“Who are they?”  We asked ourselves as several cars arrived and a bus.  We did not recognize anyone. We were part of the first group to arrive from our church for the baptism at the river.  To our surprise another church had planned a baptism there as well!  They were much more organized than us.  They brought chairs, sound system, and generator and had everything set up in minutes.  It was good for our people to notice that.  So, what did we do, draw a line down the middle of the camp?  We took turns, with us going first with 10 candidates.  Since the other group was larger than us, we left and went to the house of Lisandro and Anita, who live nearby and have a large area outside to spread out.  There we peeled and cut up ingredients for a chicken/beef stew and ate around 2:30.  (The other church brought food already prepared!)

                        The Albrechts will be leaving us shortly and we will be the only elders actually living in Lecheria.  Several send off parties are being planned for them and this will be the focus for the next couple of weeks. Melissa and I are involved in several practices and presentations. Everyone in the church will be involved one way or another to show our appreciation for all that the Lord has done through their faithfulness and love. It will be a new phase in the life of the church; an opportunity for more growth and maturity as members fill in the gap that they will leave. 

            This past Easter week about 100 of us, in 2 buses and several cars, traveled to Las Margaritas, an agricultural village in the mountains 4 hours south of us.  One of our elders, Lisandro, is from this village and has been heading up efforts to revitalize his native church.  On this occasion the plan was to erect the open air building for a central worship location.  Almost everyone slept in tents in a field and some people slept in the school nearby.  The men dedicated themselves to this task, while some youth participated in a 3 day VBS for the children.  Several of the women worked in the kitchen, and many people just hung around relaxing.  The first day, Thursday, the men worked until midnight to get up the 16 posts so that they could harden overnight in the cement foundation.  The weather at night dropped down 20° cooler than it does here on the coast.  We brought extra sleeping bags and blankets to share.  For 2 evenings we held an open air service on site.  During this time 3 youth that came with us made decisions to follow Christ.

            We need discernment, clear insight and direction on how to deal with members influenced by Pentecostal obsession with demons, healings, spiritual warfare, combined with many fears rooted in the culture and pagan belief system.  We need power, along with love, to help people to be free from these chains.  There is also a situation of 2 new Christians who have decided to live together and have not listened to counsel.  Several couples have strained relationships.  Pray for these families.        We are looking at a piece of property for the church. The plot of land is about 5 blocks from our present location. We are in the process of negotiating a price with the owners. We need wisdom as to how much we can offer and the terms. With empty lands getting invaded the owner seems anxious to sell and has offered us a year to pay for the land.

Peter and Sharon

psmcmillan@cantv.net