Collosians 1:28, ‘Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.'

I am reminded of this verse that God gave us while on deputation.  That has always been the desire of our hearts: Jesus Christ is whom we preach as we seek to warn every man, woman, boy and girl here in Granada.  Sadly, the majority of the time they don´t want to be bothered with the things of God, but yet we continue to warn.

Since coming to Granada we have never had so many ups and downs in the ministry or in our own Christian lives.  The attacks have come from all sides with numerous, large, unexpected bills (broken computers, clothes washers, etc) as well as problems within our little church.  It seems as if you have 2 people you have problems; I imagine most pastors would agree.  Maria Luisa was having Bible Studies and was pretty close to my wife. We had a dinner in our house and one of her sons was able to come; but now she is no longer coming because of jealousness of our other lady in the church. After trying to get in contact with her, she visited us two Sundays ago and told us she had been very depressed again. Pilar reminded her of how well she was doing when she was close to God and offered to go visit her, but she told her she would call when she was ready. Sarai is no longer coming either (I believe it is because she feels guilty as she is living with her boyfriend and she knows that it is wrong).  Rosa has now gone back to Mexico (she was only here for 3 months to visit Nancy) and Lauren has finished her studies and returned to the US.

In spite of the last paragraph, we are very thankful for the blessings that God gives us.  Nancy continues to be faithful with us and is a great encouragement!  Also, we just had a group come from our home Spanish church in Madison, AL!  It was a great blessing to have some good Christian fellowship and help in the work.  We went out door-knocking in the mornings and passing out tracts in the evenings.  Please pray for Carmen who received a tract in her door and came to the service, and for Teresa and Carmen who both expressed interest in knowing more about the Bible.

We also would like to ask you to pray for Isabel and Pilar. Isabel is the owner of the locale we are renting for the church; and Pilar is a friend of hers. Both came to our first service but haven't come back since. Pilar had an attitude, when she came in Dec., that made it very difficult for us to share the gospel with her. She made it clear she was there just because Isabel had invited her and that she belonged to an active catholic house group. Two Sundays ago, to our surprise, they both came. Our Sunday School was touching some verses about marriage, and we didn´t know, but she had just separated from her husband two days earlier. We later found out that Isabel brought her to church again because she thought we could help (it was a blessing to know that although Isabel doesn´t attend our church she has a good testimony of us). Pilar was broken hearted and we were able to share the message of salvation with her and also show her that only God can heal her marriage, but that first she needed to get saved. It was funny to hear Isabel encouraging her to do the same thing before we told her that that message was also for her!. Last Sunday, between Sunday School and the church service we saw Pilar coming with her husband! They are now back together and Pilar wanted him to come. They both listened to the message and we were again able to talk to Pilar about salvation. She told us it was the first time that she had heard that salvation wasn´t a process but a one time decision. Pray that she may understand fully and get saved, and also pray for Ernesto, her husband, and for his salvation. God can change both of their hearts, restore their marriage, and be the first family to join our little church.

Again, thank you so much for your prayers and sacrifice.  We know that many of you are sacrificing so that we can be here; it is humbling to be God´s missionaries and your missionaries.

In Christ´s service,

Matthew, Pilar, Kayla, Nicole, and Noelia