I have been waiting and hoping to write a prayer letter telling that our family is already back in Bolivia preparing to start our next church, but the country continues to extend its closure because of the Coronavirus. In the meantime, we are diligently trying to get people saved, baptized, and into church until it’s our time to return to the mission field. Please pray that God would use me personally to see many people saved, baptized, and planted in the churches where we minister and that God would use my preaching to be a great blessing. Please also pray for great health and protection on our family as we strive to serve the Lord while still in the States.
At one of the churches where I preached, a man told me he was burdened for his neighbor who spoke Spanish. He invited me to his house to witness to him. When I arrived, he led me to his backyard, where his neighbor was barbecuing, and we called him over. During the conversation, I witnessed to him, and he trusted Christ as his Saviour. Please pray that Salvador Ceja would get plugged into the church and become a zealous Christian for the glory of God!
Our travels eventually brought us to California, where we visited my mom. She usually takes a walk through her neighborhood in the evenings, so during our stay, we strolled along with her. At a nearby park, Rebecca and my mom did some tag-team witnessing, and together they saw 3 teenagers saved! I am so proud of them. Please pray that these teenagers would find and follow God’s will for their lives.
Please pray for our church in Bolivia, Iglesia Bautista el Faro, and their pastor, Alberto Flores. They have not been able to meet together as a church since February of 2020. The rumor is that none of the churches in Bolivia will be able to congregate until the end of the year. They have had to learn to adapt to soul winning, preaching, and ministering to their members through the Internet, which has been very difficult, but not impossible.
Please pray for Bolivia during these extremely dangerous and trying times, as many people have suffered and died because of the Coronavirus. One of the faithful members of our church named Olga Paz (pictured below) had an asthma attack. She was rushed to the emergency room, only to find that the hospital was so overwhelmed with sick people because of the Coronavirus that they could not help her, so she died. Please pray for her husband Rene and her two sons, Daniel and Rene, as they mourn the Homegoing of their loved one. She was our first church member, our first Bolivian soul winner, and our first Bolivian Sunday school teacher. In the beginning of our ministry, she was responsible for bringing several visitors to church. She was used of God to invite her neighbor, Hermana Victoria, to a big day, whose husband is now the pastor—Pastor Alberto! Hermana Olga will be greatly missed, but thank God, we shall meet on that beautiful shore!
Through the years I have told the churches in Bolivia, “If you are going to do something great for God, it is already time to get it done because our lives are passing too fast, and Jesus is coming soon!” Let me encourage you to give your all for God during these uncertain and difficult times because in the near future, we will be in His presence to give account of what we’ve done for Him.
I’ll wish I had given him more,
Xavier Lopez
