Thursday, October 25, 2007

Redemption on a Few Different Levels

Redemption seems to be a pretty "churchy" word now a days. That is to say, it is not a word heard frequently outside of a church context. This word carries a few different definitions. It can mean 1. to free from the consequences of sin, 2. to free from captivity by payment of ransom, 3. to buy back, 4. to atone for, 5. to change for the better, among a few others. One thing I have noticed about our new church location is the redemptive qualities it is having on the physical and spiritual realm. We are seeing slow but steady church growth on a spiritual level, and on a physical level the what was once abandon shopping mall where we are renting, is starting to fill up. Previously are only neighbors were an off track betting site, a liquor store, and a grocery store at the end of the complex. In just the last few months, a pharmacy has opened up, an internet cafe, a hardware store, and there are a few others that are currently in the remodeling process. We hope all of these business will attract more people to the shopping mall, and consequently more people will here the gospel preached! It is amazing how God works on both the physical and spiritual plane!
God Bless,
Matt J.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Office is Up and Running!!!

Well, I am excited to announce that we finally have our office up and running here in the church in Cúa. This means that I finally have internet available at my leisure! This hopefully will mean that I can update this blog more frequently as well as post pictures, videos, and other articles. Well, lets try to bring everybody up to date from the last post...
We now have 6 bible study groups that meet during the week and are hoping to open another one before the end of the year. This is very exciting since we started the year with only 2 small groups. I have started to meet with the other youth ministers from the churches in the mission with the hope of sharing ideas, supporting one another in prayer, and planning events for all of our youth to do together! I am now in the process of translating some material to use for discipleship with 4 guys in the youth group! Well, I think that is about all for now! Thanks for all of your prayers! This weekend we have a conference about praise and worship. Please be in prayer that God would speak through the preacher this weekend. God Bless!
Matt Johnson