The
church is doing well and 2 highlights were that we celebrated Mother’s day and
had a baptism. The Mother’s day service was really special and Elba
continued her teaching series about family, marriage, children and the
challenges that we face daily. After the service we prayed for the Moms
and then setup a section in the church for them to sit and enjoy a snack.
The husbands, and singles served the Mom’s and there were lots of smiles and
laughter.
We also had a baptism at the church. The church gets so excited for baptisms. During our baptism the worship band was playing and singing, and the children clamor to the front to get a better view. I love the symbolism of letting the person be completely immersed in water being baptized into Jesus’ death on the cross and no longer being slaves to self or sin. When they are raised out of the water they are raised into a new life in Christ and are with Him forever. Praise the Lord for these 7 people that made this public declaration of faith. Each of the people being baptized wore a shirt saying “I Decided”.
Elba
was invited to speak at one of the universities from one of Camilly’s teachers
at her school. Camilly’s teacher teaches at this university as well as Camilly’s school. Even though
the universities are secular, she went and spoke about Christ and the role that
Christians play in serving the community and helping the poor. The talk
was well received and they asked her to come back and share again. Let’s
see how this will materialize itself.
The
girls are just finishing up school for about a month break. They do not
get the summer breaks like in the States. I believe that they will be
starting back to school in the beginning of August. Even though it will be
short, they are looking forward to having the time off. Here is a picture
of Apolana, Camilly and Alyssa making parmesan chicken. Alyssa is the
official taste tester. For the record, it is really good. They are
getting so big.
Thank you for your prayers for Elba. She has been feeling much better. Please pray for spiritual, physical, and emotional health for us.
Please also pray for us, and the church, as we will be hosting our National Conference for the North called InterVinha. We are fortunate and excited to have our Pastors Rich and Marlene Nathan and family come and be the main speaker.
Much love and blessings, Steve, Elba, Camilly and Alyssa
