Rain, Roof, and Families May 30, 2010

Rain, rain, and more... 

We ask your prayers for El Salvador and the region.  Tropical Storm Agatha has hit hard and again, the country has suffered damage and there are still risks of flash flooding, and landslides, many live in high-risk areas.  Camilo and I are currently in San Salvador, because we do not have access to Ojos de Agua due to landslides on both sides of the mountain.  We hope to return home tomorrow (Monday).

Also pray for Guatemala, Pacaya Volcano south of Guatemala City erupted, many have died and there has been, obviously a lot of damage to the surrounding area. 

Family Week

We are planning a special week for families in the community. From Tuesday until Sunday (June 1-6), we will be holding special talks about seeking harmony in family relationships.  The pastoral team of Camilo, Heber, Cindy and Mercedes will be sharing topics Tuesday - Friday and Pastor Rolando Sanchez from Canaveral, Honduras will be preaching on Saturday and Sunday.  The evenings will also include, videos, and special music.  We ask for your prayers for the event, and that lives will be touched.


Roof construction begins

Two weeks ago the roof materials were delivered and work began!  Camilo has been welding, Pastor Heber painting the steel beams, bricks are being laid, and brothers and sisters from church have arrived to volunteer their time to help in anyway they can. We are thankful for the donations and for a recent donation by Carlos Garcia owner of the store where we purchased the roof materials. He has donated a window, ceiling, and door for the room that will serve as an office. The rains of this past week have suspended work, as soon as we dry out a bit work will get going again. We appreciate your continued prayers for this project.

March - April - May 2010 Update

A message from Pastor Heber and family:
We are now in our 5th month here in Ojos de Agua and it has been a very special experience because God continues to support our ministry. We have had experiences where God has worked in our favor in the area of health in our family especially in our oldest daughter Cesia's health. She has had a few asthma attacks and God has provided quick medical attention when this has happened. In all areas of our life God has shown us His goodness and faithfulness. In these 5 months God has allowed us to make friends with many people in the community and this has opened doors to share the gospel with them. We are happy that God has brought us to Ojos de Agua to serve Him.

March
Sunday School Celebration
At the end of March, we held a celebration with the children's Sunday School Classes from Ojos de Agua and El Tablón. Upon finishing the trimester, we got all the kids together for games, a puppet show, and prizes for the students who had memorized the most verses. The event was held in El Tablón near the soccer field under the mango tree.






Enviromental Education
Cindy along with members of the Environmental Committee of Ojos de Agua, visited the seven schools in the area to give talks on Water Conservation in observance of the International Day of Water (March 22). In the month of April they visited two schools to talk about Solid Waste Management and the importance of recycling. A contest was held to see which group of students created the best poster representing what they learned. The best posters were displayed at the Earth Day festival on April 25th.

April

Children in Crisis Conference
During the first two weeks of April, Cindy assisted two conferences about working with at-risk children and children in crisis. The conferences were organized by the missonary agency WEC International (World Evangelism for Christ). Wendy Dezan, director of Rainbows of Hope of WEC, gave excellent teachings. The first conference was designed to teach local churches how to start a ministry to reach out to these kinds of children. The second conference was for people from NGO's that are already working with these children. The focus was how we can restore a child in crisis. Cindy learned so much at these conferences and has already started to teach the Sunday School teachers in Ojos de Agua and El Tablón what she has learned. We are hoping to start a ministry for at-risk kids in our community. (The photo on the left is an activity where the girls drew a map of Ojos de Agua and identified the risks to children that exist in the community.)

Mom's visit
Cindy's mom, Mary came down to El Salvador for a nice visit. We were so blessed to have her with us especially to join us in celebrating Lucas' 2nd birthday! She helped us out a lot with Lucas while we were busy with ministry activities.

A visit from a missonary
All of the MCA churches in Chalatenango had the privilege to hear a mission report from one of our missionaries that is serving in Central Asia. On Saturday, April 17, we gathered in Potrero Sula just outside of Nueva Concepcion. We learned a lot about the culture and needs of the region that he is working in. We are supporting him monthly in our church circuit. He is getting married soon and will head back to the country he is serving in with his wife. (His name is not mentioned for his safety.)

Earth Day Festival
The Earth Day celebration was organized this year by the Catholic Church of Ojos de Agua. The Mayor's office was invited. Cindy displayed posters that were made by the children that attended the environmental talks on Recycling and she was invited by the local priest to represent the Environmental Committe of the Mayor's office and sat at the table of honor along with the mayors of Ojos de Agua and Las Vueltas. She gave a small talk to the people attending the event of the importance of being better stewards of God's creation.


May
Raising the Roof!
God has been faithful to our construction project. We have just received an anonymous donation from a member of Tulare First Baptist Chruch of $10,000 towards the roof project! At the same time we received a phone call from José Melgar from Iglesia de Dios in Tarzana, CA. Their church raised $1,400 for the roof project in a tamale sale. This was a surprise to us as well! The Tulare First Baptist Church will be holding a rummage sale this month for the same purpose to raise money for the roof project. Camilo and Pastor Heber traveled to San Salvador yesterday (May 11) to purchase supplies. We are able to cover all the expenses with these donations! We are so grateful to many of you that are contributing to our efforts. Everything is happening in God's perfect timing!

Baptisms May 9, 2010
On Sunday, May 9, six members of our church made the important decision to be baptized. The church hiked to the local creek to see the following brothers and sisters in this special act of obedience: Griselda Calderon, Soila Chinchilla, Mari Chinchilla, Ronal Molina, Jeremías Villegas, and Genero Melgar.

We now have a total of 50 baptized members! According to our denomination's regulations, we can now officially be called a "church" and no longer "mission field".

The Phillip Project
Our church members have responded in a strong way to the Phillip Project Bible studies. Many of our members are meeting in homes of non-Christians to share the gospel and disciple using the books that are provided by this project. Through this Bible sudy of the Matthew's Gospel, many more people are accepting the Lord as their personal savior and are interested in coming to church services!

Building Project
Fridays have been designated as work days. Church volunteers have continued the difficult work of leveling out the ground. This week we have been working on finishing the office space to provide us a storage area for chairs and sound equipment.





Signs installed
Cindy and the Environmental Committe a number of months ago designed and painted no littering signs. The signs were installed this month throughout all of Ojos de Agua where people have created their own garbage dumps in the creeks.








 
Prayer Requests
-God's guidance in the formation of the ministry for at-risk kids in Ojos de Agua.

-God's protection and safety for the workers that will be installing the roof. And for protection for some church members (including Camilo) that will have to stay over night at the construction site to protect the materials that will be delivered soon. There is no where to store the materials, so we will be setting up camp.

-For the Phillip Project. That, God will open the hearts of those participating in the Bible Studies and accept His word.

-For protection, provision and wisdom for Camilo and his studies. He is currently in his third month studying at the Assembly's of God Christian University working on his Bachelors Degree in Theology with an emphasis in Missions. He travels to San Salvador Thursday-Saturday.

-For time management for Cindy who is slowly working on her Masters degree in Theology.

-For Pastor Heber and Leidy Marquez (one of our youth leaders from El Tablón). They are traveling on Saturdays to the MCA Bible Institute for studies in Theology. -for safety and wisdom as they are being equipped for service!

-We are praying for God's provision and timing for a bus to transport our church. Currently we are using the back of Pastor Heber's pickup and this is getting too dangerous.

More pictures of our Sunday School Celebration:























More Baptism pictures:

January / February 2010

We are excited to see how God will use us this new year as we continue His work in Ojos de Agua. Again, we want to thank those of you who faithfully support us.

A message from the newest members of our pastoral team...

Pastor Heber Elías, wife: Mercedes, daughters: Cesia and Raquel

Hello!
I want you to know that God has called me to serve Him in the Pastoral Ministry. I also want to share with you that He has not only called me, but also I have the great blessing that my wife also loves the pastoral ministry. Along with my wife and my daughters we form a team with the desire to serve God. At this time we are very thankful to God for sending us to the missonary church plant in Ojos de Agua. It is a great blessing to be a part of the pastoral team with Camilo, Cindy and Lucas.
Your brother in Christ, Heber I. Elías Martinez

Current Needs

A new form of transportation
We have started praying for provision for a 50 passenger bus in good condition. Every time we have special activities where we take the congregation, we rent a bus and it is very expensive. Recently we took the majority of church members on a small trip to Chalatenango for a special church service using two pickups, but we still did not fit and it is dangerous to travel this way. (please see photo at the end of this post of one of the pickups packed) The bus would also serve in picking up church members for services on Sundays and thus attract more people from other villages to the services because we will be providing transportation. Please join us in praying for this need, and maybe God is putting it on your heart to help us in this area.

Church Construction
We currently have possible donors for the roof and the windows. There is still a lot more to go, such as the doors and the floor. We are confident in God's timing and provision. We are anxious for the space as we do not fit into the small room we are renting. (Praise God!) Please join us in praying for His provision and perfect timing for our mega-construction project!

Valentine's Day Celebrations

Bonfire with the Youth group
On Saturday, Feb. 13, around 20 youth from Ojos de Agua and El Tablón got together at the Blanco Family property to celebrate Valentines Day. We made pupusas, played games, sang worship songs, exchanged Valentine's cards and listened to a reflection on friendship by Pastor Heber. It was a great time of fellowship and sharing the gospel with new friends.


Dinner and movie for couples: Fire Proof
Thank you prayer partners for praying for our Valentine's dinner and movie night. It was a success and we praise the Lord! About 40 couples filled the community center. Women and youth from our congregation served a delicious meal, and everyone enjoyed the movie, Fire Proof. The mayor and his wife came along with other community leaders. They all want us to put on events like this more often and offered to support us. After we showed the movie, and many tears shed, Camilo gave a small reflection encouraging couples to seek God to help heal their relationships. The evening ended with a prayer for the couples by Pastor Heber. Many have asked us for copies of the book and movie...so we'll be praying for God's provision for this!

Sunday School Teacher Workshop

On Saturday February 6, seven from the church attended a Sunday School teacher training in Coyolito, Chalatenango. The workshop was a good time of learning and prayer. The leader of the workshop also advertised the need for missionaries for MCA's Vacation Bible School program. Three young ladies from El Tablón requested applications and we are praying that they follow through with the program. As missionaries they would be assigned to a different church anywhere within El Salvador. Spend a week living with a family and working with the local church on putting together the Vacation Bible School program. This month Cindy will continue workshops directed specifically for the teachers in Ojos de Agua.

MCA National Convention

The Central American Mission's (Mision Centroamericana-MCA) convention began on Thursday the 21st for pastors and delegates. Pastor Camilo and Pastor Eber assisted the event representing Ojos de Agua. They spent Thursday, Friday, and the first part of Saturday participating in decisions made on a national level for the denomination and were blessed by wonderful teachings by Pastor Gustavo Soto. On Saturday, January 23, the majority of our church members traveled together to San Salvador for an all nation church service held at the Salvadorian National Sports Arena (INDES). The service included the conclusion of the convention instating the new members of the national church board and announcing the new coordinators for the various regions in the country. Camilo was named coordinator for the churches of the Department of Chalatenango. He will be in charge of overseeing 12 churches, holding monthly pastors meetings and visiting pastors and their congregations serving as spiritual advisor. Please pray for Camilo as he takes on this new job, as it can be emotionally draining, time and $ consuming.

The service ended with a wonderful teaching by Pastor Gustavo Soto. Many from our congregation helped raise money for the National Missions Deparment (DEMCA) by selling water and mangoes to attendees of the convention. On Friday many went out and climbed as many mango trees as they could and we brought many buckets full of mangoes. Here Salvadorians like the green mangoes (that aren't ripe yet) and eat them with salt, chile, and another spice called ahuashte. The convention was a great time to see old friends and colleagues in ministry, and a great time for our new members to meet brothers and sisters from other churches in the country that pray for us and have in one way or another been part of the Ojos de Agua Church plant.

On our way to the convention in a packed bus!

Camilo (4th from the left) being introduced as the new coordinator of pastors of the
region of Chalate.

Events in December

-Cindy and Lucas spent most of December in the U.S. spending Christmas and New Years with family and friends. It was a very nice time but even more difficult to be apart from Camilo.
In Ojos de Agua...
-the congregation continued work at the church property leveling out the ground.
-the youth group spent some time by the Lempa River enjoying a camp with all the youth from MCA churches in Chalatenango.
-Pastor Eber Elias and his family moved to Ojos de Agua and began their ministry with us!
-the environmental committee held the first annual appreciation dinner at the Blanco's home- it was a time to thank the volunteers that helped all year with the plastic recycling.
-Camilo's brother Max served as Cindy's substitute teacher while she was away for Sunday School and the youth group.
-Special services were held on Dec. 24 and an all night service on Dec. 31st.

Some more photos from this month...

Camilo leading Pastors Meeting, Feb 2010, La Cebadilla

Pastors' Wives group meeting, Feb. 2010, La Cebadilla, Nueva Concepción

Pastors Wives finish their meeting early, took a dip in the river to cool off! It was a very hot day!
Lempa River, La Cebadilla

Youth Camp December 2009

October - December 2009

i apologize for the strange formatting on this blog, i am losing my pacience, the preview never looks like the final post

McGee Family

In October, our dear friend Jenny was diagnosed

with breast cancer. The McGee’s spent three months as our neighbors. They quickly left El Salvador to seek the best possible care and treatment in the U.S. Dave and Jenny have impacted so many of us during their seven years of service to this country. They are terribly missed! Please pray for Jenny that she may be healed completely from this cancer and for their whole family that they might be comforted by God’s peace as they are fighting this battle together.

October Trip to U.S.

In October Cindy and Lucas had the opportunity to travel to the U.S. for a special visit. At Tulare Union High’s homecoming football game the newly built weight room was built in honor of her

dad, Del. Cindy’s brother Brett and his wife Tree

came down for the event. Brett, who is a pilot for the U.S. Navy gave a special presentation to the high school students about his journey to where he is today and was Grand Marshall of the homecoming parade. It was a great time to see family and friends that they hadn’t seen in a very long time and an extra special time to remember how much Cindy’s dad served the Tulare

Union High community. Cindy and Lucas will be traveling again from Dec. 9 – Jan 6. Please pray for travel mercies.

Construction

Thanks to monthly donations we have been able to lay more bricks. Saturdays have been dedicated to fill in the ditches and level out the ground. We appreciate our church volunteers who give there time and give their part to the construction. Please pray for God's provision for this project.

Indigo Workshops

After a few months without work, we have started up the Indigo Workshops again. Saturday, Nov. 14^th, Cindy with four members of the church took a trip to Suchitoto to the 2^nd Annual Indigo Fair. We were inspired by the creativity and look forward to trying out new techniques! Please pray that we will be able to sell our products.

Hurricane Ida

Just as we thought the rainy season ended, Hurricane Ida snuck up on El Salvador when no one was looking. Many people completely lost their homes, which was the case in Verapaz, San Vicente. Other communities were buried under

mud and other homes stuck on the edge of a cliff after mud slides. The disaster took 190 lives,

75 are still missing, and some 13,000 people have been left with nothing. The government

estimates that approximately one billion dollars will need to be invested to rebuild what has

been lost. Salvadorians have responded the need of their brothers donating food and clothes and international aid has arrived.

The small community of Ojos de Agua organized a large donation of food and clothes.

The donations that came from some of the poorest families made the biggest impression on us. A group of youth traveled to Central American Mission’s Genesaret Camp at Ilopango Lake. The donations were carried by boat across the lake to the camp where people from the neighborhood arrived to pick up their ration of food and clothes. As a result of Ida, this area became isolated and a couple weeks passed before government help arrived by helicopter. Last week, a the same group with about 15 others from Ojos de Agua (believers and non-believers) took a second trip to the camp to dig out mud one meter high from the church building. The idea was to clean out the building so it could be used as a shelter for those that were without homes. Currently the road to the neighborhood is being worked on, but people continue to be in need. We praise God that He is providing us with positive relationships with the community in Ojos de Agua and together we were able to respond to the needs of others. God is constantly at work!

Pastor search continues

We continue to search for a pastor that would be able to work alongside us in the ministry for the next of couple

years that we will be in Ojos de Agua with the intention that he and his family would stay for a long period of time. We would like to introduce you to the Elias Grandino Family.

They have visited Ojos de Agua twice. Last Sunday, Pastor Heber shared the message at our church service and the congregation had a chance to interview the family. This Salvadorian family has been serving at a MCA church in Honduras and feels the need to return to serve in their home country. Their home church is EZEL church in Ciudad Delgado, San Salvador. God continues to confirm this

family’s calling to Ojos de Agua, and we are excited to see

how God will work these next few months as we begin to share the vision for our church with this family. Heber

and his wife, Mercedes have two lovely daughters, Cecia (18) and Raquel (8). Please pray for God to guide us in this process.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for what is mentioned in bold above and for our health we all have been sick with colds.

Thank you for your support!

Some recent photos:

Cindy is still active with the town's Environmental Committee, here she is giving a talk about solid waste management.

Camilo leading worship at one of our recent church services at the construction site.

Weight room dedication at TUHS

July - September 2009 Update

Church Building Project

The walls are rising! The second week of August, a mason was hired to lay 1000 more bricks. Church volunteers also helped make cement, haul water, move bricks, and more.

New Neighbors

We would like to welcome the McGee family to Ojos de Agua. Dave and Jenny are missionaries in El Salvador. Dave works for ENLACE and Jenny is an artist. They have two beautiful children, Jonathan, 3 and Emanuela 1 ½ . We are excited that they have decided to come to Ojos de Agua for an experience in the country side and to be close to our family. They have been such a blessing to us! In this photo, Jenny and I are celebrating our 31st birthdays!

Partnering Church Visits

In July and August we visited two churches to thank them for their support and to give an update on our work in Ojos de Agua. In July we visited Brisas del Edén Church in Ayutuxtepeque. This is the church that Cindy served with before moving to Chalatenango. In August we visited Faro de Luz Church in Las Pavas. Two members of our church board joined us to present a gift to each of the congregations, and then helped sale indigo items after the service. We are hoping to visit other partnering churches soon.

Pastor Ismael, Iglesia Faro de Luz, Las Pavas

Baptisms

On Sunday, August 23 we traveled to Genesaret Camp at Lake Ilopango to baptize new believers. The day was long with a 3 hour bus ride to arrive at the camp. Upon arriving we met up with Templo Bíblico Betel Church from Nueva Concepción who were also baptizing new members. After the baptisms in the lake, there was recreation time of playing soccer and swimming. At the end of our day at the camp we held a joint church service. It was a beautiful day of fellowship. The following brothers and sisters were baptized: Reina and Remberto Molina, Sara Calderón, Erick Salinas, Aminta Marquez, and Neris Marquez. Pastor Osmin Corleto assisted Camilo with the baptisms.

This day was also extra special for two reasons: 1. Cindy was celebrating her 31^st birthday…thank you Brisas del Edén Church for the phone call and for singing via speaker phone! 2. This happened to be the same camp where Camilo and Cindy met for the first time.

Indigo Workshop Update

We are working on trying to find a market to sale the items that have been made, so we can purchase more materials. On our visits to partnering churches in and around the capital we have sold some. We have plans to visit as many artisan stores as possible for potential buyers. Please pray that God might open doors so we can get this co-op moving along.

Current Needs

Living expenses have gone up for us these past few months these include: car repairs, Cindy’s Masters Program, taxes, among others. We are looking for more partners who would prayerfully consider making monthly or one-time donations to our missionary efforts. There are a few ways you can send your donation:

1. The fastest, easiest way is using Paypal or Credit Card.

Click on the “Donate” that is towards the beginning of the blog. This donation is not tax-deductible.

2. If you want to make a tax-deductible donation you can send a check to:

ABC INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

ATTN: LISA SCHNOVEL

PO BOX 851

VALLEY FORGE, PA 19842.

Checks are made payable to:

ABC INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

Include a note designating:

FEBES-TULARE PROJECT.

(please note: these donations take up to two months to reach us)

3. If you are a member of Tulare First Baptist you can send your tax-deductible donations to the church office including a note that it is for our project. These donations also take two months to reach us.

We also want to thank all of our partners who have made us being here possible and thank you to those considering giving to the Lord’s work in El Salvador.

Phillip Project

On a national level the Central American Mission churches have started a series of Bible studies called the Phillip Project. The idea is to begin with three people, who are non-believers, take them through a study on John’s Gospel, and if the Lord calls them, lead them to Christ. The idea of this project comes from Acts 8:26-40. Camilo meets with a group of three young men on Friday nights, and Cindy’s group of four women meet on Tuesday afternoons. We are finishing up the first module of the Bible Study and for those who wish to continue we will be doing a study on what the Bible has to say about seeking a transformed life. Today, September 15, three women accepted Christ as their Savior: Soila, Maria, and Blanca. They are excited to grow and learn more about God's Word.

Community Service

The last few months we have began working in the community in a new way. Camilo is member of the newly formed, Community Development Association of Ojos de Agua (ADESCO). He is currently serving on the board of directors working with other leaders to facilitate development projects for the area.

Cindy continues to work with the Environmental Committee with the Mayor’s office. However in July, a new board of directors was formed and Cindy was elected president (before her, the mayor was president), now she is more actively serving the community in the area of the environment. Plastic recycling continues monthly and the committee has worked alongside the

environmental committee of the ADESCO in activities such as river clean-ups and a reforestation project.

It is also important to note that a few members of our congregation are taking roles in these committees and associations, which gives us more representation as a church. We pray that all of these efforts be our service to the Lord and to our neighbor (the community).

ENLACE

As we look to serve Christ and our neighbors we have started meetings with the organization ENLACE. Directed by Ron Bueno, this ministry assists churches to recognize its strengths and weaknesses, and analyze its resources in order to serve God and the community in a better way. We have started our first assignments with our church leaders. Each stage of the process is focused on building foundations to strengthen leadership not only within the congregation but in living a true Christian life in our community. We are thankful for our friends at ENLACE who are serving the Lord in this way, helping many churches find their role in their communities!

Please Pray…

…that the Lord would continue to provide for the church building project.

…for financial provision for the Blanco family

…that we would be able to find a market for our Indigo products.

…for those attending our Bible studies, that their hearts would be open to accept Christ.

…for Leidy Marquez, one of our members that we are training to work with the youth, we hope to begin youth group meetings at the end of the month.

…that the Lord would give us grace as we work with different community leaders.

…that we might sale our car and pick-up quickly. We would like to find a four door pick-up (so the car seat will fit in the backseat).

Church Service at the construction site: August 2, 2009



















































Sunday School classes in El Tablón