What a great month December was! A pastor and I gathered the church men for a men’s meeting in the backyard of a man’s home. I preached to them on the subject of manhood. They were very responsive to the preaching. When I finished preaching, I gave an invitation. Almost everyone raised their hand, making a decision to change something in their lives. Amen! I also checked on their salvation. I thank God that they all had already been saved. Amen! Afterwards, we had a meal together and a good time of fellowship.
The following Sunday, I preached the Christmas cantata service at the church. We had 12 first-time visitors. I gave a clear presentation of the Gospel. When I gave the invitation, only 4 visitors raised their hands for salvation. The Holy Spirit led me to lengthen the invitation, which I did. Two more hands went up and then 3 more. Finally, the other 3 hands went up. Needless to say, all 12 visitors got saved. Amen!
On December 31, as we got closer to midnight, a memory came to my mind. On that very day 20 years before, as Y2K approached, I told my wife and kids, “Let’s go to church. If anything happens, Pastor will know what to do.”
Thank you for your support, prayers, birthday cards, emails, and love this past year.
JANUARY 2020!
This is a new year and another year to serve the Lord with your prayers and support. I am praying about and looking for a place to start another church. In Cuba, we are not allowed to use or rent any public or commercial building to have church services, which limits us to homes only. We had a home, which a family I had led to the Lord made available to me, ready to start services, but the owner suddenly let me know that the entire family was going to be living in the United States.
By the way, lately I have heard that a lot of people have moved to live in the United States. Even a Cuban pastor I know in another city left, along with his family, to live in the States. He abandoned his congregation, looking for a better way of life. It is sad to hear of congregations being abandoned in a very needy country. This is the reason I want to train national pastors, yet they also seem to want to leave for the U.S.
I wish I had more freedom here in Cuba to do even more! We must keep fighting the battle! So, we are continuing to pray, knock on doors, get souls saved, and pass out John and Romans.
Please keep praying for:
1. Power for soul winning and preaching.
2. Our family’s spiritual life and health.
3. Our finances.
In His service,
Ricardo Leyva
