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Greetings!
This week we are on retreat near Medellin with the top leaders of Impact Latin America. Our goal is to ensure that our ministry is guided by the Holy Spirit. This weekend we will be with some key leaders from the Free Methodist Church in Latin America on a similar retreat near Bogota. We want to be a community that discerns God’s will together.
Sometimes the diversity of the team makes that more difficult than we wish to admit. However, as one of this week’s devotional messages from Acts 15 reminded us, that diversity is not a new issue within the church but when we seek God’s will together, unity is possible!
Verse 3 really stuck out to me. “...As they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.” Let’s not forget the joy of new conversions. May we all rejoice as the family of God grows…even among those who are different from us!
And although new conversions are not the only focus of this ministry report, I hope you will rejoice with us in the ways that God is at work in our world as we participate with Him in His restorative work of Latin America!
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The JOY of Salvation
During Holy Week we were in Peru with 215 young people and their leaders from 19 countries…all over Latin America, the USA & Canada. This was the second JUMELI (Free Methodist Youth) Summit.
Under the Holy Spirit inspired teaching of Dr. David Thomas (USA), Pastora Cris Flores (Mexico), Pastor Lucas Silveira (Uruguay), Pastor Dennis León (Costa Rica), Ricardo and others…many people accepted Christ as their Savior. What Great JOY! In fact, the Summit wrapped up on Easter Sunday with a sunrise service on the beach and 5 baptisms in the powerful Pacific Ocean. Pastor Dennis said, there was no better body of water to wash their sins away! It was a perfect way to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection!!!
So many great things happened at the Summit, as the team served endlessly new spiritual friendships were formed, sins were confessed and forgiven, games were played, beach hikes were taken, and more. What fun to watch this large group of youth (and a few olders) jumping up and down as they worshiped God with all that they had. What a delight to watch them go low and quiet before rising and shouting together, “Get up, get up, get up. Get up out of that grave!” May we live in that joy because, we serve a RISEN SAVIOR!
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The JOY of Serving God & Others
When you visit Esterillos, Costa Rica it is hard to miss the transformational impact that the Pura Vida church has on the community. The church is actively serving those around them… creating space for the community to gather (like a well maintained soccer field, children’s park, and skate park), looking out for others safety (with the newly installed life guard stand), providing spiritual and educational opportunities for children (through their Uno Mas and Raices programs), and intentionally creating relationships – even with the least among them. Dennis & Kyle Leon serve lunch in their home every Wednesday to the homeless, struggling single-parent families, people with addiction, and more. Everyone is welcome. Dennis said, “the fact that we see them and know their names begins the change within them.” What began as a meal for those who needed it is becoming a Christian community!
As we celebrated their annual mission district meeting under the shade of mango and coconut trees with God’s creative beauty on display on the beach beyond the pulpit. We rejoiced that the 360-mission district is Christ-like where God has planted them.
The Costa Rica Mission District serves in the interior of the country. They have opened 33 Houses of Peace and new leaders are being developed. While there, Ricardo had the honor of dedicating a baby (the next, next generation of leaders) and ordaining Pastor Melvin Vargas. We also heard the testimony of how the church responded with humanitarian aid when a fire destroyed much of an impoverished and dangerous neighborhood in their community. The response was birthed in the hearts of the children in the church. When the kids and their leaders took food, clothing and school supplies, the response of the community was basically, “please come back and share your faith with us.” What great joy!
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The Joy of Serving the Church
Before leaving Peru, I (Beth) had the opportunity to assist a mini-mission trip in Lima, Peru. This multi-cultural team of youth from Wilmore FMC, Uruguay, Mexico and Nicaragua were available to serve the local church according to its needs. We began with a prayer tour of the city, stopping in strategic locations, to get a better feel for the culture. In each location, we prayed as a group for specific needs but at our last stop, several of them struck up conversations with vendors and others on the street which culminated in prayer for those people. It was truly beautiful.
Finally, we returned to the USA for Ricardo’s annual meetings with the other Area Directors, Bishops and Superintendents in Indianapolis. While there we celebrated Bishop Kenny and Estelle’s ministry as they retire from the bishopric and went on a walk with Bishop-elect Fraser Venter and JoAnne. What an enjoyable, gentle and wise couple! (We don't have a picture of that walk, so this picture shows our women's lunch - getting to know JoAnne.) It will be our honor to serve under their leadership.
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As mentioned earlier, we travel tomorrow to Bogota for another retreat and then we will go to Bueno Aires, Argentina to oversee the annual meeting there in conjunction with Bishop Keith and Pam Cowart. We will return to Kentucky for, among other things, Juliana's Community College Graduation on May 11.
We are so grateful for our God-given opportunity to serve Christ, the church and Latin America! It is our prayer that these testimonies will, as was the case with the believers in the book of Acts, make you “very glad”!
Many blessings,
Ricardo & Beth
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