“…they rehearsed all that God had done with them…”Acts 14:27
Dear Pastor, Supporters and Friends,
Greetings in the name of Jesus. The Lord has been very good to us, way more than we deserve.We want to thank each of you for your prayers and financial support which make our ministry possible.This letter is longer than most, but I felt it was important to bring you up to speed on all that is going on.In some ways the violence, in Mexico, along with the economic situation, has made some people more sensitive to the things of God for which we give thanks.Please pray for us as we serve on this needy mission field.
PRAISE –Grace Bible Baptist and InstituteChurch, Bermejillo, Durango
The church is doing well averaging around 50 - 60 on Sundays.There have been several tragedies among families in the church. One being that a son of one of the church members was in a prison and was killed in a riot one week before his release. Graciously his cousin Lorenzo (an institute student) was able to lead him to the Lord a month before his death.Pray for the church as they mature in the Lord.
Each of the 6 men students have a sector of Bermejillo or a small pueblo that they are in charge of. During the week they visit their respective areas and most have some sort of open air service or class. They encourage the people that are in their sector to study the Bible and do other activities. Hugo has motivated his group to memorize Bible verses and quote them on Sunday in the service. Lorenzo's group sells menudo (hominy soup) on the weekends and they then divide the profits and half is given to the church and the other half to a needy family in their sector.
All the men students are preaching regularly and involved in evangelism and discipleship. Isidro has been in charge of a mission that was started in San Jose (a small town about 10 min. from Bermejillo) and most of the students have been involved in this mission in one way or another. Manuel is a new student that will be starting in the institute to finish out the year. He dropped out of the institute in Anapra during the last semester but has gotten right with God and wants to finish his preparation. Upon graduation we are praying about one of the couples coming up to Juarez to help with a new mission we started the end of August. (More below)
PRAISE – Iglesia Bautista “La Roca Fiel” Carlos Chavira, Juarez Pastor Josue Robles
Things continue here at a good rate although down somewhat from a year ago. Average attendance is running around 60 with high days over 100. Josue is a young pastor and is still learning how to deal with people. He is progressing nicely and it just takes time for him to gain the maturity and experience. I have recently encouraged him to really try to go after people who have been in church and then left or drifted away for one reason or another. He seemed to take the counsel to heart and seems to be doing better in this aspect. This church still holds services every Friday in the drug rehab center and the director Nicolas brings 10 - 20 guys to services on Sundays. Pray for their safety as another rehab was attacked last night with 19 murders and 5 additional wounded.
About a year ago Josue's uncle (Alfredo Robles) and his family started a mission off of this church in another area of Juarez. They are running around 50 in regular services and are having a big impact in their area.
PRAISE – GraceBibleBaptistChurch and Institute – Anapra, Pastor Carlos Machado
Julian stepped down as pastor to concentrate more time in the Bible Institute and in helping students start new mission works. Brother Carlos Machado was called as pastor in January and seems to be doing a good work. We haven't been to services here since last fall but I understand they run around 80 - 100 in regular services.
The institute in Anapra currently has 9 students (one is Enrique a young man from Carlos Chavira). Two of the men have started missions in a couple different parts of the city and things seem to be progressing. I stopped by a VBS of one mission and they had a good crowd. They hold their services in a home of one of the members.
PRAISE – Tim Urling Family
I made the decision after much prayer that it would be better for both Kelly and Leah if Leah attended a Christian school in El Paso instead of continuing the home school. It was a tough decision because her attendance at the Christian school cuts out much of the flexibility that we have enjoyed for the last 7 years. It will mean that Kelly and Leah will not be able to be with me in everything and on every occasion - primarily on out of town trips. If we have mission trips or other events where Kelly's presence is essential then we do have the option of letting Leah stay with her older sister who lives nearby, but that will be only in isolated cases as we feel it is better that Leah is with us as much as possible.
The Bible Institute in Bermejillo is now established and the Lord is doing a great work there through Brother Angel and the church. I wish you could visit and see the progress that has been made. It is truly amazing. The Institute doesn't need my daily presence like it did in the beginning as things are under control and progressing nicely. I plan to travel to be there each month for a few days the rest of 2009 and probably through the first of 2010 and the start of the next institute year.
Since making the decision about the school for Leah, I have been looking for the Lord's direction. At first I didn't have peace about much of anything but in the last several weeks things have started to clear up and I have seen the Lord open many doors. I feel the Lord would have us start a new work in Juarez. I’m sure you realize the great need that exists among the 2 million + souls that are there. There are over 500 distinct neighborhoods and nearly all of them need a true gospel wittiness.The violence among the drug cartels although very prevalent (1300+ homicides so far in 2009)is not too much of a concern for us as we don’t frequent the areas that are mostly affected and don’t have too much contact with the drug gangs.The Lord is our buckler and our shield.
One of the graduates (Filiberto Hernandez 2007) from the Institute in Anapra had started a work in one neighborhood of around 25 – 30,000 thousand people (Carlos Castillo Peraza). Initially he had a good response but later became discouraged and when his parents and in laws became ill he used their illnesses as a reason to leave the work and move several hundred miles away. We are hoping to go and revive this work, but even if we can’t find all of the old members of the mission, there are 1000's of people in the area who have never been reached so there is great potential. The Lord has also opened the door in another area of Juarez and we have in fact already had 2 Sunday services there (20 attended both services) and we are starting some evangelistic work this week in the area.
There are 2 men with families that have a desire to help us start (or restart) a work. One (Alberto de Anda and his family) will be leaving in January to attend the institute in Bermejillo.We are praying about one of the students and his family that will graduate in December coming and acting as co-pastor with me either until Alberto returns or God calls him elsewhere. The other man is Joel Cisneros, he and his family seem to have a desire to get things rolling.They attended the mission with Filiberto before and live in the area.
As you can tell, there is a lot going on. Pray for us that we would do the Lord's will in all areas of the ministry.Thank you for reading my long letter
PRAYER REQUESTSContinue to pray for both Kelly and I as we are both experiencing some health problems. Pray that God would guide us and give us boldness, strength and power!
Looking for that Blessed Hope and Glorious Appearing!
Brother Tim, Miss Kelly and Leah Urling
PS:Would you put some SHOES on your PRAYERS next year?What do I mean??
You could be a real blessing to us and to the churches and missions by investing a week of your life on the mission field.Come on a short term trip.Now is the time to start planning and preparing.Just as the Lord protects your missionaries he will protect you as well and I guarantee that a week here will allow us to partner in seeing hundreds saved and God may change your life as well.Put some shoes on your prayers.Call or e-mail us for more details.(575)824-0354 or tkurling@hotmail.com
