May/June 2019 "And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem..."

May/June 2019

And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, … saying, “The Lord is risen indeed.”  Luke 24:33, 34

They had seen the nails driven into His hands, the blood, and His lifeless body. Their hope and dreams were dead. Cleopas and his companion, joined by an unknown traveler, were overcome with futility for Israel’s redemption and theirs, as dejectedly, they made their way some seven miles back from Jerusalem to Emmaus. At first, they failed to identify the Savior who walked by their sides, but as Jesus opened the Scriptures with them, their eyes of faith were also opened, and their lives were transformed by the resurrected, victorious Savior and His fulfilled Word. Nothing, not their exhaustion, the darkness of the night, the long and dangerous trail back, nothing at all could keep them from returning at once, that very night, to Jerusalem, because their hearts burned with the urgency of sharing the Good News, and it was worth the sacrifice. He indeed had risen, and salvation was theirs.

This past couple of months in Tepic have been filled with transformed lives and the resulting evidence of the urgency for sharing the victorious Good News, and it’s been worth the sacrifice.

Zapote de Picachos expansion project

Re-construction of church buildings that are simply too small for their growing congregations of believers is going on in two remote mountain Huichol villages, La Quemada and Zapote de Picachos. The believers from these village churches have suffered much persecution of all kinds, yet they have generously given love in return, sacrificed like their Macedonian brothers, and continue reaching out to multiple neighboring communities of unbelievers with the Good News. It’s invigorating to see how they take God’s mandate and promises seriously, and it’s faith-building to see how God has provided resources for them as they have offered their whole hearts for His service. Please pray that in spite of constant oppression, they will continue to shine the Light in this very dark corner of the world.

La Quemada expansion project

IBBM-Tepic OANSA workers have finished another year of systematically teaching children to be “Approved Workers who Are Not Ashamed” (AWANA). Many of the children who have diligently been learning to guard God’s Word in their hearts have become today’s leaders of the current OANSA club. Please pray with us that we leaders will be refreshed and ready to begin again the first Saturday of September and that the children will put into practice the Truth they have learned to grow in grace this summer. It’s been worth the sacrifice.

The ladies of IBBM-Tepic just finished our 9^th annual ladies retreat. This year’s theme was:


Women of Distinction: Prudent or Impulsive, Wise or Foolish, Diligent or Slothful. Forty-five ladies dedicated our hearts to be women of God’s Word, striving to learn wise principles and putting them into practice as well, regardless of the prevailing call of the world to reject biblical values. Please pray that the Truth we studied will continue to penetrate and burn with urgency in the hearts and minds of the ladies who attended and that our commitment to share the Good News will be reflected in our personal actions, in our homes, and in our service.

Cleopas and his companion rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem. They were overcome with an urgent determination to tell others about the resurrected Savior. That Truth always leads to such action and often requires courageous means for sharing, but there’s always a sharing. Thank you for your part in making this part possible. It’s worth the sacrifice.