Paul said it this way, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” Acts 20:23.
Here in Colombia, Julie and I are not moved by the spiritual opposition nor the hardships. We don’t count our lives so dear. We are running our race with joy. No matter what comes or goes we have set our hearts to complete the ministry Jesus has given us. SHM is out of the gate and running strong this year. We are striving to be like Secretariat and win a triple crown. A 2017 triple crown will look like:
1. Thousands saved in four citywide Evangelistic campaigns
2. Successfulstart and completion of Launch Pad, our first school of ministry
3. Rescuing and serving 200children through the Soy De Aqui children’s foundation
In reality it’s a quadruple crown because our local community of believers, Famigos de San Nicolas, continues growing numerically and spiritually. Our 1st race,Launch Pad school of ministry, will begin on February 25th.
The first lap of our 2nd race is the 2017 citywide Evangelistic campaign. Itbegins in March. We have been making trips to the location God has placed on our hearts. He has opened doors to the city. We now have connection and cooperation with some local pastors. Next week we begin working on permits for the 3-day event and the contract to rent a 3,000 seat coliseum. Please pray for this.
Regarding our 3rd race, which is the Soy De Aqui children’s foundation in Alto Bonito, we’ve posted photos of the recent evangelistic children’s party. On January 15, the last day of Christmas vacation, we provided: a bounce house, free games, activities, a Christian concert, and food to over 500 adults and children. We gave 280 very nice gifts to the children. I preached a salvation message entitled, “God’s Greatest Gift”. We prayed with everyone (600 plus) to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! Now we are working to provide 200 children with a scripture based values curriculum for K5-10th grade. This will be taught during the after school program.
We didn’t yet reach our full goal for the special year end fund drive but that’s ok. We are super thankful to all who gave in December and very grateful to God for the extra $8,000.00 that was given. The extra funds completely covered the one month children’s vacation program, our children’s evangelistic event, and offset extra year end ministry, as well as travel and administrative expenses. We will continue running our races this year believing God each step of the way.
We are excited. Thank you so much for running with us. 2017 is shaping up to be our greatest year ever. Together we can do it!
