Sembradores

Summer 2011 Zac Summary

2011-09-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Back from Zac Newsletter /Summer Summary

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

The Elliott family and Johanna Magaña are safely back on the border. We were able to come back a few days before work/school starts and get some much needed rest. We thank all of you who were praying for us all summer as your prayers were needed and felt. We also thank each and every one of you who contributed financially towards our summer ministry costs. We wouldn’t have been able to do the Lord’s work in Zacatecas this summer without your participation. Our goal is to raise all the needed support to stay full-time at the end of next summer. We only have an approx. $600 of a minimum $3000/mth that we will need. We encourage folks that have seen/ known our faithfulness to our calling and ministry to support us with $50/mth and churches to come on board with $200/mth. Those who support us on a monthly basis and those who have made contributions towards our trips have sown in good soil. These past five years of spiritual and physical warfare have produced fruit in the hardest area of all Mexico and possibly even of Latin America. This summer we have battled with the usual: dangerous mountain road curves, washed out dirt roads, rain interrupting outside services, the issues of having to stay in someone else’s home, very few laborers for the harvest, wavering decisions to follow Christ, and the fatigue of so much travel and having to set up and tear down for every service. We only dealt with the catechist once this summer. This last week he came into Parral trying to provoke a religious debate with us. Again, he wishes to be worshipped as a living saint and has not stopped trying to drive us out even though his authority (a local priest) has prohibited him from publicizing his propaganda. However, Miguel (continue praying for him) is nothing compared to what we came up against this summer 2011. As most of you know already, my assistant and I both were attacked in deep southern Zacatecas by drug lords early in the summer and then our team from Woodward and Acuña was attacked in our immediate area. We again thank the Woodward team for their great passion to serve the Lord amidst these incredible circumstances. We thank and praise the Lord Jesus Christ for providing safety for every member of our Sembradores team. Please do not stop praying for our people in Guadalupe Victoria, Palmas Altas, Parral, Monte de los Garcia, and Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas. They are still there my friends. Pray for their safety-in their villages, and every time they have to travel.

Ministry areas

Those who were baptized in March and July have shown great spiritual growth. Their whole outlook has changed. They have chosen to follow Christ 100% no matter what the cost may be. Last summer when I attempted to leave a service order for the villages to follow there was not a positive response. This summer was totally different. In every weekly ministry site but Guadalupe Victoria there are people that are 100% dedicated to persevere in doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and in prayer on a weekly basis. Our final visits consisted of a final word of encouragement and the delegation of responsibilities for the service order: opening service, worship time, word time, closing prayer time. A great praise report is that in Monte Escobedo Erica Bonilla felt the calling of the Lord to work with children. During the week before service the children from the colonia had come to her asking her to give them a weekly Bible class besides the one we were already having. The Lord did it my brethren! Erica has, therefore, made the decision to be the children’s teacher of the church for now. Another great personal testimony/blessing for me was that the last two weeks a little girl I had led to Christ with the evangecube with the Spring Break trip in a far off colonia had started come. Those of you who have come personally to sow seed and those of you who have sown financially have sown in good soil! One of my summer goals was to see my daughter accompany me singing-there was my little 6 yr old Shalom helping me lead worship almost every service. Erica from Monte Escobedo and Luis and Beto from Monte de los Garcia both want to learn the guitar so that they can play for the Lord. Luis used to play accordion and saxophone for the world for years! Erica had already starting taking secular lessons before this summer but we had the opportunity to work with her a little bit this summer. We have a lot of work to do this next year and will need music teachers! Soon we will have our first homegrown musical groups for Monte Escobedo and Monte de los Garcia. Luis, his wife, and younger daughter have proclaimed that they will be ready for baptism this next year as well as Gabriel of Parral. At this time we still did not find any solid properties for sale to purchase and build churches, however, we will probably paint Luis’s store and convert it into a mini temporal church for Monte de los Garcia. Luis has been faithful in allowing us to use this store for services rent free all this time. Next summer we are going to try to find a building in Monte Escobedo for rent for the church. The church there is beginning to grow and the area we have been using will possibly be unavailable for use next year. During our last visits to Parral and Monte Escobedo it rained so hard we could barely even hear each other in the homes for the remainder of the service. Thanks to all of you who prayed so hard for the rain as it had been one of the driest years on record.

Teul, Zacatecas

Three years ago at the end of our summer work 2008 we made a trip to the beach as a family and on the way we drove through one of the most beautiful mountain towns I had ever seen in my life. God told me, "You’re going to come back here one day." Last year that happened when I went with our friends from Alabama and Kentucky. This summer I made three attempts to get back to Teul, Zacatecas in deep southern Zacatecas this summer before it finally happened. Satan did everything he could to stop me from going there. The first time my assistant and I were attacked by drug lords in a nearby city. Know and understand that that attack was made in a city that is now completely controlled by the drug lords. Also know that to get to “that city” (I can’t mention the name of) one must take a highway away from Teul. One does not go through “that city” to get to Teul. The only reason my assistant and I had even gone to “that city” was because it had a hotel and we were not sure if Teul had one or not. I want that to be clear because I believe the Lord has great plans for Teul! Amen! This beautiful city in the southern Zacatecas mountains is one of the birthplaces of tequila. Obviously there is a lot of work to do there my friends! There is no Christian church in that town of 6000 nor is there is one in at least 6 other of the city/counties. These people need to hear the hope of Christ my friends! Who will go? Who will go and share with them the hope and love of Christ? I will my friends, I will go. Does it make any sense at all? Probably not. A lot of things about the cost of the Christian walk don’t make sense! Teul is a 3 hour drive from Palmas Altas. No, I have no idea how we could go on a weekly basis to this far off place (time, gas money). Nothing is impossible for Christ! I had no idea how we were going to be able to continue going to Monte Escobedo but God worked it out-we didn’t miss one week this summer. God provided us with the strength to do the 1 hour ½ haul and the gas money. Bueno, the next attempt I was going to be silly and try to go back to Teul by myself and my blessed wife reminded me of the foolishness of that. Instead she encouraged me that we would prepare better as a team and all go next week. That next week we were scheduled to go with Brother Lynn and I got sick (really sick). Finally, this last Monday it happened. I went with my friend, Rick Reeder, from the Kentucky Baptist association and ran into folks we had led to Christ and even got to meet the mayor of the city who like the mayor of Monte Escobedo gave me authorization to use the municipal auditorium for a Christian event in the future. I found a special friend I had made in the market who we had led to Christ and given a Bible. She had been waiting for us this whole year! She had been waiting for someone to teach her the words of the Bible for a whole year! Can you believe that? She quickly invited some neighborhood kids and we had a little service right there. One of my highlights of the whole summer!

Please consider supporting us on a monthly basis so we can disciple our people. Our agenda is completely open to visit your church on a weekend. Please contact me to set up an appointment.

May God bless and keep you.

Tax exempt giving

%Sembradores de Cristo

Esperanza Del Rio Community Church

603 E. 17th St.

Del Rio, TX 78840

www.sembradoresdecristo.com

(830) 719-9731

New Covenant Woodward Summer 2011

2011-09-18T14:32:00.001-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo New Covenant Woodward Summer trip 2011

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my souls trust in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High to God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.”

(Psalm 57:1-3)

Jesus said in Matthew 26:52 that those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Let me tell you that this happened this week to those who would do harm to the servants of God. The Elliott family and New Covenant Woodward team lived Psalms 57 this past week in Zacatecas. To begin, let me give praise to the Lord that all are safe. The Woodward team is back home rejoicing in their Savior who did great things this week. Many were saved and brought into His kingdom, four were baptized, and many lives were changed including the Zacatecans, the Oklahomans, our musicians from Acuna, and the Elliott family. Jesus requires those who follow Him to be willing to give their own lives for the gospel if necessary. Taking up their cross and following Him for the first disciples required everything-their families, their jobs (livelihood), and even their very lives. Until recently the state of Zacatecas and particularly our area in Zacatecas had been a “safe” place. As Christians we know that we are only “safe” if we abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Physical/Spiritual Warfare

I will not be mentioning the names of the locations where these events happened for security issues. However, it is important for you to know what happened. I and all the Woodward team thank those who pray for us on a constant basis from the bottom of our hearts. After you read this many of you will probably never want to come to Zacatecas and may not understand why the Lord allowed what happened to happen. Everything happens for a reason and let me tell you that if you ask any of the team members who experienced this last week they will tell you that they wouldn’t change the experience for anything. None of us will ever be the same after what happened.

It was still daytime and 7 of our team members had went to drop off Franscisca and Delia at their home after the baptisms. On their way back a certain suspicious vehicle tried to pull them over. The team driver put the pedal to the medal as to escape. The certain vehicle chased after them and bullets were fired. The chase lasted for approx 4 km all the way to the corner of our base village. They bandits were then able to cut off our team and yanked our driver out. They hurled insults in Spanish at our team proclaiming that they owned the territory and that anyone had to stop if they demanded it. They also proclaimed that they had the power to kill them if they wanted to. They took three cameras from our team and a little money. God is amazing because I had remembered to tell the team before the baptism day to neither take their money nor their passports to the baptisms as there was no reason for it. After more insults they let the team go. We spend most of the night comforting those involved and seeking the Lord. Upon inspection, we saw clearly that the bullet scratches were signs of intent by the bandits to hit the gas tank. Let me tell you that this is not the end of the story. Understand that at this point all are safe. Saved and unsaved alike in our base village surrounded us with love and gave thanks to God for our safety. Among these bandits was a woman. As we prayed with tears those involved showed no hate for these individuals but rather interceded for them knowing they are not the true enemy. They prayed for this woman who must have went through so much to have arrived at this point.

Our team evangelist made a statement last night during our final share time that is so true. He mentioned that he’s always amazed at how quickly God responds to our prayers during short term mission trips. The next day we headed to our base 2. Two of our team members were feeling ill and two were too exhausted to accompany us to the service. About an hour after service started helicopters started flying back and forth over the town and area. War was in the air. Even the firing of grenade launchers was heard. Our beloved sister in Christ from base 2 called us to tell us that the road back to base 2 was blocked-that they couldn’t come to us nor could we go to them. Terrified folks in the air came to service seeking God and protection. We were able to contact our four individuals and let them know we were okay and vice versa. The Lord provided a place to stay within an hour and again we sought the Lord. We were not able to get reunited with our team members until 1 pm the next day. Let me tell you that the Lord responded to what had happened to us the previous day! We had specifically prayed that the Lord would send His angels to the battlefield. Now did He do that! He sent them and also sent the Mexican Marines to totally wipe out these folks stronghold! The Marines didn’t stop until they had cornered these guys in their safe house-every single one of them was taken out! God said to them, “You don’t mess with my children!” Vengeance is the Lord’s my friends, not ours. Through all of this God was our refuge. He sent from heaven and saved us my friends! You must understand that because this happened our people are much safer now. We also, the Elliott family, are safer now because these events took place. God gave these bandits an opportunity to repent and they didn’t so He swallowed them up.

Outreach Monte Escobedo

The first day of our event started a little late because of all the aforementioned events. Our team was not sad nor were they without energy. We were fired up to preach the gospel! The turn out the first night was low as folks were just beginning to come out of their homes after what happened and the word spread of the event. To God’s glory, the local authorities allowed us to use their massive gymnasium for the event totally free! A few folks were saved the first night and then the second day we went out and evangelized before the event. Many of us met resistance at first but didn’t give up. We kept pressing forward. For the first time ever the whole Elliott family was able to go out-Shalom, Nehemias, and even Hadassah. God gave all teams divine appointments even with people who weren’t from Monte Escobedo. At least 50 people came to Christ that day through the evangelism and outreach. Many great contacts were made with folks interested in a Bible study and even attending our weekly church services. God continues to work through relationships with the people we already know. The people couldn’t believe we had been there the two days before when the physical/spiritual war had transpired. Neither could they believe that nor could they believe that we were willing to go out into the streets and preach the gospel. The second day the attendance at the event doubled as expected. Our team musicians from Acuna were absolutely awesome! They sang songs adequate for folks who have never sang one praise and worship song. They are used to doing revivals in Acuna where hundreds of churches and thousands will gather to praise the Lord. They had never been to Zacatecas the black heart of Mexico. They did great and our team joined in learning the songs with the people. Great joy was in the air! Then the Lord responded before the message with the rain the people had so asked us to pray for! God sent this rain so that the people would believe in the message we preached! God saved Monte Escobedo and our base 2 town from the war because of our one sister, Guadalupe Villarreal, who lives in that whole town. He did not save them because of their repentive hearts. He saved them because of that one righteous daughter of his who had been praying. The Holy Spirit really moved through our brother’s message the second night and folks came forward. Meanwhile our other evangelist led four of the policemen to Christ outside the auditorium. Cristo vive! The next day, the last day of the outreach, he led four more to Christ! Hallelujah! Our third day was our planned carnival. The second day the Lord had miraculously provided chairs-rent free-through a man who we had invited. He turned out to be a man with much political power and even received Christ! The carnival was a great success! The Woodward team had poured their hearts into preparing for this event. We were able even to provide a meal at the end and bags of beans for the attendees. Brother Jose Bonilla, his family, and some other servants of God from Monte Escobedo also helped us with the event. Brother Jose’s family heart is with us 100% my friends. You must know that they love us dearly and have been a crucial part of our ministry. Again the numbers doubled! There was the duck pond, point pong toss, ring toss, tug of war, bean bag toss, ball throw, sack races, face painting, and balloon animals. Everyone pulled their weight, even our local helpers making the event possible. I personally had the blessing of going around and encouraging everyone team and kids alike. I had a special moment when a special needs girl came in telling me she had no friends to go to the carnival stations with. I exclaimed to her, “You have friends now!” She had a blast and even got up front during the songs and helped do the hand signals with sister Johanna. I had to make a cut off time since we were having to travel back to Base 1 and needed to beat the dark but kept putting it back since new people would arrive. I finally stopped the carnival and gave them a word related to the carnival and everything their town had went through-I preached on David and Goliath. It’s not by might, it’s not by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord! Folks were also saved the last night, amen.

Water baptisms

The day the team arrived I prepared them for how many folks were to be baptized. Luis Ramirez had already declared to me that he wouldn’t be nor would his spouse or 14 yr old daughter. He chose to care more about what the rest of the village thought about him then obeying the Lord. He wouldn’t let his 14 yr old daughter be baptized because of her upcoming quinceañera. His oldest daughter and son’s hearts were set upon it. We had a great service inside Luis’s store. Many folks that never come came because of the team, to see if we would give them something. We did, we gave them the Word of God! In all we had four baptisms. Fransisca, from Parral, was 100% determined this time to make the decision. The only one wavering was Martin, Luis’s son-in-law. The Holy Spirit grabbed a hold of him because right after Fransisca was baptized he was the first one to raise his hand! It was a special moment as we then allowed him to assist in the baptism of his wife. May the Lord continue to work in Fransisca, Martin, Mayra, and Beto’s lives! Our team evangelist assisted me with the baptisms and he and his wife said that the moment we had started preaching that a beautiful dove came down and landed near the pool. These two were the only two who witnessed this. May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be glorified! The location we did this at was at a famous hot springs pool and so the other visitors witnessed the baptisms and heard the Word of the Lord! Unfortunately we were so busy this week and so exhausted that I was unable to get the pictures from our team photographer so you will have to wait till August when I return for the summer.

What else can I say? “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Please help us get to our sheep that we so love and are willing to give our lives for by supporting us monthly.

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

Re: Spring Break 2011

2011-03-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo Newsletter Spring Break 2011

¡Gloria a Dios! The Elliott family and Sembradores de Cristo Spring Break team 2011 are all safely back in the good old USA. We experienced great joy this past week as we served the Lord passionately as one unified body/team in Christ. We witnessed great victories, great movements by the Holy Spirit, great divine appointments, and definitely great trials and tribulations. James 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” 2 Timothy 2:3, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” God brought us some true “soldiers of Christ” this week. Before we even left last Saturday the enemy had tried to do everything he could to keep Sister Sarah Broecker from coming on this trip. Her connecting flight from NY to Houston kept getting delayed and was ultimately cancelled. She didn’t give up. She got on a standby list to Austin behind three other candidates. Praise God! They listened to her plight and gave her the priority. Once she got to Austin she realized she didn’t have her license meaning she couldn’t rent a car. I gave up sleep that Friday night before our departure and went to San Antonio to pick her up at 1:00 A.M. The last time Sarah had come to Zacatecas she had also missed a flight and they ended up losing her baggage-baggage she never recovered. Sarah is the sister who constructed our website and painted the famous “La Paloma” and “La Ballena” letters on the ministry vehicles. She is a dear friend of ours and faithful supporter of our ministry. God brought her and two other professional photographers together this past week so get ready for the pictures I will be sending soon. Before I give a detailed summary of this past week’s ministry in the black heart of Mexico let me share with you-that there were four baptism participants on two separate dates, Wednesday and Friday!

Sunday-I sent most of the team to do shopping and deliver the gospel materials to the Benedict missionary family while Brother/Professor Lynn Brandenberger and I did some agricultural work. Our host had recently planted some new peach trees in a different area so we took soil samples, and also took time to go to a nearby river to discuss the possibility of future irrigation in this area of dry-land farming. My father and Lynn spent time discussing the possibility of experimenting with wells and drop irrigation in the future. Please pray about this great possibility of helping the men/area out in the future. We had our first service that evening in Parral. Attendance was good and the Holy Spirit poured out His Spirit on the people. Many of the elderly came forward for prayer for healing. Unfortunately, prior to the service, I found our one faithful man Gabriel in the bar drinking. He did, however, come to the service. He has obviously returned to his old habits. We must pray for him that he will repent and truly give his whole life to Christ. After the service, Francisca and Delia (the two Parral baptismal candidates) desperately wanted to speak to me. They let us know that the local men had really been giving them a hard time for being Christians. They asked us if we could change the baptism location so that those men wouldn’t show up and make fun. We explained to them that they had to be willing to take any criticism the enemy would send them for making the decision to follow Christ no matter the cost. Some of the most religious folk of the area had even spread false rumors-that the Christians try to drown baptism candidates. We knew that satan was going to do everything he could to stop the baptisms from occurring. After the preaching and prayer I gave the invitation for those who wanted to be baptized and no one was interested. I could also see Francisca and Delia quivering as I mentioned their decision. One lady that had been faithful to almost every service the last two summers and had shown fruits of repentance said, “I’m not doing that, I have God in my heart.” I told her, “If you have God in your heart, then you will obey Him.” She didn’t like that and took off.

Monday-Monday and Wednesday were my two personal favorites. God had spoken to me to take the team out to the peach orchards and cry out for rain. We spent a good hour crying out to the Lord for rain even laying our hands on the trees and speaking a great harvest over them. After we had separated out to pray on an individual basis to pray we came back together and the Lord told me to have the group “SHOUT” like the Israelites did at the fall of Jericho. The group did that and interceded wholeheartedly for a physical and spiritual rain. There have now been two straights years of great drought and terrible harvest. Our first summer to visit the area, in May 2006, a believer had asked us to go out and pray for rain and lay hands on his peach trees. That summer was one of their rainiest ever. I remember how hard it was to go from village to village through the drenched/flooded dirt roads. I believe the Lord responded to us and gave us a sign that he is going to send the rain. Later that afternoon as we ministered in another village storm clouds were forming-I’ve never seen any storm clouds in March. March is always the driest month of the year in Zacatecas. We gathered the folks together in Villa Hermosa and had a great time ministering to the children and adults. We were able to distribute some hand-made blankets from a sister in Oklahoma and some backpacks to some of the kids and youth that weren’t present in December. From there we continued on to Monte de los Garcia where we also had a great service. Here we also distributed backpacks and blankets and made the invitation to Friday’s baptisms. It was great to see Luis Ramirez’s family all together at the service once again. They didn’t make the decision to be baptized but did want to accompany us on Friday even asking for a ride. I’m so blessed to see Luis’s whole family coming to the services together. Luis’s wife only recently gave her life to Christ as you might recall. I’m seeing over and over in this missionary journey that God works through relationships folks. We now have a great/established relationship with Luis after these three years. Now his whole family, even wife and son-in-law have given their lives to Christ. Martin, his son-in-law, was the one who had formerly tried to disturb our services at the volleyball court-now never misses a service with his wife. He honored me by asking me to write a letter of recommendation for him for some paperwork he’s working on.

Tuesday-Before we left the house we had our first flat of the trip. The Lord moved on our behalf, however, and we were able to get the tire changed very quickly in Jerez before our trip to Monte Escobedo area. Our Sembradores team trip finances were very low yet our team stepped it up and helped us purchase a tire (hallelujah). We now have a “Base 2” in Laguna Grande, Zacatecas-a 10 minute drive from the town of Monte Escobedo where brother Joe Bonilla lives. Sister Guadalupe Villarreal is the only believer in the town of Laguna Grande and has a brother who has an available house for us to use. Praise God! Now we don’t have to make the 2 hr trek back and forth from Palmas Altas when we are working in that area. We spent time with her husband taking soil samples from the area and even jumping from hay bales-ha! Her husband, like Angel Garcia in Palmas Altas, is a great family man that is not saved. The service that night in Monte Escobedo was fantastic. Brother Joe’s daughter Erika shared an incredible testimony. The night that her Dad Joe had had the epileptic attack (I shared about before the trip) she had been right there and had cried out to God that He would heal her Dad and not take him from her. She said he had had a pulse but would not react to anything. After Joe had come out of his convulsions he said he saw a great light-wow! She said that she had told the Lord she would do anything for Him if He would heal her Dad. The Holy Spirit really moved that night touching Sister Guadalupe who like Francisca and Delia had suffered much persecution in Laguna Grande. We placed our hands on Brother Joe and declared freedom over him from any epileptic seizures. My wife even had a word from the Lord for him, that just as the Syrian general Naaman had been healed of his leprosy after washing himself seven times in the Jordan River that Joe would be completely freed from any future epileptic attacks upon his baptism. We were trying to locate an Internet café in Laguna Grande and stopped to ask some guys outside of a bar if they could help us find one. One of them said, “At that window homey!” My first thought was to keep moving as the guy looked to weigh over 350 lbs and pretty dangerous from my former law enforcement experience. Interesting enough, as we were inside the Internet café the Holy Spirit send him to us. He spoke perfect English and shared some of his life troubles with us. He started talking about how he was scared to travel in Mexico due to the drug war. The Holy Spirit told me, “He’s afraid because he has reason to be afraid-due to the mess he’s gotten himself into.” We shared the gospel with him and gave him an opportunity to receive Christ. He told us he would look for us if he wanted to. I asked him if he were die tonight if he knew where he would go. I remember few people who have answered so honestly-immediately pointing his finger downward. The Holy Spirit told me to tell him that his heart was beating really fast because satan was telling him that he would never be able to stop doing drugs & alcohol-that he was beyond being freed from his past. He recognized that that was true and that he truly wanted to be free. Please pray for Frankie of Laguna Grande, Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas that he will get saved before it’s too late. We came out of the Internet café amazed at what had happened-that the same man that had scared us was sent to us by God, we didn’t even have to go to him-what a divine appointment!

Wednesday-Erika and her mother Aurora had originally battled with their decision to be baptized but by the end of the service on Tuesday were without a doubt committed to a decision. We decided instead of having them come all the way out to Parral for the baptisms on Friday like the original plan to do it right there in Monte Escobedo on Wednesday. Brother Joe is supposed to be on bed rest right now after his epileptic attacks and not be traveling. Part of the morning we spent evangelizing in a colonia of Monte Escobedo. Before that we went up to a beautiful outlook over the city to pray over the city. As we left the city to go up the Lord had told me to stop at that same colonia on the way back in. As we drove in and parked there were some loud drunks making a ruckus. The Lord told me, “He’s mine” as we got out. We had barely finished separating into groups and praying when he came over. He happened to be from Laguna Grande-Hallelujah! What joy it gave Guadalupe to hear that he prayed to received Christ! My team stayed in that area. I got the people from the bar together and shared the gospel with them. One was very drunk and wouldn’t let me talk while a police truck kept watching him and us. After telling him nicely to wait to talk to me till after the service, the bar owner ( a women) made him leave. I found out afterwards that she was angry with him for not paying his bill. The drunken guy told me, “You can’t prove that what you’re saying really happened.” I said that’s exactly the point-it’s faith to believe that it did. After he took off three or four of them prayed to receive Christ-another one happened to be from Laguna Grande-another great testimony for Sister Guadalupe. The bar owner really nicely explained to me that she understood everything we were saying but would never leave “the virgin.” She then, however, then said that she would go to the service anyway-hallelujah! The baptisms went great. The Bonilla family took us to a beautiful little lake outside Monte Escobedo. All three-Joe, Aurora, and Erika were baptized wholeheartedly-praise the Lord! I was a little nervous myself as it was my first time to baptize anyone. My father-in-law helped walk me through it, however. This was my most joyful moment of all the 5 years of ministry in Zacatecas. Since the baptism and our following fellowship time took a little longer than we had planned most folks had already gone by the time we got back to Joe’s house for the service. Sister Joan shared her testimony of having been freed from the demons behind the saint “idols” in Taiwan which opened up the floor for many to declare the freedom/peace they had experienced since having ridden themselves of all the idols in their households. We prayed with the Bonilla family and encouraged them to continue in the study and application of God’s Word in their lives.

Thursday-This was our Zacatecas shopping day. We went by and picked up Fransisca and Delia and they shared something terrible that had happened since our last visit. The main man that gives them trouble had killed one of their favorite puppy dogs just to make them feel bad. They were having second thoughts about their baptism since they felt so much hatred for him and his cohorts. They also shared with us that this man had called on Miguel the catechist to come and rile up the people against us in Parral. It was crazy because we were coming from such a spiritual high in Monte Escobedo to hear this. Remember that Miguel hadn’t bothered us the whole last summer. Miguel came that Monday and told the people at the “huizachito tree” that he and his cohorts would go and mess with the baptisms and the later service at the tree on Friday. We took his threats seriously and decided to move the baptisms to another location for security reasons without telling the rest of the village. We spent the whole day with Fransisca and Delia encouraging them in the Lord and praying for them.

Friday-This was the great awaited day for Fransisca and Delia’s baptisms in Parral. We had encouraged them all Thursday that neither Miguel nor his cohorts in Parral would do what they had said they would in disturbing our peaceful gathering. On the way to pick up the Ramirez family in Monte we had a flat #2-one random rock on the road penetrated an almost brand new $250 tire on “La Ballena”. After changing that we then headed to the baptism area. Then something occurred that you’re going to have a hard time believing. I gave a spiritual word on baptism, we sang, and made the invitation for Fransisca to come on down. The whole time I preached I saw her and Delia constantly fidgeting and watching the road to see if someone was coming. I called on Fransisca to come to the water. “I’m going to repent on my decision brother.” I couldn’t believe my ears-here we were all gathered together to rejoice with their decision to be baptized and she had waited till then to go back on her decision. We tried to encourage her to no avail. We then invited Delia and she said the same thing. They both declared that they had too much hate in their heart for the man who had killed their puppy and caused them so much harm that they couldn’t be baptized. All of this after having spent a whole day with them in Zacatecas encouraging them in the Lord-a decision they had made a long time ago that we had been discussing for quite some time. My heart sank to an all-time low and I literally did not know what to do. Here we were all gathered for this special moment and the candidates had rejected their opportunity/decision. Some four of us shared testimonies where we had had to forgive people who had been very evil to us-that it hadn’t been easy-that the Lord would help them do it. We urged them that being baptized didn’t mean you had to be perfect, just willing. They couldn’t get that in their heads. As I went up to change clothes my father-in-law preached to those present and my wife counseled Delia and Sister Angelina counseled Fransisca. We encouraged them that the enemy was not those men, that the enemy was satan. We told Delia that she would never be free from her bitterness until she gave it to God and “left it in the bottom of the sea.” I felt really discouraged but picked myself up while my father-in-law preached. I begin to praise God-that His will would be done. I even called upon the Lord asking him why this was happening-why I and others had spent time in prayer and fasting for this very event-and then for them to reject Him. Right after I had called everybody together to pray for the food my wife called me, “Benjamin, Benjamin! Delia is going to do it, she’s going to do it right now. It’ s hard for her to forgive them but she doesn’t want them to have the victory in her life.” We called everybody together quick-I didn’t even go change back into my clothes and dunk-al agua! After the baptisms Delia was smiling like we had never seen her smile. Fransisca still declined her opportunity as did the Ramirez family. All of them “hope” to be ready by the summer. They were explained thoroughly-that they will never be “ready” just need to be willing. Praise the Lord! I determined in my heart to praise God no matter what the outcome was. I don’t know any pastor or missionary who has went through something similar to what I went through that day. Miguel the catechist never showed up as I figured. Two young ladies from the village were there for a little while-according to Fransisca and Delia to stir up trouble-but took off way before the initial baptism attempt. We finished up in Fiesta! We ate, some swam, and some even went on a hike with Luis Ramirez. He took us to some 150 yr old unexcavated ruins of an old hot springs swimming pool. Zacatecas is full of unexpected surprises!

Please make the commitment to supporting our ministry with $50/mth so we can get to these people that need us so greatly on a full-time basis. Please e-mail me with your decision.

Special thanks-the Lord Jesus Christ, our monthly supporters, those who prayed for us this past week, all trip participants and their families/church families, & Sister Gene Shay of Stillwater, OK for the blankets

Much love in Christ, Brother Benjamin Elliott & the Sembradores de Cristo family

Tax-exempt giving

% Sembradores de Cristo

Esperanza Del Rio Community Church

603 E. 17th St.

Del Rio, TX 78840

Contact # (830) 719-9731

www.sembradoresdecristo.com

Sembradores de Cristo Fiesta Zacatecas 2010

2011-01-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Sembradores de Cristo Fiesta Zacatecas 2010

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 41:17)

The two weeks of dire hard work at the border getting the Christmas backpacks crossed for the very needy kids of Zacatecas were soon forgotten when we saw some 200 precious children come together for a true “fiesta” in Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas. Satan didn’t stop fighting us at the border. Our “Paloma” Safari’s battery went out, the “Ballena” van’s brake pads went out, the church trailer’s lights shorted out, our singer who had to bus down from Acuna’s bus got delayed and almost didn’t make it, and if it couldn’t be worse the sisters that had committed to making the 1000 tamales had to back out at the last minute on us. Our team of 13 never gave up but fought the fight till the very end seeking His face at every turn. God had heard the cries of His people in Monte Escobedo, Parral, and even Zacatecas, Zacatecas. God heard your cries as well my friends, your constant prayers for our team and for the very needy people of Zacatecas.

Ranchitos historicos de Sembradores

I definitely didn’t think we would have time in our program to get to our historic high mountain villages near our base in Palmas. First we went to Villa Hermosa on Tuesday and then to Monte de los Garcia. Our team clown, “Payaso Rollin” was a hit with the children and adults alike. We were going to get the people together outside a certain friend’s house instead of the volleyball court due to the past opposition by the catechist and his cohorts. Our friend said, “Oh don’t worry about them, none of them are even here right now.” Sure enough, praise the Lord, we saw a group of about 20 children and some 15 adults come to our mini-service. It’s exciting to see that the seeds we’ve sown in people’s lives over the areas are beginning to give fruit in these areas. The Lord is awakening a hunger for God in our area like I’ve never seen before-hallelujah! In Monte it was exciting to see Brother Luis and his entire family at the volleyball court. You may recall that his daughter and son-in-law had given their lives to Christ this past summer. Luis’s wife was there for the first time ever! Her whole countenance appeared to have changed. Luis’s whole family is coming to Christ just as did Cornelius’s whole household in Acts 10.
Christmas backpack distribution

Of the 388 counted backpacks we were able to get 300 to fit into the Ballena and trailer with all of our stuff. The remaining 88 will be distributed at various mission churches in Cd. Acuna. You may recall that the folks who had helped us get the backpacks imported at Mexican customs had stolen our manifest copy. Diana called on one of her friends in Mexican immigration who helped us pressure these folks in giving it back so we wouldn’t have trouble in the interior. We didn’t get it back till Christmas Day at around 5:00, just a few hours before our departure. In the interior checkpoint we got a green light but one of the officers stopped us anyway. He simply asked what we had with us and waved us through without even asking for the manifest just like we thought he would-ha! Satan even tried to hinder the actual backpack distribution. Just as the last folks were going through the line for food the lights went out in the auditorium. You can imagine, 200 children screaming inside a dark auditorium! My wife calmly took charge and we filed them outside to a lighted area. We know now that the Lord had allowed it to happen because as we led them towards this exit we ran into the local police officers. The Lord told me to offer a backpack to their children. We didn’t only get to offer them a backpack for each of their children and a hot meal but were able to pray over them. They allowed us to join with them in a circle and pray over them in front of all the on-looking local citizens in the main plaza! God did some amazing miracle with these backpacks my friends! Let me tell you, we had put them in big trash bags-some 25 bags. We only used some 7 bags for all the children, youth, and police officers. I don’t understand how that happened because supposedly we only had 300 total and here we ended up with the majority of the backpacks still in our possession! Just as the last “ninos” came through the line the lights came back on! That was really good because we still had to clean the whole gymnasium and gather together our stuff-hallelujah! When we got back to Palmas we divided forces and sent half of the team back to our historic villages to bless them with a backpack while we headed to Parral for our New Year’s Eve service and party on Friday. We still had a lot of backpacks left as we still do so yesterday, Saturday, the Lord told me to call up a friend in the capital city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas and to take him backpacks, Bibles, and some treats for his church since we were going to be going there for our “tourist day” anyways. That was of the Lord as his pastor had been praying for Bibles. This brother opened up his restaurant after hours yesterday just to prepare us a special meal before our long trip back to the border.

Fiesta Monte Escobedo Ministry

Our dear friend and brother in Christ, Jose Bonilla, from Monte Escobedo helped us the whole way to get this fiesta set up. He even tried to get Thursday’s great event announced on a loudspeaker. Jose, his wife, and oldest daughter are three of our baptismal candidates for this March. My wife and I were able to spend some special time with their family to teach baptismal doctrine. They are more than ready to make that decision. Three of our folks in Parral are also candidates for this March’s baptisms. The “auditorium” for the fiesta was more of a huge indoor gymnasium, perfect for kid’s ministry! We found the placed pretty trashed out so when we left it, we left it spotless so as to guard our testimony for future events-oh yeah! As far as the food goes we found a woman in the area to make “posole” instead of “tamales” which was a blessing for our team as it freed up all of our team for ministry. “Posole” is a stew with chicken, chile, and hominy and topped with chopped up onion, chile, and lime-definitely a Mexican favorite! We made huge centers-kind of like a mini-American small town carnival-face painting, balloons, painting, soccer, and basketball. All the planned ministry went well: clown ministry, music, folkloric dancing, and preaching. Our dear sister in Christ, Ana Urteaga, of Del Rio included my wife and daughter Shalom in the folkloric dancing which was a great blessing for me. Diana and I even did a drama together that we hadn’t done in a long time. The children really responded to the songs and message. Some 20 appeared to have made a decision. This shouldn’t surprise you that of the 200 only 20 received Christ. Remember these kids live in the most idolatrous part of Mexico and maybe even of the world and are very indoctrinated in the local false religious traditions. The fact that they were there shows that they are hungry for something more than what they have now. Even the adults responded. We asked a random girl what was her favorite part of the party-she didn’t say the backpacks, nor the games, nor the food but “the word of God.” Everybody, the children and adults alike said “Gracias” for the hot meal as they passed through the line. You would be amazed if you were to accompany me someday to Monte Escobedo. It’s not a joke that almost every other person is white and has blue eyes. I have traveled over much of Mexico and Zacatecas state itself and never seen that before. Some of the people just supposed I was a local-ha! This is due to one of the wars with the French in the area in the 1860’s-random fact for you. One of the most exciting things for me was to recognize local faces of folks we had shared the gospel with through evangelism and preaching this past summer. The folks of Monte Escobedo are beginning to see that we are there for the long haul, not just to preach but to disciple and church plant.

New Year’s Eve Party Parral de las Huertas

Our team’s second favorite day was this Friday. We had planned a New Year’s Eve service and “convivio” (fellowship) to receive the New Year with our local disciples in Parral de las Huertas. A few of us started a service in the bitter cold while the rest were distributing backpacks in the other villages. As always, we had a great worship service as the people there always worship the Lord in spirit and truth. After the service we had a great time around the fire singing songs and breaking bread with the brethren. Diana and I had prepared a special present for the believers there and in the other villages and Monte Escobedo-some Christian cds. This was exactly what they had asked me for before I left in August-Christian music to listen to in their “casas.” One of the sisters wanted to started dancing for joy when I gave her her present because it was “Exactly what she had asked God for.” Christian bookstores in our area are few and far between. My small team had also stopped in Guadalupe Victoria village on the way and invited two sisters from there to our service and party and they came as well. All these folks are beginning to see that we as Christians are all members of ONE body-not just of the Christian church in Parral, Guadalupe, Villa, or Monte but of ONE body in Christ. They were many drunken parties all around us going on at the same time but none were as full of cheer as ours was-ha! And as I told those present-those folks will be in pain tomorrow, suffering the consequences of their New Years Eve party’s decision but we would be rejoicing tomorrow with new strength to serve the Lord in 2011!

Great ministry need

We barely made it back to the border today as the brakes appear to have almost went completely out on “La Ballena” as we went over an unannounced big “tope” (bump). We have that great need which I don’t know how much will be yet and the funds to nationalize “La Ballena” and “La Paloma” so as to no longer have to hassle with the interior permits, insurances, etc. To nationalize both of them we will need approx. $3,000-a good sum of money but money WELL invested in our ministry.

Happy New Year 2011 brethren!

Special thanks!

Backpacks-New Covenant Church Woodward, OK, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church Woodward, OK, Hillcrest Baptist Church Stillwater, OK, Esperanza Del Rio Community Church, & Many Hands of Christ Ministries

Monetary offering for trip’s needs-Monthly supporters, & many special individuals

Trip participants-We couldn’t have done it with you!-Daniel Stephens, Jesse Chaffen, Urteaga family, Eric and Itzel Garcia, Joanna Magana, and Rodrigo Segovia

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

Phone: (830) 719-9731

Re: New Covenant Woodward Zac 2010

2010-07-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo New Covenant Woodward Zacatecas 2010,

I’m finally getting over a horrible bronchitis that hit me the day before the New Covenant team arrived here on the 6th. That morning I had to leave by 3:00 A.M. to drop off my nephew Judah at the Aguascalientes airport. The early cold mountain air went right into my lungs making the already developed bronchitis even more intolerable. All day long I was coughing up a storm and putting up with never ending hiccups. I praise the Lord for my companion Abem that the Lord sent us because without him I don’t know how I would have been able to get myself around, find a doctor, simply be at peace, and still get to our group. The doctor showed me that I was in the beginning stages of pneumonia and that I would probably have to be admitted overnight. I didn’t accept that in the name of Jesus knowing that our team was to arrive and that Abem did not know the way back to our base camp in Palmas Altas. Praise the Lord! His supervisor looked at my X-Ray and said I was okay to leave-just to give me an extra strong antibiotic and be on bed rest. Halleujah! That part was over. The next part was even more difficult-the drive back. I just held my chest and grinned and beared it my friends asking the Lord to give me strength to make it home. This wouldn’t have been possible nor any of the work we accomplished for the kingdom without your prayers my friends. Muchas gracias!

Monte de los Garcia-Upon the doctor’s orders I had to stay back the first day while the team went to do a service in Monte. The Lord really responded to our prayers regarding the need for rain and therefore the team had to move the service to a home. We also held a service here the last night of the team. Luis’s son-in-law came again, the one who had got saved when the New York team was here-praise the Lord! It was a miracle that our team evangelism Charles Keim and I even made it because “La Paloma” had broken down in a remote area of the mountains. We thought the battery had died but we started banging on the terminals and suddenly it started up-hallelujah! We’ve had more trouble with the Paloma this summer than ever before. That same day Charlie and I also had a flat. Then there came by some local folks from Palmas to help out and the Lord gave Charlie the opportunity to share the gospel with a lost young man. We’ve had 4 flats on “La Paloma” this summer already.

Susticacan-I had been back and forth between two places to take the team to do evangelism and a VBS. I had felt strongly from the Lord that he wanted me to take the team to an unevangelized, populated area. The moment my wife and I entered into Susticacan we knew that it was the place. The lady at the park told us that we didn’t need permission from the city to use the park, electricity, and bathrooms. She changed her mind the first day we brought the team embarrassing me in front of the locals that we needed to go to the city office to request permission. Praise the Lord-the city administrators had no problem at all. We did three days of evangelism, VBS’s, and services here. The first day my evangelism team was met with much resistance and apathy. It made us laugh that some of these men were too busy to take time to hear the Word of God seeing as they were the most unbusy people we had ever seen. One man told me that the Jehovah’s witnesses come by all the time anyway to give him “explanations.” I told him that God had sent us today to give him the true explanation-that we were not random religious people, but were God’s servants-that Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6). He was, however, too “busy.” Many children and women came to the park, many giving their lives to Christ during those three days. Evangelist Charles gives “chalk talks” to illustrate Bible stories and then gives the chalk painting away to a local. On the last day, we saw many give their lives to Christ as we went out to do evangelism. We were greatly blessed to have three young people from Steve Benedict’s children’s home with us for the evangelism. These young people had recently given their lives to Christ and were a great asset to our team. We were also able to bring one of our disciples from Parral with us to aid in the work. We came prepared the last day to do VBS’s, preaching, hot dogs, beans and rice, and gifts for the kids. Pastor Ed Dowty’s wife Shirley had gone above and beyond to prepare VBS materials and arts & crafts for the kids and women. The New Covenant team was also able to purchase much needed tables for our ministry-much needed for VBS type ministry. The people of Susticacan were truly able to see that we loved them. We weren’t random religious people. We were simple humble servants of the King there to love His children. We found out that in Susticacan that were a few believers that go to churches in Jerez. One couple volunteered to help us make the hot dogs and even brought sodas. There’s nothing like working in a team my friends! We had some hilarious moments there in Susticacan with a special needs young man named Ricardo who had decided to cling to our team. First he told my wife that he couldn’t hang out with us because his god was the virgen but by the next day he was there beside us shouting “Cristo vive.” The day of the fiesta nothing seemed to be going right. We got there super late due to the bagging of the beans and then we got a flat on the way. To top it off we realized at the park that we left all of our sound system cables and the 500 water balloons. We prayed hard knowing that Satan was mad. That was before we went out to evangelize and saw a great response. It was amazing to see how God worked. Our evangelism team went to the edge of the town and it rained on us where we were at but it didn’t rain but a drizzle over the team at the park-Praise the Lord! At this time there were not any homes that opened up for a Bible study. Many people came up to us thanking us for coming and inviting us back but not specifically to their home. We will see what the Lord does.

Monte Escobedo-By far, our day to Monte Escobedo was our favorite. We cried out to God that He would show Himself strong as we went out to evangelize and He did! We were driving around and interceding in the Spirit as to where to park and the Lord said to me, “The Catholic church.” We start to unload and Charlie heads over to evangelize a lady and her granddaughter and the Lord told me to take my team over towards the Catholic church. I always know it’s the Lord when the direction He’s telling me to go is the one that makes me the most fearful. I know that if I don’t obey then I’m going to pay for it. We started out with a couple roasting corn. The lady thought that she couldn’t receive Christ because she had been baptized in the Catholic church. She smiled when I told her that she could be saved no matter what her background was. Her husband was busy roasting the corn so I told him that he could listen to the evangecd without having to look at the cube. He also prayed to receive Christ. Meanwhile, Charlie’s team was also seeing every person they talked to receive Christ. My friend Mandy’s team, however, was seeing everyone run away from her, even locking themselves into their houses. A great servant of the Lord that was with us, Israel from Michoacan state, told us that they were probably witches seeing the angels surrounding God’s servants. This would concur with our last visit in which a young man had told us there was much witchcraft in the area. Either way, the Lord used them to invite many children to our service that we were going to hold in a colonia outside of the city. Mandy and her team were excited to see these children be the first to show up at the service later that night. As we were evangelizing the couple roasting corn, people were walking by to go into the Catholic church for mass. A certain gardener was hungry for the Lord and kept peering at us to see what we were doing. At the end of the block we were able to share the gospel with two men who were so surprised that we were not there to preach religion but to share the gospel. The Lord moved on my heart to give my brand new, big lettered Bible to one named “Lover” who couldn’t believe it. We then went back to share the gospel with the corn roaster’s daughter who had arrived and kept peering at us while we were talking to Lover and his friend. She received Christ and then two ladies sat down where Lover had sat and they received Christ. Wow! All this time we had not moved from the Catholic church. The Lord put it on Sister Sandy’s heart to share the gospel with a certain lady from Kansas near the taco stand who knew English. From there people just kept coming to us. A little girl asked me for one of my evangelism coins and I told her, “I’ll give you one if you listen to this.” She listened to the cd and received Christ and suddenly we didn’t have enough evangecds to go around. In fact one that wasn’t even working started working. Hallelujah! That evening’s service was fantastic. Our friend Joe, who speaks English, was super glad to see us. He and a neighbor had asked us to do a service there next time instead of the recreation park where we had done the last one. It worked great because Joe allowed us to hook up the electricity. At the end of the service a sister in Christ came up and told the people that we all needed to pray for peace for their colonia-that there had been much friction between families in this small colonia. God is bringing peace and salvation to this colonia folks. That night ¾ of the people there were from that colonia and had not come to the park for the last service with the NY team. In fact a Jehovah’s witness brought his family and some of his disciples and they prayed to receive Christ. At first I noticed they were a little suspicious of us but the Holy Spirit got a hold of them and they actually got excited when Pastor Charlie declared, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” He did a chalk talk on Zaccheus which was perfect since there was an oak tree right there perfect for climbing. I climbed it during the piñata and the people got excited. We almost ran out of Bibles for the rest of our summer ministry because everyone seemed to need one. Hallelujah! Joe told Brother Charlie, “Brother Ben is welcome here to do a service whenever.” Abem was extra blessed when he saw a sweet little girl named Guadalupe show up. I was equally surprised when I saw her and her brother because both of them lived at the recreation center-a good distance from this colonia. I thought to myself, “There’s no way this sound system carries that far.” No, they told us that in these two weeks they had moved to this colonia and now lived in both places-wow! Abem kept praising God!

Other Ministry/news-Our people were able to see how the Lord has been moving in Parral de las Huertas. These people truly love us and have given their lives to Christ. Francisca and Delia even invited us all over for tacos after service. In Guadalupe Victoria there seems to be less and less interest. Many of our normally faithful young people chose the volleyball game over the service, however, one young lady invited us to to do services at her house so as not to conflict with future games-hallelujah! We also saw a great miracle of God coming back from Monte the last night. A young man was broken down and needed a ride back to the village where his in-laws lived. It turned out that his wife was from Villa Hermosa, the village where we have shaken the dust off of our feet. We did not only know his family but happen to be personal friends with their family. He received Christ on the road back to Villa and then his wife did as well when we arrived. Her mother, Antonia, which is our friend got on to us for not going back so I explained to her why we had discontinued ministry there and invited her to Parral’s services. She blessed me by telling me that her daughter Alma who we had led to the Lord almost 4 yrs ago reads her Bible almost everyday. Praise the Lord for that seed that was sown in fertile soil. After our share time the last night Sister Angelina surprised us all with the washing of our feet. We were also able to wash her and her children’s feet and all were greatly humbled before the Lord.
My wife and family headed back to the border tomorrow. Please pray for her that she will receive due rest before the baby comes. I will be here a few more weeks doing ministry in the villages and assisting the Kentucky Baptist team in Southern Zacatecas and a pastoral conference.

Special thanks
Mandy & Shirley Dowty, New Covenant Church Woodward, OK
Evangelist Charlie Keim & wife Glenda
Abem Falcon & the brothers in Oklahoma who invested the gospel into his life
Israel of Michoacan
All our prayer and financial supporters

Urgent need/monthly support
We had really wanted to go full-time this next year but at this time we have not seen anywhere near the response we need to receive monthly support. Remember we have to raise our own support. We are not supported by a big organization that takes care of our financial needs. We really need you to pray about supporting us with $50/month. Our full-time budget is $3500/month and we are almost at 1/5 of that. We continue to be very active in seeking opportunities to speak at churches. If you represent a church, 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 bring His good news to Zacatecas. 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 be interested in receiving me at their church on a Sunday.

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

Re: Sembradores de Cristo NY Zac 2010

2010-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo NY mission Zacatecas 2010,
Today our mission team from NY returned home after finishing 10 days of spiritual warfare here in the black heart of Mexico. We thank God that He sent us 8 soldiers of Christ to the battlefield. The Lord has already won the war against Satan. Until His coming however, we will be in constant sometimes even daily battles.

Por Venir-Por Venir is the town we had evangelized in March and seen much response from the people. As mentioned in the prior e-mail, the emotion had worn off and all of the youth had acted as if they didn’t know us. The persecution has kicked in and since these folks haven’t taken root in God’s Word they fell easily. The team came prepared to do a basketball camp here. We didn’t know that they had a virgin fiesta already planned for that same week. The camp was planned for Monday-Thursday, the same week as the virgin festival. As we were going around to invite and remind folks of the camp, the men at the bar invited us to walk in the virgin procession. The Holy Spirit came upon me and I proclaimed, “My God doesn’t share His glory with anyone. He’s a strong and jealous God.” The priest had gone by their bar and told them that if anyone even glanced at the basketball court where we were holding services that he would excommunicate them. Pastor Kevin of New York lightened them up a bit by making them balloons-you should have seen these 60 yr old men going at it with these balloon swords. A woman came to me and told me that she didn’t like what we were doing since we were trying to change their faith-Ha! That’s the Holy Spirit’s work my friends. He wants them to put their faith in Him and not all the idols. Needless to say the Lord knew exactly what He was doing. Because of this, we were able to take the team to all the villages we normally work in and more. I’ll never forget the faces on those people in the virgin procession as we drove by. They looked and sounded like wandering zombies-all wandering astray.

Monte Escobedo-Go big or go home! This is a saying that Pastor Kevin of New York has taught me these past two years. He and Cayleigh, the leader, asked me what I would like to do for Monte Escobedo, Zacatecas. At first I told them 300 lbs of beans and rice. No Brother Ben-what do you want to do. Then I added on hot dogs for 300 people. Come on Ben this is a town of 5000, you’re only going to prepare for 300? I then pushed it to 500 lbs of each plus hot dogs for 500. The Lord miraculously intervened allowing us a 10% discount on all the hot dogs and fixings’ plus a drop from 12.5 pesos/kilo for the beans to 10/kilo. This allowed enough for two piñatas with candies, and chicharrones-Woooooooooo! When Diana and I had went the week before to prepare the ground the Lord had told me exactly which colonia to start in. We evangelized in Monte Escobedo last Friday & Saturday. This last Friday & Saturday was the first time we were able to take two sisters in Christ who got saved during our ministry in Parral de las Huertas. The Lord used these two in mighty ways in Monte Escobedo and then did something even more awesome that I will share with you about when I talk about Parral. The devil tried to stop us from going from the get out as we got the weirdest flat tire any of us had ever seen on the way to Parral to pick up the sisters. The outside rubber just busted-these being pretty new tires. It would have been understandable that a rock would have penetrated the tread since there are rocks everywhere but it wasn’t a rock. We praised our King, changed the tire, and found one of the exact size in the first tire shop of Jerez. Hallelujah and off to Monte Escobedo! The first day of evangelism was a great success. There was surprisingly little rejection and much acceptance. My team spent two hours with some men at a construction site. They had been hounded by the Jehovah’s witnesses and were not happy to hear that yes hell does exist as a price for our sin. At the same rate no one had ever told them that Jesus loved them. One in particular had many questions about drinking. He was surprised to know that if he showed up at our church in Parral-the one that meets at the tree-that he would be welcomed there with open arms even with beer in hand. The Lord then permitted us to share the gospel at another household where the lady and her children received Christ. Meanwhile, God was doing something amazing with Pastor Kevin and his team. I didn’t have a translator for that team so they were going in full-faith in the Holy Spirit’s leading. There, a man named Joe who speaks perfect English truly met the Lord that day. After praying to receive Christ he asked Kevin, “What just happened to me? Why do I feel something great inside of me?” Hallelujah! “Where were you 14 years ago when I needed to hear this?” That evening at the park, there was not a great turnout for the service. As I went to invite folks I ran into a lady who told me, “We’re Catholic and not interested.” Not like I haven’t ever heard that before. After we had already started the service with some 15 folks she came by and motioned to them to leave. They automatically got up and left at her command. I realized then that she was a local Catholic leader. You’re not going to believe what happened the next day Saturday. There was a big funeral in town and guess who didn’t show up to run people off? Ha! God had it worked out perfectly. She, being a Catholic leader, had to make an appearance at that funeral and therefore did not come to run people off at the service. Saturday was the most hard-core day of ministry of the whole mission trip. We got back to Palmas at 12:30 and I had my team up by 5:00. The lone sister of Laguna Grande Guadalupe Villarreal invited us to breakfast and on the way we picked up a pastor to join the team. My team ate the best and fullest breakfast they had ever eaten in their lives-gorditas, spinach, fresh cheese, and eggs & ham. We parked and prayed at 12:15 P.M. I don’t know who was praying in that moment but I thank you. We felt a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit and boldness to go and share the good news. I knew the Lord had told me He was going to give me a divine appointment. At the first house, the lady invited us in-very uncommon in Zacatecas. She put the evangelism cd in the DVD of the TV and her and her oldest daughter prayed sincerely to receive Christ. I asked her afterwards if there was anything we could pray for her about and she said that it was not a coincidence that we were there that day. She asked us to pray for patience because her patience for her alcoholic spouse had run out. He was in and out of prison and had just banged up their car. We prayed for her and she cried like a baby. One of our team members, Jeremy, had been going through a similar situation with his spouse and so he encouraged her. It was awesome when we saw the whole family at the service that night! Wooo! Her husband sincerely prayed to receive Christ that night-oh what miracles our Lord does! In every evangelism team folks came to Christ. Pastor Kevin was surrounded by children as always because of the balloons. After we had ministered to a young couple for about 25 minutes the young man comes running after us really nervously. Did you take a picture of me? I don’t like it when they take pictures of me and I don’t know. Why. He was lying. He definitely knew why he didn’t like the pictures. He told us that he wanted to take the one picture we had taken of him erased and wanted to see it erased. “Here there’s some much witchcraft going around.” We assured him that we don’t practice witchcraft-that those who do are of the devil. We encouraged him to pray for peace. God would protect him and his household from any spell cast on him in the name of Jesus surrounding him with a hedge of protection. The Lord used this my brothers and sisters in a mighty way. Delia who was in my team that day then shared with me part of her testimony how she had almost died because of spells being cast on her. I will share about that in more detail when I share about Parral.
The service that evening was great. As previously mentioned, that Catholic leader wasn’t there to run off folks. Only about 80 showed up so everyone got extra hot dogs, extra beans and rice, and the kids got extra turns at hitting the piñatas. The NY team was great. Everyone pitched in to do their part-hot dogs, food distribution, dramas, preaching, pinastas, etc. Many stood up to receive Christ when presented the opportunity including Guadalupe Villarreal’s husband who had never stepped foot with her in any church-hallelujah! Because so few showed up we were able to have beans and rice to hand out in every village and more the rest of the mission trip!

Parral de las Huertas-We had great services in Parral. God is adding to the number of hermanos practically every service. After the service we were visiting with Francisca and Delia and they shared with us more of their story. Years ago before receiving Christ, Delia had fallen in love with a traveling construction worker from Mexico City. Another local girl was jealous who then placed spells on her and her boyfriend. She got really sick with nausea, fainting, and even welts on her skin. He also got really sick and their relationship ended. Ignorantly her and her mother went to another witch to counteract the first spell. That didn’t turn out well as the witch tried to seduce her. Things were so bad that her believing brother in Cd. Juarez told them both to go live with him-Praise the Lord! They did for two years. Listen to this-they had barely came back to Parral last year when we first showed up. I can remember last year how Delia at first didn’t come to the services and was quite stand-offish. She explained that the devil had left her without the desire to live. She didn’t want anybody to look at her or touch her. She told us how the Lord had later used us to bring her to Christ and that she is now free! Pastor Kevin, Sister Cayleigh, Mama Linda, and I anointed that house with oil and cast out any remaining demonic presence from that household in the name of Jesus! We also encouraged Delia to pray for and love the girl who had cast the spell on her who still lives in Parral. This is not going to be an easy thing for Delia so please pray for her. I praise the Lord my brothers and sisters! If it wasn’t for that awkward experience with that young man in Monte Escobedo I don’t know when Delia would have opened up and shared this testimony with us! Another great testimony in Parral is that Arnulfo is walking and came to the service on Sunday. Last summer we had sent a team every week to pray and read the Bible with Arnulfo every week. Arnulfo had been shot in the leg and wasn’t expected to walk again for a long time. The Lord had healed him last summer and this summer he is now walking. Arnulfo had not been coming to the services. Pastor Kevin confronted him in front of his friends about whether or not God had indeed healed him. In front of his peers Arnulfo gave the glory to God for his healing-hallelujah! He also told him that it would break his son’s heart if he heard that Arnulfo was walking and wouldn’t attend service since his son had prayed for him last summer. Amen! God is raising up an army in Parral my friends! This village will be a crucial ministry base in the future to see the surrounding villages come to Christ.

Guadalupe Victoria-Since the parents wouldn’t let their kids go to the basketball camp in Por Venir due to the virgin festival we were able to take the team to Guadalupe Victoria. One of the boys who had been previously forbidden to go to the volleyball court due to threats by the cathecist was there-hallelujah! The team did a great job here with VBS’s and another ministry.

Monte de los Garcia-The people flooded the volleyball court on this first visit back. They did this last summer too and then little by little started backing off even talking bad about us and spreading rumors. A great miracle occurred however, this last Wednesday. The same son-in-law and daughter of Luis the sheriff who had obnoxiously interrumpted many of our services last summer by playing basketball were present during the service and prayed to receive Christ. Another miracle was that I won 21-a basketball game-even with my 15 yr old nephew here who is in great shape-ha!

Santa Rosa-This Thursday was our last day of ministry. We awoke to a constant, steady rain. This was part of the same hurricane that hit the Tamaulipas coast a few days ago. We were saddened to hear that people had died and lost their homes in other parts of Mexico. However, for our people in Zacatecas it was a great blessing. The farmers were beyond blessed with this great, soaking rain. It had been two years since we had done anything in Santa Rosa-in fact it rained that day too. We drove around and interceded over the town. The Lord led us to a store where a couple received Christ. People kept coming into the store and Pastor Kevin made balloons for them and we gave them rice and beans. Then something really amazing happened. Four police officers from the city of Jerez stopped by. We blessed their families with rice and beans and asked them if we could pray for them. This was one of the most amazing moments of my life-praying for these four tough police officers. The men in our team laid hands on them praying for protection and blessing on their families. As we were about to leave we ran into the sheriff, who we also blessed with rice and beans and he gave us the thumbs up to come back and do ministry at any time. Praise the Lord for His many blessings!

His many blessings-On Tuesday we took the team to some natural hot springs that only cost $1.70/person-wow! It was a great rest for the team after the hard core ministry in Monte Escobedo. There in Valparaiso we blessed Pastor Daniel who has 7 mission churches with three sacks of beans and rice to hand out. The hot springs were exactly what our team and my family needed to relax a little bit. The team God gave us this last week really loved each other. Every single member of the team that was not one of the leaders was on their very first mission trip this included my nephew Judah and a young man from Monclova, MX named Abem who God had blessed us with to help translate. Never was there one word of complaining on any of their lips! We also got to do the most amazing hike ever. We got to such a high altitude that we were able to see Parral, Jerez, and even the city of Zacatecas which is at 8,500 ft. above sea level! The Lord gave us a special blessing yesterday when we went to Zacatecas to do the team’s shopping. The little observatory tower happened to be open and the meteorologist let us go to the top and look out-something he said he never does!

Special thanks
Cayleigh Blumrick, Pastor Kevin Cole & the New York mission team
My sister and brother-in-law Matt & Robin Maxwell who sowed into the life of my nephew Judah by sending him here for two weeks
Abem Falcon & the brothers in Oklahoma who invested the gospel into his life
All our prayer and financial supporters

Urgent need/monthly support
We praise the Lord that recently a new family made the decision to support us on a monthly basis. We had really wanted to go full-time this next year but at this time we have not seen anywhere near the response we need to receive monthly support. Remember we have to raise our own support. We are not supported by a big organization that takes care of our financial needs. We really need you to pray about supporting us with $50/month. Our full-time budget is $3500/month and we are almost at 1/5 of that. We continue to be very active in seeking opportunities to speak at churches. If you represent a church, 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 bring His good news to Zacatecas. 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 be interested in receiving me at their church on a Sunday.

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

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo March 21, 2010,

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” (Colossians 4:2-4)

Your prayers were felt this past week my brothers and sisters! There were many churches and individuals interceding for our Spring Break trip. Truly many doors were opened for us to share Christ. Many received Christ as the Holy Spirit was manifested. The Holy Spirit had been preparing the soil of Porvenir to receive the Word of God for quite some time now. Souls were saved, friendships were made, sicknesses were healed in the name of Jesus, disciples were encouraged, and more than anything the name of our Lord Jesus Christ was lifted high. Porvenir is the first village/town we have visited in the Jerez municipality area that had been evangelized before. But not by Christians my brethren-by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The people in Porvenir were more receptive to our presence and to the Holy Spirit then the people in the higher mountain villages we had been dealing with for years now. Because the Jehovah’s witnesses had visited the area the people were used to being visited by folks from “other religions” like ourselves. Of course “other religions” would refer to anything other than Roman Catholicism. The Lord sent us to this place right at the perfect time. Until now the majority of the people in this village who have received the Jehovah’s Witness’s doctrine agreed that Jesus Christ is the Lord, is the Son of God, and is their only Savior. According to them the Jehovah’s witnesses have been teaching them that (we know that’s not true) or they haven’t learned much yet. We know the latter to be true. One day one of our groups found a group of Jehovah’s witnesses in an elderly lady of 95’s house. They actually very respectfully told our group to go ahead and left. I’m telling you my friends that your prayers were felt this week. The Lord gave us so many victories that I’m going to have to share them to you day by day.

Monday March 15, 2010-

The village of Porvenir is a 45 minute daily commute from Palmas Altas. Before we entered we pulled off the side of the road, circled up, and interceded for Porvenir. We declared that the Lord would send His angels to the battlefield before we even arrived and prepare hearts. We started by looking for the sheriff of the village who had already given us permission to be there in December. Professor/Brother Lynn was going to speak with him about a new corn seed that he would experiment with as well. He wasn’t there but his father was. His father not only gave us the authorization to evangelize but also to use the basketball court for services and VBS’s! Each day we split into different evangelism teams using the evangecube/cd. My team went back to the sheriff’s father area. He prayed to receive Christ but considers himself to be a Jehovah’s Witness. He didn’t believe that they don’t believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. His grandson also received Christ with much joy. In our team we ran into many individuals who would either hide from us or declare, “I’m Catholic and not interested.” Another team, however, had folks receive Christ and even invite them into their homes. My wife had a great group of kids for the VBS’s. This group of children was faithful every day (M-T) to the VBS’s and more obedient/serious about the lessons than other groups of children we had dealt with in the area-ha-ha! The first day’s service was great. Sister Joan of Taiwan shared her testimony in Chinese (Mandarin), Nika translated it into English, and then myself into Spanish. Joan has an amazing testimony of how she grew up in Catholicism in Taiwan (how rare is that!) She was always empty and looking for something to fill the void in her life. She turned to the idols and gave more of her heart to each one. She began to become demon possessed (she recognizes now). After much persistence of a Christian friend, she allowed that friend to pray for her. The demons didn’t want to let go and left her mute until the friend’s pastor and others came over to pray over her whole household. She confessed her sins to Jesus and was freed! The jaws were dropping as Joan shared how the demons would grab a hold of her throat and torture her. That first night we had more folks present than the second night on Tuesday. The locals were taken back at our group’s enthusiasm during the worship, Joan’s testimony, and the preaching of the Word of God. It was kind of funny that a man named Mario Dominguez came before the service during the VBS’s with his “burro.” Professor Lynn and I had spent talking in the local “cantina” telling the men about our plan to experiment with a new corn. Professor Lynn is 100% dedicated to helping these men out in their agricultural. The local idea is that the “grass is greener” in the United States . Working in the United States to them is their only hope. We know that that is not true. God can bless their crops/livestock and provide them above and beyond they can imagine without them having to go and work illegally in the U.S. Back to my story (ha) with Mario. He was one of the men in the bar who was sober and had a burro. He brought it to me at the basketball court and I asked, “What’s it’s name?” He said that it didn’t have a name. I asked him if he would like for me to name it. He said he did. The first name that popped in my head was the name of “Josafat” (Jehosophat) since I was going to be preaching on King Jehosophat during the service. He liked the name and adopted it. He then listened to the evangecube/cd and prayed to receive Christ!

Tuesday March 16, 2010

On Tuesday the whole crew went by Guadalupe to look for Artemio Dorado to see if he wanted to participate in the maize experiment. Our group got the opportunity to eat some 100% natural corn tortillas and freshly made cheese-probably ate one of the best meals of our lives there with Manuela and Artemio. We took advantage to invite folks to our service the following evening. Guadalupe Victoria is the village we have worked in now for 4 years this March. Brother Lynn and I stuck around to look for Lorenzo the sheriff of Porvenir in the fields and sent the team ahead to evangelize. It was funny because he asked me when I would need to use the basketball court for services I had to say, “Umm, yesterday, and tomorrow through Thursday.” He is a man with a very kind heart and had no problem. May God reward him for his kindness! Remember how the sheriff of Cargadero refused to give us permission in June. As we drove towards Porvenir we stopped in Parral to show Lynn the agriculture there. It’s interesting that only in Parral are apricots, avocados, and quince fruit grown. As we were leaving we ran into two of our disciples in Parral-Francisca and Delia. They were going to have to walk three miles up the mountain on an errand so we offered them a ride and invited them to go with us to Porvenir. Wow! Meanwhile the team back in Porvenir experienced more rejection than the previous day and more people not home. Once again, my wife’s group of children were faithfully obedient to the Bible lesson. The second evening’s service at Porvenir was incredible! I gave an altar call to receive Christ or prayer and almost all the ladies went forward. One later told us that the Holy Spirit touched her in a powerful way when we prayed for her. Our group had many prayer warriors present including Ester Blanco, Joan, and Ana Urteaga.

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Without a doubt, Wednesday was my personal favorite. Once again, we parked outside of the village, grabbed hands, and prayed for Porvenir with fervor in one accord. The Lord had told me to have a team go to a really small village nearby to Porvenir called Jomulco to evangelize while the other two would finish the rest of Porvenir. I figured, of course, that I would personally need to take the small team to Jomulco. As we drove around and prayed over Porvenir the Lord said otherwise. You know that it’s the Lord when He speaks. It’s that still small voice that speaks clear direction to our hearts. I was fighting over it a little feeling bad about sending a team to Jomulco without the missionary leader. The Lord told me not to worry about it but to send Brother Lynn with the other members. I’m so glad I listened and obeyed His voice. Right away, our team of three won a man to Christ and then ending up spending two hours at the “cantina.” It’s interesting to note that that day there were two groups of men at the bar. One was the drunk group and the other across the street was the sober group. This is because on one side of the street the bar was open and on the other side the bar was closed. Joan, Gamaliel, and I went up to the drunk group first with the plan to share the gospel to all of them with the evangebox. A certain man would not let Gamaliel speak two words without interrupting him going off on tangents. He was about as drunk as either of us had ever seen. There were, however, men that were trying to listen and actually made good comments and questions. The Lord told me to go across the street to the sober men. These men listened to me more intently than any other men had before. They all prayed to receive Christ. The Holy Spirit spoke through me convicting their hearts. I won their confidence and one of them showed me his necklace and asked me what I thought since his nine children in the U.S. disagreed with him having it. It was a traditional picture of Juan Diego in his vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He asked so I told-ha! First I explained that Juan Diego never existed historically and that historically the priests knew the story was made up and tried to stop it but let it continue since the masses were convinced. Biblically I explained to him that even if Mary was renamed “Guadalupe” she has no power to pass from heaven to earth and back. Thirdly I explained that the virgin of Guadalupe was not of God because she did not give the glory to God but told Juan Diego, “Tell the people that I came.” In the story she does not say tell them Jesus Christ is Lord. She gives herself glory. Sound familiar? Sounds like Satan in his jealousy to me, glorying himself instead of God-still mad he can’t be bigger than God. One of the men turned out to be three of our VBS’ kid’s father. Praise the Lord! Just like our church here in Del Rio , Esperanza, we want to see whole families came to Christ. Another man joined us later sharing with us how his father-in-law had recently passed away in an automobile accident. We prayed with him and then he also wanted to receive Christ. God still wasn’t done with our evangelism team. At the next house we led a couple to Christ. She had had four miscarriages. We shared hope with her, sharing the stories of Sarah and Ana and then prayed for her. I’m looking forward to hearing from her next visit believing God’s touch on her womb. At the last house a precious older woman received Christ. Jesse’s team had the experience with the 95 year old lady who was with the Jehovah’s witnesses and also saw others came to Christ. Meanwhile in Jomulco, there were both rejections and decisions for Christ. One person thought that the Jehovah’s Witness tract was the Bible which Sister Ana explained was not. After my wife’s precious Bible study with the VBS group we headed up to Guadalupe Victoria for the service. We were excited to see not only our normal faithful folks there like Liliana and her mother, Checo , Israel , Yanet, Gloria, and Victor but also some of our “banned” disciples. Remember that in July the cathecist threatened their families with curses and other things and that we had lost half of our people from one service to another. We saw one girl come back and two of our precious boys. These two boys did not sit down with us but stood behind us and listened. Before, they were not even allowed to listen from far off. It was great to see our precious sheep in Guadalupe and encourage them once again to persevere in the faith.

Thursday March 18, 2010

Thursday morning was spent on agriculture prep work. I drove Lynn around the area to show him how numerous the villages are that don’t have the gospel. By Thursday our contacts with the men began growing into trusted friendships. Many have not made a decision to receive Christ but have began to seen that we love them no matter what. The rest of the team went out to purchase the hot dogs/condiments. Before our hot dog feast/party Diana had her group of kids participate in a contest to see who could tell the best Bible story from (M-T) from start to finish. The first boy, Cesar, told the best Samson story I have ever heard. You should have seen how the locals were listening to him and the others tell these stories so intently-totally impressed at how much they knew. It was great to see a lot of young people came out for the hot dogs and fellowship. Nika, a young college student from China , particularly bonded with many of them exchanging Facebook-ha! We encouraged other shy passerbys to come by and get the hot dogs no matter that they hadn’t come for any of the services/VBS’s. It was truly a great time of fellowship-I think you will enjoy the pictures. From there we went to Parral de las Huertas for our scheduled service. We were a little late getting there and all the elderly ladies that normally come were there waiting for us. I had struggled getting a word from the Lord for this village but the Lord is faithful and gave it to me during the worship and confirmed it when Sister Ana shared her testimony mentioning 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God.” A few new folks also visited our service there that evening. The Holy Spirit was manifested and a lady’s back, arm, and leg pain was healed. These precious sheep again told us how much they missed us and would be waiting for us. It pleased me to see the demon possessed man again-the one who believes the saint of death saved him from “death.” He’s the same one man who wouldn’t let us share the gospel with him in December but definitely wanted the chicken we offered him-Hallelujah!

Our group wept together, rejoiced together, served together, and ultimately finished the week strong. Please pray that the maize experiment will go well. There are three farmers who are going to put the new maize seed to test. We will then know which seed will be the best for their area. As Professor Lynn put it, “If none of them work out better than the seed you’re already using then I’ll send more next year.” God’s hand was on our team this week. My heart is still there in Zacatecas my friends. I desperately want to be there with my people teaching them God’s ways. God is mobilizing his church in our area. One of the ladies in Porvenir told us that she had been praying that God would send her somebody to teach her the Word of God. She would sometimes go all the way to Fresnillo (almost two hours away) to go to church. She is excited that we will be going to her village this summer. Please pray/interecede ferverently for the holy protection of the Lord on the seeds that were sown this past week. We know that the devil would love to snatch up, scatter, and destroy this precious seed. These men, women, young people, and children are precious in the eyes of the Lord. Diana and I love them dearly. The people of Guadalupe do not even think twice about our return. They have seen our loving faithfulness for four straight years now. We both feel very strongly that we will be with them on a full-time basis very soon.

Special thanks

Thanks to all our monthly supporters: Without you neither this trip or any other trip would be possible.

Team members: Thank you Gamaliel for giving up a week in your church in Acuna to come and lead worship for us and do so many things for God this week. Thank you Nika and Joan for sharing your testimonies without fear and for loving our family. Thank you Jesse for continuing to be my right hand man in Zacatecas. Thank you Ana and Alejandra for coming on this trip and being such a blessing. Thank you Oscar for your humble service this week to the King. Thank you Garcia family for hosting us again and again. Thank you Ester and Diana for allowing Gamaliel and I go out and evangelize while you watched our precious children. Thank you Diana and kids for always accompanying me to Zacatecas no matter what the cost (weather, bumpy roads, lack of food, uncomfortable lodging, long ride from border, etc.) Thank you Lynn for your dedication to our farmers and your great friendship.

Rich Kirby: Thank you for sending Joan and Nika our way.

Urgent need/monthly support

We praise the Lord that recently a new family made the decision to support us on a monthly basis. We had really wanted to go full-time this next year but at this time we have not seen anywhere near the response we need to receive monthly support. Remember we have to raise our own support. We are not supported by a big organization that takes care of our financial needs. We really need you to pray about supporting us with $50/month. Our full-time budget is $3500/month and we are almost at 1/5 of that. We continue to be very active in seeking opportunities to speak at churches. If you represent a church, 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 bring His good news to Zacatecas. 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 be interested in receiving me at their church on a Sunday.

.

Summer teams 2010

Zacatecas is a great place to bring a mission team. Besides all the great mission opportunities in VBS, evangelism, sports camps, testimonies, and preaching there is phenomenal mountain hiking and Zacatecas capital city to explore. Most teams that come eat better with us than they do all year around in the states. At this time we still need teams to commit to doing a mission trip with us this summer. We need you to come and help us with evangelism, VBS’s, sports camps, etc. We have experience working with men/women, youth, college age, and families. We need a team to commit to doing a baseball camp and a basketball camp in Porvenir.

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

Re: Sembradores de Cristo March 7, 2010

2010-03-07T23:13:00.000-08:00

Sembradores de Cristo March 7, 2010,
“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:8) When you study the parable of the sower you realize that the variable is neither the sower nor is it the seed. (the style of seed or sowing method). The variable is the soil. I really love what v. 14 says, “The sower sows the word.” We are called to preach the good news to every creature. We are called to sow his word in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and to our ends of the earth. Those on the wayside will allow Satan to immediately come and steal away the word. Those on stony ground will receive the word with gladness but will soon fall because the word did not take root. At the first sign of trouble (tribulation or persecution) they will fall. The ones sown among thorns will allow the things of this world including the love of money to choke it up. But what about those seeds that were sown in good soil. Will they bear fruit? Yes! Some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. Are, therefore, our efforts as sowers of Christ worth the while for those folks in the latter group? Claro que si! Of course! Last weekend my wife and I had the opportunity to participate in a “treasure hunt.” The attached Word doc will give more details about this evangelism experience for those interested. The Lord showed us before we went out that one of the people that we would share the gospel with would reject Him. We were to blow our trumpets but he/she was not going to heed. Nevertheless, it was still the Lord’s will to go and share the gospel with this individual no matter the outcome.
The Lord had told me that January and February would be a dry time for the ministry. I spent hours sending out e-mails to churches near our Del Rio, TX area seeking speaking opportunities. There was a silence for a long period of time. During this time we also went through some very difficult personal family issues and financial difficulties. I now thank the Lord so much for this time because I again realized how much I need God’s blessing on our ministry/lives. Without Him I am nothing. Without Him “Sembradores de Cristo” is nothing. We are desperate for His anointing and blessing on our ministry. Just last week I received an e-mail from a brother of a San Antonio church with whom we will begin discussing ministry with starting in April. Right now I am writing to you from the Oklahoma City airport getting to ready to return to Del Rio. A precious congregation in Stillwater, OK invited me to come out and share a PowerPoint presentation and preach. Jesse Chaffin’s father is the pastor of New Beginnings Missionary Alliance church. The Lord gave me a word on evangelism to share, “Let your voice be heard” which was well received. Another purpose of this visit was to meet with our Spring Break 2010 Zacatecas mission trip team.

Spring Break 2010 Zacatecas mission trip (3/14-3/20)- Again, if there are any last minute individuals who would like to sign up for this trip we have plenty of room for you. The cost is $200/person plus your transportation to Del Rio. Before we ever showed up in Palmas Altas the Lord had spoken to our host Angelina Garcia that her household would serve as an int’l ministry base. Up to this point we have all been “gringos” and “mexicanos.” Sister Joan of Taiwan will be the first Asian Sembradores participant. She is a delightful young lady with a wonderful testimony. You can pray for the following team members: Joan, Ana, Alejandra, Gamaliel, Ester, Estrella, Jesse, Lynn, Oscar, and Elliotts. Last year’s Spring Break trip was our first farming trip with Brother Lynn. We are still in the beginning stages of this crucial men’s ministry. During this trip we will be studying the farming of new villages and will be introducing a new corn to the area. Each morning we will be evangelizing in “Porvenir” door-to-door and doing VBS’s with the children in the afternoons and farming work. We will be holding outdoor services as well with Gamaliel leading us in music. Gamaliel is our talented/anointed friend from Acuna who accompanied us in December 2008. We are believing that souls will be saved this coming week! I am also looking forward to our Zacatecas men seeing Professor Lynn again. Lifetime relationships are being built through this ministry. Thanks again for your prayers for this trip!

Urgent need/monthly support
We praise the Lord that recently a new family made the decision to support us on a monthly basis. We had really wanted to go full-time this next year but at this time we have not seen anywhere near the response we need to receive monthly support. Remember we have to raise our own support. We are not supported by a big organization that takes care of our financial needs. We really need you to pray about supporting us with $50/month. Our full-time budget is $3500/month and we are almost at 1/5 of that. We continue to be very active in seeking opportunities to speak at churches. If you represent a church, 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 bring His good news to Zacatecas. 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 be interested in receiving me at their church on a Sunday.
.
Summer teams 2010
At this time we still need teams to commit to doing a mission trip with us this summer. We need you to come and help us with evangelism, VBS’s, sports camps, etc. We have experience working with men/women, 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.

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

First treasure hunt: 2/27/2010

My beloved youth pastor and friend recently introduced me to the book "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt" which gives us an effective evangelism tool using words of knowledge the Holy Spirit gives us leading us to divine appointments with souls. The devil tried to make it really difficult for Diana and I to get on a treasure hunt seeing as last week had to be postponed due to immediate family troubles. Mama Linda surprised us yesterday with a visit and offering to take the kids to Acuna.

We began with prayer, a worship song, and opened the Bible to Jeremiah 6: 16-19. V. 17 "Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the trumpet!" But they said, "We will not listen." I definitely gathered from the Lord that it was definitely his will to go out to blow the trumpet-share the gospel-and I gathered that there would be rejection of His Word.

We then sought the Lord and filled in our treasure maps. Diana had the park on her map seeing people running and ducks swimming. What do you know, we go to the park and there was a special elementary marathon going on! We walked towards the action and saw a man matching three of Diana's appearance clues: fat, dark-skinned, and blue However, he was not bald. We then remembered C.J telling us that one clue might be for somebody else. As we walked back by them we realized that the guy he was talking to was BALD and he was also wearing all blue. We came up to them (quite nervously, strange for me huh). I showed them that I believed they were our treasure and asked them if any of them had a scar-first the big fellow said no and then he pulled up his elbow and showed us a big one. They claimed to be saved (but I do not believe they were) and when asked if we could pray for anyone in their family (Diana's prayer category clue) sure enough a wayward brother needed prayer. As we walked back towards our vehicle Diana noticed a familiar high school student she was a sub for yesterday. The Lord prompted me to share the story of the Lord calling Peter the fisherman-they were fishing. It turns out both of them are Christians and are very involved in evangelism at Livingstone church. When we asked them if there was anything we could pray for them about they both said what-FAMILY! Ha, there was the clue again. One asked for prayer for an alcoholic uncle and the other for a chained smoker brother. The visit was a great encouragement to them to continue "fishing for men."

Now it was time to pursue my clues. My location was way over on the north side of town-I saw King's Way road that runs between a closed down restaurant (old Don Marcelino's) and an air conditioning business. There was nothing there so Diana mentioned we go check out a yard sale sign address. Sure enough amongst used furniture was a giant stuffed animal BEAR-one of my unusual category items. There were no other stuffed animals. The lady working there was wearing a white blouse one of my appearance clues. It turns out Diana had studied English with her. A spirit of distraction, pride, and rejection of salvation was all over that woman. Diana later told me that had heard the name Patty from the Lord for the name category but hadn't written it down since she had seen a Patty in Wal-mart the night before-thinking that it was an obvious flesh thought. Sure enough this was Patty and she didn't react one bit to matching our clues and being our "treasure." While being presented with the gospel her eyes were wandering everywhere and customers were arriving distracting her even more. When asked where she would go if she were to die that day she replied that she was a pretty good person, would doubtfully deserve to go to hell. Of course I explained the Romans road scriptures and others to her exposing her sin. When I mentioned the sin of adultery she gave an automatic defense that 'she's not like that." Diana later explained to me that she was known in Acuna for her sexual immorality and had been married multiple times. When asked if she would like to receive Christ today she gave the common excuse of "I can't pray here." The Holy Spirit spoke to me that she had rejected His Spirit and salvation and that there was nothing else we could do there-He told me that if she wouldn't pray and repent there that she wouldn't repent anywhere. My hope and prayer is that she will repent before it is too late.

At this point I was far from being satisfied with the day's work. I still had the clue of an old woman with stark white hair and prayer need as depression and being alone. The Lord told us to park for a minute near a nearby car wash. I saw a woman there with white hair cleaning her car but both felt it was not her. The Lord said, "Go to Wal-Mart." We decided to fill the gas tank at the Murphy's (Wal-Mart) gas station. Right after pulling out, we saw a white jeep pull in with three women inside-one being an old woman with stark white hair! I pulled around twice questioning whether they were our treasure or not. Diana even said they weren't. The Holy Spirit said otherwise. I parked the car-they were miraculously taking a really long time to fill their tank-ha-ha! I came up to them and sure enough the old lady was new to town and felt alone. She needed prayer that she could sell her belongings back in her hometown. A tall lady with them was suffering severe depression that her father also suffered. Hallelujah! Diana then came over and we joined hands in prayer. I felt power touch the tall woman (Susan). She did not claim healing or anything but all three women thanked us and asked for information about our local church.

God is good my brothers! We learned a lot this first-time around. Next time we will not repeat some of the same mistakes we made this time. All the honor and glory be to Christ who allowed us to have these divine appointments. We never know the long-term impact of such encounters. The clue that was not found was my wife’s name clue of Michael. The Holy Spirit knows when we will run into him/her.

Update 3/7/2010: Today on my flight from Oklahoma City to Houston a week later Mechelle was found. My wife wasn’t for sure if it had been the name Michael or Mechelle. It turns out that Mechelle had a shockingly similar past that I had. Like me she had been adopted and had been separated from her brother (I was separated from a younger sister). She like me had later sought to find her brother and biological parents and was successful in doing so. She also had been blessed with loving, Christian adoptive parents. The whole conversation with Mechelle only happened because I messed up with my seat number-sitting in the seat that I should have sit in from Houston to Del Rio not OKC to Houston! I should have sit in 16A not 3D. Mechelle welcomed prayer for her two sons and was encouraged as I noted to her that the joy of the Lord was her strength. She, in fact, had been going through depressing times and needed to hear that. Her testimony was a great blessing to my life as I had never met somebody with a similar background. By the end of the flight all I wanted to do was to weep for joy and shout with all my might!

God bless, Brother Ben

Re: Sembradores de Cristo January 30, 2010

2010-03-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Sembradores de Cristo January 30, 2010

“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8) Paul and his contemporary Israelites were amazed that the Gentiles could also be heirs with Christ. The Gentiles and the Israelites could now be members together of one body, sharing in the promise of Christ Jesus. Paul realized that his task was an incredible one, taking the gospel to the Gentiles. God had called him to this task. (Acts 9:15 ) I today am amazed at God’s calling for my life: taking the gospel to paganistic Zacatecas. Just like Paul I know I am nothing-the least of all God’s people. It’s only by God’s grace that Sembradores de Cristo exists. This gospel of unsearchable riches is not only for the inhabitants of the United States but for all Gentile nations. Praise the Lord! The need in Zacatecas is immense. There are numerous villages, towns, and cities that are entirely without the gospel. Like Paul in vs. 7 I am a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. His power has been shown in amazing ways this past year of 2009. This newsletter is dedicated to giving glory to God for what He has done in our ministry/lives this past year of 2009.

Personal/ministry-Praise God this past February I was able to complete a seminary master’s degree in ministry and in November receive my ministerial ordination. I finished this correspondence master’s degree in 10 months studying in the afternoons and weekends. I can remember pouring out 8-10 hours of time on Sundays after church. What a blessing it was being immersed in God’s Word on such a continued basis yet exhausting. May we never cease to hunger and thirst after righteousness! The teachable man of God will never be comfortable in his relationship with God but will always passionately seek Him for more and more. Now that I have received my documentation as an ordained minister (thanks again to Pastor Jim and Marco) my next step will to be taking out an id as a Mexican minister. As a Mexican citizen I have the right to preach the gospel without any other paperwork. Full-time missionaries in Mexico who are not citizens must apply for certain religious visas. Shalom, Nehemias, and I obtained our Mexican citizenship back in April making us dual citizens. My wife passed her American citizenship test in November and is now awaiting her formal oath. God has decided that our family needs to grow so Diana is expecting and the due date is September. After returning from Zacatecas Summer 2008 God really impressed it on me to get in shape. Doing the baseball camps in Zacatecas would always wipe me out completely because I was in no kind of shape to keep up with these guys who walk their cattle 5 miles a day. I started running 2 miles 2-3/wk and then start increasing it to 3 ½ miles 3/wk. Summer 2009 I continued running and this school year God gave me a special blessing. My work schedule worked out for me to be able to run with a coach during a lunch period. Therefore, I have strived to run 4 miles 5 days/wk (M-F). Being in shape has not only been a personal blessing but a ministry blessing. The high mountain villages being steep and 8000 ft above sea level aren’t that bad for walking short distances for out of shape people but definitely a challenge for hiking and sports.

Ministry blessings-“La Ballena” was a great blessing among many that the Lord provided for us. I remember getting on my knees seeking the Lord for a 15 passenger van and the answer coming within 2 weeks. “La Ballena” (the whale) has now been through about every mountain road of Jerez county, plowing through and getting stuck in mud, getting us through narrow mountain passages, and more than anything making it possible to get the gospel to very isolated/remote areas. Since the Lord had blessed us with summer teams who were flying directly into Zacatecas those teams would have had to rent a van locally at very high rates and now “La Ballena” is at the Lord’s service to accommodate mission teams. The Lord also blessed us with much needed musical instruments and gear such as: electric acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mics, generator, drum set, etc. In September we were able to setup a ministry website-much thanks to Sarah Broecker. We are in need of somebody who would donate their time to help us updating that website. At the same token we are in much need of a new computer-our old one being very slow and on its last days. Believers who know nothing about our ministry/who we are can be led to that website by a random search engine. Donors can now donate to our ministry electronically.

Zacatecas village ministry-Summer ministry 2009 in Guadalupe Victoria village was awesome despite the catechist’s nuisances, the loss of many sheep due to the threats, and the burning of Bibles we had donated. Doing the Bible studies at the court instead of in homes turned out to be a real winner. We went through half the book of Genesis in the adult class making comparisons to the New Testament. You would have a group’s entire concentration in the reading of God’s Word and then be randomly interrupted by a drunk guy driving up on his 3 wheeler or trotting up on his burro. What moments! The disappointing moment for me as their pastor was when they decided they weren’t ready for water baptism. They understood well that by being baptized meant they would be completely identifying with the Christian faith. They knew how they could be ridiculed by the other locals for making that step of public confession. We love them and believe that soon they will surrender themselves completely to Lord Jesus Christ. The hearts of the people of Monte de los Garcia grew colder and colder to the gospel as the summer progressed. We are now seeking the Lord as to His will for our continued minister there for Summer 2010. Working in Parral de las Huertas was a definitely a Holy Spirit initiated thing. What a response from the people! To this date the catechist has not come through to pluck the seeds we have sown. In Parral there is a faithful group of believers and potential disciples who are in much need of nurturing. This people are a humble people with no public drainage system, very little land to work unlike Palmas Altas where there is plentiful land, public drainage, running water, etc. I learned this summer that part of being led by the Holy Spirit includes sometimes having to discontinue previous work. The village of Villa Hermosa had been evangelized time and time again with no signs of fruit bearing fruit. We had invested time in a local believer who has great potential but is not teachable. We had even offered help in the area of agriculture to study the men’s soils with Professor Lynn but not even that was received. I had thought to myself, I don’t want anybody to think that I start things that I don’t finish. As I sought the Lord I knew I had to shake the dust of my feet and move on to the fertile lands He was calling me to. I do not cease praying for that village that they will repent like Nineveh before that great day of the Lord. As my beloved pastor/friend C.J. Ellis had taught me where the Holy Spirit is that’s where I need to be. I was really excited when the Lord told me that it was time to start working in the more populated towns nearer to Jerez . This Christmas trip was our first trip to the town of Porvenir and we are looking forward to going this Spring Break to evangelize there, do VBS’s, and do agricultural work with the men. It’s amazing how the Lord has led Professor Lynn Brandenberger to partner with us in our endeavor to reach Zacatecas with the gospel. The Lord had led him to a certain type of corn that he wanted to share with the men this Spring Break. It turns out the principal crop of Porvenir is corn.

Urgent need/monthly support

We had really wanted to go full-time this next year but at this time we have not seen anywhere near the response we need to receive monthly support. Remember we have to raise our own support. We are not supported by a big organization that takes care of our financial needs. We really need you to pray about supporting us with $50/month. We did see some 4 individuals make the decision in 2009 to support us. Our full-time budget is $3500/month and we are almost at 1/5 of that. I have been very active in seeking opportunities to speak at churches but have not seen any response as of yet. 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 be interested in receiving me at their church on a Sunday.

.

Summer teams 2010

At this time we only have one team committed to doing a mission trip for this summer. We need you to come and help us with evangelism, VBS’s, sports camps, etc. We have experience working with men/women, 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.

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

Sembradores de Cristo January 3, 2010

2010-01-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

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.
.
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

Sembradores de Cristo December 10, 2009

2009-12-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

Sembradores de Cristo December 10, 2009

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” (Luke 2:10)
¡Feliz navidad! I’ve always loved how the angel mentions the word “great” here. It’s not a little joy, it’s GREAT joy that Jesus came into this world to save ALL people. One of the things that has always excited me personally so much about Christmas is the fact that this GREAT joy that I have I have all year round. I don’t just have it during Christmastime like so many who experience temporal happiness being with family, giving/receiving gifts, and helping others. It’s GREAT that the joy of the Lord is our strength 365 days/yr, 24 hrs/day. It’s a GREAT joy to be called by Him to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, in our case to far off mountain villages of Zacatecas.
Christmas trip 09
We will be departing Del Rio the 27th and returning the 2nd. Please pray for the Elliott family, the Kirby family, and the Blanco family. The Kirbys are a precious family from Oklahoma who were at one time full-time missionaries to Indonesia . Gamaliel Blanco is the same precious brother from Acuña who accompanied us during last year’s Christmas trip with his wife and 3 yr old daughter leading worship. Please intercede for this trip my brothers and sisters. My wife and I are heavily burdened for these people as we once again have no one presently visiting/discipling them. We have the following activities planned for this upcoming trip: 1) Village visits/services, 2) Chicken feed/Christmas & New Year celebration in Parral de las Huertas, 3) Prayer walking of “El Porvenir” and “Rio Florido.” “El Porvenir” and “Rio Florido” are two towns close to Jerez . These are two of many towns close to Jerez that do not have the gospel. I say towns because until now we have only worked in villages. These are much more populated areas. During Spring Break we will be bringing a college team who will help us evangelize these two towns and launch ministry. Therefore, we will be performing ground plowing work this Christmas such as prayer walking and meeting with the local authorities. You may remember that we were denied the local authorization in “El Cargadero” last summer. These two towns are nearby to El Cargadero. We are really believing that God has key families in this place that He has called as key spiritual leaders that we will be running into according to His divine will.
How can you help? We are still in need of $1000 dollars to complete this trip’s expenses. We plan to hand out bags of rice and beans in Parral besides the chicken. We are looking forward to this opportunity to show love to the people of Parral. Parral is probably the most impoverished village in the area. Please consider helping us. We also have some backpacks left over with school materials that we are going to try to take down as well. Please pray that we will have no trouble crossing any of these items.
Family/personal news
My ministerial ordination was a great blessing from the Lord. I thank Pastor Jim Wilson and Marco Rivera who discussed/counseled doctrinal issues with me and my beloved youth pastor C.J Ellis from Oklahoma for making the trip all the way out here to preach the message. Also, Diana passed her American citizenship test and is now waiting for her oath. Praise the Lord for that! She has been faithfully studying and preparing for this test for more than a year now. Our local church Esperanza Del Rio Community Church celebrated its grand opening this last week after recently passing the required building safety inspections. Esperanza has dynamically reached out to the families in Del Rio . Diana and I are blessed to be able to be a part of this church’s outreach programs and be an integral part of the church’s vision of establishing churches all over Mexico.
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. I would seriously appreciate the invitation to your church this coming semester to go and raise support. Raising support for our ministry has been difficult but we aren’t giving up. Please join our team by supporting us monthly even with $25/mth.
Special needs
Spanish Bibles-Reina Valera 1960 or 1995
Computer-Our computer of 6 yrs is giving its last breaths.

Feliz navidad & Merry Christmas , 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

Sembradores de Cristo November 2, 2009

2009-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

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

Tax exempt giving

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

www.sembradoresdecristo.com

Sembradores de Cristo October 13, 2009

2009-10-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo October 13, 2009

“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:8) This is the same verse that the Lord showed me when He gave us the name of “Sembradores de Cristo” back in July 2005. The same burning passion that the Lord gave me for the lost of Zacatecas that first trip in June 2003 is still burning in me. I hope you have had a chance to check out our website: www.sembradoresdecristo.com. Thanks again to Sister Sarah for such an awesome job and sacrifice for coming all the way out here to Del Rio. Sister Sarah shares our passion for Zacatecas and has seen with firsthand the great need there is there for the gospel. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out please do so as I know you will be blessed.

The Lord has supernaturally opened the doors for me to accompany a precious group of brothers from Kentucky and Zacatecas to a lost city of south Zacatecas called Nochistlan July 17-24th. As the brothers shared of the work in southern Zacatecas at the pastors conference in July the Lord quickened my heart. I had been praying about opportunities to go farther into the southernmost reaches of Zacatecas before that conference. When they mentioned their October trip I told Brother Jesse and Diana that if it was the Lord’s will that I would be on that trip. I told Pastor Rick Reeder that they could use our ministry vehicles-La Ballena and La Paloma-whether or not I was granted the days off from the school. Praise the Lord! I asked for the week off before school started and it was granted immediately! We will be traveling to Saltillo-half the distance this Friday. We’ll say hey to Brother Cheque and Tilo for all of you who have met them. Then we will head all the way to the city of Aguascalientes the next morning to pick up the rest of the Kentucky team at the airport. Pastor Luis Aleman will also be accompanying us for the week.

Please pray for us brothers and sisters. We are talking about a city of 24,000 that has no Christian church that we know of. We will be evangelizing door-to-door with the goal of touching every household. I’m believing the promise of Mark 4:8 over Nochistlan. Our job this next week will be to sow the seeds of the gospel. We will see seed fall on good soil; seeds that will give fruit and multiply. Isn’t this exciting? Taking the gospel to a whole city that is lost in idolatry/religious traditions/sinful passions. There will be much need for discipleship after this week’s work my brothers and sisters. This is another reason why we plead with you to help us achieve our monthly goal of full-time support.

Weekly village ministry
The day after I wrote September’s newsletter Brother Luis shared an amazing testimony with me. Sister Angelina Garcia (our host in Palmas Altas) had asked Luis and Delfa to give a weekly devotional-they stay with them every Tuesday night. The Lord put it on Angelina’s heart to witness to a visiting woman from California. This woman was born and raised in Palmas Altas and was actually returning to Palmas to die from her particular illness. It turns out that she got better to the point that she began to prepare to return to California. Then, her accompanying cousin had a seizure and was in a coma. Angelina began praying for her and asked her if she would allow Pastor Luis and Delfa to speak to her. She did not want that but gave in after much persuasion. She also did not wish to listen to Luis and Delfa giving the excuse of, “Maybe another day.” She gave in and Luis and Delfa reminded her that she was already supposed to be dead and that she if she had died she would have died spiritually as well-an eternal death. This shook her up and the Holy Spirit brought conviction to her heart. She got on her knees and received Christ as she realized that “Now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2) Since then another woman has also received Christ and they have visited various homes.

My wife and I have had a heart for Palmas Altas ever since we first arrived there in 2005. In fact, we have wanted to plant a church there all these years despite the fact that there is a Christian church. We realized that we could not be there in a full-time capacity to take care of a church so we decided to support the local church with our efforts. We have evangelized, discipled, preached, ministered to children, and served in every ministry capacity in this church. Many of you can remember reading about our men’s and women’s Bible studies Summer 2008. This local church is governed from an outside body which has shown little interest in spiritual growth for the church/Palmas Altas or outside villages and rarely visits its sheep. Our patience on the Lord’s timing has paid off. The Lord is doing it. People are really responding to Brother Luis. Sister Angelina herself is setting the meetings up for them before they arrive in Palmas. Diana and I can’t wait to go in December to see/support the work in Palmas. I know I have asked you to pray for pieces of property in the other villages and now I’m asking you to pray for one here in Palmas. Those who have visited Palmas can testify to its centralized location to the rest of the villages. It is also the most populated of all the villages we work in.

In other news, our man of peace in Monte de los Garcia, Luis Ramirez has ceased to come. There we are down to one couple, a woman, and two kids. Luis and Delfa continue to arrive there early to spend discipling these folks and encouraging folks like Luis to come back. In Guadalupe Victoria, Luis and Delfa had their first encounter with Miguel the catechist. He shouted the same insults at them as he did us so many times this summer. In fact, he has now taking his religious campaign to Jerez itself. He even found where Luis and Delfa live having spotted the Paloma. Please pray protection over Luis and Delfa and the Paloma-that neither Miguel nor his henchmen will be able to do them harm nor harm the Paloma by spiking its tires nor do it any other harm now that he knows where Luis and Delfa live. In Parral de las Huertas the Holy Spirit continues to move in mighty ways. More and more men visit every week. Two weeks ago the Catholic leader visited and had a lot of questions. On their way home that Sunday, Luis and Delfa had a little accident. The vehicle in front of them swerved off the road and there in front of them was a black cow-it was already nighttime you can imagine. It hit their passenger side only knocking off the passenger’s rear view mirror. Praise the Lord neither were harmed nor was the cow!

Family news
God has allowed me to preach in two Hispanic churches recently-one in Acuna and one in Bracketville, TX. God is stirring up many hearts to the great need for evangelism at this time before His second coming. In personal news, Shalom has adjusted greatly to school, even winning “Superestrella” the first week. My wife is as busy as ever working on our American citizenship. Her test is November 30th. Please pray for this. I will be ordained at Esperanza on November 29th. In case you would like to visit us that Sunday to be here for the ordination we would love to have you-just contact us.

Urgent need/monthly support
I have not given up on my belief/faith in God’s calling of my family into full-time ministry in Zacatecas. I really felt that God was telling me He would open doors for me to go speak at churches this school year to raise full-time support. I still have not been invited to any churches to do this. Please invite us to your church if you believe in what our ministry is doing. We are 100% committed to planting churches in these far-off, idolatrous, lost and forgotten areas of Zacatecas. We are still in much need of support right now for Luis and for our upcoming trips in December and March. We praise the Lord again for Luis and Delfa, what an answer to prayer! The Lord may call them somewhere else in the future. For now, they are committed to discipling these folks in the villages.

Christmas & Summer mission teams
I still do not have any committed Christmas, Spring Break, or Summer mission teams. We will once again desperately need mission teams for our Christmas and summer missionary efforts. The mission teams not only help us spread the gospel in our Zacatecas area but also help finance our summer ministry/personal needs. Due to our past low monthly support we have never been at the point where we can financially do summer ministry without the teams. I again praise the Lord for the summer 2009 teams. What marvelous things they were able to accomplish for the kingdom! I invite you to see with your own eyes what God is doing in these villages this Christmas and summer. If you are considering this, the time is now to begin working on this. I am flexible with dates as subject to my full-time teaching job.
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

July 3, 2009

2009-09-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo July 3, 2009

Buenas tardes! I have a lot of awesome things to share with you. First, I would like to praise the Lord for His provision, protection, and blessing this past week with our New York team. They are now safely home and Lord willing getting some much needed rest. Thanks again NY team for all your help and great teamwork this past week! They came prepared to minister and to serve. They were a great blessing and encouragement to each and every one of us here in Zacatecas and impacted many lives for the kingdom. The Lord is fulfilling the great commission through our ministry here. We are making disciples according to Matthew 28:19 and preaching the gospel to every creature according to Mark 16:15. God is allowing us to both make disciples in Monte los Garcia and Guadalupe Victoria and evangelize new areas. Each and everyday the NY team was here we experienced the Lord´s move in different and dynamic ways. The Monday before the team got here we went to El Cargadero to ask for permission to do a VBS. The authority figure denied us the permission and very rudely let us know that they were Catholic and did not allow the freedom of other religions. I reminded him nicely that according to federal law there we were guaranteed freedom of speech. He was angered by that and basically said that he knew there was nothing he could do to stop us. The Lord had prepared us for this and so we felt compelled to go up the mountain to a small village called El Parral to ask for the same permission. Praise the Lord! It was granted us.
El Cargadero-Diana and I found a loophole to get to the kids of El Cargadero with the love of Christ. We realized that all public schools are under federal jurisdiction. We went with the group in faith to El Cargadero asking the teaches for permission to do their drama based on Lifehouse´s song Everything. We assured them that we would not preach but just share the drama and some candy. Praise the Lord! The teachers agreed. The Lord used Pastor Kevin Cole from the team to give a short EDUCATIONAL message about the drama which was well received. A young girl came up to my wife after the drama and asked her. Are you all Christians? Praise the Lord! She told us where her house was and we visited her house finding out that they were the only Christians in the village and had been persecuted by Miguel, the cathecist, for their beliefs. In fact, he is a distant family member of theirs. Hallelujah! There are Christians in Miguel´s family. He has pestered and persecuted them greatly just as he has us. However, the local priest does not like him and has tried to keep him away from El Cargadero-praise the Lord! In fact they have a church there in El Cargadero which was eager for us to do a service. On Saturday we came back and di did a service for them. We also did some evangelism seeing a few receptions to Christ and also some rejections. We went back on Monday to do a piñata and teach some volleyball. We were all impressed at how well-behaved the kids are in El Cargadero. It was a true joy working with each and everyone of them.
El Parral-Going to the village El Parral was a hit. The people there are hungry for God. In fact, some had received Christ but have not received any spiritual food. We had children, young people, and adults there. The New York team came prepared to do games and VBS´s which ALL the people got involved in, even the men. While we were there, a lady asked us to go to her house and pray for her son Arnulfo. Turns out he was from Denver, CO and had received gunshot wounds in his left leg from gang warfare. We prayed for him, shared the gospel, and he received Christ. Everyday we went a team to him to read the gospel of John while the rest of us were doing the VBS´s. Besides sending a team to read the Bible to Arnulfo we also had a team that ministered to an older man that lives in front of the tree gathering area where we did our VBS´s. This man is in his 80´s, never married, living in a one room house. We felt in our hearts to clean his house. It rained and poured which did not allow us to do the VBS´s one day. On another day, the Lord allowed the team to finish the VBS´s and then it poured. On Saturday there was a political party using the tree gathering area so we decided to go out with the evangecube and evangelize. Two of our teams shared the gospel outside of two bars. It was amazing. We were sharing the gospel to these guys while they drank beer. It was an incredible experience. In my team I had sister Cayleigh Cole who was their team leader. While we shared the gospel one particular man kept interrumpting with questions. As he asked his questions I realized that the Jehovah´s Witnesses had hounded him before. I asked him to hold his questions till the end so that he and I could discuss them with the Bible. He respected that and the men sat down their beers, took off their hats, closed their eyes and received Christ. The other evangelism teams had similar experiences. After the prayer Juan and I got out the Word and discussed such things as salvation, eternity, and end times. Praise the Lord we were able to straighten him out and he is no longer confused about such things. The people in Parral are eager for more and were asking us when we would return. We will be reorganizing our schedule to be able to make a weekly visit there the rest of the summer.
Monte los Garcia-The hard rains we experienced did not allow much extensive ministry in Monte. On Thursday night we moved our gathering into Luis´s corn grinding store-we were packed in like sardines! On Sunday morning we were able to meet a guy who had been in a gang in the USA and had been deported back to Mexico. He told us he had been living out of a car for awhile. Please pray for Raul´s salvation. Next week we will be doing a Baseball/VBS camp in Monte and the last day do a special hike to a cave which Luis will be leading. Luis continues to shown signs of spiritual growth. Last night he came to the svc with his own Bible for the first time.
Guadalupe Victoria-The team came prepared to do a volleyball camp with the youth of Guadalupe. It turned out that it rained almost every time we wanted to use the court. That didn’t stop the NY team nor the locals from at least scrimmaging. Our people were faithful as usual to our normally held services. Each Bible study group-kids, youth, and adults seem to grow each week at times losing some while gaining others. However, we are seeing who are the true and faithful. There are three certain kids that always bring their Bibles. The drama was a real hit in Guad. The court was packed. The men were particularly in a good mood that night because they had won their baseball games that day. They came down with their beer and at first were a little rowdy disturbing our Bible study groups. The most rowdy one got serious during Pastor Kevin´s message and received Christ. He got so excited that during the piñata he organized everything. The seeds we have sown in Guadalupe these 3 ½ yrs are reaping and reaping. This Tuesday we invited some of the youth to accompany us for a hike day. During that hike we managed to take the wrong road, get stuck twice in the mud and make it up a mtn road that was either on the verge of being completely washed out or full of rocks. All of the NY team and Guad youth pitched in helping get La Ballena through all of that. It was all worth it when we made it to the top and saw God´s glory. Pastor Kevin and I gave messages to the team during which I encouraged my Guad youth that God has a calling on their lives and a special place in our ministry, to utilize their talents for Christ.
Villa Hermosa-We weren´t going to go to Villa Hsa with the team but God had other plans. One day Brother Jesse got lost in the rain with La Paloma and ended up in Villa Hsa. They prayed over the village and felt like God wanted them to go back. I explained to the team what the situation was with Miguel and they strongly felt the Holy Spirit´s leading in going there. What happened there will never be forgotten by any of us. On our way Miguel saw us driving by. The roads were very slick, basically mush and La Ballena slided right into a water-filled ditch. We were stuck. The Lord sent a guy on a Burro who said he would go get a tractor to pull us out. Guess who came around the corner, Miguel with his speakers blasting. He drove by without offering any help to us, of course. Praise the Lord! God used the mud/ditch for us to know that he was coming. If we would have been there before his arrival, he would have taken advantage of the situation to blast his speakers over our little amp during the drama. We ended up doing the drama in the street instead of the volleyball court since he was still there. I had Pastor Kevin stationed and ready to go with the video camera. Once Miguel saw the video camera he ducked around the corner with his truck and cowardly parked out of sight with his Christian bashing music blaring. While there I noticed a miracle. Nobody was listening to him! The people reacted well to the drama/ministry and there were smiles on their faces as Brother Kevin made them balloons. Half of our team went to the volleyball court while the rest visited with the adults/children. Miguel finally came down and Jesse started taking pictures while another filmed. Miguel said, ¨No mas fotos.¨ Jesse said, ¨Mas fotos?¨ and took more. He went and parked down by the volleyball court with his music and nobody even gave him a glance! His pestering that day was recorded on video and can help to be used legally to press charges against him. More than anything, the people once again saw that we love them and more importantly that Christ loves them. Our prayer for Miguel is that he would receive Christ, but that if he refuses salvation that the Lord would shut his mouth.
Jerez-The Lord led us to go down to the city of Jerez to do the drama. We did it at the main plaza area and about 200 people total stopped by to watch it. Diana and I even did the heart skit as an opener and we did the group´s drama twice since more and more people kept coming. We shared the gospel and at least 5 people responded to the message. The Lord even provided a local pastor and believers to be there and be able to help point them to a local church.
Your prayers were felt this week Brothers and Sisters. Many new souls came into the kingdom this week! I hope that you are admonished, edified, and blessed by this report and are encouraged to continue on serving the Lord in your ministries with humility and passion. Love in Christ, Ben Elliott & the Sembradores de Cristo Summer 09 team

Our need to be here full team is great-I hope that you can see that. Please pray about supporting us monthly so we can get here and disciple our people full-time. Even $25/mth would help make up the difference.
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Checks in the name of Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
Address in the name of Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
% Sembradores de Cristo or Ben Elliott
Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
603 E. 17th St. Del Rio, TX 78840

July 16. 2009

2009-09-26T11:22:00.001-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo July 16, 2009

Buenas tardes hermanos. Thanks to all that have been lifting us up in prayer. Your prayers have been felt. John 6:66-67, ¨From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. You do not want to leave too, do you?¨ Between the last two weeks we have lost approximately half our congregation do to the pressure put on them by Miguel the catechist. I told our few faithful this story adding verses 68-69, ¨Simon Peter answered him, ¨Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.¨ I reminded him that Jesus had suffered the same persecution (criticism, threats, opposition) that they are suffering now. We also reminded them that we are there to teach them the truth, nothing less and if we EVER teach anything other than the true gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:3-5) than to have nothing to do with us. The few that have remained are strong (non-wavering) in their faith.
Monte los Garcia-The rains calmed down the last couple weeks, allowing us to do the baseball camp here. We started with a few and started seeing more come as the week progressed. Pastor Jared of the Illinois team did a great job teaching the camp seeing as he had to use a field that was basically full of gravel from recent construction. The kids had a great time with the group and the group came more than prepared to do the VBS portion of the camp. Even the ¨cool¨ youth boys started getting into the songs and lessons by the end of the week. During the camp week I wasn´t aware that our man of peace, Luis Ramirez, was very ill. He had been experiencing very severe kidney pain. He had missed our last services and now I knew why. A pastor friend of mine also named Luis accompanied us and he and I prayed for Luis believing for healing. We took up an offering for him to go to a good doctor in Jerez and that weekend when he went to the doctor´s office they gave him the final medicine needed. This Tuesday Luis and another sister had invited our family to their children´s elementary graduation, a special honor. Luis was walking around in high spirits-praise the Lord! I also found out from him that the day after the camp when he was still lying in bed that Miguel the catechist had came by screaming at him and his family with the loudspeaker. The Illinois team, I, and a few locals including Luis´s daughter Faviola had went on an amazing, long hike to a cave. Luis said, Ïf only I hadn´t been bedridden I would have got up and ran him off.¨ Remember that Luis is the town sheriff, praise the Lord! The other faithful sister, Yolanda, who had invited us to the graduation told us that on that day Miguel yelled at the children telling them, ¨Don´t sell out because of a baseball glove.¨ She said that the children told him to go home and that they hadn´t ¨sold out¨ because of a baseball glove but had gone to the camp because we had taught the Word of God.
Guadalupe Victoria-Miguel has really stirred up the devout, paganistic Catholics against us. Now as we walk the streets or set up for services we get dirty looks everywhere we go. We have five strong youth, adult age that continue to be faithful. My adult group has been studying the book of Genesis and wow you should see the looks on their faces when we discuss things as the age of the first humans, Noah´s ark, the creation story. We´ve been making numerous comparisons to Christ´s life and the New Testament and it´s been more than amazing seeing the scales being lifted off their eyes. There are two brothers and a girl cousin in specific that we have been spiritually nurturing for three years now. It broke our hearts like it would any pastor to see them not be able to come and still want to come. The father told me very sternly that they wouldn´t be coming back. We won´t give up praying for him and his wife´s salvation and the boys return to the church. The burnt Bibles were found between the volleyball court and their home making us believe that Miguel may have instigated that with the father. Having the Illinois team with us the day that Miguel came was a great blessing. We now have a cd of Miguel with pictures and videos reported at the state seat of religious activity of Zacatecas. They have already heard of his doings and have already forbidden him from continuing.
The Lord used the Illinois team in a mighty way. Each and everyone of the team members came willing to serve in any way possible. A few times I even sent them out to invite to the services/camps without translators and they did a wonderful job. Pastor Jared is the pastor of a young, growing congregation in Southern Illinois called The Journey. We thank the Lord for their hard work in coming down here. Three of my four summer helpers are gone now for the summer. Jeremy, Joanna, and Brenda have now returned home. Jesse went to the border to bring down a group from my home church in Oklahoma-New Covenant Fellowship. NCF will be doing a soccer camp in Guadalupe Victoria and also being teaching sewing classes. On the team are Nemi and Shalom´s grandparents, Nancy and Wayne Elliott. This will be their first visit to our Zacatecas area since we started in Nov 2005. The NCF team is also coming prepared to prayer walk the Guadalupe/Monte/Parral streets for Christ. We pray that the religious/paganistic/demonic walls will come down just like they did in Jericho .
We were able to get away for a day here in Valparaiso , Zacatecas to go to their famous hot water spring fed pools-only $1.60/person! This is a town of 15,000 that only has four churches, mainly empty where we have met a pastor with great vision for growth. Daniel had been studying to be a priest before he met the Lord. Meeting Daniel reminds me that we are not alone even though we are few. The Lord reminded the Prophet Elijah of that very thing. The Prophet Elijah had seen the vast majority of the Israelites succumb to Baal/paganism. ¨Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel-all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.¨ (1 Kings 19:18)
Your prayers were felt this week Brothers and Sisters. I hope that you are admonished, edified, and blessed by this report and are encouraged to continue on serving the Lord in your ministries with humility and passion. Love in Christ, Ben Elliott & the Sembradores de Cristo Summer 09 team
Our need to be here full team is great-I hope that you can see that. Please pray about supporting us monthly so we can get here and disciple our people full-time. Even $25/mth would help make up the difference.
Tax exempt giving
Checks in the name of Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
Address in the name of Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
% Sembradores de Cristo or Ben Elliott
Esperanza Del Rio Community Church
603 E. 17th St. Del Rio, TX 78840

July 24, 2009

2009-09-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo July 24, 2009

Greetings to you all in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ from Jerez , Zacatecas, MX. This last week we experienced a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our villages and people. Paul writes to young Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:8 “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”

God brought us a team from my home church in Oklahoma . This team did just this-suffered with us in the gospel. Even though some people in the villages have became ashamed to associate with our ministry family/team because of Miguel’s threats, the power of God is still touching their lives and is dispelling the powers of darkness that have dominated this region for centuries. God is opening our peoples eyes, allowing them to see that He is REAL-He is no object, no diosito, He does not share His glory with anyone (no saints, no virgens, no men), He is not a God of hate, He is a God of love, peace, and joy. He is a fun God, not a boring God. Hallelujah! Cristo vive!

Parral de las Huertas
I have not seen a move of God like I have been seeing in Parral de las Huertas ever before in any of the villages we have been working now during our 3 ½ yrs of ministry here. We went out to simply invite folks to a service and my group of 4 only made it to one house. There was a man there named Salvador that was telling us how he interprets dreams and sees things that others don’t. He is a tour guide to local caves and told us that he has taken sick people with him who came back recovered, he has taken unfriendly friends with him that came back best friends. Through all this, myself Sister Paula Hall, Ken Hall, and my Mom noticed that he was not giving glory to God for these things. I gave him a word warning him not to commit the same sin as Satan, Sister Paula also ministered unto him. He prayed to receive Christ, realizing that the interpretation of dreams and visions was a gift from the Lord. This young man will need a lot of discipling. He also told me that he didn’t need a Bible because he wouldn’t read it anyways, that the trees speak to him. We refocused him on God again and off the trees and mother nature and shared the scripture from Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” We explained to him that God delighted in speaking to him as he was in the trees but that He requires all of us to hear His voice from His Word. Here in Parral the Lord allowed us to have a great response. People came to Christ as His word was preached. There is a sweet, humble spirit there that I have never seen before in any place I have ever ministered. There is also a hunger for God that I have never seen. The people here participated in the songs, prayer, discussions, and invited us into their homes. The Lord used my Oklahoma group in a powerful way as they prayed over the needs of our people. Here the people asked for specific prayers. We normally run into folks who ask for general prayers-health for everyone, peace in the family, food to eat, etc. These people cried out to God with us for sicknesses and specific lost members of their family. My wife and I will continue working here the rest of the summer-going on Monday evenings.

Guadalupe Victoria
In Guadalupe Victoria we did a soccer camp and crocheting class. Mama Nancy was kind of nervous about doing the class knowing that many of these women are already pros. Hallelujah, they had a wonderful time of fellowship with the women. We were blessed this week that some family members of two of our disciples that are believers were there to visit this week from California . Miguel Munoz, a precious brother in Christ, from Oklahoma that is originally from Guadalajara , Jalisco area was with us to help Jesse with the soccer camp. The kids had a great time and the Lord used my wife with the children in an amazing way during the Bible time as always. One of the evenings that we were in Monte de los Garcia Miguel the catechist came through with his speakers, blaring against the Christians (separated believers) as usual. He went to one of the houses where he is received and that person told him that his Uncle Victor was in town from California . Praise the Lord, Miguel turned off his speakers and high-tailed out of Guadalupe. According to Brother Victor there are now at least 6 believers amongst Miguel’s family. Miguel hates them for it but recognizes they are his family. We will not cease to pray for his salvation! I kept trying to invite two of our boys over to the soccer camp but when I would wave that we run around the corner. It felt like a sword was piercing me right through (I really love those boys)-apparently Miguel has told them that he will send them the curse of the Archangel if they even wave back. Our team members experienced similar rejection as they went out to invite folks. People would run away, lock their doors, simply not come to the doors, etc. It was kind of comical that as Brother Ken Hall was going to invite one older man that he started running and realized that he couldn’t get away from them because of a bad leg apparently and so just gave up and sat under a tree with a sad expression looking away from them. More and more men are warming up to me even amidst the opposition. They have been inviting me to their baseball games on Sundays for a while now. I just haven’t been able to go due to our busy church schedule. It worked out that this Sunday I will be able to go to a game at 3:00 -a time between our two Sunday services.

Monte de los Garcia
Brother Luis Ramirez is feeling much better now. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers. We’re really starting to have a steady group of faithful believers who come to the services. A few are beginning to faithfully bring their “Biblias” including Luis. His wife is still not coming around but will be there soon. On Tuesday the rains came strong and Luis quickly invited us to his old store building-the one we began having our services last year as some may remember. We packed into that place like sardines and wow the Lord visited that little place. Every song, every testimony, every prayer had been orchestrated by our Heavenly Father since before our time had begun. Even Luis’s wife stuck around, not participating but was present. Brother Miguel shared his story, how he had went to seminary to prepare to be a priest, got “asked” to leave, and later found Christ in the United States .

Due to the heated spiritual battle we experienced this week, at least 3 of our members got sick. They all had to sit out a day of ministry but the Lord lifted their spirits and they pressed on. We also had some extreme weather changes from super sunny weather to cold temperatures brought on by the rain. Shalom and I caught the tail end of it and we are taking it easy. Thanks again for covering our health in prayer. My Dad was especially blessed because our base house and men’s house had ripe figs this week-it was one of his desire to eat figs in Mexico like he used to eat growing up in Arizona . Praise the Lord for His many blessings!

Urgent need
I will be sharing about a special need in a separate e-mail. Please take the time to look at this need and pray about responding. We really believe God has opened an important door for our continued ministry in the area.

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

Tax exempt giving

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

August 7, 2009

2009-09-26T11:20:00.001-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo August 7, 2009

“Ke-Kwak” from Colotlan, Jalisco. That means “hola” in the Huichol language and I’m sure I spelled it wrong. This newsletter will be our last to be sent out my brothers and sisters from our Zacatecas area this summer 2009. We will be trekking it back to the border on Wednesday.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." This Psalm has been so true to me so many times in my life and throughout the years of our ministry. Yesterday, we had an unforgettable experience. My wife, Brother Jesse, and myself all had the desire to one day visit the area where the Huichol Native Americans live (La Sierra Madre Occidental). The Lord gave us that experience yesterday when we least expected it. I had promised Diana a trip to Colotlan, Jalisco, a town 2 hrs south of our area. We had heard of some tours to certain waterfalls in the area. It turns out that there are no waterfalls this year due to the lack of rain. The travel agent told us of another place called Bolanos within moderate driving distance with normal Mexican tourism (Catholic cathedrals dating back to the 16th century, great food, and beautiful scenery). When we arrived at the town we saw hundreds of the Huichol people. The Huichol people as a tribe number in the 20,000’s. They are migrating to cities in our area such as Zacatecas city, Jerez , and Colotlan to sell their jewelry, artisans, etc. They are even some who live in our base village, Palmas Altas. It turns out that a local tour guide took us to their village way up in the high mountains-pine trees everywhere. The experience was amazing seeing how and where they live-in individual houses traditionally built of stone or adobe with grass-thatched roofs. There is no electricity, running water. To cook, everyone shares a central fire/kitchen. At the same time, it was also a heartbreaking experience. The great majority of the men are alcoholics. The government has tried to help them out with education, infrastructure. The same men we saw in Bolanos had been waiting for their pay from the government for going back to Junior High School. As soon as they received the check they spent it on booze. Most of the women are ashamed of their culture and will neither smile nor talk to you. Some are not allowed to teach you any words in their language and most will not allow you to take a picture of them. We have heard of a missionary near our area that is working with the Huicholes who has won a few converts for Christ. His convert’s houses were burned for having converted and are now living with him at another location. In their religious beliefs they perform various rituals one including the sacrifice of bulls to their gods. They, as do many cultures, have a flood story which consists of a certain dog saving them from the flood in a particular cave. To learn about the Huichol people go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huichol. Jesus said, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” We must pray for these people that the Holy Spirit will open up their hearts to the gospel and that people from their own tribe will be converted and in turn win their own people for Christ. We see these people on a regular basis as I mentioned earlier. Our hearts are broken for them even more now that we’ve seen their origins. The need for the gospel in our area of south Zacatecas is great just as it is in northern Jalisco-whole cities without one single Christian church (Mexican and Huichol). It seems overwhelming at times; therefore, we must continue seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our ministry. God has called us not only to evangelize but to disciple, which is exactly what we have attempted to do this summer in the villages. We must obediently seek to fulfill the great commission in our area friends no matter what the cost may be. There are too many lost people dying without hope. We must point them to their one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. Last week we were greatly blessed by the visit from a group from Kentucky who held a conference for Baptist pastors and missionaries/families. It was great to receive spiritually after constantly giving. They have adopted Southern Zacatecas , committing to evangelize the area. It was a blessing to be able to help translate for them and at the same time connect to them and other pastors in the area. They have been holding this conference for a few years now and will continue holding it. They not only gave us great pastoral training but left us with useful material. We thank the Lord for their work and commitment to flooding Zacatecas with the gospel.
Parral de las Huertas
We are continually blessed by the Lord’s work in Parral de las Huertas. Many of the people have opened their hearts to learn more of God’s Word. The people here continue to be simple minded and humble hearted. We now have electricity for our services because a lady who lives next door to the “Huizachito” tree is allowing us to plug in. This past week we played a Jesus film called “La Esperanza” there that the Kentucky group gave us and there were a few decisions for Christ. We are starting to see a group of a few faithful women and one certain man. Not many children have continued but every week different men have been showing up. I presented Pastor Luis from Jerez to the people and they have received him well. We look forward to seeing God’s continued work in this place. Continue surrounding this place in your prayers, that the Lord will not allow the cathecist from entering and snatching up the seeds that have been sown.
Guadalupe Victoria
This past Sunday we had 0 attendance at the volleyball court. There was a rodeo which made me think that that had been the reason for the absence of our people. It was the reason for some but there were others among our faithful group that were out of town that day. It was definitely a hard experience for us because it had never happened before. It made us appreciate those missionaries who experience that on a regular basis. On Wednesday, however, we showed the movie and everyone was back plus a few more who were just passing by. In this particular village, we continue running into family members living in California who visit. We preach the gospel to them as well believing seeds will be sown in the U.S. The Lord is beginning to open my daughter’s heart and eyes to spiritual realities. On Wednesday they were having one of their pilgrimages with the idols-in particular this time because of the lack of rain-and Shalom ran down to Diana saying, “Tengo miedo de la virgen.” I’m scared of the virgen. Praise the Lord! At the age of 4 the Lord is filling her with spiritual discernment. We explained to her afterwards, of course, that she shouldn’t be afraid of the virgen (idol) or any of the other idols because greater is He is who that is in her than who that is in this world.
Monte de los Garcia
I gave a teaching on water Baptism to the three faithful adults in my adult Bible study. They as well as two young adults from Guadalupe Victoria said they were not ready for that, that they needed to learn more. After that, two of the three haven’t came back. They told their husbands about it and were told not to go back-that it was okay for them to go and listen but that Brother Benjamin had gone too far. I had simply explained the basics of the doctrine of Baptism as it pertains to scripture, being an obedient step and identification with Christ and had left them with the scriptures for further study. I gave the invitation to be baptized without any pressure. As a result, however, these two women are not allowed to come back. We must pray brothers and sisters. We must pray for these women and their husbands. Their names are Yolanda and Rosa Maria. We are now down to 5 faithful. There are 3 girls, 1 boy, and Brother Luis. The kids didn’t stay for “La Esperanza” very long on Tuesday and Brother Jesse and I begin to wonder if we should turn it off since Brother Luis wasn’t coming over. He had told me that he had to practice the saxophone with his jamboree band and then he would come over. He still hasn’t made the decision to put Christ first in his life over other things. Just when Jesse and I were about to turn it off, there comes Luis with his two band buddies. Hallelujah! They showed up at right about the crucifixion part. Last week the same thing had happened. Luis showed up late but brought the two men that had been working with him right over to the service. The Lord is using him without him realizing it.
Urgent need/monthly support
I have heard back from one individual concerning our great need for more monthly support not only for Pastor Luis but for our intention in going full-time. We are still way short of where we need to be. I have not heard back from any individual, church, etc concerning visiting their church, home with the purpose of support raising. Please e-mail me if there is such an opportunity. Feel free to share my e-mail address with any brothers/sisters in Christ and/or forward them our newsletters. As far as Pastor Luis goes, he has been explained that at this point we cannot promise him the funds he would need to go to the villages. He has made the decision in faith to go anyways even without the security of the funds being there. He and his wife Delfa have been precious to us not only in their loving service for the king but as spiritual, loving parents to our family. Please e-mail me if you wish to make a donation towards the need to support them through either December ($2,000) or June ($4,000).

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

Special thanks & summer 09 closure

2009-09-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo August 14, 2009,

Praise the Lord! We made it back safely to the border thanks to the help of the Alabama team and Brother Jesse. I got hit hard by a bad spell of vomit, extreme headache, amongst other things the night before travel almost not allowing me to travel with the team back to the border on Wednesday. God helped me survive the trip back with the team/family thus avoiding having to bus back to the border by myself later. Last night I sent out an e-mail with this summer ministry’s pictures. Please take time to look through and be blessed by Sembradores Summer Zacatecas 09 ministry, group ministry, locals/disciples, summer missionaries and beautiful Zacatecas/northern Jalisco scenery pictures. Pictures 13 & 71 will show summer missionary staff/volunteers Jesse Chaffen, Jeremy Payne, Joanna Magana, and Brenda Limones. Picture 19 will show a picture of the catechist so that you can pray for him and picture 120 will show Pastor Luis Aleman and his wife Delfa with your servants. During our last few days in Zacatecas we were able to make a smooth transition for Pastor Luis and Delfa Aleman in Parral de las Huertas, Monte de los Garcia, and Guadalupe Victoria. You can join us in prayer for their weekly ministry schedule:
Sunday 6:00 P.M-Parral de las Huertas
Tuesday 6:00 P.M-Monte de los Garcia
Wednesday 6:00 P.M-Guadalupe Victoria

The Elliott family would like to first give thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His many blessings this summer. None of this summer’s ministry would have been possible without His blessing, provision, direction, and guidance. We would also to give a special thanks to all of those who contributed to this summer’s ministry be it by prayer, financial, or by personal sacrifice/ministry. I will do my best to remember all participants. If I leave you out know that you are appreciated.

Special thanks

Restroom/shower materials-Monthly supporters, New Covenant Fellowship, Linda Lumpkin, & Chuck Fountain & church
Summer finances-Monthly supporters, New Covenant Church , New Covenant Fellowship, Cayleigh Cole NY team, The Journey Church, Stewart family
15 passenger van “La Ballena” + related costs-Chris & Jessica Goninan, Cayleigh Cole NY team, and The Journey Church
Power generator-WIDE Ministries It had been loaned to us for summer ministry but has been now donated to the ministry and is in Zacatecas.
Digital camera-Chuck Beasley
Musical instruments/sound equipment-Scott Pontzer, Leigh Sigler
Volleyball equipment-Cayleigh Cole NY team & The Journey Church
Baseball equipment-Kenneth White
Bibles-Caleb & Lydia Bissett
Summer lodging/hospitality/restroom construction-Garcia & Carrillo families Zac
Summer volunteer/staff missionaries-Jesse Chaffen, Jeremy Payne, Joanna Magana, and Brenda Limones + their individual churches/supporters
Summer missionary teams-Cayleigh Cole NY team, The Journey Church, New Covenant Fellowship, and Kenneth White

Muchas gracias! Remember that I am available to visit your church/home on weekends to share our vision/work in Zacatecas since this year we will concentrate on fund raising to go full-time. We will also need to be working on a team for Christmas break and summer 2010 mission teams. Please e-mail me A.S.A.P if interested to start working on that now. Dios les bendiga, Benjamin Elliott & Sembradores de Cristo family

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

Summer 09 pics

2009-09-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Sembradores Summer 09 pics

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=7xspmfvx.9wot6i9h&x=0&y=-ve3mtf&localeid=en_US

September 12, 2009

2009-09-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Sembradores de Cristo September 12, 2009

“Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem , and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15) A great multitude was coming against Judah and King Jehosophat had set himself and the people of Judah to fasting and seeking the Lord. God responded to King Jehosophat and the people’s cries. He caused the Ammonites and the Moabites to destroy the inhabitants of Mount Seir and then caused the Ammonites and the Moabites to destroy one another. Over and over again God showed himself powerful to his people. The generations of Israelites learned the same lesson over and over, to trust God no matter how outnumbered they were in the battle, no matter how big the giant was. Even when the situation seemed impossible God would respond. The battle is the Lord’s my brothers! “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)
The week before we left Zacatecas in August the people had began to take out their idols to walk up the mountain roads crying out for rain. They have been doing these idol pilgrimage processions for centuries now. It had not rained for a week-remember that these folks are dependent on rain from heaven for the crops since there is no irrigation available (rivers or required technology). Pastor Luis told the people to stop crying out to the idols that have eyes but don’t see, ears but don’t hear, and mouths that don’t speak but to cry out to God in the name of Jesus for rain. The men, women, and children present in Parral de las Huertas cried out to God with a loud voice. BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM! The thunder sounded as lightning begin to penetrate the skies. It rained so hard that they had to go into a next door house for the rest of the service. That next week, one of the same woman who had refused to come to service before and was one of the leaders of the idol pilgrimage procession was there waiting for Luis and Delfa under the Huizachito tree. It begin to rain again and when Luis suggested for them to move the service to Sister Francisca’s house again this lady and others said, “No, we asked Him for this rain so here we must stay.” Therefore, they did the rest of the service in the open air with only the small Huizachito tree as cover. It didn’t only rain in Parral de las Huertas, but also in Guadalupe Victoria, Monte de los Garcia, and Palmas Altas where it was also greatly needed.
Parral de las Huertas
As already mentioned, Luis and Delfa are witnesses of God’s response to the people’s prayers and willingness to put away their idols and cry out to Him in His name. Many people only believed in Jesus because of the signs and miracles He performed. We are seeing this happen in Parral. We have preached the gospel to them, we have shown love to them, and we have taught them. Some came to Christ when we preached the gospel to them, the Holy Spirit prompting them to believe in Him and in Him alone. Others are receiving Christ now that they have seen the rain. We praise the Lord my brothers! He is doing the work. He is drawing all men unto Himself in Parral de las Huertas. Luis and Delfa continue to give uplifting reports of God’s work in Parral. We are still having Sunday night services at the Huizachito tree and going to Sister Francisca’s house when it rains. One particular man named Alejandro has a son that had a lip problem. Sister Paula and Ken Hall and team prayed for him when they came in July. The lip was not healed in that moment but all of the team felt that the Lord was giving Alejandro assurance that his scheduled operation would go smoothly. Praise the Lord! The operation went great. Since then, Alejandro has been more faithful than ever even bringing his girlfriend to service. He told Luis that he will be moving to Jerez (the nearby city where Luis lives) and that he didn’t want to lose contact with him, recognizing his need for discipleship. Luis is going to begin discipling Alejandro and another young man from Guadalupe in his home.
Guadalupe Victoria
Most of you who have been following our work this summer in Guadalupe Victoria were aware of the intense spiritual battles we endured there. By the way, Miguel the catechist has yet to bother Luis this whole month. Nor was Luis was ever there during any of Miguel’s rude interruptions this summer. Only a woman named Horalia and her daughter have remained faithful now. Therefore, Luis and Delfa have moved the services to Horalia’s home. Two particular women who we have attempted to disciple over the years gave Luis and Delfa a little trouble recently. Some may remember that we held a Bible study in a home summer 2008. It did not work out because the sister would not pay attention to the Word of God. Unfortunately, she is very distracted by many things one of them being the material. Sister Paula gave the women a word on the story of Mary and Martha in July during the sewing classes emphasizing the need to put the spiritual things first over the multitude of physical things that women have to daily attend to. Even during that word, this women and her mother struggled to pay any attention whatsoever. They basically accused Luis and Delfa of being able to snatch one of our vehicles away from us. We left them “La Paloma” for ministry use. We had explained this to the people but you know how the enemy works using anything such as a van to cause people not to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. Please pray for these two women, that they will repent of their materialistic spirit and begin to humble themselves before the Lord. As mentioned earlier, Luis will also be discipling a young man named Mario who gave his life to Christ this summer. He is studying high school in Jerez and will need a place to fellowship/be discipled.
Monte de los Garcia
We continue to hold services at the volleyball court. Brother Luis Ramirez has been busy lately with political activities. Remember that he is the village sheriff. Pastor Luis will begin to disciple Luis in his home. We are really believing that his wife will give her life to Christ soon. The same children continue to be faithful as well as one couple, praise the Lord!
Urgent need/monthly support
I have not given up on my belief/faith in God’s calling of my family into full-time ministry in Zacatecas. I really felt that God was telling me He would open doors for me to go speak at churches this school year to raise full-time support. Until now, that has not happened. Please invite us to your church if you believe in what our ministry is doing. We are 100% committed to planting churches in these far-off, idolatrous, lost and forgotten areas of Zacatecas. We are still in much need of support right now for Luis and for our upcoming trips in December and March. We praise the Lord again for Luis and Delfa, what an answer to prayer! The Lord may call them somewhere else in the future. For now, they are committed to discipling these folks in the villages.
Website
We are finally going to have a website for our ministry. One of the sisters from New York that came this summer will be flying out here to help us make this website. Please pray for the Lord’s blessing on this endeavor. I will send out a newsletter once we have this website up and running.
Christmas & Summer mission teams
We will once again desperately need mission teams for our Christmas and summer missionary efforts. The mission teams not only help us spread the gospel in our Zacatecas area but also help finance our summer ministry/personal needs. Due to our past low monthly support we have never been at the point where we can financially do summer ministry without the teams. I again praise the Lord for the summer 2009 teams. What marvelous things they were able to accomplish for the kingdom! I invite you to see with your own eyes what God is doing in these villages this Christmas and summer. If you are considering this, the time is now to begin working on this. I am flexible with dates as subject to my full-time teaching job.
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

2009-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sembradores de Cristo newsletters blog. Please take the time to read these and pray for our ministry. God bless, Brother Ben Elliott