Misión Montana Vista

Montgomery Family Newsletter 2007

 

Dear Christian family,

            I hope this letter finds each of you growing in the grace, joy and peace that are in Christ Jesus. We are truly thankful for the bond we share in Christ with all of you.

            Each time I sit to write a newsletter I always struggle on what to include and what to leave out. Unfortunately I don’t include personal stories of individuals that inspire and encourage as often as I could. So, I wanted to share a couple of recent stories that have influenced me in hopes that you too will benefit from the perseverance and dedication of those here in El Paso.

            It often amazes me just how much individuals are willing to do and endure to hear God’s word (and I’m not just referring to my bad pronunciation in Spanish!). I’ve been studying with a couple for a few of months now. Due to some difficult circumstances, they found themselves without electricity for several days. It was during one of those nights that we had planned our weekly Bible study together. Considering the darkness and the cold it would have made sense to most folks to skip a week and then start up again. This couple, however, thought differently. We bundled up in our thick coats and gathered around the kitchen table with a candle and a mini-mag flashlight. It was at that point that it dawned on me their intense desire to know God. I couldn’t help but think that the Father of lights was smiling in the glow of our small candle as he beheld a couple of very humble means refusing to be deterred from listen to the word. May God give us all a passion for his word such as I saw in that couple that evening.

            I’ve also been greatly encouraged by Alfredo, with whom I’ve been studying for about a year now.  He grew up in a family that believed in God, but he had never really cracked open a Bible. He wanted to know what the Bible was about, so I simply said, “Well, let’s read it together then.” We decided that we would read a book over a week or two and then discuss it and answer any questions he might have. The end result has been that over the course of 8 months he read the entire New Testament. This is particularly impressive because he was only able to finish the 3rd grade before he had to begin working. Consequently, as you can imagine reading is quite a challenge for him! Just like the other couple above, he too is determined to know who God is and what God wants for his life regardless of the obstacles! To date, neither Alfredo nor the lovely couple above have committed themselves fully to the Lord, but I believe they are “not far from the Kingdom of God” as Jesus once described another individual (Mk. 12:34).

            We continue to ask for your prayers for the work that God is doing here. Specifically we ask you to pray for Alfredo and other studies that are currently ongoing. We also ask that you pray to the Lord of the Harvest to raise up laborers from El Paso to sustain and develop the church here (Lk 10:2).  We are planning summer activities with which we hope to make a substantial impact on the community. Lord willing, the Jefferson Street congregation in Hobbs will be conducting a VBS in the final week of June in hopes of reaching new families in the area. On the heels of that, the youth group from the Chisholm trail congregation in Duncan is planning to come to follow-up with those contacted at the VBS and hopefully reach additional families. We ask that you join us in praying that God will open up new doors for the gospel, and that we will bear much fruit through these visits. We continue to ask your prayers for Alicia’s health and the spiritual health of the congregation here. We love and thank God for you all.

 

Grace and peace,

Kevin, Alicia and Bethany Montgomery

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