We're Gearing Up For 2010

In John 6, the Word of God says that Jesus went up on a mountain side, and sat down with His disciples, and when He looked up He saw a large crowd of people coming toward Him.
As I was reading this one day I felt the Holy Spirit speak to my heart saying, "Just as Jesus repositioned Himself, by going up the side of the mountain, we must also reposition our lives, our plans, and yes even our finances, so the we to may really see the people who need Jesus."

We praise God, that even in the midst of uncertain times, many are repositioning their lives, their plans and their finances to come and share the gospel of Christ in Guatemala for 2010. This looks to be our largest volunteer team year since our beginning, and we praise God for His provisions.

Here's the Schedule that we have so far for 2010:

January - Take a trailer and supplies down by truck.
January 16-23 The boys from Alabama/Mississippi are coming for a week of construction/evangelism as we began a second story on the dormitory.
The dormitory gets alot of use as seminary classes are held there as well as pastor training and other events, including housing teams when they come. One day we hope it will become the first high school in the Piedra Partida area.

February 13 - 20 Mars Hill Baptist along with a few folks from Sharon Baptist will come with a team of 18 to do a variety of things with their gifts and talents.

March 6-13 Oakland Baptist, Rutledge,TN, will bring a team of 20 who will also serve in a variety of areas. This will be Oakland's 5th or 6th year in a row to come to Guatemala.

March 22 - 29 The ministry staff of Mars Hill Baptist will come and visit several areas, praying for and encouraging the pastors while holding services in the villages.

April 3 - 10 The Bridge Church is going high in the mountains to Choanla, a mountain village 12,000 feet above sea level. We will have a VBS in the church building that their congregation helped build this past year.

April 17-29 Wynne Baptist will come with their medical team, holding clinics in Las Mercedes, La Montanita and Limoncitos. Last year some 1800 people were seen and heard the gospel of our Lord.

May 8 - 15 We are changing gears and heading to Mexico to start construction on the first Baptist Church in Guasave, Sinaloa, with pastors David and Marco.

June 5 - 12 FBC Shreveport will be returning to serve again with medical and construction.
June 12-19 FBC Groves, TX is bringing a team of youth. This will be a first experience for many coming on this trip.
June 19 - 26 We are back in Mexico with Mars Hill Baptist for their Sport's Clinics held in and around Guasave.

July 3- 10 FBC Pulaski, TN will be back for their fourth annual mission trip to Guatemala.
July 24 - 31 Wynne Baptist will return with their second team of the year to do evangelism in the villages.

I pray that this news finds you well and that you are serving the Lord with ALL your heart.

Lewis and Donna

I have waited a few days before sending out an update because I wanted to make sure all of the facts were in concerning Ely's diagnosis. He has been diagnosed with non small cell carcinoma, Stage IV-Lung Cancer, which started in his lung and has spread to his spine. Earlier we had said that the tumor on his spine was not malignant but the biopsy was misdiagnosed.

On Wednesday, October 7, we went to the Vanderbilt Cancer Research Center in Nashville, TN. We met with Dr. Leora Horn, a medical oncologist, who specializes in lung cancer. She shared the available options, as well as her professional opinion concerning Ely and his type of cancer.

The only cure for this Lung Cancer is the divine intervention of our Lord, which we continue to pray for. The other best available option appears to be for Ely to enter into a Clinical Trial, at Vanderbilt, using a drug called Tarceva. Tarceva is taken orally and has a few common side effects such as a skin rash, diarrhea and sun sensitivity. Though there are many other possible side effects they are rare. Tarceva will seek out and attack cancer anywhere in the body and is considered a relatively low risk cancer treatment drug.

With all of that said, Ely and Rosa will leave for Guatemala this Friday and return in a few weeks to begin the clinical trial. Please continue to pray for Ely, Rosa and family. Thanks so much.

God bless you,


Lewis and Donna

A Great Story of God at Work

God is moving in His mercy, grace and power, and we are so very blessed to witness all that He is doing. To God be ALL glory forever and ever A-men!
Lawrenceburg, TN is a small rural town in south central Tennessee much like many small towns across our nation. Religion and religious activity has exsisted here for many years as well as most "Christian" denominations, but I have never seen a movement of God's Spirit here like this before.
Mars Hill Baptist Church is located off the beaten path. A country, mostly blue collar congregation has been it's make up over the last 80 years since it was founded. For quite sometime now, each week, God "shows up" and pours out His Spirit and many lives are being changed in the process. It is truly a wonderful place to worship.

Recently a woman called Pastor Mickey Brackin to enquire about her son speaking in one of our services. She said that her son was a missionary to China through the Church of God. Mickey asked her to have her son call him when he came into town. He told the deacons and the church staff about the possibilities, and that we also would be having Marco Vaello, a Mexican missionary whom we support, on the same Sunday.
On Thursday, before the SUnday of this event, Mickey spoke with the missionary from China and felt the Lord's leadership to have him come and speak during our early service. This brother did a good job telling us of his work in ShenZhen, China and sharing the Word of God in the service.
After the service and young mother came up to me. With tears in her eyes she began to tell me her story. She and her husband had been in a process of adopting a child from China and things had not gone well to say the least. That morning, while in the shower, she began to cry out to God asking Him for a sign, something to give her strength and wisdom to continue with this adoption in China.
When she arrived at church she heard there was a missionary from China that would be speaking. She thought, this is good but with China being such a large country with over a billion people, what kind of odds would it be that this missionary would even know of the town her child was in.
As the missionary began to speak he said that he and his wife, who is Chineese, live in the small town od ShenZen,. The young mother told me that she literally gasp! She knew God had sent her a sign and what a sign it was. By the next day the missionaries wife, who was still in China, had gone to the orphanage where the child is and had helped clear up a thing or two also, and with in nine days the young American couple would board a plane and fly to China to bring this child home. We are now prayerfully awaiting their arrival home!
Talk about "A needle in a haystack!" ALL things are possible in Christ!
I will update more later. To God be the glory! Thank you Jesus!

Lewis

Ely and Rosa

Ely and Rosa are in California visiting Rosa's brother. I spoke with Ely today and he seemed to be feeling better than he before, and sounded more like himself.
He has a Pet Scan set up for this Friday so please continue to pray for his body to heal. I will keep you updated as we know more.
Thanks again so very much,

Lewis and Donna

Ely

For those of you who know Ely and Rosa, you understand when I say, to know them is to love them. I have never met a kinder, more gentler spirit than Ely. He has taught me much in the few years we have worked together.
I have had privilege to serve along side of Ely since 2004. We have become closer than brothers for there is a kinship that only our Lord can place in the hearts of man. Together we have seen God do great and mighty things and we give Him all glory, honor and praise.
Ely, a man with limited education, has taught me more than any other human who has walked the face of this earth. He is clothed in humility, and has tremendous faith in our Lord. He has exhibited patience, love, long suffering and grace over and over, again and again, even when others are in the wrong.
Today, I simply ask you to pray for Ely, Rosa and their family. He has been diagnosed with lung cancer and needs our prayers. Thank you for your faithfulness and friendship.

To our Lord's glory,

Lewis