IGLESIA DE CRISTO

I thought that I had better give everyone an update on the church at Mololoa. So many of you that have been down recently have fallen in love with the people in this community and I know that you miss them and yearn for news of them.

This church had been plagued with internal problems it seems since the day the doors were opened. The problems seemed to accelerate last year. I will not go into specific problems or discuss specific people, I feel that that is too much like gossip and it will do nothing to build up only tear down. Several people know of the problems and their support, guidance, and prayers proved invaluable. I ask for everyone to continue to pray for the church as we are a young congregation that is seeking to do the Lords will.

After visiting several area congregations we felt that God was leading us to the Church in Mololoa. When we first began attending the church here it had four regular adult members as well as two men and their families from Baxter. We began a door knocking campaign and bible studies in the community. Every weekend Randy, Fabs and Jen would visit the homes of people, speak to them about the love of Christ, study the word of God, and invite them to church. We were having some success in getting visitors in and our Sunday morning services began to slowly grow. We had one minister from Baxter named Leo who unfortunately left the community to work in another, Leo is a true man of God's heart. I have never seen someone that has such a love for people and for God. His desire to combine these two loves is a joy to behold and to be part of.
After Leo left there was a split in the congregation where the other minister and several people left. As anyone who has ever had a split in the church knows it is a heart wrenching time for everyone.

We prayed and prayed for God's will and guidance in this. We began to rebuild. Our bible studies slowly grew to about 30 people on a regular basis. Our Sunday services are about 35 (Last week we had over 40) and the children's class is anywhere from 65-95 children.

This growth started with Terry's May group and their and adult bible studies. A really nice man named Ben present a wonderful lesson on Saturday and a heartfelt personal lesson on Sunday. That day five people accepted the Lord as their savior and were baptized. We were blessed to have a water tank purchased for us to use as a baptistery. We had to haul water up the mountain in buckets and jugs. The women changed clothes behind the church. We were so happy to welcome our new sisters into the family. I still feel joy in my heart when I remember this awesome day.
This was just the begining. The following week we had one man baptized, then the next week seven more people. All of the people have been very faithful in attending. They are so thirsty for knowledge . Randy has been teaching the classes. On Wednesday he has been going through the book of Ephesians. He was thinking to cover about a chapter a week in a two hour class. He never gets through a chapter. The people have so many questions. They are really getting into the word. They want to know everything. Randy has given each person a new testament bible and a spiral notebook for notes and questions. To see the people walking from the top of the mountain to study Gods word is an inspiration. Randy has to end the class after 2 and a half hours. He is always running behind, everyone wants to know more. It is suppose to be a hour class, we extended it to two hours, but it is still running over every class.

We hope to get enough old and new testament bibles to give everyone soon. Leo and his family will be coming back as well. He will be a great help, there are so many people who want to study and there is just not enough time. Randy has been working with the men and on Saturdays he is helping different men to start leading a class. It is going really well.

Sunday morning four women came forward and ask for additional bible studies and to be baptized. We are meeting with them Wednesday.

We are in the process of building a baptismal. It is almost finished, it should be ready by Sunday. I think I will miss the water tank.

We will continue to update everyone. Please Please remember us in your prayers. Remember the Church family here and all of our new brothers in sisters. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and your love and encouragement means more than you can possibly know.

To God be the Glory.