Roca Blanca hosted a pastor and women’s conference simultaneously, Wednesday through Friday. Jill Stafford, director of Victory Bible Institute International, and Pastor Pam, of Indiana shared together about walking in the authority and power of Jesus Christ. It was a tremendous encouragement to many of the ladies. Joyce overheard Jill talking through Linda, the Roca Blanca Bible school director, to the various pastors present and was especially exhilarated by their conversation. Jill was telling them that she and her husband had studied results that showed one year of spiritual training/discipleship in a Bible school was equal to twenty years of learning gained while attending Sunday church meetings. It propels people forward in their walk with Christ in a dramatic manner. This stirred the attending pastors to share testimonies of what they had seen in their first attempts to hold Bible schools in their local church bodies. Wow! One told of two girls who had received Christ the same day. One attended Bible school, one didn’t and the difference in their spiritual walk with Christ was astounding. Another told of how their students were mostly young people and after they had finished their one year of training, they immediately went out, evangelized, and gathered others into their church so that their youth group was exploding to double and triple its size. Others told of students who following their graduation went out and actually began new churches in neighboring villages, sharing the lessons that they had been taught. They were glorious testimonies that touched every heart that was listening. God’s Word is SO powerful and active. Makes you wonder why every church doesn’t have its own Bible school program. Most of these churches are beginning with video classes four hours each Saturday with a goal of two years to complete them. This is a new project that will put the Light of Jesus Christ in more places, more quickly than ever before. Praise God and let the Bible schools be multiplied every year until all the tongues and tribes of Oaxaca have heard the Good News!
November 7th, we had the privilege to attend the first Bible School graduation at the church in Panixtluaca. They had a growing church of four hundred and for this first graduation ceremony, the house was packed. We started out at 4am to reach there by the opening at 7am. Yes, they actually start church services here as early as 6 or 7am, finishing before the morning breakfast at 10am. It was a cold morning, in the low 60’s, and we wound around and around going up the mountains then down the mountains in the dark. Sections of road were missing off the sides after the monsoon rains had washed them away but usually boulders or signs marked their absence. One stretch remains unpaved so we crawled along for about thirty minutes at 10-20 mph. We arrived with ample time. They took us inside and blessed us with a hot drink and dry bread. The hot drink was Atole, a national favorite, which consists of water, cornstarch, and sugar. It was a wonderful service celebrating these first fifteen students. Sister Linda shared a word from Joshua 1:1-9 with them then invited us to pray over each student. That is always a great joy for us and we accepted quickly and gratefully. Then, we were asked to join her on stage to pass out the certificates. That felt rather awkward but perhaps we’ll get enough practice to become more comfortable with that. it’s a great honor to bless each student as they walk through that line receiving acknowledgment of their achievements.
After the service, there followed a breakfast meal of BBQ’ed beef, salsa verde, spaghetti noodles (they really like pasta around here), and Big homemade tortillas that most every attending lady brought with her from home. It was a delicious meal that satisfied every hunger pain we ever thought we had. It made the trip home a rather sleep invoked one but we were so thankful for how the Lord had prospered them to give in this manner. And we continue in thanksgiving for the churches that are blessed to celebrate new disciples, trained to “go into all the world and make new disciples”. That makes Ephesians 4:12 come alive. “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”
Speakers/Teachers/Trainers
It must be the season for speakers/trainers because they are overlapping right now. We have a couple here training pastors that have previously graduated from Bible school, to be pastor/leader trainers. They have been giving two weeks of intense training to these people. They travel all around the world training leadership in every area of their lives, both personal and ministry oriented. We are excited about the incredible work going on here at every level of need.
There is a retired surgeon here with Laura to do simple surgeries at the clinic. We haven’t checked back with him yet to see what all is happening but he was telling us this is his third trip here and upon arriving in town, one man he didn’t remember, simply grinned at him and lifted his shirt, exposing his scars from a surgery. In that was greeting and connection.
So teachers are coming and going, overlapping some according to their area of specialty. Some are teaching the graduates, some are teaching the students. A speaker that is currently working with the students is Iva Mae, Duane’s sister. She has a helper, Anna, and two trainees with her. Their ministry is on inner healing and they are teaching in the mornings and then doing prayer and counseling till late evenings. Please lift them in prayer as this is a very needful ministry but a very tiring one as well.
We praise God for the advancement of His kingdom in Oaxaca. We are thrilled with every little part we can be involved in. Soon, we hope to begin Spanish classes so we can participate more fluently and effectively…in their own language. Those classes are $275 each/monthly so we ask your prayers for the additional finances to accomplish that. It is a great privilege to be here in God’s grace and timing. Thank you for your loving support that makes it possible.
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