Thank you for praying for our Christmas Banquet. The banquet went better than we hoped. The food was excellent: stuffed pork loin, buttered carrots, cream of asparagus, mashed potatoes mixed with bacon, and flan for dessert. Rhonda did a great job with decorating the tables and the Christmas music played by a duet of violin and piano added to atmosphere making the entire banquet an aesthetic delight.
The most important aspect of the night was the attendance (70), the number of visitors first-time (10), and the two men who raised their hand for salvation. Pray for Alberto and José as I go to see them tonight to try to lead them to the Lord. Pray for Eliemar, the daughter of the neighbor of Ruth and Luis, members of our church. Ruth led her mother, Esperanza, to the Lord a couple of months ago just before she died. Eliemar came to the banquet and thoroughly enjoyed it, but will be returning to Holland before the end of the month (she is the young widow of a Dutchman who had met her and married her here in Mexico). Pray that I may witness to her and see her saved before her return to Holland.
Pray for Evelyn from the Ivory Coast whom I have mentioned before. She lives with her sister who is a secretary in the embassy. Pray that she makes our church her church home as has Katarina, another woman from the Ivory Coast.
Pray also for Carmen, a neighbor who lives on the street in back of our house and who came out to the banquet with her boyfriend. I do not know yet if she is saved although her mother is, having visited us once when she visited from Guadalajara.
Pray for Edgar, a young doctor doing his residency who also came to the banquet. He is the boyfriend of Eunice, a girl who comes to church with her mother, Sara. I hadn't seen him much since I witnessed to him one night in Eunice's home, But it was good to see them again. They said they wanted to return for our New Year's Eve service.
Last Friday, we had our first PTF meeting of our small school of 7 children. It went very well. Our teacher, Alicia, did a great job organizing the spelling bee, the drama, and the demonstrations of what the kids are learning in school. I believe the meeting was greatly used to encourage families to pray for the school and increase their desire to have their children in the school next year. Please pray for the great need of a roof on the building. Needless to say, we cannot move forward on the plans for the school without a roof.