Hands to the Work – Ron Winter

Dear Friends in Christ,

“… I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 9:13

We trust you all had a Merry Christmas with your churches, family and friends. Thank you so much to those churches that sent us special Christmas offerings!! They came at just the right time. Amen!

Camargo: The attendance of the Iglesia Bíblica Bautista has been up and down. For the New Year we have an accountability campaign, for everyone to read the New Testament through in 2015. There have been 9 saved since the last letter. The daily tract distribution to a local hospital is also yielding fruit. I was able to lead 2 older men and the mother of one of them to the Lord. I met Maria who said she had been looking for a Bible preaching church. She and her grand-daughter Fernanda almost never miss a service and still she says things like, “we Catholics believe basically the same thing”. Please pray for them to understand and be saved, and for wisdom to know how to more effectively show the truth of the Bible and of salvation by grace through faith. We met some of the family of Carlos, who had a 21⁄2 year fight with a rare cancer. Someone had studied the Bible with them before, so I was able to lead Carlos and his parents to the Lord on the Saturday before he passed away on Tuesday. Praise the Lord for the sowers and for His salvation! We met Lupita and her 17 year-old daughter Mónica at their restaurant. Monica has a brain tumor and they have been going to Chihuahua City, about 2 hours away, for weekly treatments. For months we tried to get in to talk to the family and Mónica in particular, about their salvation. Recently we were able to lead both Lupita and Mónica to the Lord, as well as Ricardo, a 13 year-old brother of Mónica. We had a Quinceañera (15th birthday party) for Naomi, with 42 in attendance. We preached the gospel to several lost family members and friends, and showed the beauty of purity. Naomi’s dad, Mario was saved and discipled in an Independent Baptist church years ago. He, his wife and 3 kids have been attending with us faithfully for several months and just recently joined. He is very capable and has even filled the pulpit for me. We had a simple Christmas program, with a time of food, fellowship, and gifts for the kids. There were 35 in attendance, with one new family for whom we have prayed, for over a year! Amen!

Family: We were able to make a quick trip to Missouri for the 80th birthday of Connie’s Mom, Madelyn Carroll. All 4 of our kids and 9 (soon 10) grandbabies came to the birthday celebration, as well as other family and friends, so that was a special blessing. Less than a month later, Connie’s Dad found her Mom unconscious and she was rushed to the hospital. It seems it was dehydration and low blood pressure. Please pray for her health. Connie just had another blood test and most of the counts are a little better. Praise the Lord!

Praise: People saved; Quinceañera & Christmas celebration & visitors; Family; Connie’s blood tests

Prayer: Salvation of souls – María and Fernanda; Spiritual growth for the church; Mrs. Carroll – health; Mónica – health & family – spiritual growth; Birth of 10th grandbaby (coming soon)

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:” Philippians 3:20

Camargo: The Iglesia Bíblica Bautista celebrated its first anniversary since we joined the various Bible studies together. At the service, 10 were baptized, 6 joined the church by letter, with a total of 52 in attendance. Amen!! We delegated responsibilities to different ladies and had a nice dinner and cake for the celebration as well. It was a wonderful day!!

We had a special work day preparing for the anniversary Sunday and several helped. Some even saw to little details and decorated the front of the auditorium. A week after the big day, the ladies asked if they could have a surprise party for Connie’s birthday. What a blessing!

Connie and the ladies had a baby shower for Perla last month with 16 ladies in attendance. Two and a half weeks later, while getting ready to come to church, Perla fell face first onto the ceramic tile floor. She went to the hospital and although she missed the anniversary celebration, she had the baby a week early. Both Perla and little Dilan are doing well now. Praise the Lord!

It is encouraging to see spiritual growth in the children’s class with their study through the book of John. Every few weeks, Connie has a test and prizes for their participation. We also decided to challenge the adults, so we had a competition for the whole church, reciting the books of the Bible. The winner received a new Bible!

More of the Church is putting tithing to the test. It is a blessing for the offerings to improve but most of their tithes are from $5 to $10 dollars per week, so the real blessing is seeing their faith increase. We’ve had 6 more saved since we last wrote. Amen!

Please keep praying for José and Eliza. They continue to have many problems, but can’t understand that they just need to be saved once and for all and let God work out the rest.

Pancho and Brenda lost their first baby a month before it was due. They had been in a different church and are convinced that baptism saves you. They have come to our services some but still have not received Christ. Pray they will be saved soon.

Anzelmo is saved and very faithful and though his wife Lina comes some, neither he nor I think she is saved. It doesn’t appear that any of their children or grandkids are saved. Pray for their salvation.

Several are working in the pecan harvest and processing, so are not faithful to the services.  Hopefully that improves, but soon there will be no work for many, with fall and winter coming on.

Health: When we last wrote, Connie’s blood counts had changed significantly. Since then, she went to a nutritional doctor who did tests to see what her body was deficient of. Besides putting her on a very difficult sugar-free, starch-free diet, she is taking food supplements that her body is lacking. A couple of months into this treatment, the counts have improved a little but not what we had hoped for. She still gets fatigued, but it’s not constant. Please keep praying!

Praise: Great anniversary celebration; People saved, baptized & joined; Perla & Dilan fine; Spiritual growth; Offerings and faith

Prayer: People to be saved – Jose & Eliza, Pancho & Brenda, Lina & fam.; Connie’s health

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11

Camargo: The Iglesia Bíblica Bautista is realizing the blessings of the Lord with frequent visitors. We went through a summer-time slump because there was work in the fields and
in construction. It looks like when the economy is better and there is work, the church will suffer until we can train people to be faithful and trust in God’s faithfulness.  We have been trying to reach Eliza and her husband José. Her sister, Liliana lost one of her twin baby girls and was afraid her baby was in hell because she had not been “baptized”. Her faith in the catholic system was shaken when they wouldn’t come and baptize the baby. She saw from the Bible the fallacy of infant baptism because understanding and salvation always precede real baptism. She wanted to know why they practice idolatry when even their Bible condemns it. Pray she will trust in Christ alone.  Five more have been saved in Bible studies and are learning the importance of church attendance. Amen! Some families have been visiting who were disillusioned in the church they attended. We are teaching Baptist distinctives, so some of these and those recently saved are seeing the Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. As we teach on baptism and the local church, some are asking questions about church membership, while others are still observing.

Health: Four years ago, Connie was diagnosed and went through treatment for leukemia. She has felt well except for a gradual lack of energy. When she had her quarterly blood tests, the numbers had changed significantly. The doctor is concerned with her fatigue and blood counts, so she will have blood tests more frequently. Please pray for wisdom and especially healing.

Family: Our oldest son, Seth, and family are finally in their house after it was badly damaged by the May 20th tornado in Moore, OK over a year ago. Amen! Our daughter, Bethany, and her husband Kyle are expecting their second boy by the first of the year. (We love those grand babies!)

Praise: Souls saved; Visitors; Seth & family in their house; Bethany expecting

Prayer: Iglesia Bíblica Bautista & God’s will for the visitors

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:13

Camargo: The Iglesia Bíblica Bautista is staying fairly consistent in attendances but also experiencing its share of growing pains. We have some new people studying and attending services, while others don’t want to stay committed. The economy has been real bad, so some have had to look for work away, although others are starting to work in the fields with jalapeños etc.

Connie had a special time of recognition for the kids in her class who had taken a test on the first four chapters of the book of John. It was exciting for kids and parents alike to see some immediate fruit from their faithfulness.

We continue to have visitors and recently a family of five visited, who seem very interested in the church. Pray for God’s will for the Chavira family. We have been distributing tracts, witnessing and praying with people at a hospital just one block from where the church meets. There is a continual flow of different people who have health needs that cause them to think more about eternity.

Please pray for two couples, José & Eliza and Chumel & Erica. They need to see Christ as the only real Saviour and haven’t been able to see that the virgin of Guadalupe is an artificial substitute for the real thing. Pray they will get past this obstacle and trust Christ with all their heart.

We led a man to the Lord after he was deported from the U.S. He has never missed a service, but his wife, and 4 kids who were born in the U.S. are still there, so naturally he wants to be reunited with them.

El Paso, TX: The Bearing Precious Seed ministry hosted a hundred men from our sending church who worked on the property. They also taught sessions pertinent to men and took evangelistic trips into Juarez. We were able to be there for three days to know more of the men from our church and help them on the evangelistic trips. It was a great time of fellowship and spiritual recommitment, and many people in Mexico heard the gospel. Amen!

Praise: People saved; Visitors; Connie’s class; Evangelism opportunities; Great 100 men retreat

Prayer: Iglesia Bíblica Bautista; People to be faithful; People to be saved; José & Eliza, Chumel & Erica; God’s will for deported man & family

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” James 2:23

Camargo: Services of the Iglesia Bíblica Bautista continue well with frequent visitors. Attendances have been in the mid 20’s both on Sundays and Thursdays, often with more on Thursday. We had our first missionary last Sunday with a dinner after the service. We always knew we would have a good number if everyone came at the same time and we found out in that service, with our highest attendance of 60! Amen! We are teaching a discipleship series on Thursdays and it is great when people see what God expects from them! We continue with in-home Bible studies. It is such a blessing when they begin to read the Bible and see themselves and God in a whole new light! One teen and his 10 year old brother were saved this last week as a result of the studies! Amen! Karla and her 2 little girls attend faithfully and are such a blessing as she really wants to know the truth! None of her own family is here in Camargo and her husband and mother in law continually attack her for allowing those “Protestants” to corrupt the little girls. Pray that she can stand up to the attacks and insults and be a right testimony, so that her husband, Ulyses and family would be saved. José, who had been out of work, is now working out of town, so he and Eliza study with us when he comes home. They have sure been having problems, which is probably God working to bring them to Himself. Because of not having work so long, they sold everything of value and downgraded their car, just to feed the family. Three year old Cristina drank something and had to have her stomach pumped; they got hit by a drunk driver but fortunately weren’t hurt. His mother blames all of their problems on their leaving the Catholic faith. Please pray they will be saved soon.

Fellowship: Pastor Eduardo and his family and church from Anáhuac brought 27 for a couple of days during Easter week. It was great to see some of the folks from the church we started and for our people here to see a functioning church and what they might expect of their church. Bro. Eduardo and I both preached to the combined group of 47. Those from Anáhuac seemed encouraged by what God is doing here in Camargo.

Health: Connie’s blood counts have changed some but the Dr. says they are still fine.

Praise: Attendances; Boys saved; Great time with Anáhuac/Camargo churches; Connie’s blood tests

Prayer: People to be saved; Continued church growth; Karla & Ulyses; José & Eliza

In His Service,