Altar Cristiana celebrates five years—Guayaquil pastor, Gustavo Viejo, led the church in an anniversary celebration Friday, Sept. 3. After a lively musical worship time, Tom spoke to the congregation on Hope. The service was followed by a great all-church meal of pork and rice with salad.
Bible Institute students advance—Our six students completed their first trimester of theological studies recently. All are doing well with many receiving a 100% (straight A’s) for the trimester. They are a bright hope for the future of the Wesleyan ministries in Ecuador.
Men responding to God—From the beginning of Tom’s acceptance as interim pastor of the ICW in May, he felt compelled to target men as a priority. Praise God, He is answering our prayers. In the last two weeks two young men have accepted Christ as Savior and another was delivered instantly from a nicotine addiction. Here is a sketch of their testimonies:
Edison: This young man is quite shy, but on August 29, at the close of the service, his mom, a new convert herself, walked to the front of the tent to accompany him in giving his life to Christ. Edison is attending services and weekly Bible study. He’s talking more now, as he begins to feel more comfortable in the church family.
Walter: A young man who was raised Catholic and just completed the catechism, has been attending our services, and has gotten very involved with the youth group. Walter is a guy with tons of questions for anyone who will give him the time. He’s been searching sincerely and recently told Lydia, “I am thinking about becoming a Christian, and need to know more about it.” This was followed by another barrage of good questions. A few days ago, Walter excitedly shared with George Wuertz the following testimony, “I feel strange inside. It’s like…it’s like Jesus is living inside of me! I want to read stuff now that I never wanted to read before (the Bible).”
Jorge Luis: As a husband and father, Jorge has been seeking a deeper walk with God for many months. A smoking and nicotine addiction has smothered him with guilt. He recently began smoking much more than usual. But…..(here is his testimony he gave me Sunday) “I felt the Spirit of God come on me. I began to tremble, I felt something inside (placing his hand on his chest as he spoke). I felt very light, like I was floating. God took away all cravings for tobacco instantly. I wadded up my remaining cigarettes and threw them away. That was four days ago and I have not had any desire whatsoever to smoke again.” When Jorge Luis told me that, I gave him a high five and we praised God together. We agreed he would share this testimony with the church body next Sunday. I can’t wait. One of our other guys who is struggling with smoking already asked him how he did it. Good things lead to more good things in God!
PEOPLE ARE BEING SAVED AND DISCIPLED
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
