The month of July is atypical. It is the month when the public school system has a break of two weeks between semesters. This year, however, was extended to three weeks due to the swine flu scare. Many members use this time to take a family vacation. Many families were gone out of town. So, this explains the decrease in attendance with respect to June 09.
My brother Roberto and I went on with the “elder training program.” We continued to have our weekly prayer for ourselves, for members who requested prayers for specific needs, for analysis of the membership, etc. It has been a great time for growth, reflection, and development of sensitivity to the members’ needs. Roberto and I draw strength from one another as we pray for our own needs, and build up one another spiritually.
The “Facilities Committee” carried out their remodeling project. It cost close to 1.500 dollars. They remodeled the kitchen, the restrooms, and repaired the auditorium. A day of work was called and more than 10 responded with great energy. A lot of overdue cleaning was carried out and many minor repairs were done. I wish I had a “before” and an “after” picture to show you the difference!
The amount of people coming to Sunday evening services fluctuates between 7 and 10. This are members who don’t come in the morning, so we are talking about that number of spaces being released for the morning services.
Study Measures:
The Southeast group hasn’t gone on due to lack of leadership. The brother in charge has been slacking in attendance himself, due to personal problems. We are helping him recover spiritually. There is hope for his full restoration. The brothers and sisters who used to meet are interested in continuing to have this meeting, but the workers are few.
Another group we didn’t continue is the Southwest group. This is a family we had been meeting with. They are attending normally. The visitors, however, did not show interest, so we decided to move on to study with other people. Another group Bible study could be started somewhere else. Again, the workers continue to be few, and this is a situation we will continue to have until enough workers are trained.
Some people didn’t continue to study with us. The ex-congressman lost interest because he got back with the woman he was divorcing. So, his emotional needs are being met that way, and his friendship with us is not that important to him now. A man who was baptized recently has not come back due to the same reason! I can’t believe how easily a young Christian gives up his salvation for a relationship that hurts him.
The Lord is giving us more people to study with. There is a group of 5 Nicaraguans we started studying with, and soon we will hear about baptisms from that group. This group was contacted by Auxiliadora, a lady from Nicaragua, whose Christian sister wrote to us asking us to reach out to her. Auxiliadora is suffering from a serious heart condition (physically), she continues to study with us.
On July 31st a group of 23 members of the Cedar Hills church was welcomed in our homes and church. They would be working for 10 days in our midst, trying to make contacts and do evangelistic work. More about this in the August, 2009 report.
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