Dear Pastor, Congregation and Friends,
Since the end of the summer we have been unusually busy in ministry, but it’s the kind of busy that brings joy. After a season of recovery and rebuilding, we are now at a stage in the Colmenar church in which we are looking towards the future with renewed hope. With that forward vision in our hearts, we had a very important member’s meeting last month, where I laid out our purpose, our philosophy of ministry, and where I introduced/reintroduced a few ministries of the church, the two most fundamental being evangelism and discipling. These ministries, I shared with the members, are not optional; these ministries are the mission of the church (making disciples), and we all have a responsibility to be involved in them.
In the area of evangelism we not only will be training the congregation on the what and the how of evangelism, but we want to help them understand how evangelism should be a natural part of their everyday lives, and not just a church-wide activity they participate in occasionally. One of the tools that we are using to help encourage the church in evangelism is a study on John 3, called ‘The Second Birth’. We are asking everyone in the church to do the study, and then we are encouraging them to find an unbeliever that they can do the study with. Already one of the new members that finished the study is now doing it with three others. In addition to the John 3 study, we recently distributed hundreds of invitations to an apologetic sermon series on ‘The Problem of Evil’, which lasted the whole month of October. The series showed that the reality of evil in the world is not evidence against God, but in reality points towards the existence of God, and our need of redemption. Every week the gospel was clearly presented and the video recordings can now be used as an evangelistic tool.
In the member’s meeting I also announced plans for the discipling ministry of the church. One of the new ways in which we will be organising the church for discipling is by forming groups of three (men with men, women with women) that will study different subjects together in order to grow together as disciples of Christ. I am excited about this because it will help our church be more united in doctrine and purpose. In order to strengthen the discipling ministry we have also restarted the men’s and women’s ministries. The men and the women will be meeting up every month and studying a book together. More than just growing in knowledge, we want them to learn how to apply the gospel to every area of their lives, so that they can become the men and the women that God wants them to be to the glory of God. In addition to these ministries, the Lord has led us to start an English Bible study for young adults studying abroad, expats, and just English speakers in general. We will be starting November 13, and we hope to be able to reach English speakers with the gospel. Thank you so much for your prayers and letters of encouragement. The Lord has been so good to us. He has sustained us during a difficult season, and is giving us renewed strength for ministry. To Him be all the glory!
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