WORLD VISION - Mexico City, Mexico
We currently sponsor Antonio Segundo Contreras in one of the projects outside of Mexico City. He is ten years old and has 7 brothers and sisters. His family are subsistence farmers and also bake bread and tortillas that they sell in the local area.
If you would like information on how to sponsor a child, you can go to the World Vision website at:
http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/master.nsf/
Street Ministry - Cusco, Peru
Romelo Mejia Tupa and Pilar Sanchez Juarez are missionaries working with the people in the countryside surrounding Cusco. They are very excited about sharing Jesus Christ with the people of their country and can use support in several ways. I meet Romelo when I was in Cusco in 2001 studying Spanish and was impressed with his zeal for reaching people. Shipments of clothing for children is appreciated, as well as donations for Bibles written in Spanish and Qechua. If you would like to be part of their ministry, contact us at:
cathleen_carpenter@hotmail.comor Romulo at:
Romulo Mejia Tupa
Pilar Sanchez Juarez
Urbanizacion Mariscal Gamarra
A-1, Departamento 413, 2da Etapa
Cusco, Peru
CLOTHING PROJECT!!!!
If your small group, family, or just you want to help out a missionary family, they could use donations of clothing for their family and for outreach projects. Peru is one of the only countries that will accept clothing without taxes and hefty charges, so it's a great opportunity to help out. The postage is steep, about $45, but divided by a group, worth the effort! The same guidelines as above apply and the following are good, all for fall/winter weather as it is cold at night and there is no heat:
men - medium long sleeve shirts, dress socks, nice pullovers, slacks 30-32/30-32
women- 9/10 dresses, skirts, warm shirts, slacks
children - boys - pants, long sleeve shirts, pullovers - sizes 7-10
girls - warm clothing, any style - sizes 4T - 6x
Nothing fancy; think practical and warm
Include $25 in the box because they have to pay to pickup parcels shipped into their country
Romelo and his family have also started an evangelism training center to train local people to go out and spread the word of God. We were able to provide them funds for a computer and printer in order to help them print brochures, literature, and materials to distribute and handout in this ministry. We have been able to provide over 75 Bibles in Spanish so far as well!
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Guayllabamba - Ecuador
The following are a list of projects we are currently involved with and some that we would like to help out. If there is a particular project you would like to support or sponsor, just let us know or donations can be made through Chestnut Mountain Church.
Project: Baptist Church in Guayllabamba
Story: We found this church by the grace of God and have been working with them now for five years. He has been in this location for 7 years and in the area for 8 trying to reach a largely non-practicing Catholic population. He has suffered persecution for his beliefs in the form of rocks and threats. He has built everything he has so far with his own hands and money and the help of the small congregation he has now. His philosophy constantly is that God will provide and he has a perpetual attitude of hope and service to God. They have a variety of areas of need that people could help with.
1. Church construction - a group from a Texas church has come in to partner with us to help complete the second story of the church and finish out classrooms and a living space to use for traveling missionaries.
2. Church materials and supplies for VBS, the Bible Study Academy, new Christians
3. Mission church in Cheka for growth and a building for them
4. Youth Music Concert Event and Mission teams to help with specific events
5. Transporation to the various mission locations they have - church van or off-road vehicle
The pastor and his family in Guayllabamba
Pray for them and their vision for sharing Christ in Ecuador
Operacion de Vida - Ninos en Riesgo
Working with the Opcion de Vida program sponsored by El Batan Christian Church allowed for a lot of variety. Each day, Tuesday through Friday, the center is open in a central park where the kids that live in the streets can come to shower, get a meal, receive computer and other education programs, and are given the materials and information to hopefully help them change their lives. Meeting the physical needs of an individual are essential to building that relationship to share the message of Christ. Click this link to find out more.
Ecuador continues to be a place that can benefit from our help and prayers.
- A new school is opening up in the Valle de los Chilles with the Just for Kids Orphanage that will provide an opportunity for an education to many children in the valley that currently receive none.
- A house church has grown out of Caleb Connection program that has been meeting the needs of many that were looking for answers outside the Catholic Church and a small group setting to help them grow
- Two seminary students from the Guayllabamba church are studying in Ecuador and Peru and need our support and prayers
- The Opcion de Vida program is working with the city of Quito to build a dormitory next to the center to provide more support and safety for the children and needs support in that area
- A car or van for the church in Guayllabamba to increase their effectiveness and for safety issue as well
Our prayer for Ecuador is for others to catch the vision and want to be a part of the blessing through mission work there.
There is no way that I can say that God doesn't exist or guide our lives after all the evidence I have seen over the past ten years! Just the fact that a Catholic and Baptist can get together says something! When I moved to Atlanta back in the 80's, I had grown up a devout Catholic. My parents had made sure we attended church and CCD classes, but I never really developed a personal relationship with God. When I meet my husband and really started looking into what I believed by reading the Bible myself, I found that a lot of what I had been taught was taken out of content and not everything the Bible had to say. We had always been read the passages from the Bible in church on Sunday, but didn't really get the whole story of what was happening that related to the passage. I have always had a relationship and belief in Jesus Christ and when people ask, "So when were you saved?" I don't really have an answer because for me it wasn't a one moment thing. But I didn't realize until I read the Bible that all I needed was to put my faith in Jesus Christ and believe in Him and I would be in heaven. I didn't have to wait until I stood before God and He weighed the good and the bad to see whether I got in. It isn't works based, but faith based, and that is how it is written in the Bible. Because of my belief and desire to live a Christlike life, I will do good works, but "all have sinned and are justified freely through faith, not works, lest anyone would boast." (Romans3 and Ephesians 2:8-10) The only one I need to pray to is God. I can ask other people to pray for me and my concerns, and I can ask Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be with me and help me. I think sometimes people get confused and start worshipping idols and other people thinking they can help them, or that they have some sort of extra power link to God. Hooking your wagon to someone's star that is on fire for God is great, but just remember they are who they are because of God, not because of anything they did. Always keep God as the focus as He is the true source for strength and guidance in your life. In the Old Testament, they didn't have Jesus Christ and God gave them different guidelines that did involve the priests. But after Jesus, all that was no longer necessary. I can talk directly to God myself and He wants to have that relationship with me, so why would I go through a middleman when I can talk directly to the boss myself? God has worked through my live continually to bring me to where I am today and that is what is important, not a date in history. He brought my husband into my life when I wasn't even thinking about marriage. He used my husband to reach out to my family and bring them closer to God. He moved us to Pennsylvania where we were able to come together spiritually and realize how much we needed God in our lives. He got us the jobs we needed when we had no prospects, homes where we would be able to influence others, and careers changes that got us to the path we are on today. If you think that life is just chance, fluke, coincidence, or fate, think about it again. For me, I know that everything that happens in my life happens for a reason, and that reason is God guiding me in the paths that He wants me to take to make my life the best it can be to His glory.
(en espanol) Cuando era joven, yo era Catolica. Por 28 anos, yo assitia igelsia todos los domingos, todos los dias de los santos, y mericoles para estudiar religion. Cuando yo conocia mi esposo, el era Bautista, pero el no assitia la iglesia. Yo pense, quien es el? a hablar de religion? Pero, era una buena oportunidad para hacer preguntas. Mi esposo hizo pensa sobre mi religion y lo que yo creia. Cuando yo le pense y me di cuenta de algunas cosas no eran totalamente verdaderos y yo no habia recibido todo la informacion que la biblia dice. Por ejemplo, la virgin Maria era una buena mujer, y tenia una position especial, porque habia sido bendecida Dios, pero ella no esta para adorarla. Todo el tiemp cuando era Catolica, yo pense que tenia que esperar hasta que fuera ante Dios a conocer porque para eso yo habia hecho bastante obras buenas para entrar. Ese no es la manera que la biblia dice. Salvacion solo dependiente en mi fe, y creeneia en Jesucristo y que el murio por mi y mis pecados. La fe mi salavara. La biblia dice en Romanos 3:22, “Esta justicia de Dios llega, mediante la fe en Jesucristo, a todos los han que pecado y estan privados de la gloria de Dios, pero por su gracia son justificados gratuitamente mediante la redencion que Cristo Jesus efectuo.” Solomente la gracia de Dios nos salvaramos. Fue muy dificil para mi cambiar mi piensamiento, pero la verdad es mas fuerte. Yo no necesito un cura para a hablar con Dios para mi o confesar mis pecados a traves del cura a decir a Dios. Yo puedo hablar con Dios uno con otro. Dios quiere lo mejor para mi y me ama, no me amedrenta todo el tiempo. Despues de hablar, mi esposo y yo ya pudimos a creer en la religion Christiana y Dios ha bendecido nuestras vidas tremendamente. Estamos aqui porque Dios dijo “Vayan.” Vendimos todas nuestras cosas, nuestros carros, nuestra casa, muebles, todo por la oportunidad de compartir Dios con otras personas en Ecuador. Yo quiero Dios este feliz conmigo y honvarle con mi vida, asi cuando este ante Dios en el cielo, El diria, “Bien, has sido un buen y feil siervo.”
