Things are really starting to pick up in our work at Montana Vista. Our worship services are typically around 40 people. Aside from our families, there are only three other members who are baptized believers. After counting those Christians who come to help us or are just visitors from other congregations, about half the group are non-Christians! Can you imagine if half of those who attended each week at Parkway were nonbelievers? What an amazing opportunity to share the gospel! Here are some pictures of last Sunday's worship:
(Notice Kevin in the back and Talon in the front in the picture on the right!)
Here is a picture of the adult group during the sermon (where we break up into groups):
The ladies are working hard and had a great turnout for the new Bible study/crafts class on Wednesday mornings. So far all of those baptized at Montana Vista are women (which is an interesting parallel to the church in Acts 16:13-15), but we are really wanting to reach their husbands and other men in the neighborhood to have some strong male leadership within the congregation. Our main theme comes out of Romans 15:14: "I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." We pray that we will be able to train the people of this congregation to teach one another and be "self-supporting," that we can move on to continue reaching out to new communities.
Please pray for Mayela, one of the recent converts. Her husband is currently in jail awaiting trial, and this is very hard for her and her kids due to the nature of the crime. Also, please pray for Veronica (Vero), as she is trying to get her papers to remain in the U.S. She has been studying a lot with Paul, and we hope she will soon accept the gospel message. There are many others to pray for, but we ask that you pray for our courage and wisdom as we strive to spread the awesome hope of the gospel to the lost here in Montana Vista.
God bless you all! We miss you dearly, and long to see you once again. Please e-mail us, call us, write us, or, better yet, come visit (it's only five-and-a-half hours away!). Our web address is http://www.geocities.com/lonnius_maximus/. I will try to get updates on there as soon as I can. Doris Welch should have all of our contact information for anyone who needs it. Thanks for your continued prayers, they are always of greatest benefit in this ministry!
In Christian Love,
Lonnie Tapscott and Family