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PUENTE PRAYER LETTER-10/08 |
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008 |
Dear Brethren and Church,
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all this things shall be added unto you.( Matthew 6:33) This verse of the Bible has been a great encouragement to us over the past few months. During the Children's Class that we are having on Sunday afternoon, Bro Matt has been teaching the girls' and I (I play the piano for the class) about this great Bible promise. I've had to apply this truth to my life lately. I am still searching for a job here in Granada. I've have some job offers, but I knew the Lord was not in them because of the schedule; they would not have given me any time for the ministry. The first interview I had over in Madrid to teach English was very tempting. They offer me a job to stay in Madrid, with a very good salary. I declined the offer because my plans were to come to Granada. I had two other interviews here in the month of September but they required me to work all day. The unemployment rate in Spain is rising, and we are living in the province with the highest unemployment rate. We are trusting in the Lord to provide a job; He knows best and I know that He will guide us through this. Please continue to pray for my job situation.
The Lord is truly blessing us here in Granada. We praise the Lord for His promise that he will provide our needs. We started to look for a building for the church in the month of August. Bro Matt and I looked at a couple of places and saw that they did not fulfill the needs of the church. We finally went to one building in the neighborhood of Zaidin on the west side of Granada. The building is around 1100 square feet and has 4 rooms with two bathrooms. The biggest room can fit around 50 people, but we do have the advantage of being able to expand later when necessary. PRAISE THE LORD! God allowed us to lower the rent considerable and we were able to sign a contract to start renting this building. Zaidin is one of the oldest areas of the city and has literally hundreds of people walking the streets because of the many businesses and residences in the area. The building is located on the main street of the neighborhood. It also seems like the area is a melting pot. We have people from many different countries, which is a great opportunity to reach the world from this area. We've been able to finish painting and do some small repairs on the building. Bro Matthew also let me know that we had received a gift to purchase the chairs from a fellow missionary. Also, another missionary from Almeria has donated a pulpit for us to use. Praise the Lord! The sign for the front of the building is also on the works and should be installed next week. Invitations are being printed so soon we can begin inviting people to our first official service on December 7th. Our Lord is good! Even though the world is going through an economical crisis, God is not affected and still provides for his children. Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
The Lord has really been burdening my heart for young Spaniards. Ashley and I have been walking around the city and going to the parks. Young people are clueless of God's Word. Pray that God would open doors for me to speak to the young people.
We were able to go to Madrid last week to see some dear brothers in Christ that we have known for a while. We were also blessed to minister in El Faro Baptist Church in Alcala de Henares. El Faro Baptist Church is where my family and I became Christians, as well as the church where Pilar and my cousin Arancha got saved. Bro Pedro Torres and his family are also from the church there and are planning to return. It was a blessing to be there and see the church again. It was more of a blessing to see that the church is still an old fashioned, fundamental, Baptist church and has not compromised like many churches in Spain have done. Amen!! We were able to spend some time with Pastor Alejandro Sanchez and his wife Fina. It was such a blessing to speak to him regarding different thing about the ministry here in Spain, and to hear some godly counsel from a pastor with many years of experience. Bro Alejandro Sanchez took over as pastor of the church when Bro Pedro Torres went to the United States.
The Lord has also blessed and provided Ashley a doctor. We had some problems at the beginning because of the healthcare system here, but praise the Lord he worked everything out. Everything seems to be going perfect with the baby. We found out we are having a boy! My dad, my brother Francisco, my Father-in-law and I are very happy about that, Ashley and the grandmothers had to adjust to the idea of a boy since they were sure it was going to be a girl. We are looking forward to seeing our baby born in December.
We are very excited about what the Lord is doing here in Granada and are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in the future. Please remember us in prayer. We love you all in the Lord.
In Christ,
Puente Family
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