Greetings from the Mission Field

Dear Crosswalkers,

This is your fearless pastor reporting once again from his temporary outpost in hot and humid San Antonio , Paraguay . I’m pleased to report that this past week has been filled with blessed ministry opportunities. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was privileged to engage in 4 hours of teaching at the Tacumbu Prison in Ascuncion. Our missionary on the scene, Angel Hernandez, has a fantastic ministry to the inmates there with an organization called Remar International (Remar stands for “Rehabilitation to the Marginalized”). In two overcrowded cellblocks, there are 330 men who have accepted Christ and want to be trained in ministry to the rest of the prison population and to the world if or when they are released from the penitentiary. Angel’s strategy is to intensively train and mentor 20 of the top leaders so they can in turn train others. This biblical strategy has proven effective for many generations (see 2 Timothy 2:2). We had powerful teaching sessions, with the men making new commitments to serve Christ and share Christ. Some of them shared their testimonies. What a joy to see for myself the work God is doing in the hearts and minds of these incarcerated men, and how they want to be God’s instruments even in a very difficult environment. It is appropriate for me to THANK YOU for participating in our Faith Promise missions giving which supports the gospel boldly moving forward to the least, the last, and the lost!

Lord willing, Leanna and I will return home on Friday! I’m very much looking forward to our Christmas sermon series that will begin this Sunday. It is an exciting study from Gospel of John’s version of the Christmas story entitled, “From Eternity to Here!” In addition, we will have missionary Marty Hooper visiting us, fresh from his evangelistic ministry in India . Marty will sing and share, the “Mystery of Christmas” will be revealed, and God’s grace will fill our worship time! This would be a perfect day to invite friends and family to come and experience for themselves the deepest meaning of Christmas!!

Amor en JesuCristo,

Pastor Juan