“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.”
II Corinthians 12:15
We were so blessed to have with us Bro. Jaime Juarez and Bro. Carlos Benalcazar in Esmeraldas for two full months. With their coming, we were able to accomplish many of the things we planned to do: more soul winning, discipleship, and finally to start a new church in Tonsupa, a city with a population of over 28,000 people. Their stay with us was a big help to me in different areas of our ministry in Esmeraldas. We were able to divide two different Sunday school classes; plus we started a new one with just teenagers. We also focused on strengthening our bus route, discipling our converts, and cleaning and doing maintenance on our property. The results were tremendous, giving us more than 60 souls saved and 2 new more families added to our congregation.
During the month of May, we emphasized more attendance in our church services, celebrating special days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Children’s Day, and Family Day. The last week of May, we celebrated our first official church anniversary. We averaged 80 in attendance.
The month of June was a different story. We were busy, busy, busy. There were a lot of prayers. We looked for a strategic place to start the new church and a building to rent. We were busy getting the lease, cleaning the building, painting, cleaning chairs, buying church signs, soul winning, passing out invitations for the grand opening, etc.. It was just an incredible month for us, seeing the hand of God work miracles in our lives and providing for every single financial need along the way. We thank God for everyone who had a part helping us to start this great work.
On June 22, the Lord allowed us to give birth to Faith Bible Baptist Church in Tonsupa. The attendance was great; 82 people visited us, and 43 of them gave testimony of salvation. The following church service, 40 people came back, and as of today we have been averaging between 25 and 35, including children. We are very excited for this new opportunity God has put in our way.
Thank you for your constant prayer, which we need the most. We appreciate you very much.
Alberto Perez
Philippians 1:3-9