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Church Planting Seminar a Week Away

October 3, 2011 in Maya, Ministry, Prayer by Dave | 1 comment

As I’ve mentioned in a prior post, to date, no coordinated effort has been made by the Assemblies of God of Yucatán to plant churches directed at reaching the Maya-speaking population of the Yucatan peninsula, but soon that’s all about to change.

Next Tuesday, October 11th, we kick off our church planting seminar in coordination with Cruzadas Estudiantiles of Mexico, Power to Change of Canada and the Assemblies of God District of Yucatán. We’ll be working together with 12 pastors and a team of two church planters to direct our efforts toward planting Maya-speaking works in the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo. Our goal is that at the end of a year’s time, 12 new missions will be running, doing their part in God’s plan to redeem the Maya people.

We’re excited and confident that the road-tested program and the months of planning will pay off, but at the same we’re keenly aware of our need for God’s presence to guide and direct us. For that reason, we’re appealing to you. Please take a few moments and pray:

  1. For the safe arrival of all of the participants before the seminar and safe travel throughout as we tour various church planting sites.
  2. For the tangible presence of God and a keen awareness of His voice throughout our meetings.
  3. For an openness among the pastors and church planters to new ideas and new ways of doing ministry.
  4. For an honest evaluation of the program and a meaningful, culturally relevant application of its principle ideas.
  5. For communication of the information being passed on, that clear understanding would lead to decisive action.

Thanks for your support, and be looking to hear from us next week during the event!

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A Team is About to be Formed!

August 8, 2011 in Language, Maya, Prayer by Dave | 2 comments

Although, according to the 2010 census, 47% of the population of the state Yucatan reports living in a Mayan household, to date, no coordinated effort has been made to plant churches specifically focused on reaching the Maya speaking population. Since the spring, we’ve been telling you about the efforts that we have made to see church planting among the Maya reach priority status here in the Yucatan. In the last few months, we’ve seen advancements and some setbacks, but now, we are able to share with you that we are on the verge of naming the team that will spearhead what we believe can become a church planting movement!

We are thankful for the efforts of our District Missions Director, Abel Can, who saw the need and saught to make this project a part of his ministry portfolio for the next two years. We’re also thankful for the collaboration of the District Coordinator of Ministry to Ethnic Groups, Miriam Pech, who has been leading the search in the recent months for qualified candidates. With the help of these individuals, two Maya speaking pastors have been found. Following training, these men will lead up a program of training and evangelization that will give local churches the tools and guidance that they need to mother indigenous works throught the state.

Nevertheless, while we’re thankful for the progress, we understand that this effort must be undertaken through continued prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, we are making this appeal. Would you pray:

  • That God would especially equip these candidates with the giftings required to undertake this work.
  • That pastors would catch the vision and provide opportunity to the team to work and plant Maya speaking congregations in their area.
  • That the Maya people that we seek to reach would respond to the presentation of the gospel in their own language.

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Evangelistic Outreach This Saturday!

July 13, 2011 in Ministry, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

This Saturday, the 28 students from my Practical Evangelism class, together with a host of doctors, orthodontists, and stylists are planning a targeted evangelistic outreach to the community of Oxcum, Yucatán. In this town known for problems with drug addiction and alcoholism, the class elected to assist Ruben Sanguino, the leader of the Assemblies of God mission, as he looks to bring tangible proof of God’s love to his community.

Starting at 9:00 AM we will be setting up a social outreach designed to bring medical and dental attention as well as address hygiene concerns. Following the outreach the people will be given the opportunity to respond to God’s love through evangelistic services that will be held on the site in the evening.

Pray with us won’t you?

  • Pray for good weather. We are in the middle of the rainy season, and rain could suspend the event or limit the number of people that we would able to impact.
  • Pray for unity among the students and volunteers that will be participating in the event. May they see the love of God in us in the way we interact with one another on site.
  • Pray for those who will attend, that even now they would begin to sense the need in their hearts.
  • Pray finally that we all will be sensitive to what God would have us do, before, during, and following the event.

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New Leadership for the Yucatan

May 31, 2011 in Ministry, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

New Leadership for the Yucatan Last week was our District Convention, a pivotal convention in which new leadership was elected. Our former superintendent was forced to step down because of term limits, leaving the convention to vote for another to take his place. I appreciate those who committed to praying for the selection process.

Of course, the selection is just the beginning. It is important to have the right person in place, but it is even more important the the right person do the right thing after having taken office. Therefore, I submit to you the list of the current leadership of the Yucatan District. These are the people with whom we have the privilege of working side by side to see God’s will be done in this state as it is in Heaven.

District Superintendent: Tomás Vera
District Secretary: Raúl Sánchez
District Treasurer: Felipe Sabido

Regional Presbyters:
West: Juan Hau
South: Rosendo Cabrera
East: Amelio Águila
North: Manuel Diaz
Central: Fernando Moctezuma

Missions Director: Abel Can
Coordinator of Ministry to Ethnic Groups: Miriam Pech
Christian Education Director: Jorge Canto
Evangelism President: Moises Diaz
Spiritual Retreat Coordinator: Willer Pompeyo

Would you take a moment and lift these leaders up in prayer? Pray that God would give them a vision for the work. Pray for wisdom as they carry out their duties, and pray for blessing and protection for them and for their families.

In Search of Workers

April 12, 2011 in Maya, Ministry, Prayer, Progress by Dave | Permalink

A picture of our STL vehicle in downtown Tunkas. More on why we were there later.Lately I’ve been traveling. I’ve been two hours to the east, and twice on 2+ hour trips to the south of Yucatán. My goal? It’s to find workers.

In the last print edition of our newsletter, I mentioned the organization, Power to Change, which is looking to bring the Jesus Film Project to the Yucatan. In this program, a team of two will visit churches to train action teams who will project the Jesus Film in the Maya language with the goal of planting a church within one month. The program is well defined and has produced some tremendous results all over the world, but the fact is that programs do not run themselves. They are only as good as the workers who take part in its execution.

For this reason, over the past two months, I’ve visited sectional meetings of pastors in order to promote the goal of partnering together to reach the Mayan culture. Through this promotion, I hope to find this team of two who can take the reins of this project and continue the work of evangelism among this marginalized people group. Not only will it require those who can speak the language, but it also calls for a special missionary vision to reach people throughout the state of Yucatan and beyond.

Would you pray with us? Pray that qualified, potential workers will respond. Pray as well that we will have God’s mind as our team selects those who will be trained to make up this Jesus Film Team.

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A Critical Moment for Mexico

November 21, 2010 in Mexico, Prayer by Dave | Permalink

As you may know, this year is very significant for Mexico as a nation. Not only is it the 200th anniversary of it’s independence from Spain, it is also the 100th anniversary of the Revolution, the event which liberated the country from the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and initiated its tumultuous journey to its current condition. The modern Mexico now finds itself at a crossroads. Plagued by the double threat of drugs and corruption, it fights an uphill battle toward progress and tranquility, words that are seldom heard in the headlines that daily remind us of its stark reality.

As a fellowship too, the Assemblies of God finds itself at a crossroads. As we stand at the threshold of our upcoming General Council, to be held here in Mérida, we are charged with the task of electing new leadership. Daniel de Los Reyes, our current General Superintendent has reached the end of his term and, because of term limits, he is unable to seek reelection. Also, up for election are the positions of General Secretary and General Treasurer. Realistically, this may mean a complete change in leadership as we enter this new century in the history of the nation which we are called to serve.

It is our desire, as we face this critical junction as a fellowship and as a nation, that you would join with us as a missionary body as we pray for God’s will to be done in the proceedings of this important meeting. Our Area Director, David Greco, said it well when quoting from the book of Proverbs, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Therefore, we ask you to join us as we pray that His hand would be evident and that His guidance would be tangible with every decision made and in every vote that is cast.

We believe that in the face of the current adversity our fellowship has a critical role to play. It is our desire therefore that at the end of this council we will be able to say that we are better prepared than ever to accept that role and fulfill the mission that God has called us to undertake.

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I just have to tell you…

October 22, 2010 in Devotional, Prayer by Dave | 1 comment

As we have been here in Costa Rica, we have been blessed to pick up where we left off with some of our old friends. We´ve had the chance to catch up with former teachers, language helpers, and missionaries alike. But none of our encounters have been as sweet as the blessing that we received two days ago.

Rosa Maria Villalobos or ¨Rosita¨ as we called her, was the teacher who helped me through my cultural integration project. As we were here in 2005-06 she was caring for her ailing husband. His condition was a frequent topic of prayer and concern during our classes and chapels. He had been stricken with a brain tumor and had been given a terrible prognosis. Even after an operation in Mexico, he was told that the cancer had metastasized and invaded his body. In fact, as late as last month, we had been told that the medicine that he had been taking and the surgery that he had undergone had left him unable to even eat.

Imagine our surprise, however, when we had been told the he had completely recovered! Rosita visited the school this last Wednesday when Kelly overheard her speaking to one of the other employees about her husband´s condition. Knowing that we had been praying for him, Kelly had her come and tell me the news. According to the most recent scans, the cancer, which the doctors had said had spread through his body, was gone! He was recovering rapidly and was regaining the use of his jaw which had been disabled because of the operation. In fact, they had planned to treat the weakened muscles with Botox which will not only strengthen his face, but leaving him looking younger as well! The only further treatment recommended at the time was that he was to chew gum in order to continue to excercise the muscles needed to chew his food.

So rejoice with us as we celebrate this answer to prayer. I hope that it serves as an encouragement to you that the God that we serve is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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Almost…

July 22, 2010 in Prayer, Progress by Dave | Permalink

A friend of mine likes to describe soccer as a game in which something almost happens. If you had a chance to watch or listen to the recent World Cup tournament, you might have an idea of what he means:

A drive starts deep in the team’s own territory. The ball is moved up steadily through the backfield. Passes are made to advance across the midfield to the opposing team’s territory. Then, an attacker advances ahead, centers the ball to a teammate and the kick is made. The ball speeds closer and closer toward the goal. The goalie leaps to trap it, but it sails just past his outstretched hand. The crowd stands to its feet to cheer as the ball sails… just wide of the goal. Instead of a shout of jubilation a collective “Ohhh!” is heard. The team had almost scored a goal.

As we near the end of our time here in the States, our experience has been somewhat reminiscent of this scene. However, for us, it’s not been a trophy that we’ve been shooting for, but our visas. We had been told that all was ready and that we would be receiving them soon, but new complications have arisen taking a bit of wind out of our sails. We stood to our feet to cheer, only to watch as our efforts have still sailed wide of the goal. We still stand almost ready to leave for Mexico.

We appreciate it then if you would stand with us in prayer regarding this item. Pray for us that our visa complications will be resolved soon, and that, with visas in hand, we’ll be able to make plans for our departure. We understand that our departure date is still almost two months away, but we need to begin to make preparations now so that we don’t have to make last minute ticket purchases.

So pray with us that our visas will be delivered–that our shot on goal will hit the mark, that we won’t have to stay almost ready to to return to the field.

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…your Father knows what you need…

July 8, 2010 in Prayer by Dave | 1 comment

This post was intended to be a prayer request. We had been several months without our visas as they had been trapped in the renewal process since November of last year. An oversight on our part, coupled with a complete change in the visa process had held up their renewal long past the month expected wait time. As we have been here in the US itinerating, that delay had been a mere annoyance, but now, as that time draws to a close, our need for those visas has become much more urgent.

Imagine then my shock when, after sending in additional documentation and paying all our fees, I receive an email saying that our expediter has yet to receive our visas that I was to have sent to him to be renewed! This was unwelcome news indeed; not only were our visas delayed, now it was possible that they had been lost!

This post was to be written to ask for prayer for this difficult process, that our visas would be found and that they would arrive soon. However, instead of sending that prayer request, I have the pleasure of posting a praise report! Just this week, we received word that a mistake had been made. Our visas, though delayed had not been lost. Furthermore, we would be receiving them in a matter of days.

So it seems as though we have an real-life example of Matthew 6:8 in process. Even before we had asked for prayer, our Father knew that we had need of our visas in order to return to Mexico. So rejoice with us! We have one less hurdle to jump on our way back to the field!

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A Reason to Pray

May 4, 2010 in Prayer, Progress, Thanks by Dave | 3 comments

If you needed a reason to pray for your itinerating missionaries, this weekend surely made our need all the more apparent as torrential rain and floodwaters nearly stranded us in the state of Tennessee on Saturday.

We were travelling from Dalton, GA to Caruthersville, MO, returning from services in Georgia and a family reunion in South Carolina. We were on our way back to Missouri on Saturday morning via I-24 and I-40 with hopes to spend a leisurely afternoon with the Titus family, pastors of Caruthersville First, before holding services the next day in the Kennett section of the Southern Missouri District.

Things progressed as expected until just after lunchtime as we reached the Murfreesboro area. As we continued west, the skies opened up soaking the roads and slowing our momentum to 40 miles per hour at times on 70 mile per hour freeways. This kept up for at least an hour, finally breaking as we passed through Nashville. However, just as we thought that the worst was over, our progress ground to a halt in front of a river that had overflowed it’s banks and now crossed the entire highway.

The next two hours were spent in a number of switchbacks as we looked for a suitable detour. We traveled across US-70 through the flooded Dickson and then onto Waverly, where the river had virtually cut off that town from the highway. We crossed the water to travel down route 13 only to be turned back again 4 miles from rejoining I-40. We drove back to US-70 then and on to route 641 where we were finally able to regain I-40 and continue our forward progress toward the boot heel of Missouri.

As we looked to the right and the left of the roadways, everything seemed to be underwater–houses, businesses, churches and farms. The water was everywhere and seemingly in everything. By the time that we made it through Dyersburg and across the Mississippi it was well after 8:00 PM, and we were overjoyed to have reached Missouri and our journey’s end.

As we traveled, there were moments when I doubted that we would be able to make it through. I second guessed our decisions to continue, thinking perhaps that it might have been safer to stop and attempt forward progress at a later time. However, after spending a stormy night in the hotel in Missouri, I was confident that the urgency that I had felt to press on was well founded. The situation only got worse the following day in Tennessee.

So I am thankful that God had His hand upon us, guiding us through. And I am grateful for the prayers of those who stand behind us, as much during our itineration as during our time on the field. We appreciate this much needed support!

Still, as I am glad to be home to tell my tale, my heart goes out to the many who weren’t able to escape the flooding–those who lost possessions, homes, even loved ones to the raging waters. One quote from a news story read, “I know God doesn’t give us more than we can take, but I’m at my breaking point.” As you pray for us, please lift up these who are now suffering in the devastation through which we were guided this past Saturday.

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