Easter in Guasave

Shalom friends! We hope this update finds you well...

We are thankful to have hosted our first Sunday morning at Calvary Guasave yesterday, Resurrection Sunday! We printed and handed out dozens of flyers, personally inviting people from the girls' after school classes, to the neighboring businesses (grocery stores, hair salons, tortillerias, restaurants, etc.) the couple weeks leading into Easter. We had our girls fill up plastic eggs to have egg hunts for the kids. Because this holiday isn't celebrated much in this area (they call it Semana Santa but the tradition is to go camp out at the beach), we decided to prepare food ahead of time and have a picnic afterward with everyone who came. While we had several people who expressed interest in coming, or even said they would come, we ended up with three families joining us (plus another young man whose been attending regularly). Still, we were thankful to celebrate the beautiful hope of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead with those who came! Daniel led us in worship, Ryan preached, and I (Esther) led the kids into a craft and explaination of the Resurrection and the vital role it holds to our Christian faith.

As planned, we headed to a nearby park afterward and had some pasta with a bean salad and potato bread rolls. The kids got their fill of egg hunting and eating candy! A few of the local kids showed up and were able to join the fun. We made sure to hand them our church card as they picked up their bikes to ride off.

It was clear we were bringing in new traditions, and getting them to come to church, even with a fun, candy-filled activity for their kids, wasn't going to be enough to break them of their usual ones. Still, we press on. Starting this week, Ryan, Daniel, and the men that have been attending and are available to go, will be prayerfully evangelizing at a popular shopping plaza. Please join us in praying for them. Also, pray that God would bring me (Esther) a sister in Christ to join me so that we can alternate in going out to share the gospel while the other (spouse) stays with our kids.

For those who don't know, evangelism was what Ryan and I were very much occupied with at our church (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa) when we met. It's how the Lord brought us together. So, we're excited to begin that ministry officially through Calvary Gusave coming up on Thursday. The plan is to head to the local plaza each Thursday for a couple hours to engage in conversation with those whom the Lord puts in our path.

For Good Friday, we hosted a movie night for the kids in Palos Verdes with popcorn and soda, followed by a night time egg hunt. We showed The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry, a film about an elderly man who reaches out to a young boy and through their friendship begins a bible study that reaches several of the boys in the community and teaches them the importance of telling others about Christ. It definitely seemed to go over well with the kids, and was a great introduction to the Gospel for many.

This past month held some bitter sweet moments as well. Because we began holding morning services on Easter Sunday we also had to wrap up our times of attending the Calvary Chapel in Los Mochis. We have truly loved and been blessed by our time to help an encourage the ministry there, and to host them in Guasave for the first time.

Ryan and Daniel helped Kevin, Eymi, and others host a youth conference at the beginning of the month, and also worked on several projects to improve the church building. One of the bathrooms still lacks electricity but should soon be taken care of by an electrician. For the most part, the building projects are nearly all completed. Thank you, to all of you for your support!

We are trusting in the Lord to provide for all these aspects of ministry that require money along with our personal needs, and thus, we are encouraged with every for single donation that has come in; truly, the Lord is faithful, and showing His faithfulness through our beloved friends and family in Christ! Thank you for your love for us! Please, if you have not reached out recently, let us know how we can be of support to you in our prayers! We'd be honored to lift up your specific, personal requests.

The Lord bless you and keep you...