Sembradores de Cristo January 3, 2010

Sembradores de Cristo January 3, 2010
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12
We had a most amazing trip this last week in Zacatecas to share with you about. We had been in Oklahoma visiting with family during Christmastime and a record December blizzard hit leaving 14 inches of snow in our area. It was no doubt a white Christmas, which had been a desire of my heart. God grants his children the desires of their hearts, amen! Needless to say we got stuck there an extra day before the interstates were open giving us only a few hours in Del Rio to get things ready for the trip. God provided us with a team who took the kingdom by force. The Kirby family also came from Oklahoma traveling 30 hours one way to Zac with all the paperwork/travel delays. Our whole team demonstrated courage, unwavering faith, determination, and endurance all week long. Besides the Kirby family was Jesse & Beth Chaffin, another young man named Sterling Ellsworth, and Cheque Hernandez and mother Linda Hernandez from Saltillo. So many wonderful things happened this week that I will list them day by day.
Monday-We went to Parral de las Huertas to agree with the locals on the right day for the chicken feed/fiesta. I had asked God that He would give me a sign that it was His will for us to do the chicken feed in Parral. He told me that Gabriel would walk up to us as we were praying under the “Huizachito” tree. That’s exactly what happened, praise to His name! The local disciples who had received Christ this summer were excited to see us again and excited about the chicken feast/fiesta on Wednesday. We assigned them tasks so that they would be incorporated into the Sembradores team. That morning we also ran into a brother (Avelardo) in Palmas Altas that was from there but has lived in Ft. Worth for sometime now. He was excited to hear about our work in the area so he felt that the Lord was calling him to stay back to help us with the chicken feed and do a New Year’s Eve service in Palmas. The rest of the day was spent on logistical things such as bagging beans and rice.
Tuesday-Ever since we left in August God had impressed me to start working in more populated areas closer to Jerez-one in particular named Porvenir. Before even going to Porvenir God begin to pour out His Spirit on folks getting us pumped up for the day. In a local Oxxo (convenient store) God gave me some treasure. The moment I saw the cashier the Holy Spirit told me that that was her day for reconciliation. I told her the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman and that she was my treasure for the day. She said, “What about him?” (referring to her fellow clerk). I said, “Oh yes, him too.” They both closed their eyes and prayed to receive Christ right there in the store before other customers. We prayed all the way to Porvenir declaring the Lord would prepare the way sending His heavenly soldiers before us. Hallelujah! The Lord had everything prepared for us. The sheriff was not there, I believe for a reason, but his daughter was who said that we could come into the town with all freedom. She also told us of a baseball game. The young Kirby boys and Sterling got excited about that. We got out to spread word about a soccer game which went great. Meanwhile, a group of us went to prayer walk the streets. My team went right by the central store full of men drinking and visiting. I’ve never been so received in my four years of working in Zacatecas then by those men. They had humble receptive hearts telling me how glad we were in the village and to feel at home. They even bought us a juice-explaining to us that we couldn’t drink with them-haha! The baseball game began so a group of us went to play basketball with the younger ones. After the game the Lord impressed on me to share the story of David & Goliath since there was a small boy named Miguel that played harder and more aggressive than any others. These boys really listened to the story intently, two of them already knowing it. When one of them made a comment about God’s name being Jehova I knew he was a Jehovah witness. It turns out that 6 of them prayed to receive Christ. Just as exciting as that was for us was afterward when the same Jehovah’s witness boy wanted to show his friends a scripture related to the idols. I showed them Exodus 20 and here we were-myself and 7-11 year olds having a doctrinal discussion-how great is that! Then the same boy and I discussed whether or not Jesus was God. I saw his initial resistance to this fact but the Lord beginning to work on his young, innocent heart as we looked at revelant scriptures. Needless to say we left Porvenir rejoicing as what God has done and will continue doing in that place. We then took the hungry team of warriors up a mountain road so they could enjoy God’s beauty while eating lunch. Even though we were completely exhausted we made it a point to go by Monte de los Garcia and Guadalupe Victoria villages ultimately doing a service at the court in Guadalupe in the night and cold. The same faithful disciples from the summer were there as always. Two of our most faithful happened to be out of town.
Wednesday-Now the big day had arrived! We arrived earlier at Parral and began getting everything together for the big feed. We were excited to see our local disciples get involved with the cooking and setting up for the event. A tough guy who believes in the saint of death-actually believes this demon saved him from death from a cocaine overdose-began to soften up a little more to us this day then he had on Monday. I told him, “Jesus loves you.” “I don’t believe that,” he said. I handed him the rice and beans and said it again telling him that even though he doesn’t believe it that Christ does indeed love Him. The man right now is blinded by the enemy. I’m just glad we could show him and others the love of Christ by means of some chicken, beans, rice, and a soda. It was my honor and privilege to serve by cooking the chicken-and endeavor which had required hours of prep work the night before by the whole team. We were also able to send 40 chicken plates over to a local Christian children’s home in the area. Brother Cheque was such a blessing playing the guitar and motivating the people to worship. We even had Jose Angel (our Palmas host’s son) open the service for us. The Lord tremendously used Brother Avelardo’s testimony as a former tough/prideful Mexican from the area now humbled and transformed by the love of Christ. It turns out he was even related to one of the disciples and a child friend of another. I mention once again how exciting it was to see the disciples get involved-taking responsibility to serve the Lord.
Thursday-I took our soldiers to Zacatecas city where they were blessed and amazed by the architecture of the city. I will be putting together a photo album by Kodak gallery and be sending it shortly. Back in Palmas Altas we did a service to receive the New Year at the basketball court. We had prayed that the Lord would speak to the unbelieving husbands of the local believing women to allow them to go despite the service being late. Hallelujah! Not only did that happen but they invited some of their family members from out of town to come. Once again the Lord used Avelardo to share his testimony and lives were changed. I can’t not mention the great food we had that night as well! Also, the water came back on the village which had been off all week long!
Friday-We went to the children’s home as planned even taking two disciples from Parral with us. We had a great day there with the Benedict family and their 32 children. The Lord used Brother Rich Kirby to share how he had adopted two kids from Africa and to teach juggling. We had a great time teaching songs to the kids and doing a Bible story and arts and crafts. We are more than excited about this new friendship we have with the Benedict family! The day wasn’t over yet. We went back to Porvenir to look for the sheriff once again to get his permission to evangelize with our team in March. Oh yes! He happened to have the same humble, receptive spirit that the other men at the store had had. His eyes got really big when I told him about Professor Lynn Brandenberger’s visit in March with a new type of corn. As we drove back up the mountains to Palmas we passed through Guadalupe Victoria and saw our two faithful disciples-Mario and Sergio that had been out of town that Tuesday walking by-what a tremendous blessing!

Diana, Jesse, and I don’t doubt my friends that the catechist and other Catholic leaders will be irate once they hear of what happened in Porvenir these days. Let’s all pray that the Lord will protect the men’s humble, receptive hearts from any attacks the enemy may send their way. Let’s pray for a hedge of spiritual protection all around Porvenir.

Urgent need/monthly support
If you are a family or you are simply an individual that reads this newsletter we really need you to consider supporting us with $50/month. God has called us to Zacatecas to take the kingdom by force. I hope our 4 years of perseverance in the area has showed you our dedication. Please respond to this e-mail with your commitment. If we have the support by the end of this next summer we will go. I also ask you to send me names/e-mails or info of any pastors of churches/individuals that might also be interested.
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Summer teams 2010
At this time we have had one team express interest in a mission trip for this summer but do not have any commitments. We need you to come and help us with evangelism, VBS’s, sports camps, etc. We have experience working with men, youth, college age, and families. We need a team to commit to doing a baseball camp in Porvenir. We may also have a pretty big construction project opportunity as well.

Special thanks
Jesse & Beth Chaffin, Sterling Ellsworth, Cheque & Linda Hernandez, and the Kirbys
Steven Ellsworth-Donating chicken feed materials
Floyd May, Dean Fesperman & New Covenant Fellowship church-Special offering towards the trip expenses

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

Tax exempt giving

% Sembradores de Cristo
Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
603 E. 17th St. Del Rio, TX 78840

www.sembradoresdecristo.com