Blog 50 01 Mar 2017

2017 Pastors' Conference

Mount Hebron Baptist Church hosted over 1,000 delegates to this year's conference.  Here are some thoughts, highlights, and pictures of our week:

 

And what a conference it was! There were so many churches and ministries represented. Over a thousand people were here. 

Soulwinning:

On Wednesday, all delegates and church members who were not watching a nursery went soulwinning. In the service that night, Pastor Jonathan took the count of souls saved like we do every Sunday night; over 300 people had trusted Christ that afternoon, and twelve were baptized at the close of the service. Praise the Lord!

 These pics are of the ladies in my group.  In the pink sweater is my friend Lydia who sits with me in church and who also speaks a little English.  Her partner, Paula is in blue, and my partner, Luisa in gold and black.  Luisa led two people to the Lord and had another lady promise to be in church on Sunday.




One of the twelve people saved and baptized on Wednesday was a homeless man, Ceasar, who on Thursday surrendered his life to do God's will.  The teens of Mount Hebron took up an offering to cover his first month's rent while he looks for a job in a place near enough to church he can walk to services.

Evening Preaching:

Pastor Louis Ramos of San Louis, Mexico.  
He was my Division Leader in college.  It was a great honor to hear of the faithful service he and his wife Mrs. Karen have devoted to God's call on their lives.  They have a large church as well as a Bible Institute to train young men and women as Christian leaders. 

Pastor Kevin Wynne, Missionarry to Mexico City.
Pastor Andres Gomez, FBC Hammond, Spanish Church
and of course,
Pastor (emitrius) Tommy and Pastor Jonathan Ashcraft.

Ladies' Sessions:

Mrs. Billie Sloan

Widow of Dr Tom Sloan

Missionarry to South Mexico

Sister of Pastor Tommy Ashcraft

Mother of 8 children, all serving the Lord today.

I have ordered her autobiography and am looking forward to being encouraged by it. If you would be interested in reading it, pm me for details.

Mrs. Elizabeth Sloan Martinez
Daughter of Mrs. Billie
Missionarry to Israel

Mrs. Carrie Kaeghan
Pastor's Wife, Connecticut

Mrs Jessica Gonzalez
 Missionarry Helps Ministry

It was also great to hear Mrs. Billie's youngest daughter, Elizabeth; Mrs. Carrie, back for the conference with her husband; Mrs. Jessica was featured this year; and also Mrs. Brenda with her daughter,  Tammy who serves in El Salvador.

Mrs Jenny
I am listening to Jenny teach the Ladies' Session in Spanish. I have no idea what she is saying, but so many ladies are listening intently as she shares her heart.  She occassionally stumbles through a longer, unusual Spanish word in the Bible verses. The ladies seem to hear her love and her desire to serve more than the words.  I cannot help the swell of pride I feel as I remember the many times of teaching and learning we have shared together over the past 20+ years.  I am so grateful the Lord has woven our lives together and allowed me to see some of the fruit from seeds sown so many years ago.

Language Update:

I was encouraged that I could understand a lot more of what was being preached this year. Pastor Jonathan preached one sermon in which he repeated "Don't Change" numerous times -- "Don't Change" your message, "Don't Change" your convictions, "Don't Change" your standards, and "Don't Change" a few other things I didn't catch.

Other Excitement:

 I spent Tuesday and Thursday nights helping in the nursery. The ladies who work with the children are amazing.

Prayer Corner

1. Pray for Mt Hebron Baptist Church

      ~ Bro. Jon and Mrs. Jenny, their boys,
               and the baby on the way!

      ~ New ministries of the church

2. Pray for Mt Hebron Christian Academy

      ~ New Students
      ~ Francisco as he learns English
3. Pray for Mt Hebron Bible Institute

Blog 49 7 Feb 2017

Christian School News:

This week Bro Jon took the school kids (as well as Jenny & me) to "The Flag." It is an enormous Mexican flag at the top of a very high mountain from which you can see the entire city of Monterrey. It is the spot where my picture was taken for my post cards. Afterwards, we went to a park

           and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
 

Francisco took the placement test for finishing high school in English through ACE. It would take him 3 years (conservatively) for which his family would have to pay not only tuition, but the price of the paces as well; as opposed to finishing next May (2018) with free resources and one year of tuition. I believe he will just increase his English studies, but go ahead and start in the Bible Institute in Fall 2018. I am glad I was able to share with you where his heart is in relation to the Service of the King.  I am so proud of the attitudes of all the students God has given me here.

The Great Commission!

At soul winning yesterday 13 ladies showed up for our group. We believe every week since the new year, we have had to take two vehicles out to our soulwinning area. My partner Louisa led two souls to the Lord. One man with whom she prayed said he rode the bus to Mt Hebron a few times as a boy with Jon's grandfather, "Popsy" Ashcraft.

Jessica's husband Leo led a Jewish man, Abram, to the Lord a few months ago who has been baptized and faithful to church services since the new year.  This has been an encouragement to Bro. Paco, our missionary to the Jewish community of Monterrey.  
(For more about his ministry and burden for the Jewish people, see Blog #37 from March, 2016.)

The Local Church:

I continue to help in the 3 year old SS class.  Mrs. Lily (our original K4-K5 school teacher) is currently teaching the class since the young lady who was teaching it now teaches in the high school department with her fiancee.

Also, we are all still preparing for our annual Pastor's Conference at the end of February.  The men are building a new restroom facility of which we are in great need.

Interesting & Exciting Happenings:

A special personal blessing this past month was the gift of an upgrade to my phone.  I brought my iPhone 4 (which I bought for $1.99 when the 5S came out) with me to Mexico two summers ago.  With birthday money from my Dad and another family who has always treated me like family I was able to get a much newer model.  Jenny did all the "leg-work" for me, searching Amazon, EBay, and other sites to get the best deal and Bro. Jon did the technical set up of anything that required more than importing from the cloud.

Prayer Corner

1. Pray for Mt Hebron Baptist Church

      ~ Bro. Jon and Mrs. Jenny, their boys,
               and the baby on the way!

      ~ New ministries of the church

2. Pray for Mt Hebron Christian Academy

      ~ New Students
      ~ Francisco as he learns English
3. Pray for Mt Hebron Bible Institute
4. Pray for our Pastor's Conference