Dear Pastor, Congregation and Friends,
I was reading over some of my old prayer letters recently and I was reminded of the last time that my parents, Julio and Andrea Velasquez, went on furlough. We had just planted the Colmenar Church and I was still working at the Parla Church. During my parents’ three-month furlough I would travel from Colmenar to Parla (a 50-minute drive) and preach every Wednesday and Sunday, while at the same time pastoring the church in Colmenar. The believers from Parla were taking care of the day-to-day work of the ministry, but I was still the main teacher/preacher. Four years later, my parents once again went on furlough, but this time I only preached in Parla twice. This time Paco and Flavius did most of the preaching and teaching. I am so thrilled to see how God is using both of these men.
The Lord is also using Jeremiah Stormont, from the Colmenar Church, to preach. He preached several messages from Galatians in the past three months and will be helping me in a new sermon series we will soon be starting through the Psalms. It’s exciting to see the growth (spiritual and numerical) that the Lord is giving to the church in Colmenar. I started a new members class this month and we have six new candidates for membership! I have taught about the authority of the church, the nature of the church, and will finish the course by teaching on the nature of membership, as well as going over our church’s doctrinal statement and covenant. We want to be careful with our membership process so that our church truly reflects the character of God and makes the gospel visible in our community.
One of the candidates for membership is Barbara, a young lady from Cuba that has recently made a profession of faith. She was invited to church by a lady from our church and is growing spiritually every day. Please continue praying for Agustin, a Spanish man that faithfully attends our church, but has some neurological problems from multiple brain surgeries. He hears the gospel every week and we believe he understands. Lord willing, soon, he will also make a profession of faith. His wife and son are attending regularly as well. Also pray for Alain, Guille’s husband (one of our members). For many years he would only come to church for special events, but recently has started coming to church more regularly and has expressed the desire to have one-on-one bible studies. Eduardo, his brother-in-law, has offered to teach him. We pray that Alain will be saved!
I’d like to finish by asking you to pray for my children. Every day we spend time with them, teaching them about God and the gospel. I have started to see evidence of God doing a work in their hearts. Please pray that whatever profession of faith they make will be genuine and not simply to please Mom and Dad. I can do many things for them, but I can’t make them see “…the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.” However, I can whisper in their ears day and night the truth of the gospel. Pray that Faviana and I would be faithful in that endeavour. We love you in the Lord!
