The Mission Diaries

The Puebla (Mexico) Church of Christ celebrated its 18th anniversary with a week-long program that centered on the theme of gratitude. Beginning on Monday, June 16, church members prayed each day about things they were grateful for, and then spent some time doing evangelistic activities. On Saturday the whole church met at 7 AM for a prayer devotional, during which a few visitors were baptized. Then on Sunday came the celebration. With an attendance of over 800 (as many visitors as members), the church also welcomed other brothers and sisters from the churches of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Tlaxcala and Teziutlan. [See if you can find these cities in the map below. Or you can also visit this site.]

The guest speaker was Carlos Garcia from Mexico City. Among other events, one highlight of the day was a play that the church’s drama ministry put together. For a sample of the play, go to this YouTube link.

J De Anda

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Hundreds of Christians from all over Central America converged last week in San Salvador for the 2008 Central American Missions Conference. The host church, although only about 120 members strong, put together an excellently organized program that included speeches, classes, a talent show and a futbol (soccer) tournment.

The theme was “Heroes”. Speakers and class teachers took our hearts to the stories and lives of the Bible’s heroes of faith. I had the privilege of teaching a class to the married adults about two of my favorite heroes in the Bible: Aquila and Priscilla. We talked about remembering that our ultimate purpose as a family is to glorify God and bring others to Christ.

Speaking of family, I am amazed at the growth of our families in Central America. When my wife and I went to the 2001 Conference in Panama, there were only a handful of children around. This year, it was common to see many of the church leaders and members with strollers and diaper bags and babies in arms (see photos below). What a family!

Besides the classes and meetings, there was plenty of time for fellowship and fun. The San Pedro Sula church won the Central America Soccer Cup, defeating Tegucigalpa on a tie-breaker. The sanpedranos also won the Talent Show with an impressive folkloric dance number.

When you go to a Central American Conference, it is not only the spirit that receives good food. There was plenty of other good food around. The Naomis Ministry (third-age sisters, widows, and sisters married to non-members) put together a major spread of local delicacies (above) to raise funds for this year’s special missions contribution.

There were additional guests from other places outside of Central America: disciples of Christ from Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Australia and the U.S. Several members of the L.A. Church came to the Conference. Among them were Jonathan and Karla Perkins and Chris and Viviana Boyer (below). Karla and Viviana are sisters who grew up in El Salvador.

Brothers and sisters returned safely to their home churches, to put into practice the lessons learned at the Conference and continue evangelizing their neighborhoods. Next year’s Conference will be hosted by the Managua (Nicaragua) Church of Christ!

J De Anda

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