Month: August Year: 2005
     
 

Too often we pray for things rather that union with Christ. In our prayers, we often ask God for what we want or want done. It must break the heart of God here and there that we are so busy seeking answers that we almost never seek him. We can only make room for Christ by emptying our hear of its cluttered agenda. Miller

 
     

Dearest friends;

Our winter days here in Cordoba are quickly ending, so I enjoyed weeding my garden...everything still looks a bit dull and gray, but flowers are starting to bloom...how I enjoy the colors and the green that is on its way! This also speaks to us of the constant renewal we must have in our hearts, constantly seeking the Lord, weeding out “cluttered agendas” and so many things that can choke the beautiful flowers of the Spirit…so we are never too busy for our quiet time with the Lord.

As a congregation, we are praying to reach 50 “open doors” in the city, and we have so far reached 33…places and homes that have a weekly open door for the gospel. (You can see the “50 open doors” sign at the back of the photo with the people). All this requires training and preparing the people, and we are delighted with this challenge. At the present my group of ladies being trained in leadership has grown from 8 to 18 women during this past year…all of them potential leaders for home groups or diverse responsibilities, half of them already are in charge of a group of people. These women, on their part, reach out to the rest of the women (and children) in the congregation. Humberto, on his side, is also training youth and men…the need is great (as it always is) and all the training and discipling is most necessary.

In the photo with the group of people, we had finished a 5 hour seminar on Messianic music and dance expression…you can see how this gathered about 50 people of all ages, children, teenagers, joined together in a corporate activity of worship. It was very enjoyable. We had the visit of a Messianic Jew from Buenos Aires, Betsy, who guided us and taught us with a happy dynamic spirit. What I enjoyed most was the fact that it mixed so many different people together, it was wonderful! Music and love for the Lord is really a good mix! 

With Humberto, we were both invited to the First Seminar on Christian Communication here in our city, as you can see in the ad…Humberto spoke on the Excellence in Communication, and I taught a workshop on writing…to a total of about 130 people. I have enjoyed writing all these years, so perhaps I can find something to pass on!! (Just plain experience!!). My nephew, Billy Saint, also taught at the Seminar, as he is a graphic artist, and very gifted in his work.. (I enjoyed sitting in on his seminar between breaks).  Today I am also working on a Bible study for adolescents, as people are telling us about this need…we hope to finish it by the end of August and have it put to use in the churches that need it. I am printing a book for children (a project I finished two years ago, and was sitting waiting its time), which we will be presenting at the city’s Book Fair in Córdoba during the month of September, where a Christian bookstore also joins in with the rest of secular bookstores.  Even our son Ari, who just turned 21, is finishing a book for young people; we as parents are surprised and delighted at what he is doing…He is planning to have it published sometime this year.

A small country town in Cordoba recently made the headlines as 9 young people committed suicide (by hanging) in this year. Several churches sent teams to evangelize the town and visit the major, and we helped by backing up a team who visited the town carrying Bibles with the Gideon’s ministry.

With my brother David, we team-translated for about 200 couples at an event organized by a wonderful US missionary couple, Paul and Cheryl Bendele, here in Cordoba, with the visit of pastors from Tampa, Florida, Billy and Donna. They taught a full marriage seminar, and also preached at different churches in our city, and also shared with pastors and leaders. Billy and Donna were such a blessing to us personally, as also to the people they taught and ministered.

Another thing: I receive a monthly Christian magazine, and I found an interesting ad concerning information on the updated version of the story of the five martyrs in Ecuador. This film, called Beyond The Gates of Splendor, will be released in theaters in January 2006. But this magazine has an ad offering a free screening kit at 1-800-695-9847 or www.beyondthegatesthemovie.com for churches, colleges and organizations. It includes a 45 minute screening DVD of the documentary, a discussion guide for Bible groups and bonus materials. So I thought that if you had not heard of this, you might be interested in receiving this material.

As Saint Ministries friends, I pray for you and thank the Lord for the huge privilege of sharing our work with you. You have been all so wonderful, we consider ourselves so blessed!

Evelyn (Saint Jimenez)

 

PS….I had an “oops” in our last newsletter, as I made a mistake concerning the date of our trip to the States…we are planning to travel next July/August (2006!!) if the Lord works things out…(we could not possibly have traveled right after the last newsletter, things like this have to be planned in good time…and I did not notice the mistake until I received my own newsletter sent to us from our mission office). So I apologize if this was an inconvenience for you…
So…if you would consider our visit to your church, family, home group, or just plain visit you, please email us or write us to our mission office. At the present we have to work on renewing our passports, which take time in this part of the world.

PPS
We continue to pray about buying a property, as the Lord permits it, to share with leaders and pastors of Cordoba, and to use as a place for spiritual retreats. We will only invest in this only if the funds are available, so we are trusting the Lord for His time and provision.