY NEWS
We have all been doing very well. Some friends of ours who were vacationing in Puerto Vallarta came to stay at our house for a couple of days in February. It is always such a blessing to have friends and family from home come to visit! We want to encourage all of you to come and let you know that our doors are open for visitors! If you have plans on vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, or Guadalajara, please let us know; those cities are anywhere from 3 to 4 hours from us and we’d love to have you. It is a special time for us to have an opportunity to get to know you more and you can have a first hand experience of what our ministry is like. Sometimes it can really be hard to explain on paper or describe in a visit at home with pictures. Come live it with us! Thanks for coming down Jack and Vicki!

We also want to encourage you to pray about how you can support us. We have been low on finances lately and would like to invite you to become part of our support team if you are not already. See the box below on how to send financial gifts. If a tax-deduction is not an issue for you, feel free to send it directley to our “home” address in the letterhead. Thank you so much!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY.

May the Lord bless you all,


Steve, Geña, Rebecka and Emma Silberman
Missionaries to Mexico
Alternative Missions

Written: April 4, 2008


SUPPORT ADDRESS
Thank you for continuing to be part of our team and supporting our ministry. If you haven’t yet joined our team of supporters, please consider joining.

· Send to:
Alternative Missions
PO Box 5835
Goodyear, AZ 85338
· Checks made out to ALTERNATIVE MISSIONS
· Send a note on a separate piece of paper indicating that it is for Cofradía Staff Members: Steve and Efigenia Silberman.
· You can also donate online at the alternative missions’ website under the “Donate Online” tag as you place the mouse over the “staff” heading.
· Thanks again for being part of our team!


†MANNA†
I have been teaching a series on Jonah to the youth. In our last newsletter, I shared about the final verses of the book and how my life related to Jonah’s selfishness. There have been so many things that I have seen in Jonah that I haven’t heard many preach about. Take a moment when you get a chance and re-read Jonah and ask yourself some questions. Why did Jonah go in the opposite direction? What was the issue? Was he just scared? What kind of picture does chapter one paint for us about the consequences of sin; how it affects us as well as others? Was Jonah really repentant in chapter two, or was it a prayer of thanksgiving? Did he willingly go with a changed heart to Nineveh in chapter three? What is the main theme of the book? I was a little surprised at some of the things I’ve learned as opposed to what I thought I knew. What do you think?