Planning

Last night we had our first planning meeting on our back porch for next week's evangelism outreaches. I still sit in awe as we see these four students take initiative, grabbing hold of the ministry and making it their own. I'm so proud of these students and can't wait to see what God does through them.

Camp Report

We're back in Cofradia and some of us are still recuperating from the late nights and long days at camp. God really touched some of the lives of our students at camp this year. It was the first time that we have had a group of students who are genuinely seeking God and it's so exciting to see them seek Him. It was very warm a couple of days and the bugs were very annoying, but that didn't prevent them from opening themselves up to what God had for them. I have had the chance to only talk to a few of them and they all say that this year was different and they don't want the excitement to fade away.

On our way home, we ran into some problems with our ministry van and Amber ended up driving 11 students back in the pick-up truck that had the luggage in it. We transfered the luggage to the van and Martin waited with me at the van for four hours on the toll road until help arrived. It was a long ride home and we were really happy to arrive back in Cofradia! Thanks for your prayers!

EMAILED MINISTRY UPDATE

Hello friends,

I am having trouble sending this message out by email.

Thank you for your prayers over all the activities in July. It was definitely a full month, yet fulfilling in ministry. God is continuing to move in the lives of the youth and it’s very encouraging to me to see how many of them are taking on leadership responsibilities. I can’t explain to you how excited I am for our youth!

I asked you to pray for…

Rebecka’s speech on July 6. She did a great job! She also was part of The Dance of the Clowns along with her classmates. Here is a link to the post: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/2007/07/rebeckas-speach.html

Julio and Mili at Bible Camp. Julio and Mili are doing AWESOME! They are with the students who are currently at summer camp right now and they are loving the bible school and learning a lot. You can see the excitement in their eyes and on their faces! Along with the three weeks of a “classroom” setting there are two weeks of application where they got to a certain town and do evangelism. Whether it’s door to door or a program in the center of town. They are learning dramas, sharing testimonies, leading worship time, and preaching. I’m really excited for what God is doing in their lives!

The Day Camp. On July 11 our four student leaders took some of the new students coming out of 6th grade on a Day Camp. They did a great job of organizing the event and leading it! They started out with a number of get-to-know-you games and other team building games. As they were doing some small group application time, we got their lunch ready and we all ate together. After lunch, Martin shared a short devotional they followed that up with each of them (the four leaders) giving some testimonies of how they felt when they first came in to the youth group. After that there was some free time; we just hung out, played games, and went to see the mini-zoo that's in the park. To see photos, click on this link: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/2007/07/youth-day-camp.html

A FOR YOUTH night. For Youth is just a hang out fun night with games, activities, food and making new friends. We had 40 students turn out for this event and the students played, laughed, hung out, and ate 80 hot dogs. It was a nice way for the new students to get a “feel” of what it’s like to hang out with the youth group.

Soccer Tournament. This was a week-long event that was a lot of fun to be a part of. It involved 20 guys who played along with a bunch of onlookers from the youth group and town. We finished with a LIFE NIGHT and awards ceremony. It was neat to see the team captains taking on their leadership seriously. For a full report of the soccer tournament click on this link: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/2007/07/summer-youth-soccer-tournament-report.html
For pictures of the tournament click on this link: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/2007/07/tournament-pictures.html

A Youth Rally. On July 28 our youth worship band was invited to lead worship at a regional youth rally. They were a little nervous, but did a good job. This youth rally was amazing to me because I got to meet a number of local Christian pastors that are in our area. One of them I learned has a daily radio broadcast and another has a daily Television broadcast. It was really good for me to see how God is working in our surrounding areas that I didn’t know about. I believe God has some interesting plans in our future.

Finances for Jose Luis and Ricardo. Each of them need $1000 in order to participate in the school; they need an additional amount of a least $1500 each for the crusades during the second part of their schooling. Praise the Lord that the $1000 for each of them has come in which will allow them to attend the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) DTS (Discipleship Training School) in September. They still need at least $1500 each.

We also had a drama night on July 27 hosted by an intern that came down from Canada for a month. He teaches drama in a Jr. High School and taught our students some drama games. That was a lot of fun and it was great to see who has is skilled in that area. We now know who will be good for the evangelistic dramas during our outreaches in August!

Thank you for continuing to pray for our family and ministry. Prayer is VERY IMPORTANT! Here are some more things to pray about…

· Youth Summer Camp. Please continue to pray for our 14 students who are at camp right now. Pray that they would have open hearts, eyes, and ears for God’s call on their lives. Also, pray for Amber, Jonathan (Intern) and myself as their leaders (July 31-August 4)
· The preparation of some evangelistic outreaches our youth will do in other towns. (August 14-18)
· LIFE NIGHT “Back to School”. We will have our usual LIFE NIGHT with worship, games, testimonies, a message, and prizes (school supplies) focusing on going back to school. (August 25)
· EL RETO (THE CHALLENGE). It’s that time of year again! Every Saturday of September we’ll have the biggest youth event of the year where leaders refine leadership skills and students reach out to unreached students in a five-week Survivor/Amazing Race/Fear Factor style game. Please pray for the planning and that we would follow God’s lead as he develops our youth individually and as a group. (September)
· Continued inflow of finances for Jose Luis and Ricardo. They need at least $1500 each to finish the DTS. It’s possible depending on where they go for their crusade; they could need up to $3000 each! Please consider how you can help. Click at this link for more information on how to help out: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/2007/06/youth-scholarship-fund.html and click here to donate to them; please specify “Cofradía Youth Scholarship Fund: Jose Luis and Ricardo”: https://www.egivingsystems.org/support/42705/
· Cofradía’s youth ministry general fund. God is doing something special in our lives here in Cofradía. Please consider sending a donation to help finance these events. Cofradía is a very small village (1000 pop.) and the church depends on people like you who believe in what God is doing in our lives and the lives of the youth. THE CHALLENGE game alone will need $1000 of support. That will include mostly the materials for the event and transportation; we want to take this into other villages and there will be six teams and they all need a driver (who sacrifices their time and money) for each team. We would love to some day have regular sponsors for this event in order to give students t-shirts. Click on this link to donate to “Cofradía Youth”: https://www.egivingsystems.org/support/42705/

Blessings to you all!
The Silbermans

Youth Camp

We have 14 students at camp this week. We'll be here in La Cruz de Elota, Sinaloa (one hour north of Mazatlan) until Saturday and the youth are doing very well. Three weeks ago we brought Julio and Mili here for a five-week bible school and they are participating at camp with us. It's great to see what God is doing in their lives. They are very excited to be at the school and are learning a lot. Please pray for us these next few days as the Lord speaks to not only our youth, but the other hundred that are from here, Mazatlan, Culiacan, and other places.

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

AUGUST 2007

The Silbermans
Home: 9403 Tracyton Blvd.. NW *Bremerton, WA 98311 * USA * 360-692-2054
Field: APDO #19 * Tuxpan, NAY 63201 * MEXICO * 011-52-319-232-5172
Support: Steven & Efigenia Silberman * Alternative Missions * PO Box 5835 * Goodyear, AZ 85338 * USA

¡SALUDOS!
Greetings everyone! We pray that this letter finds you in good health and passionate about Jesus! We are excited for what God has been doing in our lives and ministry. Thank you for being a part of our team and praying for us. May the Lord bless you!

FAMILY NEWS

We are all doing very well. Rebecka finished her first year of Kindergarten (2 years in Mexico) and gave the farewell speech to the Kindergarten grads on behalf of her class and participated in The Dance of the Clowns dressed up as a clown along with her classmates (middle of the above picture). She did a great job! Emma is growing and turning into a clown herself; she makes some of the funniest faces! They are such a joy to have and we are very thankful for them!

OVER-ALL MINISTRY NEWS
Pastor Gollo continues to preach on the radio and a number of people he has run into have mentioned they listen to him. This has been a great way to reach out to others who don’t live in Cofradía. The radio reaches way up into the Mountains to the unreached Cora Indians. Please let us know if you would like to participate in this ministry. One ½ hour show is $50 US dollars and Pastor Gollo goes once a week.

We hosted two Short-Term Mission teams in June along with some visitors who came down for their “Senior Trip.” Between the two mission teams, we have been able to finish the foundations of the classrooms and poor a couple of floors. The walls are continuing to grow and things are looking really good. One team focused on outreaches to the Cora Indians going to three different villages handing out carepackages to needy families. It was great for me to return to Agua Aceda and see some of the people who attended Bible Studies with me ten years ago. The little kids who gathered around me to sing songs are now the youth of the town—funny how God works—some of them are open to the gospel because of experiences of ten years ago. One of the believers, Herminia, mentioned she still reads her Bible to her kids and her oldest daughter who is living in the state capital now still prays every day. What a blessing to hear that report!

Another team focused on outreach evangelism in the streets or centers of towns with puppets, music, drama, testimonies, and a message. A number of our youth really got into this and are planning to do their own evangelism outreach the same way the Americans do in August. That will be lots of fun!

If you feel led to help by bringing a team or sending donations, contact us.

STUDENT MINISTRY NEWS
There is so much to report about the student minsitry. One of the neatest things happened in June as we took four students on a leadership retreat to study the book of Nehemiah. At the end we gave them homework; to plan a Day Camp for the new 7th grade students coming into the youth group this summer. They did a great job in planning the Day Camp and it was neat to see them starting to believe that they can be leaders too! A week later, we had a Soccer Tournament, the second one we’ve done. This time 20 guys signed up and it was fun all the way to the last goal of the Championship game. This was a great way to bring the youth from Arrayanes and Cofradía together and help them make new friends, especially the new 7th graders. I go more in depth on all the activities online at our internet journal. You can read more about what’s going on and see a number of pictures of the activities at this link: http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of work.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY.

May the Lord bless you all,

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

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 MissionsPO Box 5835Goodyear, 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!

EMAIL
steve@alternativemissions.com
JOURNAL
http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/
WEBSITE
http://www.alternativemissions.com/

†MANNA†
I started to study the book of Obadiah which led me to study the life of Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Esau had made some poor decisions in his life. He was a man that when he was so hungry he sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup, giving up what God had given him and His blessing. Esau held a grudge against Jacob because Jacob had received the blessing of his father, Isaac. When Esau repented, he repented with such intensity even to the point of tears. It was too late, what had been done was done. He gave up the blessings of God for lentil soup. Many of us can relate to this story as we have blown it sometimes or see others blow it. We have to live with the consequences of our sin. There is forgiveness, thanks to Jesus Christ for obeying his Father and dying on the cross in our place. We are free when we are forgiven! However, the consequences many times are still with us and we have to live with them. Hebrews 12:16,17 gives us a picture of Esau’s sin, “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.” (NIV) What kind of decisions are we making? Do we take for granted what God has given us? Are we willing to give up a life of blessings for “a bowl of soup”?

Written: July 25, 2007

A Friend's Thoughts

Jeremy Dyck who works in the Alternative Missions head office in Phoenix shared some funny thoughts this week and I thought it was worth posting...

1. Cows
2. The Constitution
3. The Ten Commandments

Cows
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a single cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

The Constitution
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq . Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

The Ten Commandments
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal, "Thou Shalt Not commit Adultery", and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.

Tournament Pictures

Here are some pictures of the soccer tournament in the order of the report in the last post.


All four teams together

Los Correcaminos (The Roadrunners)

Los Arremangadores (Those Who Wipe Out Everything)

Los Pequeñines (The Little Ones)

Los Vencedores (The Overcomers)

Ruben--Hospitality Oscar Award

Ana-Hospitality and Service Medal

Pedro-Hospitality and Reaching Out Medal

Carlos-Most Goals (28)

Jose Luis-Best Goalie

Los Correcaminos-CHAMPIONS

Martin-Best Sportsmanlike Conduct Trophy

Summer Youth Soccer Tournament Report

I DO NOT HAVE PICTURES READY YET...I WILL PUT THEM ON SOON.

This was our second official Soccer Tournament for the youth. Tuesday through Saturday four teams of five guys played their hearts out. Unfortunately, this time the teams were pretty uneven and you could see who was going to win the Championship game from the start, but that didn’t stop the runners up from putting the Championship game into overtime. Just like last Christmas, the tournament ended with huge excitement and the underdogs almost won.

The four teams each had a captain who is either a student leader or a very good soccer player that can lead a team. We emphasize to them that they are “mentors” to their team and have freedom to pastor them spiritually. They all take this serious and have a lot of fun. It’s a great experience for the captains to gain more leadership experience and skills. One team did not win any game, however, the team captain was voted by the participants to receive the Best Sportsmanlike Conduct Award because of his positive attitude and encouragement to others.

Saturday evening we had a LIFE NIGHT and Award’s Ceremony. We gave away a number of Awards:

**Hospitality Oscar Award for showing Hospitality to the American groups that come for Short-Term Missions. That Award went to Rubén.

**We gave out two Medals to students who we wanted to recognize for their help with the Short-Term Missions teams: Ana received an award for helping set up before the teams came but was unable to greet the teams because it was late when they arrived. Pedro received an award for being hospitable to youth from other towns; having a missionary attitude by making friends with them on outreaches instead of hanging out with his own friends or “comfortable” crowd.

**We also gave out awards for the three best goalies and the three highest scorers: José Luís was the best goalie with the highest percentage of saves and Carlos was the highest scorer with 28 goals, breaking the last tournament’s record of 26.

**The Championship team Los Correcaminos (The Roadrunners) won every game they played sweeping the competition. They did a great job and are great players.

**Finally, the Best Sportsmanlike Conduct Trophy was awarded to Martín, the captain of Los Vencedores (The Overcomers) who did not win any games, but made it to the last day by overcoming discouragement. Martín, a Student Leader, did a phenomenal job of keeping the team unified and from not giving up. We focused on attitudes all week and how we need to have the attitude of Christ…humbleness, not thinking of ourselves first, but others first and serving one another.

The tournament was successful in bringing towns together and students making new friends which opens up the door for evangelism. After the message at the Life Night, we had people raise their hands who wanted to receive Christ into their life for the first time. Two students raised their hands and we prayed all together. It was the first time ever that one of those students had been to a church event with us. Please pray for Carlos and Aidé for a continued desire to know Christ and an understanding of their New Identity.

EXTRA NOTE: After the Championship game, Los Jefes (“The Chiefs” or “The Bosses”) played a game against the winning team. Los Jefes consisted of: Pastor Gollo; Missionary and Director of Alternative Missions—Cofradía Dave Elías; Missionary and Director of the Indigenous Ministry Jay TenBrink; Missionary and Director of Student Ministries (myself); and Missionary Intern Jonothan Green. Basically, the “old” guys (the youth's words) against a very tired Championship team and the “old” guys WON, 9-7!

Youth Soccer Tournament

Just to let you know that we're really busy with a Soccer Tournament right now. Today was the last day; tomorrow will be the play-offs and finals followed by a LIFE NIGHT meeting in the Arrayanes Sanctuary. It's been a fun week. It's neet to see the students from Arrayanes and Cofradia come together with this and it's really interesing to see how God is working in the leadership of the Captains (students). There are four teams and five guys on each team. I hope to have an update by Monday of the Tournament. Stay tuned...

Youth Day Camp

Our four student leaders took the new students coming out of 6th grade on a Day Camp yesterday. We got to Tepic, Nayarit in the morning and they had a number of get-to-know-you games and other team building games. As they were doing some small group application time, we (Amber, Gena, and I) got their lunch ready and we all ate together. After lunch, Martin shared a short devotional they followed that up with each of them (the four leaders) giving some testimonies of how they felt when they first came in to the youth group. After that there was some free time; we just hung out, played games, and went to see the mini-zoo that's in the park. Here are some photos...

A fun "rolling the toilet paper with your nose" game.

Devotional time

Martin sharing

Free time...soccer!

Rebecka's Speach

Last Friday Rebecka gave her fare-well speach to the Kindergarteners who were graduating. She did a great job and received a number of compliments. I was videotaping so we didn't get any pictures...bummer! But, we got video! We also have some pictures of the younger kindergarteners (Rebecka's class) doing "The Dance of the Clowns" for entertainment. It was a lot of fun.

Luis (cousin); Rebecka; Aylin (friend)


The Dance

Nehemiah Speaks

God is still speaking to me through the book of Nehemiah. We studied it a month ago and I just didn't want to put it on the shelf; there is so much in it!

Last week I was reading chapter two and stopped when I reached the point when Nehemiah was talking with the King (which is right at the beginning) and asked permission to go back to Jerusalem. It was interesting putting myself in the King’s “shoes” and wondering what he was thinking. Nehemiah had to have been trustworthy in order to be a cupbearer, he was very important to the King. So I was thinking about how I would feel if one of my most trustworthy students came to me and asked permission to go somewhere and study or whatever (basically leaving a “position” of leadership in the youth group). I was impressed with the King’s response by allowing Nehemiah to go. It doesn’t say anything about the King’s trust in the Lord in that situation; it just says that his wife was at his side (maybe to talk it over with her??). Anyway, for me it would be a trust issue in order to find a “replacement” for a “position.” We have lots going on this summer and especially in September so I will need lots of help and staff (student leaders too). One of the student leaders, Jesus Alberto, is someone who will be helping, however, yesterday I learned he might be wanting to go to a Bible school or something like that soon. So, I thought about the issue with Nehemiah and the King again. I will trust in the Lord, no student is “mine.”

Worship Matters

Worship Matters is a web-site that a friend and Worship Leader from Bellingham, Washington, Mike Weston, started. He has some great thoughts on Worship. I have put a link to his site at the right, take some time and check it out.

MINISTRY UPDATE

We just sent out an email to most of you updating you about this past month. If you do not receive our emails and would like to, please click here.

Hello friends,

This past month has been very busy starting with the Student Leadership Retreat followed some visitors from Texas and 2 short-term mission teams. This week is Graduation week for the kindergarten, elementary school and Junior High. It’s been a great month of ministry!

The Student Leadership Retreat’s wake is still strong. The four leaders have prepared a day camp for the new students who will be entering the youth group this summer and are taking on leadership roles in and out of church amongst the youth. We are so proud of them, the chemistry is incredible. We had a movie night with the leaders (a part of the retreat that we didn’t do) a couple days ago watching and discussing the film, Remembering the Titans. What an inspirational movie about team unity and leadership!

We also had some visitors from Houston, Texas come down to hang out during their Senior Trip! Yes, for their Senior Trip they wanted to come to Cofradía! These are some friends from Cy-Fair Christian Church who have been very instrumental in building relationships with the people of this area, mainly the youth. They were down in March as a Short-Term Mission team as they have done for the past four years and came down again this June for “vacation.” It was a lot of fun and our youth really enjoy it when they come.

We only had two Short-term Mission teams this summer. The first one was a group of adults and a few students from Colorado who are really interested in the outreach to the Cora Indians that live close to us in the hills. They worked very closely with missionary Jay TenBrink as he heads up that ministry. One of the villages they visited to hand out care packages was Agua Aceda, a village I used to go to weekly. It was great to see some old friends and I was really impressed to see that some were still walking with the Lord, reading their Bibles and praying! The little kids that always gathered around me as we sang songs are now the youth in that village and a number of them have expressed interest in being part of the youth group and going to camp. It’s interesting how God works; I never realized how our efforts of 10 years ago could have an impact today.

The second team was from Washington who comes down every two years. They went around to different villages to do Evangelistic outreaches in the centers of towns. I did my best to hang in there, but I was not feeling well the whole time they were here. Thanks to Jay, he covered for me on Friday night, I just could not sing because of a sore throat and bad head-ache. The report from our students was very good on how they were able to make friends with the Americans on the team.

As for our family, we have not done so well with our health this month. As I mentioned, I wasn’t feeling well for a week, really, I’ve been extremely tired physically and needed a couple days rest. Rebecka has had a cough for a couple of weeks and Emma was not feeling well either running a very high temperature. Geña has been doing very well and hasn’t been sick at all and has been very busy with a number of different things. At the moment she’s making a costume for Rebecka for the Kindergarten Graduation which will be on Friday the 6th. In Mexico, Kindergarten is two years. This is Rebecka’s first year, she still has one more year left and will be giving the farewell speech to the students who will be graduating.

Thank you for continuing to pray for our family and ministry. Prayer is SO IMPORTANT! Please pray for…

· Rebecka to not be shy or afraid to give her farewell speech (July 6)
· Julio and Mili who will be at a Bible Camp for five weeks (July 9-August 11)
· The Day Camp that the student leaders are putting together for the new students (July 11)
· A FOR YOUTH night which will be the first youth event with the new students. For Youth is just a hang out fun night with games, activities, food and making new friends (July 13).
· A youth soccer tournament that reaches out to unreached students, helps others in the leadership roles, and brings different towns together (July 17-21)
· Our youth band who has been invited to do worship at a youth rally in another town (July 28)
· Youth Summer Camp (July 31-August 4)
· The preparation of some evangelistic outreaches our youth will do in other towns (August)
· Finances for Jose Luis and Ricardo who will be going to a YWAM DTS in September, they need a minimum of $2500 each and have not received any donations yet.

Blessings to you all!
The Silbermans

Youth Scholarship Fund

One of the most exciting things about working with youth, especially in a small ranching community, is to see their hunger and thirst grow for Christ. We have a number of students who have expressed interest in furthering their education in Bible Schools, Discipleship Training Schools (YWAM), studying music, and what few students here have the opportunity to do…go to university.

Our desire as a staff is to help these students in any way we can to fulfill their dreams of being pastors, worship leaders, missionaries, and strong Christians in the community they live in. We believe that by investing in a Scholarship Fund for these students is one way that you can help as well.

There are currently two students who are pursuing furthered education in a DTS with YWAM. Jose Luis and Ricardo are young adults who have a huge need before them. They both need to raise individually a minimum of $2500usd for the YWAM DTS by September. As you read their profiles below, please pray and consider what donation you can make towards this Scholarship Fund.

José Luís

José Luís describes his life before Christ as “totally lost in the world”. Feeling abandoned, unloved, and completely alone, he pursued anything he thought would help him forget the pain and emptiness he felt deep inside. Then one night, a friend invited him to a youth event where he met Christ for the first time. Life has not been easy since becoming a Christian, but through the ups and downs God has made it clear to Jose Luis that he is never alone and that the He has a plan for his life. Now, this young man is a committed drummer in the worship band, is working toward completing the four-level discipleship course, is growing as a leader among the youth, and even finds ways to minister to and share Christ with his family. The Discipleship Training School will provide José Luís with the knowledge and tools to grow in Biblical leadership and equip him to fulfill the call he believes the Lord has placed on his life.

José Luís says: “I would like to go to the YWAM School because I know that God has a plan for me. I believe that plan is to learn more about his Word and to have a stronger relationship with Him. I believe God wants me to grow in His Word and to be a pastor, preaching His Word to the world. I believe God has called me to serve HIM instead of pleasing the rest of the world, and that He has a plan and purpose for me because I was made for Him.”

Ricardo

Ricardo is the second son of our local head pastor, Gregorio. He does not have a complicated testimony, yet it is packed with the power of Christ to change a life. Unlike his younger brothers, Ricardo spent a good portion of his childhood in a non-Christian home. His father was the first to accept Christ, and eventually his mother did as well. Once they started attending church, Ricardo went out of obligation. However, shortly after joining the youth group, he attended a special youth service hosted by some missionaries. It was then that Ricardo realized that he too needed Christ and finally surrendered his heart. He has continued to grow and mature through the years, not just as a young man, but as a young man committed to living for the Lord. He has been part of the worship band for over 3 years playing acoustic and electric guitars, he is working toward completing a four-level discipleship course and is growing in leadership among the youth. We believe that the Discipleship Training School will provide Ricardo with the tools he needs to continue to grow in the purposes for which Christ has called him.

Ricardo says, “Since the day I surrendered my life to Christ, my life changed. Now, I go to church, not just out of obedience to my parents, but because I need to be in the presence of God. I would like to attend the YWAM School because I desire to have even more communion with God and to learn how to minister God’s Word to other people, specifically to youth, not only in my own town but also in other towns in the area.”


How can I help?

Each of the guys will need to raise at least $2500 to cover the cost of tuition and the outreach phase. If you would like to partner with us financially by donating to the Youth Scholarship Fund there are a couple of ways that can be done.

· Send a check made out to Alternative Missions and designate for "Cofradia Youth Scholarship Fund" by adding a Post It note.. Mail the check to: Alternative Missions, P.O.Box 5835, Goodyear, AZ 85338.
· Donate online. Your donation is secure, consistent and automatic. Just click on the link: https://www.egivingsystems.org/support/42705

BLESSED!

Rain...Inside and Out

I just realized I never wrote about what happened. As I wrote the last post, it was raining like crazy...inside the house and outside. The monsoon rain lasted a little more than an hour soaking the dry barren ground creating rivers in places were they were not supposed to be. We definately found the leaks in the house. Water was coming in, in every room. In some rooms it was dripping so fast it was almost a pour. We had the roof fixed like everyone does every year hear; putting a liquidy coat of cement on the roof in order for it to seep into the cracks and harden up. We haven't had another hard rain yet in a couple of days, but it will be interesting to see how the house will "weather" next time. Life is interesting.

Our First Rain

We are in the middle of our first rain of the year. All of the sudden, it just starts to pour down rain. It's an exciting time when this happens, the thunder, the rain monsooning down, the streets filling up with water turning into rivers. It's crazy! Now we need to check the house for leaks, something else that comes with the first rain, evidence of the cracks in the roof. Got some work to do tomorrow:) I think I better go, it's getting pretty bad!

STUDENT LEADERSHIP RETREAT REPORT

I cannot explain to you how pleased I am about how everything went on the retreat. Thank you so much for praying for the success and that God would be glorified and continue to be glorified in the students. Everything we did flowed very nicely.

We started out on Wednesday morning leaving for Mazatlán. In the van, we put the students to work right away having them answer the questions, “What are the problems I see in the world, country, town, church in general, local church, our youth group, and themselves?” This was to get them thinking along the lines that there are problems all over just like Nehemiah saw the problem with Jerusalem not having walls. Nehemiah didn’t just sit around; he did something about it (to make a long story short).

We went right in to the first study about Nehemiah’s devotional life once we got to the Hotel after breakfast. The first thing that Nehemiah did before he did anything, throughout the book, was pray. Our next study was about how he put his burden into action. We then had some activities on the beach and hiked up to what is now the highest functioning lighthouse in the world. We talked about the opposition that Nehemiah faced throughout his journey, even before he started and all the way to finishing the walls. The next day we talked about the completion of the walls and how Nehemiah did some follow-up as we see in the final chapters.

In the end, as we were tying everything together, we looked at how Nehemiah’s burden was really the people who had no wall around their city. Nehemiah saw a need, did something for the people, and then was able to speak into their lives. With that in mind, we have challenged these four students to put together a day camp for the new 7th grade students (about 10 of them) who will be entering the youth group this summer. As we were discussing this, I was really impressed to see that they understood the vision, saw the need, and got excited about it. There was a little bit of nervousness, but they are charging forward and it’s a lot of fun to see happen.

It was a great two days and we all wish we could do it again next week! We had absolutely no free time until we finished with our activities and studies on Thursday afternoon. Before heading back to Cofradía we spent a few hours at a big water park to have some fun.

Thanks again for your prayers; it was a great success because the hand of the Lord was upon us.

Here are some pictures of the retreat:

Planning time during a group activity.

Blindfolded, they had to make a square with the rope. This attracted the attention of people as they walked by. Some would stay for a few minutes and watch; vendors, tourists, etc.

Finished! Great job!

The World's highest functioning lighthouse. We hiked up the hill for our third study; Opposition.

Hiking up the hill. It was a great tangible experience of overcoming opposition!

At the top...finally!

The only picture of an actual study.

It's been a few days now since we've returned. It is amazing to me to see the difference in these students! They are really working hard on their project and are stepping up as strong leaders in the youth group. I've had a chance to talk with them individually and they all say that this is something they needed and it was time for them to take another step in their walk with God.

Praise God, to Him be the glory! This is so exciting!

LIFE NIGHT

Saturday night we had our monthly youth event, LIFE NIGHT. Each month we play a game called ¿Quién Quiere Quinientos? (Who Wants Five hundred?).

This is a take off of the famous “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” There are ten questions and they get harder and harder starting out with a value of one peso (10 cents), and doubling after every question (1 peso-2 pesos-4-8-16…) all the way to 500 pesos ($50usd)! We started the game this year to help encourage them to be reading their bibles (all questions come from the bible). No one had won anything until last night. The rule is pretty much the same as the television show, but if you get a question wrong, you lose everything, you don’t get the safety net. For example, if you have answered the 16 peso question correctly you can take that if you decide not to answer the next question, 32 pesos. If they get the 32 peso question wrong, no 16 pesos! It’s a lot of fun and the youth really enjoy it.

Saturday night, Pastor Goyo’s youngest son, Goyo, won the opportunity to play the game. He was able to answer all the questions through #8 (125 pesos-$12.50). He wasn’t sure of the answer of the next question and decided to take the money (which turned out to be wise). Congratulations to Goyo for being the first contestant to win money.

By the way, all the money goes as a deposit in their name into an Investment program called INVERSION VIDA or LIFE INVESTMENT that Geña and I started for the students. They can save money to go to camps, outings, or any kind of activity with the youth group and we’ll give them interest as a bonus for saving. Saving money is not a popular thing around here (not to mention in many parts of Mexico). People get money and they spend it right away. So, the students are learning to be prudent (like ants) and save their money. All the money they save has to be used for activities with the youth group (which is called LIFE, therefore, LIFE INVESTMENT) in order to have the benefit of the interest Geña and I give them (3% per month).

Student Leader

Sandra (see picture from previous post) did a great job sharing a Bible study last Friday night at our youth home group. She spoke about three different kinds of people; natural people, carnal people, and spiritual people. She asked the youth to identify themselves with one of those three. The natural person does not have an interest in the things of God; the carnal person has somewhat of an interest in the things of God, but does not live a life pleasing to the Lord (they like the milk of the Word); finally, the spiritual person has interest in God and is living the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (they are eating the meat of the Word). She challenged the youth who have been a part of the group for a while to let go of the bottle and start eating meat. It was very good and I thought that she had the right message for the group. Some of them need to take some steps of faith.

Student Leadership Retreat

Chuy

Jose Luis

Martin

Sandra

We’re excited to do something new this year! On June 6 and 7 we plan to take four of our older and mature youth on an overnight Leadership Retreat. This has been on my heart for about a year and it’s great to see it coming to life.

Each student is at least 20 years old and has been part of the youth group for a while. On this retreat, we’ll be looking at the life of Nehemiah and his leadership skills; specifically his devotional life, the actions he took towards his vision, how he confronted opposition, and we’ll also look at the completion of his vision.

Our plan is to leave early in the morning to have a time of teaching, reflection, and sharing from God’s Word. We’ll stay the night in a hotel and before we return the next evening, we’ll challenge these four students to put together a “day camp” in July for the new seventh graders that will be joining our youth group this summer. This will give an opportunity for the new students to feel welcome and get to know some of the older students as leaders. It should be an exciting time!

We’re really looking forward to this and we believe that this is where God is taking us as our ministry is growing more into training others to be leaders. Just like Nehemiah received a vision to do something for God’s Kingdom, the passion and burden I personally have for this event is incredible.

In order to fight off the enemy and their tactics, Nehemiah equipped half of the people with spears, shields, bows and armor while the other half did the work. We would ask you please join us in prayer for this retreat and be one of those people that are “standing guard”.

Pray for…
· Safety in traveling to and from Mazatlán and safety while we’re there.
· Clarity of mind for the staff who will be leading this retreat (Steve, Geña, and Amber).
· Open hearts and minds for the students (Sandra, Martín, José Luís, and Jesús).
· Passion in all of us for the cause of Christ.
· Fruit
· And pray for whatever else the Lord puts on your hearts.

Thank you so much for being part of what God is doing in Cofradía.

Steve and Geña Silberman

Ministry Update

Every month our staff puts together an update on different areas of our ministry here. This is our update from April...

Youth Update: Leadership

We are blessed to have leaders within the youth group. A couple of exciting things have happened recently that have brought to light how God is working in the students. Pastor Gollo’s third son, Julio, gave the bible study at our weekly Youth Home Group and did a very good job! He spoke on Respecting Leaders and it was thorough, thought-provoking, and complete. This was the first time he did an actual study and we were really impressed with how it was put together and presented.

Another exciting thing was at our monthly youth event. Martin, one of the older students who spent one year at a Bible school, has really done a great job of influencing the lives of the students in Arrayanes. He has been instrumental in bringing a number of youth to Christ, starting a rap band, and now he has put together a drama team. The eight participants did an excellent job with their skit. They portrayed four guys who were drug dealers and lived the party life, Martin came in to share the gospel and was rejected by the guys, but there were two girls that received the message. In the end, another “bad guy” came in and shot at everyone with at toy gun while another student was at the piano making gun-shot sounds. It was great! Martin shared the message of what happens when we reject God’s word and don’t live according to His will. It will be interesting to see what they come up with next!

Cofradía Church

Enjoy April’s update from Pastor Goyo!

“In family group we are arriving at the final stage of the Bondage Breakers study, and this past week we began with the seven steps to freedom. I had reviewed the material for the two previous weeks, and the content is very helpful for the individual and general growth of the church. My expectations were met the first day of study because when we began with the question of whether anyone had participated in activities that were not glorifying to God, it was suggested that we pray a prayer recognizing God as the only God that everyone knows, who is always present, and that we would depend on him and believe the truth that all authority in heaven and on earth is given to Christ, and that we would participate in that authority.

“It was also suggested that, with all the authority of Christ, we command Satan and every evil spirit, in order to have freedom to choose the will of God, like children of God. Upon reviewing the list of non-Christian spiritual control, I was surprised by how some of the group members responded and after reading the list, the ones that impacted the most were superstition, saint-worship, and television. But the most impact came from the two additional questions which had to do with listening to or feeling the presence of spirits in your home and nightmares. It made me think of the scripture in Romans 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing, and perfect will." In this way, once we surrender our lives to God, there will be a total change of the believer in a general way, and although the time will come for this moment, I know God will make it arrive for every one who decides to accept him as Lord of their lives. Thank you for your prayers and for all your support of this town. May the Lord bless the work of His hands.”

General Update: STM

We have had a very busy but successful Short-Term Missions (STM) season so far this year. We have had 7 groups come down since January, and we are awaiting two more in June! So far we’ve seen the following outreach activities: women’s ministry, youth ministry, VBS, a youth leadership conference, construction on our central church facility, and meeting dental needs. In June our two teams will be focusing on the Cora village of Mojocuautla as well as more evangelistic outreaches into towns where we do not yet have ministry! It has been a very exciting season of short-term groups. Each one has made it’s own impact for the kingdom of God in Mexico, and we know that He will continue to plan and harvest the fruits of their labors and investment!

We have recently opened up an online photo gallery. If you would like to see photo albums from our spring groups and church construction, please go to: www.cofradiamexico.com.

General Update: Radio Ministry

Our radio ministry is another area for which we are quite excited. The Lord opened up doors in January for Gollo, the pastor of the Cofradía church, to begin ministering by radio. Since the Mexican government does not allow religious groups to operate radio stations, we rent air time from the local station in Ruiz. Each Thursday at 11:30 in the morning, Gollo hosts a half-hour show called “Restaurando Relaciones” (Restoring Relationships). He wants to show that we all experience the impact of broken relationships in our lives and that it is the result of living a broken relationship with our Creator. However, our Creator desires to restore us to a right relationship with Him, and as a result He will begin to restore the other broken relationships in our lives. Gollo’s desire is to be able to extend the show to three times a week. However, we are in need of funds in order to be able to increase the frequency of the broadcast. If you are interested in partnering with us in this ministry, please contact us and let us know! We would love your partnership in reaching more of this area for Christ!

New Church Construction Update

New Church Electricity on its way!

The new church construction is going well. We are presently focusing on getting the sanctuary walls to the 28 feet mark so that they will be ready to receive the roof. We are still hoping to start construction of the roof this coming winter, the Lord willing.

Good news! We have been working on the installation of electricity to the new church property since January. As it turns out we are outside the service area, which means that we are financially responsible for the extension of service area (posts, cable, and transformer) plus the hook-up to the church itself. We applied for a quote from the Federal Electric Commission, the only place one is available, and were told it would cost 28,480.03 pesos, which is about $2,7000 USD. Well, that seemed like a lot to us; however, in short order the Electric Commission offered to give us, free of charge, the transformer that would be required. This dropped the quote down to 15,361.14 pesos or about $1,450 USD. At the same time it was suggested that we should consider applying for assistance with the Municipal Government because the extension of service will be of benefit to the entire community. We took this advice and applied for assistance. Glory to God, an engineer from the Municipal Government stopped by this week and handed us a check for 10,000 pesos, which is about what we spend in two weeks in the construction of the sanctuary walls. Hallelujah, two weeks of free work!

This week we will go to the city to apply and pay for this extension of service and the new church electricity hook-up. Soon we will have electricity!!

But the story does not stop there. The Lord is definitely opening doors for us in this area. When the engineer came by to drop off the check, he mentioned that the Municipal President told him to say “hi” to us and ask if we could do other projects together. We talked about the possibility of building a re-habilitation house here in Cofradía or other similar projects. They very openly invited us to continue to involve them in community-related projects. Go figure!! Only God could get even the government working on His plans.

MAY NEWSLETTER

MAY 2007

The Silbermans
Home: 9403 Tracyton Blvd.. NW *Bremerton, WA 98311 * USA * 360-692-2054
Field: APDO #19 * Tuxpan, NAY 63201 * MEXICO * 011-52-319-232-5172
Support: Steven & Efigenia Silberman * Alternative Missions * PO Box 5835 * Goodyear, AZ 85338 * USA

¡SALUDOS!
Greetings everyone! We pray that this letter finds you in good health and passionate about Jesus! We are excited for what God is doing here in our family, the church, short-term missions, and in the youth.

FAMILY NEWS
Lots has happened lately in the lives of Rebecka and Emma.
Rebecka and her cousin Luis were King and Queen of the Butterflies for the Kindergarden’s Spring Parade in March. They got to dress up along with the other seven Kindergarden King’s and Queens. As we drove around Cofradía with them in the back of the truck, crowds came out of their homes to receive the candy the kids were throwing. They had a great time. In April, Rebecka participated in a “field day” running a 50-yard dash. She did a great job!

Emma Rose turned one year old on April 10th! WOW! Time is flying. She has started to walk all over the place. She keeps us busy and is loads of fun!
We also had the wonderful privilege of having some of my cousins take time out of their vacation in Puerto Vallarta and stay with us in Cofradía for a night. That was one of the biggest blessings we could receive, have family and friends come visit us! Please let us know if you’re going to be in the area (Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, or Guadalajara) sometime so we can see you when you’re visiting Mexico. We are always honored to have you!

MINISTRY
The local church here has been growing a lot. We continue to have a number of Family Groups that meet weekly and various other activites that people are involved in, in order to build community and have fellowship. The local Pastor, Gollo Hernández, started to preach on the radio in January once a week for ½ an hour. This radio program can be listened to all over the world through the internet. Locally, the vision is to be able to use it to reach the Indian villages high up in the mountains where we don’t have regular contact.

We have had a number of short-term mission teams come down to help us with the mission these past few months. In February, a team came down to work specifically on the new church facility and they were able to finish a couple rooms and the platform. The next team came in March to work specifically with our youth and did a great job. We had a one-day Amazing Race for them to work together with our students figuring out the notes that were written in a mixture of Spanish and English…that was lots of fun! For their work project they started and finished the sanctuary/basketball court floor. Another team came to work with the Children and it was the first time that Rebecka was able to participate, she had loads of fun. For their work project, they were able to start the foundations of many of the classrooms and pour the floor for the library. We are excited for the progress. If you feel led to help by bringing a team or sending donations, contact us.

There has been a few students “stepping to the plate” lately in our Student Ministry. They have been involved in Bible studies, skits, musical bands, and preaching. One of the neatest things I get to experience is the one-on-one time with some of the students. We’ve started to pair off at our Friday night meetings for prayer at the end and it’s a great chance to get to know the students more and hear their needs. Also, a number of them come to my office for “mentor time.” I’m encouraged by what God has been doing in their lives!

Please continue to look at our blog from time to time, we try to update it weekly. Sometimes I’ll post testimonies of students and write in more detail of how God is impacting their lives.

AND PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY.

May the Lord bless you all,

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

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 MissionsPO Box 5835Goodyear, 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 by clicking on "Donate to the Silbermans" to the right of this message.
· Thanks again for being part of our team!

EMAIL
steve@alternativemissions.com
JOURNAL
http://thesilbermans.blogspot.com/
WEBSITE
http://www.alternativemissions.com/

†MANNA†
In Prayer that brings Revival by David Yonggi Cho, he says something that really helped me about hearing the voice of God. “It’s not that God is not speaking to us, it’s that we’re not listening to Him.” WOW! I hope this encourages you too!

Written: May 10, 2007

Radio Show

Since January of this year, Pastor Gollo has been on the radio. Since the Mexican government does not allow religious groups to operate radio stations we rent air time for the local station in Ruiz. Each Thursday at 11:30 in the morning he hosts a half hour show called Restaurando Relaciones (Restoring Relationships). He wants to show that we all experience the impact of broken relationships in our lives, and that is the result of living a broken relationship with our Creator. However, our Creator desires to restore us to a right relationship with Him and as a result He will begin to restore the other broken relationships in our lives. His desire is to be able to extend the show to three times a week. You can listen online here. Click where it says, "XESK La Costeñita de Ruiz Nayarit en VIVO". You will need Winamp to listen. In order download that, click where it says, "Descargar Winamp."

Photo Gallery

One of the missionaries has set up a photo gallery of the short-term mission teams and the construction of the new church here.

FAMILY PHOTO

MUD!!

If any of you knew me as a kid, you know who Emma takes after:).

LEADERSHIP AMONGST THE YOUTH

As I mentioned in my last post, Julio gave the bible study on Friday night. Another exciting thing was at our monthly youth event on Saturday. Martin, one of the older students who spent one year at a Bible school, has really done a great job of influencing the lives of the students in Arrayanes. He has been instrumental in bringing a number of youth to Christ, starting a rap band, and now he has put together a drama team. The eight participants did an excellent job with their skit. They portrayed four guys who were drug dealers and lived the party life, Martin came in to share the gospel and was rejected by the guys, but there were two girls that received the message. In the end, another “bad guy” came in and shot at everyone with at toy gun while another student was at the piano making gun-shot sounds. It was great! Martin shared the message of what happens when we reject God’s word and don’t live according to His will. It will be interesting to see what they come up with next!

The Silbermans in Mexico!

I was so excited to see my cousins in Mexico! Bill, his wife Christie, Doug, and his wife Carol. I haven't seen them in a long time and it was such a blast to be able to chat a while. Doug and Carol were able to come out and visit us in Cofradia on Wednesday and we barbacued some Tuna they caught the day before. We walked around as I showed them the town and the next day I took them to see the church and town of Arrayanes. We then had grilled beaf for lunch and a scenic trip along the water back to Puerto Vallarta. It was so much fun and I can't wait until we can do this again. For all of you who haven't been able to come and see us, we're still here and we would love for you to come! Thanks, cousins, for your visit!