October/November 2021 Glorify God at what great things He has done one by one.

After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. Acts 21:19-20

In the adult Sunday school class at IBBM-Tepic, Pastor Nacho and Armando are co-teaching a series from the book of Acts, called, When the Church Was Young and Bold. Last Sunday’s lesson highlighted Paul’s arrival and reception at the church of Jerusalem following his third missionary journey. Luke chronicles in chapter 21 that the brothers received them gladly, and after they greeted each other, Paul gave a report of the work among the gentiles. There was no jealousy. Instead, they received the news, one by one, with joy, and they glorified God. A “month of Sundays” would not be enough to relate one by one the things that God has done in Tepic and the surrounding Huichol villages these past two months. The following are just a few that are great cause for glorifying God!

   Valentín died of a heart attack last month. He could never be more grateful for the decision he made three years ago when he bowed his heart to trust Jesus to save him. Valentín had insisted that there was no way God could forgive him of all his previous sin. The Holy Spirit convinced him that God certainly could, and He did. Please pray for his wife, Lupita. She has had multiple opportunities to believe, but she continues to reject. We will never regret the effort that was made to present him personally to Jesus; neither will Valentín. 

Román, a Huichol believer from the village of Zoquipan and a vital member of the Huichol Bible translation team, came to my house last week. He’s in the process of accepting God’s miraculous call to pastor the baby church in his village. That’s so easy to say, but it comes with much commitment and will undoubtedly come with much persecution. No person has asked Román to take on this responsibility. He knows that God has given it to him. He has had much training, and he is prepared to share His Word and shepherd the believers of his village. He is and will continue to be in the enemy’s target along with his wife, Bernarda, and their sweet family. If I hadn’t seen it in action, I would never believe the sequence of God’s plan for Román’s life for loving him, choosing him, and saving him as a young boy in the most hostile and unlikely of environments in the heart of the Sierra Madre. You can read more about Román’s story here. Please pray for Román, and rejoice and glorify God with me for this miracle. 

And speaking of things God has done one by one,

just last week, the church at Zapote de Picachos, celebrated their 17th anniversary. The month before Kirt graduated to Heaven, they were expelled by the government from their beautiful village home and church building at the crest of the Picachos in the Sierra Madre. It was literally heart-wrenching. 

      A friend told Kirt that he would like to help the Zapote believers rebuild their auditorium giving an offering to purchase materials for the new location. The believers dug the trenches and hauled huge rocks from the river by hand for the new foundation. With that promised offering the week after Kirt’s funeral, the bricks were transported by truck to the lake then by boatloads upriver to the rocky landing that is nearly a mile-long hike from the village. Every member from the Zapote church handled every single brick that is now in the walls of their church as they stationed themselves from the river’s edge to the village, and bricks were passed in bundles from one person to the next and on to the construction site. Then they dismantled the roof of their deserted church, and the Zapote brothers carefully carried the “repurposed” trusses and galvanized roofing on their backs, nine kilometers down the mountain to their new village. Friends from the IBBM-Tepic church welded and assembled the trusses for the additional section of the new church (which was 1/3 larger than the original, and now, has been enlarged to more than double that!). 

When they built the first church, Kirt told pastor Manuel that he dreamed of the day that beautiful auditorium would be filled with believers. This past week, the new version, more than twice the original size, was filled beyond capacity with joyful brothers and sisters gladly greeting each other and glorifying the God of miracles! 

Another one-by-one event for which to glorify God is the celebration of the 30^th anniversary this past month of IBBM-Tepic. Pastor Martín’s son, Jonatán, crafted a video documentary of this miracle. It’s subtitled; don’t miss it! 

Be glad at what great things He has done one by one, and glorify God with me.

Rejoice at these pictures from the Tepic October/November 2021 activities here.