What Does It Take?

The cold has gone away here in Guasave. I honestly can't remember how long it was even here for....it seems like winter never came. And we have the fans on at night trying to postpone putting the A/C units back on. But they're definitely on at the church and cafe! If we weren't coming back to the States this month in March, we'd be switching out our winter clothes for the summer ones we put away.

As just mentioned, this month (of March) we're driving back to attend our nephew's wedding in AZ and then right after driving to CA for Jasper's surgery. Back when we moved to Boca, I (Esther) remember sitting next to her and hearing her breathe through her mouth...in fact, I realized I had heard her frequently breathing through her mouth. When I had asked her to close her mouth and breathe through her nose, she wasn't able to. And with the 1000+ mile distance, and the challenges of visiting the doctor's and getting an appointment with a specialist when we actually would be in town, we finally got the appointment needed to confirm that her adenoids completely blocked her nasal passages and needed surgery to correct the issue two years later! Here we are though, and looking forward to her ability to breathe through her nose and smell again (she can't remember the last time she was able to breathe through her nose or smell).

As for Virtue, she continues to go through each day without any more seizures. It does seem like a long road that we haven't quite reached the end to. It was about 6 months from her first seizure to her last one; and she's still uncomfortable to sleep in a room seperate from us, and hardly stays in a room alone for any length of time. We thank God for bringing the seizures to an end, but continue to seek God's complete healing for her in prayer.

The church gatherings at Calvary Guasave continue to be a privelege to be a part of! For one, we have about 4 other men and women who are regularly helping teach the kids on Sunday mornings, which is a great help and relief for me! It's beautiful to see a brand new church plant grow. We are still at the trickling in stage, but what an honor it is to be part of this work to see people walk in for the first time and hear the Word of God being taught.

I want to share how one elderly gentleman who has been attending church now for 3+ months has brought in a friend of his also elderly. Jose Ramon has been faithfully attending and enjoying the coffee we serve, often bringing something sweet to share. His friend, Martin, has been attending for almost a month now. From the first visit, he felt comfortable enough to tell us his story. He'd attended a church in Guasave for twenty years. I didn't fully catch everything he said, but apparently someone did witchcraft on his home. Him and his lifelong wife started getting into arguments which led them both into no longer attending church. It wasn't long after that his wife left him for another man. He then got invited by a friend to attend the Jehovah Witness meetings, all meanwhile still feeling the presence of evil in his home, even being able to see a silhoutte of something in his mirror. For three years he attended the Jehovah Witness meetings but reached a climax of confronting them on teachings against Scripture. Getting too ill to live alone, his daughter took him in and he recently became well enough to move back to his (still) haunted house. He can barely walk, but he rides his bike to church and thankfully it's a close distance! It certainly is a joy to see him come, wobbling and all, but with determination. We are praying that God continues to work in Martin and Jose Martin to reach other elderly gentlemen who otherwise wouldn't be reached! May God break the stronghold over Martin's home and health, and continue to grow him in the Word.

Ryan continues to hold classes for those in ministry who want to teach the Bible verse by verse. Please join us in praying that God continues to grow these pastors and teachers to disciple and teach His word as He wills!

Taking advantage of traditions around Valentine's Day (or Day of Love and Friendship as they call it), we held a dinner for everyone and it was a blessing to see others come who never attended our church before. I wish I had gotten more photos, but I was involved in making and serving the food, as well as sharing some of my personal testimony on God's love as Ryan elaborated on the four different loves that C.S. Lewis described.

Calvary Coffee has also officially opened again! One of our church elders, Pedro, ended up quitting his job, took a month off to help us get it set up and now is working a different job so he can volunteer his time each day until sales pick up so he can start getting paid. We are so grateful for the joint vision he shares with us to use the cafe as a way to connect with the locals, share the gospel, and make disciples! May the Lord continue to bless this venture as we lean on Him for everything!

Our village outreach has had some conflict this month, but not without God using it for good. We enjoy seeing the older boys and teenagers regularly coming, willing to answer questions, ponder and reflect, especially with the friction we've encountered. One lady that is well known by the entire community has been coming on and off from almost when we first started doing bible studies in Palos Verdes. Recently however, she started getting hyper-emotional and raising her voice, using the first-person to say God was prophesying through her. As if that wasn't awkard enough, she went from first yelling that God loved them (whoever them was) and wanted them to know him. However after a few of these episodes where she looked around and noticed she wasn't getting much attention, she started going up to Ryan (this was after the bible study and dinner when he was sitting with the older boys and guys playing games on their phones) and started accusing him that he doesn't know God and right after asking him why he doesn't go around the village preaching the gospel! At first Ryan tried ignoring her, but when he noticed the youth getting frightened he told her to stop. At first she said she'd never come again. Her 18 year old daughter went from being very embarrased by her mom to very defensive. We've been praying for them, as the husband is still an unbeliever and even this lady hasn't attended church for years. She's been rejected and hurt, and so we are trying to manage this as wisely as possible. It's surprising that she keeps coming. In fact, she is now attending the bible studies which she wasn't before. I know the meals we serve may be what is keeping her coming, but we honestly desire her to receive correct doctrine and make sure we don't repeat the cycle of other pastors/leaders harshly rejecting her. In all the commotion, it brought a lot of health actually. Because Ryan was publicly able to bring Scripture to correct her and her daughter, and we were able to also explain to the other kids who came privately with questions (i.e., "If I become a Christian, will I end up yelling and saying crazy things like this lady?"). These young people are actually showing much more commitment and seriousness in attending our studies and not hanging out across the street until dinner is ready. We yearn to see these boys grow in godly men, but know that we simply must remain faithful to be there and teach and let the Lord do the rest.

Keeping all that we do in mind, and all the studies Ryan teaches, we leave a lot of "ground" to be covered in our absence as we head back to the States every so often. We are grateful for Daniel and his commitment to return from his wedding with his missionary bride and continue in the field of harvest here, but we actually will both be gone part of the time, as he is getting married in Guatemala at the beginning of April and will need to leave towards the end of March to help with the wedding preparations. We do appreciate your prayers that God will continue to raise up faithful leaders and strengthen the ones who have come alongside that God would continue to make His Word known and bring forth the fruit He seeks.

I'm including some of the designs and products that are available on Amazon Merch (Prime). I'm starting to get into making these products available in other languages, but there's a threshold I need to sell before Amazon increases the variety I can make available. If you would like to look them up on Amazon you can search for the brand Nature Dreams of Maranatha International, or just ask for more info. May He be glorified through each of us, in all we do, from every dish we wash and conversation we are involved in, to every difficult circumstance we trust Him in and allow Him to use for His purpose.

Blessings!

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And Don't forget Ryan's books are also available on Amazon!

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