November and December
May the peace and love of God be with each and every one of you our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. My family sends you Greetings from Tarija. We want to thank you for everything you do for us and for letting us work with you in this new dream of planting the Word of God in Bolivia.
I have not written in a couple of months, but the truth is that God is very good to us and is our help all the time.
(Ice Cream Saturday)
In the month of November we had some activities in “El Camino”. Some had a very good idea of passing out ice cream to people that come to the market on Saturdays and since mine and Mary’s first business was making ice cream, we took the responsibility of making the ice cream. We made chocolate and oreo and they turned out to be delicious. It was great to see young and older adults and kids come into El Camino for their ice cream. This gave us time to share who we are and what El Camino is and offers and to also spend time talking with them as they ate. This is when we met Ramiro, a tall man who was looking for a church with which to meet. I am happy because he has come now three times on Sundays. Ramiro has a lot of friends in Tarija and he hopes they will come to El Camino and the church so they can know the Word of God better. I would thank you to pray for this.
We also celebrated Thanksgiving on the 25th of Nov. It was a blessed time as we shared food with the families who came. We were able to meet some families and people were able to meet us and get to know about the work we are doing here.
(Christmas dinner)
In Nov. and Dec. I have been doing Bible studies through Zoom with the church in Sucre y Potosi. We have a devotional Tuesdays and Fridays at 5:30 am. We pray, sing some songs and study the Word of God. On Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm. I study with Beni, Rith and Nati (who live in Sucre). We are talking about the importance of prayer in the life of believers and knowing Jesus better. I am very encouraged to be able to help my brothers and sisters in their edification and learning more about God together. I was also invited by the Colon Church of Christ in Quito, Ecuador to give a devotional by Zoom. We spoke of the importance of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was very edifying and encouraging for everyone that was connected.
On Saturdays, I have a group of children who come to El Camino to color, drink some tea and eat some bread. They are the children of the ladies who sell things at the market.
Everything was going good for me health wise until the 26th of Nov. I went to have a simple procedure done that is usually fast (maybe 30 minutes), but after I had complications and I got a hematoma and they had to do a surgery to drain the inflammation. The truth is that I was very frustrated and sorry I had even done the procedure because my oldest son is visiting us and I wanted to spend some special time with him. It has been almost two months and I still am having some problems. This has discouraged me a lot as I spent Christmas and New Years with pain and problems. I am hopeful that with God’s favor and His blessing to be healed soon and be free of all this.
We closed the year with a lot of expectations of what God Will do here. We are getting to know the culture, the people, some families. The school year starts again soon and with this new year, new opportunities to share Christ will come. We finished December having a dinner before Christmas with the families we know and who were new to us and the end of year with many visitors from Sucre.
Thank you for your love. I ask that you continue to pray for us- we need them as it seems every time we have an activity or start to know people, the enemy gets made and we come under attack with sicknesses and adversities. We know these things Will happen as we are stepping into enemy territory, but stronger is the One who is with us, the Eternal God.
A hug to all of you brothers and sisters. May the blessings of our loved Jesus Christ be with each of you in this new year. Happy 2022.
Grace and peace, Pancho Torres