What a wonderful thing it is to serve the Lord! If we can stay out of His way, He is so capable of saving souls and building a New Testament church.
I arrived in Chalcatongo, Oaxaca, on Friday, June 11. I did not know what to expect, as I had not worked in such a remote place before. The town has a population of about 2,000 people. It has had 1,500 years of history without a good New Testament church. The closest church is about 45 minutes away. The people were very receptive to the Gospel and to coming to church. In two short weeks, the Lord provided a wonderful place to meet, pews, a pulpit, amplification, a sign, and many other things. He gave us 5 families from Chalcatongo for the first services on Sunday, June 27. In the next 5 weeks, He gave us 5 other families that came to the new church. The Lord also gave us a special evangelistic service at the church on Friday, July 16, and He gave us 110 in attendance and many saved!
One interesting situation was a Sunday night when a lady came to church with a 10-year-old son and 2 young teenage girls. They were totally uninvited. It seemed they were clearly led by the Holy Spirit alone. The Lord led me to preach from John 3:16 on the brevity and eternal nature of life. That week, a 26-year-old young lady connected with my sending church had gone to Heaven. I recounted the story of how she had gotten saved and now was already in eternity. Both teenage girls made decisions to get saved and to fully surrender their lives to the Lord and to live for eternity.
The Lord gave us a wonderful charter service and missions trip from a church in the USA in Queretaro on the weekend of July 25. It was wonderful to see the building full and many new families attending faithfully since I left last December. Pastor Josue Aguilar has been working very hard there, and the Lord has been blessing.
The Lord has given me more and more opportunities to preach the Word of God. I am excited about two upcoming conferences. I would appreciate your prayers, as much fasting, prayers, and sacrifice are going into these conferences, and they need the Lord. We need the Lord to be in the preaching. I am also excited about taking a whole team of workers with me next year in the new church plants, and we really need your prayers for that.
Prayer Requests
1. The power of God on the preaching, teaching, soul winning, and discipleships
2. The Lord to put the team of workers together for next year
3. Wisdom in the purchase of the van
4. Clear direction for September to December this year
Yours for souls,
Chris Sage
Missionary to Mexico
