Thanking God for Spiritual Progress
Two and a half years have gone by since we moved to Nicaragua. The family is now well settled; we feel that this is home.
It never ceases to amaze me how God works in our lives if we will allow Him. The assembly in Dolores was established in January of 2005 with 16 local believers plus Ross Vanstone, Mark and Brenda Bachert, and Danelle and me. Since then we have seen a nice number saved and added to the fellowship and at present 25 local Christians form a part of the little testimony here. At times on a Lord’s day morning, I wish I could get a glimpse of the joy in heaven when, one by one, the brethren rise and give God thanks for sending His Son and also express how grateful they are to be able to remember the Lord Jesus as He asked us to do. I am sure the Father is pleased as these humble worshipers speak so well of the Son.
Just this week I was overjoyed at the Saturday brethren’s meeting we have with the Christians in Dolores with a comment of an older brother in his 80’s. He was saved as a young man but lived most of his life away from the Lord. He was restored a number of years ago and came to the meetings in the Hall where he learned the truth of eternal security. Tino has been a great asset to the assembly here and is extremely faithful in attendance and encouragement. He was telling some of the younger men how grateful he was to have found a place that taught the whole counsel of God and expressed how each time we come together he can feel the Lord’s presence in the midst. He told us how he had finally found a place where the truth is taught—a place he will never leave. How good it is to see God revealing assembly truth to the hearts of His own!
We have been very encouraged at the growth of many of the believers. Some younger men take a good part in the preaching of the gospel as well as encouraging the saints in ministry. Please pray that the Lord will raise up men with the ability to teach and shepherd the flock. We look forward to the time when the assembly in Dolores no longer needs the help of missionaries.
We continue to be fairly busy with meetings six nights of the week and with all the other activities. As for the work in the neighboring city of Jinotepe, it has been hard and slow. At present five have been baptized there and are going on well for which we give thanks to our God. Please pray that the Lord will save more souls in this city. Sometimes I have wondered why more of those that continue coming have not been saved. Then I remember how many times I heard the gospel before God saved me, and how many of the Lord’s people were praying. I am reminded, “We shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal 6:9). So we keep on and trust the Lord will continue to work
In the future, we would like to move into new areas with the gospel. We are in a very populated area of the country with a number of smaller cities and villages, many just a few minutes travel from here. Please pray the Lord will lead us to the place of His choosing and not our own. How good it would be to see more local testimonies established in this country!
We are very thankful that others are hearing the call of God to spread the glorious gospel message. Our brother and sister John and Joanne Clingen from the Langstaff, Ontario, assembly have been commended to the Lord’s work in Nicaragua and plan to be here by the end of July. Please pray that they will be able to learn the language and get settled in to the work here. Another concern is the political situation. In January, Daniel Ortega took office as president. He helped lead a bloody revolution and then ran the country in the 80’s until losing Nicaragua’s first democratic presidential election in 1990. He seems to have given up some of his Marxist ideology, so we can only pray that we will continue to enjoy the freedom to preach the gospel.
Nicaragua is a place of great natural beauty but also a place of great spiritual confusion. We trust as the Word of God is preached and local testimonies established that confusion will give way to truth and confidence in the living God through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
