Thank you for your faithful prayers and support that have helped God’s will be fulfilled through our lives. As God has led us, we have had to learn to adapt to different circumstances, which at times have made life more interesting and exciting!
Our first week in Santa Cruz, I was looking up at the beautiful night sky through an open kitchen window. The magnificent moon illuminated the fluffy white clouds as I rested and pondered over the city’s tropical beauty. Then a monstrous cockroach wildly scurried inside through the window right in front of my face! I excitedly jumped back! My Size 12 shoe became my weapon of choice to defend myself. To avoid staining the wall, I resorted to trying to scare him away by blowing on him, but he defiantly glared at me. Finally, I flicked him with the shoe, and he escaped back through the window. Since then, we have dealt with aggressive termites swarming our piano, incessant mosquito attacks, trying to sleep through sweaty, sweltering heat, and, on one occasion, accidentally chewing on a cockroach that had made its way into the honey. Please pray for our family as we learn to adapt to the tropical side of Bolivia!
A special “THANK YOU!” to those of you who helped us pray about finding a house to rent. We found a house centrically located so that we can function without having a vehicle because of the nearby public transportation. Since we recently moved in, we are still unpacking and getting settled. Once we get our house in order, I will begin searching for the location of our next church. Please pray that God would make it clear concerning where to start this new ministry. We are getting so much closer to starting our next church that I can already see it—and almost smell it!
I have already gone soul winning in different parts of the city. Recently while out knocking doors, I had the great opportunity to witness to a family! I was invited into their house, and they set out chairs to listen to what I had to say. As I witnessed to them, they carefully listened, and all five adults trusted Christ as their Saviour! Please pray for Ana María, Florinda, Julio, Esterlina, and Lander to get into church, get baptized, and grow to fulfill God’s will for their lives!
The weekend of Easter, our family flew back to La Paz, Bolivia, to visit our last church, Iglesia Bautista el Faro! After the government shut down all churches for more than six months because of the pandemic and after suffering with COVID-19, Pastor Alberto, baptizing in the picture below, still has the same vision to train his people to win souls, grow their own converts, and plant new churches. The Saturday during our visit, 17 people went soul winning, and we saw 48 people saved. Please fervently pray for Pastor Alberto and Iglesia Bautista el Faro as the church continues to rebound from the pandemic and steadily grow.
Please also pray that God would move some folks to invest in helping us buy property for their church, Iglesia Bautista el Faro. So far, I have saved up $15,000, and the church has raised $15,000 in their congregation. We still need $39,000 more to buy the property that we are interested in for the church. This church has been winning souls, baptizing converts, and transforming lives for 16 years. Pastor Alberto and his family are converts of this same ministry. This is a worthy investment with a solid track record of training people for the ministry. Please ardently pray that God would provide the folks and the funds to work together with us to help solidify this church so they can continue to see many more years of fruitfulness and service for our Lord Jesus Christ for generations to come.
In times like these, I have a Saviour,
Xavier Lopez
Pastor Alberto of Iglesia Bautista el Faro is baptizing a convert.