I was knocking doors when I met a man about 40 years old. With a pale face, he told me how he was an alcoholic and had lost everything. He got saved and started coming to church. In the picture to the right, you can see him barbecuing for us at one of our church activities. Some of our people kiddingly call him “Bro. Chef.” On one occasion, he missed a Sunday, and the following week when he came to church, the people were concerned about him and asked him where he had been. With a quivering lip and tears in his eyes, he turned to me and said, “I felt like I was part of a family! I never thought I would feel that way again.” Please pray that “Bro. Chef” would find victory and that his life would become another glowing example of the life-transforming power of God.
We were given money to buy a vehicle, so we went to a dealership and put money down to reserve a van. Seven months later, the vehicle was still not available, so they returned our money. We continued praying and searching. Four months later, I felt strongly led to search in La Paz, so the next day, we traveled 18 hours by bus and found it! Someone had ordered the exact van we wanted, but when it arrived, the person could not pay, so it was put up for sale the same day. With a slow, disbelieving shake of his head, one of the workers said, “There are several buyers looking for this vehicle, and you ‘just happened’ to walk in and buy it before we could call them!” The truth is that it was our heavenly Father answering your prayers for our family to bring about His will in our lives. A sincere “thank you” for your faithful prayers!
Since getting the van, the attendance in every service has gone up because I bring people to church. We are working on knocking on every door in our city. With the van, we cover more ground faster, which gives us more time for knocking doors daily. Since getting the van, we have started our teen activities. Our bus route has grown because we can do visitation and follow-up faster, which frees us to win more souls. It has also enabled us to hold Bible studies in any part of the city.
Thank you to those who gave in order to help us buy this vehicle for the work of God. Your generosity has given us a huge head start in our ministry and the ability to function so much more effectively as we strive to win souls, baptize, train our converts, and plant more churches for the glory of God.
In the picture to the right, I had just baptized Manuel. One of the things that makes him special to me is that he is my first convert in Santa Cruz who is a soul winner! He has already won several people to the Lord and now has his own convert in church. Please pray for God’s protection and blessing on him and that he would surrender his life to God!
Thank you for your faithful prayers for our family and ministry. Please pray for our family’s health and protection, for our spiritual well-being, for church growth, for more visitors, for more souls saved and baptized, for more disciples to train for the ministry, for revival, for God’s power to change lives, and for God’s wisdom to help us figure out how to accomplish planting 1,000 churches through our ministries for the glory of God.
Xavier Lopez