March/April 2012 “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

March/April 2012

“…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

Jesus’ building project is alive and well in Tepic, despite the fact that the gates of Hades, death itself and all its ugly power, have stalked it on many fronts. Praise God He is the strength to fight, to overpower and to overcome, and although some of our team members have died this month, they are no more held by those gates than Jesus was!

The growth and disciple-making process among the Huichols scattered throughout the Sierra Madre is phenomenal. Theology training by extension (ETE) continues for 69 students in a half-dozen villages. The first group of students will be receiving their 1-year diploma this month. They have been faithful and diligent students, and several of them have taken on the responsibility of teaching what they have learned in more remote villages. UIM pilots have generously made it possible for those teachers to be air-lifted from Tepic to those villages. The landing strip near one mountain village is so short that the plane must be physically pushed back to the farthest limit in order to allow for takeoff.

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Twenty-five new believers from the villages of Loma Alta and La Bendición were baptized the day before Resurrection Sunday.

“…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The construction of the beautiful multi-purpose church/education center in the Huichol village of La Bendición continues, but not without obstacles from the gates of Hades. In the past 2 months, 3 young men from the church, Miguel, Isidro, and Francisco, have personally experienced physical death, but they also have experienced personally the truth that the gates of Hades cannot prevail over those who have confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Death stalks, but death shall not prevail. All 3 men leave families behind; Francisco’s first son was born the week after he was buried. What if Miguel, Isidro, and Francisco had never heard of Kakaɨyari and the free gift He offers to all who believe?

Miguel's funeral

“…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

 Francisco's parents, wife, Aurora, and newborn son

IBBM-Tepic is also experiencing the thrill of participating in Jesus’ building project. Nine of His followers were baptized this month.

Pastor Nacho returns today from a trip to Armenia, Colombia, where he participated in a CESI (Training Center for Church Planters) workshop for Latin America. He has been working weekly for over a year with 3 young men from the Tepic church in preparation for planting a satellite church of IBBM-Tepic on the other side of town.

Pastor Martín leaves for Monterrey, Mexico, today to attend a conference called Examining the Task. The plan is to discover and implement ways for IBBM-Tepic to have increased participation as a local body of believers in world missions, specifically communicating the Gospel cross-culturally.

Death cannot defeat the church. Jesus proclaims, “…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”