Sembradores de Cristo November 2, 2009

Sembradores de Cristo November 2, 2009

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13)
As we were passing out bags that had the gospel of John and Romans inside them in Nochistlan Zacatecas a man asked me, “What is this all about? Who are you?” I told him who I was with and what we were doing. The Holy Spirit came upon this man and he told me that he had a lot of problems, that the Catholic church had never had solutions. I shared with him a little about the Lord and he grabbed me saying, “How can I be saved?” Hallelujah! We knelt right there, went through the Romans road, and prayed a prayer of salvation of faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. He told us that he felt something different inside. We said that that was the Holy Spirit. He then told me that he was about to do something drastic before he saw us-hinting at but not actually saying suicide. It’s awesome to know that this man is now included in the family of God. He heard the truth and he believed. Now he is marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. God foreknew this moment before the creation of this world. People like him are hungry for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most people I encountered in Nochistlan last week were not interested in the truth but in their traditions. One woman kindly told me that she didn’t need the John and Romans package because she already had a Bible. She mentioned that she knew we didn’t believe in the saints or in Mary. I mentioned that that was true because it is in the Bible. That’s when she explained that no matter if it was or wasn’t in the Bible it was the right thing for her to believe. The truth is in God’s Word my brothers. Our prayer is that the households of the 24,000 of Nochistlan will read God’s Word and the truth shall set them free.

We were on our last day of gospel saturation of Nochistlan when the Lord told me, “He’s mine” when two of my American companions called me back to a man who was talking to them in Spanish without a translator. This man desperately asked me to explain to him the truth. He knew that the Catholic church had made many lies-we discussed things such as the recent declaration of Mary’s actual ascension to heaven-declarations that the pope can give as official church doctrine with complete liberty and authority. The pope’s declarations do not have to be in line with God’s Word since his authority can supersede God’s Word as is needed. When I asked him if he wanted to receive Christ he said, “Oh yes.” Daniel was called out of darkness into His marvelous light that day. Darkness has surrounded places like Nochistlan for centuries now in lies of idolatry and paganism. Just like in our area of Jerez in the mountains the Roman Catholic Church is hard at work. When I would ask people if they were interested in a Bible study they would mention that they were already going to a Bible study-at the Catholic church. Going to a Bible study or simply reading the Bible is a very rare practice even among members of the Catholic church in the United States. I thank Pastor Rick Reeder, Tony Steele, Jim Collins (Alabama), and the Kentucky Baptist Association for their invitation to go on this trip. The team was composed of mainly pastors and a few laymen of Kentucky. Also among the team was myself, Luis, a couple from Zacatecas City, and a precious brother in Christ from Huanusco, Zacatecas.


San Juan de los Lagos
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard team leader Tony Steele mention the possibility of going to San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco on our last day. San Juan de los Lagos is one of the three most idolatrous cities of all Mexico. San Juan de los Lagos is like the Babylon of ancient times. My wife has an aunt who makes a yearly pilgrimage to this place to pay homage to the specific virgin of that place. This aunt is among thousands perhaps millions who make the trek most by vehicle/bus but some by horse or even on foot. Needless to say, I was excited about this opportunity. All who have known me over the years know how I love to take on a challenge especially when it comes to preaching the gospel in the enemy’s camp! In this place, the specific virgin was an idol that had been brought in to cure an already dead girl in the 17th century. As the story goes, the girl was cured, a miracle was proclaimed, and the virgin was canonized. Now, thousands maybe millions have placed their faith and trust in this object that can’t see, can’t hear, can’t speak, and definitely can’t do miracles. The same story repeats itself all over Mexico. I don’t know if you are aware that according to their beliefs each of these virgins is an apparition of the Virgin Mary again.

We met a nice tourist policeman who was bilingual who told us we could pass out tracts. We did this inviting the folks to a central area to hear the reading of God’s Word-right in front of the massive colonial cathedral. Owners of businesses begin to shake their heads at us, make rude comments to one another, but the average person on the street received the tract with a smile and a “I’ll be there in a minute.” We had already began reading God’s Word when two men came up explaining to us that in order for us to pass out tracts that we had to have official permission from the city. Well, we had already passed out all the tracts! Too late! The two men said nothing about reading or preaching God’s Word so that’s exactly what we did-even sang songs and joined hands in prayer with a few folks that got together with us-even a local believer and a believer from Mexico City. It was exciting to hear that there indeed was a Christian church in this city of 50,000 +.

Luis & Delfa Aleman
Luis & Delfa Aleman will no longer be working with our ministry. Please pray that the Lord will guide their steps in the future ministry He has for them. Please pray for the believers in the villages and their continued spiritual growth. Please pray that they will not neglect the reading of God’s Word and the joining together in God’s fellowship.

Family/personal news
I again invite you to my ministerial ordination that will be taking place on Sunday November 29, 2009. Please e-mail me ASAP if you plan to attend. I have just gotten word that my youth pastor in Stillwater, OK will be attending. I thank him and all who have contributed so much to my personal spiritual growth over years. God has been good and always faithful. You may remember that I completed a Master’s degree in Ministry from Andersonville Theological Seminary this past February 2009. I thank Esperanza Del Rio Community Church and Pastor Jim Wilson for all their support. Our church will be launching its Grand Opening that following Sunday December 6th. My wife will be taking her American citizenship test on the Monday after my ordination, November 30th. She has faithfully been preparing for this test for almost a year now.

Praise reports
My many prayers for an electric acoustic guitar have been answered. I played this guitar during this past Sunday morning’s worship. A special thanks to the donor and Buddy’s Music for this great blessing. We also recently had another monthly supporter make a commitment to our ministry.

Urgent need/monthly support
The need for us to get to Zacatecas on a full-time basis is greater than ever. We seriously need folks to commit to supporting us on a monthly basis. We are 100% committed to planting churches in these far-off, idolatrous, lost and forgotten areas of Zacatecas. With Luis no longer working with us we need your support more than ever to finance our trips to Zacatecas to get to the villages. We believe that the Lord is opening the doors for us to get there on a full-time basis soon.
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Special need-Christmas Zac 09
Since we do not have a team for a Christmas trip we will need to raise the support for our trip out there. Our plan is to hold revival meetings in Parral de las Huertas and possibly even Palmas Altas. We also are looking at doing evangelism in a nearby town. In Parral de las Huertas we plan on holding a chicken feed for the people. We need some volunteers to go help us with this work. Since there has no been no mission team we would like to open up the trip to any interested individuals. If there are any interested please contact me ASAP. The tentative dates are 12/26 or 27-1/02. Please pray about sowing into this trip which will cost us approx. $1500.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support, Sembradores de Cristo family

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