A group of about 30 from our congregation piled into the trucks today to head to the Villa Alemania congregation in Managua where we received a great seminar.  It was for the evangelistic teams of several congregations.  There were 21 congregations represented with 170 in attendance.  Our group was the largest from any congregation besides Villa Alemania!  There were two speakers.  The first spoke on on How to Retain the Most New Converts, and Giovanni taught about Restoring the Unactive Brother.  Both classes were really good.  The first talked about how we should prepare the congregation for new converts the way a family prepares for a new baby, how we should let people we evangelize know the commitment they are making, and how we should care for a new convert (give them a “buddy”).  Giovanni talked about how our attitude is the most important part of restoring and used 3 Biblical examples. 1) Jesus gave a hand to Peter when he was walking on the water and began to sink, put him on solid ground, and then talked to him about his faith.  2) Jesus said, “He without sin cast the first stone” to the lady in adultry, not condemning her but encouraging her to not sin anymore.  3) The father of the prodigal son ran out to greet him, restored his position as son, and had a party to celebrate.

Well, we had our gospel meeting last week and it was great!  15 people decided to become Christians.  The encouraging thing is that these new members are attending our week day services, which usually have a huge drop in attendance from Sunday services. 

We had several groups door-knocking.  There is a neighborhood across the highway that goes a way back, and we were able to reach deeper into this area than ever before.  Now we need a van!  Now that we live in Diriamba, we pick up members from Las Esquinas, a small town on the way to the church building, and our truck is full (in fact, we’d be in trouble if everyone from this area attended one Sunday).  Since this new area is off the highway, busses don’t go in, so we have a lot of new members walking a long way. 

I wanted to do an update on Gerald.  He is doing much better.  I don’t know that the doctors actually did anything, but he seems to be improving, and we know that God is the best doctor of all!

David preached a great sermon on Sunday about joy.  He taught that God tells us that we can be joyful in times when the world would say it’s normal to be sad (death, suffering).  He talked about some reasons that some are constantly sad (lack of trust in God, focus on negative), and then talked about the reasons we have to be joyful (blessings, salvation, love of Christ, love of brothers).  He gave advice to keep us happy (focus on the blessings instead of the problems and sufferings, pray and put your troubles on God).  He concluded saying that the cause of our happiness isn’t circumstances or something worldly, because these things can change.  Our happiness comes from God, who doesn’t change, and therefore we can have a constant joy through Our Father.

Please pray for Gerlad, a member of the church here.  He’s about 18, and 4 months ago he was in a car accident.  He seemed fine, but for the past 4 days he has been suffering with extreme chest pains, enough to cause nausia.  He’s been to the hospital several times, and we took him again tonight.  They told him to go to Managua for tests/X-rays, but there’s one doctor who will tell them where to go, and he wasn’t there, so they have to go back tomorrow to find out.  So efficient.  What they did tell him is that he has swelling in his chest, and it’s not a problem with his lungs.  Please pray that these tests can show what the problem is and that he can heal.

Please continue to remember our gospel meeting in your prayers, as it starts tomorrow.

I went to upload some pictures to the gallery and I’m ashamed to see that the last gallery was for January.  But hey, you try having a photogenic moment 3 times a week!  I put up pictures of the gospel meeting in San Marcos, our new furniture, which we got this weekend, and our puppies.  Our furniture is BEAUTIFUL!  Our rocking chairs are sooo comfy!  I think the hardest part was picking the cloth for the dining chairs.  Today we had Giovanni and Carolina over with Carolina’s family, and so I bought some orange flowers to go on the table, and it looked great with the chairs, so I hope that I’ll be able to decorate well.  We still didn’t eat on the table because I don’t have placemats yet and Carolina’s mom was afraid we’d stain it.  Oh, I also put a picture of Chepe with a huge pile of mangos.  David and the kids went to one of the member’s houses in Masaya and picked a ton of mangos.

Today we had a fun ladies class.  We celebrated the birthdays of the first half of the year.  Patricia gave a great class about how God is always faithful, in his promises and his Word.  She closed talking about how we should be faithful and always give thanks for our blessings.  After the class, we played some games and ate nacatamales. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the gospel meeting and the mission trip in June.