July 2024 Velasquez Family Update

Dear Pastor, Congregation and Friends,

The growth that we started experiencing earlier this year has only intensified in the last months! We give God all of the glory. In addition to the new members that we added recently, we now have three new families that have started attending church services since our last letter. Some are non-believers and some are professing Christians that have already expressed a desire to begin the membership process. We are encouraged to see the church continue having new visitors, but what thrills us the most is how these visitors are not just visiting once, but are faithfully attending. We have a lot of work to do with them, by sharing the gospel and discipling, but it’s the kind of work that encourages our hearts.

We are especially excited about all of the new children that are visiting with their parents. Yes, sometimes they can be a little loud and rambunctious, but I would much rather hear the sounds of children in the church building than to see the church devoid of children and dying. The good thing is that with all of the new children and young people now in attendance there is a need for more nursery workers and Sunday school teachers that can be met by our new members. So there are plenty of opportunities to serve. And one of the areas in which the current members can help the new visitors with is by involving themselves with them in discipling relationships, where they can use what they have been learning from God’s Word for the spiritual benefit of others. New families also provide opportunities for our gospel reach as a church to increase. We are already hearing testimonies of believers sharing the gospel with their co-workers and family members. As we train these believers in the area of evangelism, we hope and pray that our gospel reach will only expand more. 

And we thank the Lord that He is using our children as well in this area. Ian and Hayden often share with us how they have been able to engage in gospel conversations with their friends. As they grow up, their circle of contacts grows as well and they have more opportunities to influence people with the gospel. Please pray for Ian as he not only will be starting his university studies in September, but he will also officially start working the end of this month to help pay for his studies. Pray that he would seek to glorify God in his workplace and that he would be a gospel witness. Above all we pray that our children would grow and deepen in their understanding of the gospel. That they would know God through His Word. Raising teenagers is challenging, but Favi and I thank God that we get to have wonderful meaningful conversations with them about so many subjects as we seek to show them how to live out the gospel in their daily lives. We want to be an example to them, but above all we want to point them to Christ as their only hope. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. By the time I send out the next letter we will have had an important members’ meeting that I pray will have a positive impact for the church. The Lord has sustained us through the valley and we are hopeful about the future. God bless!

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