There are a couple more pastos included who have been participating in our ministry and have asked to be part of our team. Our focus is to Raise Up Leaders in Rural Mexico as we extend the Kingdom of God. In one way or another, everyone is a leader. So, it is important for all of us to understand the necessity of growing in the Lord and becoming faithful Disciples of Him.
All of these pastors can use financial support. If you would like to sponsor one or more of them specifically, please let me know. Otherwise, you can make a general donation here specifying the gift for "Pastors" and we will evenly distribute it.
It excites me to be able to share these reports with you as our ministry "La Cofradia United" continues to grow beyond our doors.
Here are the reports from the Pastors:
Lead Pastor of Centro Cristiano Cofradia
Cofradia, Nayarit
I would like to take this opportunity to
focus on what has been happening in the church. I do not refer to membership
growth, but rather to the perseverance of the body in growing into the likeness
of Christ. The Freedom in Christ course has been an infulential tool in this
growth. I refer to it as a tool because we know that freedom is only availble
to us in Christ, and knowledge of that has had a powerful impact in Cofradía
because it has helped us to acknowledge our own responsibliity and as well as
to see the need in others.
All of the leaders and congregants who
have taken the course have told us they “feel as light as a feather” or “as if
a great weight has been lifted” from their shoulders. And such has been the
fruit of this course. As we
understand more deeply who we truly are in Christ, the more fruit we bear in
Him. Now we understand that we are
not called to produce the fruit but are called to bear it.
In the last couple of months we have
seen one of our brothers be healed after being diagnosed with Prostate
Cancer. He was so ill he could not
even get up and walk. After having
prayed for him, the Lord healed him and now he can walk without the aid of a
cane! His improvement continues
and we are doing the Freedom in Christ coursework with him. He and I spend time regularly going go
up and down the streets praying for people. Yes, we use the truck for this, but the point is that he is
now ready and willing to do it!
And I am asking that you pray for him, that he would continue to live a
life of freedom that bears much fruit.
I also want to share with you that we
have begun visiting the town of Arrayanes again. We have been going on Friday, and although we have seen very
little response, in the last three weeks, more people have been coming to our
gatherings than when we began. On June 30 we will conduct an evangelism event
there, complete with home visitations, passing out pamphlets, musical worship,
and a message.
I want to thank you for your spiritual
and financial support of this ministry.
Thank you so much for all that you have given and for the blessings that
has brought us!
Affectionately,
Pastors Goyo and Maty, and family
_________________________________________
Centro Cristiano Cofradia Student Ministries
Maintenance Director
Cofradia Dwellings Director
Cofradia, Nayarit
I greet you in the love of God poured
out on us through communion with Him.
I hope that you are well and enjoying the mercy of God that is new every
day. As a family, we are content
with what God is doing in each of us.
Carolina and Angel completed the Freedom in Christ discipleship course
that is offered every year in our local church, and this year Luis will be
studying at the University in Tepic where Carolina has been studying the last
three years. We ask for your
prayers, that they will both successfully complete their degree programs.
This year we will host EL RETO once
again. We are planning to begin
September 1, and our theme will revolve around the concept of Choosing Truth
since this is a deep need our time as the lies of the enemy seem to be
prevailing.
At the end of last year and the
beginning of this year, we built three Dwellings homes with the help of
short-term missions teams, and it is exciting to see how the lives of these
families are changed as a result.
We are teaching the Freedom in Christ
discipleship course, and it has been a great blessing to see how the
participants have begun to take ownership of their freedom in Christ. So far
this year we have taught the course three times in three different churches and
once in our own local church.
Other pastors we are friends with are requesting we teach the course for
their churches as well, and it is exciting to partner in this endeavor with our
teaching team.
We ask for your prayers for:
● The planning and initiation of EL RETO,
beginning September 1
● The house we would like to buy
● The ministry in general, and especailly
the youth ministry, that they continue to commit themselves to the Truth
● Our marriage and family.
We thank you for your prayers for us and
for the generosity you have shown us and continue to show us. We pray for you as well. Thank you, and we love you.
Sincerely,
Pastors Luis and Mari, and family
_________________________________________
Pastor Horacio Garzón
Indigenous Ministries
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator
Indigenous Ministries
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator
Cofradia, Nayarit
Brothers, it is
with great pleasure I write this letter, first to express my deep desire for
your health and wellbeing. María continues her diabetes treatment, but other
than that we are all well. Martin is still living in the mountains, in the Mesa
del Nayar, working with the youth there. We visited him in March and had the
opportunity to help him with a four-day event in which the youth participated
in various field day-style team competition games. Members of other neighboring churches also participated, and
we helped organize, and most importantly, present the Word during certain
portions of the event.
Brothers, I
also tell you with great pleasure that we taught the Freedom in Christ course
in Arrayanes. For me this was a substantial teaching that led me to recover my
identity in Christ, which has helped me significantly in my role as a church
leader.
We continue to
Las Ajuntas (Mojocuautla), a mountain village where two families have believed
and welcome the Word the God. I continue to trust that God will do a great work
and glorify His name there. My
desire is to see the male leaders there raised up and trained to continue the
work of the gospel.
I also want to
let you know that we will host an evangelism event in Los Arrayanes on June 30,
the purpose of which is to strengthen those who already believe and to present
Christ to those who do not.
I do not grow
tired of thanking God for what He is doing in you as you continue to offer your
financial support as well as your spiritual support and prayers. I also thank God for the ministry He
planted in these places, directed by wise and faithful leaders. Thank you brothers!
Receive
greetings from my wife, María, and our daughter, Kenia de Jesus, who God be
praised will very soon complete her first year of high school.
Thank you
brothers and sisters for your generous financial support. May God bless you, and until we meet
again,
Yours, with
love,
Horacio y María
Thank you!
_________________________________________
Martin Garzón
Missionary to Cora Indians
From Arrayanes, Nayarit
Missionary to Cora Indians
From Arrayanes, Nayarit
La Mesa del Nayar, Nayarit
To begin, I thank God for the privilege he has granted me to be
working in the Mesa del Nayar, where we work with youth and children, many of
whom have no father or mother. We
share devotional message daily in the morning and the afternoon with themes from
Scripture they may relate to. We
also teach Bible studies to the youth and children, teaching them biblical
history; at the end they make a craft that corresponds to the lesson they have
just heard. For this reason, a
group of teachers was organized to give these regular lessons.
The youth who have received Christ are receiving discipleship
training in order to deepen their lives in Christ so that they are prepared for
every good work. We also host outreach events to attract more youth who do not
yet know Christ, similar to EL RETO.
We did a mini RETO earlier this year and also a fellowship event.
One of the things we are praying for is to begin cell groups
for the families of the youth who have come to know Christ, and that those
youth will themselves be able to share the Word of God in those groups, since
they know the Cora and Huichol languages better than us. We believe God has raised up these
youth for an important mission, and we are hopeful for good results. To that end, we are also working in
drama ministry, teaching the people a message from the Word through the medium
of drama.
And this is a summary of all that I am doing with God’s help.
May God bless you!
Martin
_________________________________________
Pastor Amado Verdin
Lead Pastor of Casa de Oración, La Hermosa
Director of Rehabilitation Center, El Faro de Esperanza
Rosamorada, Nayarit
My name is Amado Verdin Ramírez, and I am a
mechanic by trade as well as the pastor of a small church, called Casa de
Oración La Hermosa, in the town of Rosamorada. I work with my wife, Lourdes,
and my children, Yessica and Abraham.
Our ministry began with a cell group in a small
room at my auto repair shop.
Later, after being called to become pastors, we initiated our
congregation under a tree in our repair shop patio. Now, we are using a
borrowed space for our meetings and services.
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| Our initial cell group in the little room at my workshop. |
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| Our very first service, under the tree in our patio. |
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| One of our services in the borrowed space we currently occupy. |
God has placed in us the calling to extend His
Kingdom to all people, especially among addicts. For this reason, the mission of the church is to build a
restoration center so that we may see those suffering from addictions, restored
to life by the Word of God, and reintegrated into society to becoming a benefit
to the community.
So far we have a rented house, three bunk beds
with mattresses, a stove, a refrigerator, blankets, and all the study materials
that will be distributed to the residents.
 |
| The front of the rented house we will use for our restoration center. |
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| Side view of the rented house. |
 |
| Bunk beds |
 |
| Courtyard of the rented house. |
 |
Training for how to distribute study materials to residents.
|
We are in the process of getting the permits
required to legally operate the restoration center. And on July 14, we will
host an intensive First Aid training course for all of the restoration center’s
personnel.
 |
| We have already begun working with a family struggling with additions. |
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.
Pastor Amado and Family
_________________________________________
Pastor Frank Uribe
Children Feeding Program Director
Centro Cristiano Arrayanes Facilitator
Rosamorada, Nayarit
We are the Uribe-Zavala family, of Rosamorada, Nayarit, and we work
with underprivileged children. We teach them the Word of God one day a week,
and following the lesson, we give them a small snack. Our plan is to do this
multiple times a week, adding breakfast, but we have encountered several
obstacles: the scarcity of food and the lack of adequate meeting space. For
now, we gather in a borrowed courtyard shaded by trees.
Our vision is to acquire our own space with its own roof, enough chairs
and tables, and enough cooking equipment to accomplish the work we desire to do
with the children of our community. Our objective is to be firmly established
in the community for the wellbeing of these children.
For now, I bid you farewell with my best regards and blessings.
Your brother and friend in Christ,
Pastor Frank and Family
_________________________________________
Lead Pastor of Restauración y Vida Nueva
Church Plant Pastor in Mazatan, Nayarit
Las Varas, Nayarit
My
name is Ruben Dario Perez Sandoval.
I am married to Carla Valeria Perez Barillas, and we have three
children: Ruben, Hector, an Abigail.
Currently, we are the pastors of Restoration and New Life Church,
located in Las Varas, Nayarit, Mexico. We also lead another group of believers
in the town of Mazatan, Nayarit. My wife and I have been pastors for
approximately six years. Our
vision is focused on the restoration of families and of marriages on the brink of
divorce. We ourselves were once on the brink of divorce, and God restored us,
and what could have been my greatest failure, today is my greatest
victory. For He restored us, and
now we have the privilege of brining restoration to others. Not just marriages, but our vision is
to see children, youth, and adults who have suffered from all kinds of traumas
or emotional wounds find restoration.
We want to raise them up and disciple them so that they may be leaders,
sent out to fulfill their calling.
We
have some property that was donated to us, and there we would like to build a
center for restoration and discipleship for all those we desire to help. The intention is to build retreat
cabins suitable for couples, youth, children, and adults. It will be a place where we not only
minister to and help them, but also, after they are restored, raise them up and
equip them in their ministry, helping them to discover what that ministry is
and developing them to be leaders in it.
Psalm
147:3 is very meaningful for us and forms the foundation of our simple vision:
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up
their wounds.”
Blessings
to you, and we invite you to join us in praying for our ministry here in
Nayarit, Mexico.
Sincerely,
Pastor Ruben and Family
