Praying specifically for Navarette
"Planting churches and training leaders among the urban poor..." That is what you see at the top of this blog because that is what The Timothy Project is all about. Our IMB region states our purpose this way_: "We plant churches..." Why? Because I believe (and I guess I am not alone) that the church is God's chosen instrument to make Himself known among all the peoples. The church is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ that puts feet and arms and tears and smiles to the message of God's love and salvation. (See previous blogs about what makes a church a church- March 10th or there abouts).
In Navarette, we have a very good Bible study going. People come regularly and are testifying that God is moving in them. However, our core group now are going to the Catholic church. It is a good thing that as they have been studying God's Word they have gone back to church. They want to continue in our Bible study and their Catholic heritage which is fine, except we plant new Baptist churches. (Sol was frustrated with them because they are so reluctant to follow Christ in believer's baptism yet I reminded her I worked and waited patiently for 2 years with her!) For now, it looks like our core group will not be those with whom we can plant a church. SO my prayer is that during this next week of community wide we will find people who are seeking the Lord, widening our core group, so we can continue working towards planting a new church. And I also pray that God will guide us and give us His wisdom: my sense of timing may not be His. I worked for 2 years with Sol; had I given up because she didn't come around sooner, what a tragedy it would have been! And yet, we are about planting churches not just doing Bible studies BECAUSE the church is God's chosen agent of transformation.
Please pray for this community and our core group and for new folks to become part of our core: those folks and that community are precious to us whether or not we ever plant a Baptist church there or not!
