The Latest News out of Negritas

Guadalupe Hernandez is referred to as “the Grandpa of Negritas”. He was very ill for a long time… and several times very close to death. Everyone knew that he was very afraid of death and fought death very hard. Last week Lupe and Leti went to visit Guadalupe – and the family allowed them to. They told him about Jesus and how Jesus loves him. They told him about Jesus’ death on the cross and about putting his faith in Jesus. They told him about repentance – turning from one’s sins. Guadalupe received Jesus as his personal Savior. And Jesus forgave him and gave him peace with God. The Grandpa of Negritas just passed away with peace in his heart. He was not afraid to die and everyone knew it. Guadalupe Hernandez is now with his Savior.

Pray for Lupe and Leti to continue to shine Jesus’ light. Pray for people to continue to take note of fact that Guadalupe’s attitude towards death was radically changed and that Jesus gave him peace in his heart. Pray that more people would put their faith in Jesus because of his testimony. Lupe and Leti are trying to visit another grandma in the nearby town of Lindero who is also in her last days. Pray for permission to visit the grandma and for wisdom for how to share God’s word with her.

Three Elders Named in Negritas

In Acts 14:21-23 it says that Paul and Barnabas revisited the churches they had planted to encourage the believers and appoint elders in every church. This is a pattern that Paul repeated throughout his ministry. On Monday evening, January 25, I met with all the men in the church in Negritas. After reviewing these verses and then reading through and discussing the qualifications of an elder in 1 Timothy 3, I told them it was time to appoint elders in the church of Negritas. I told them that my choices were Lupe, Fidencio and Francisco. All of the men present agreed that these three were the most mature in Christ and that they would be the best choices for leaders in the church. We then discussed what responsibilities they should have and closed the evening with a time of prayer, asking God to bless the church and it’s newly appointed leaders.

Little did I know that when I appointed these three men, they would immediately find themselves in a crisis. That night Fidencio shared with me that one of the men in the church was having inappropriate contact with a woman of a nearby town. This contact was bringing reproach on the church. (I should point out that this does not mean he was having a sexual relationship with her. In the culture with any kind of close friendship with an unrelated woman there is an automatic assumption of a sexual relationship.) Knowledge of this contact is spreading and at least one person said to Fidencio that they would have nothing to do with our church because of this inappropriate contact.

Since I was leaving the next morning I could do nothing directly about this problem. I shared 1 Corinthians 5 and Matthew 18 with Fidencio and told him what the leaders of the church must do. Pray for Fidencio and the rest of the leaders as they must confront the offending person. Pray for repentance and restoration. Pray for the church to come out of this with a much higher reputation in the community.