Called To Freedom 2018

Four pastors and their wives joined Geña and I on a trip to Mexico City to attend the annual Freedom in Christ conference; it was their 10th anniversary. 

Freedom in Christ has become a very crucial part of our ministry.  As we raise up leaders, we see the importance of them knowing who they are in Christ, how the enemy tries to confuse and trick us, dealing with our past and current hurts and habits, and how to maintain our freedom.  It has been a life-changing adventure.  Not only are we teaching conferences in Cofradía, but also other churches have asked us to share this with their congregations.

The morning sessions at the conference had roughly 200 attendees for a very practical teaching on "Prayer that Works" presented by Clay Bergen.   The focus was on expectations.  "It's not what we pray, but how we pray that makes a difference."  We should be observant, discerning, and have knowledge of God's Word and His promises. 

William Gallardo followed with "The Christ-Centered Marriage" as he introduced the newly translated material of the book Experiencing Christ Together by Dr. Neil T. Anderson.  They will be focusing on this at next year's conference.

In the afternoons, the conference was divided into two simultaneous sessions: "Anger and Depression" presented by Psychologist Judith King and "Spiritual Protection for Your Kids" presented by Ed and Linda Smith.  Our group split in order to hear both.  We were extremely blessed and learned a lot.

Those of us who attended the Anger and Depression sessions had the opportunity to hear some excellent teaching accompanied with many examples of how anger and depression, if not dealt with, can become dangerous and lead to mental and physical illnesses.  This we know from the Bible and from other books we've read.  However, listening to this Christian Psychologist who is married to a Christian Psychiatrist made things more real.

William and Lourdes Gallardo are the National Leaders of Freedom In Christ Ministries in Mexico

We were asked to give a quick testimony of the impact Freedom in Christ has had in our ministry.

Clay Bergen

All of us together with the Gallardos at the end.

Our trip to Mexico City continued as we visited our friends' church, El Jardín de Edén (the Garden of Eden) on Sunday.  I had the honor of speaking that day and talked about what our voices sound like "outside the camp" and shared some stories of Christian persecution in history and today.  We had a great visit with Pastor Gerardo and his wife and family afterwards.  Then, in the evening, we met with the lawyer who has been working on our Religious Association paperwork, which as of November 6, we are an official Mexican Religious Organization.

The final day we walked around the center of town site seeing.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Mondays aren't too crowded downtown.

Our plan was to leave early Tuesday morning, but the warnings of Hurricane Willa compelled us to leave Monday evening and drive through the night to beat the storm.  It was forecasted to hit our area and all of us had kids back home.

A big thank you to those of you who generously donated towards our trip.  We were able to purchase some materials for our ministry as well.  You are making a difference!