The Lord has opened doors for the church here in a number of areas in the past weeks:

Medical Mission
Grupo Impacto, an outreach of several churches in California and Mexico, worked with us to organize a free medical clinic in a poor neighborhood. 4 medical doctors, two dentists and three eye doctors treated over 350 people in a day and a half. While the patients waited in the crowded "waiting room" of the tent, they watched Christian films. Each person received a New Testament or Gospel of John. Nearly 100 people asked to know more about the Bible. Since the outreach, six new evangelistic Bible studies have been established in this neighborhood.

Booher Concerts
Rudi and Carla Booher visited with their family and we were able to hold a concert in the main plaza. The Good News was announced to a crowd and we have two new contacts from the time.

A few weeks after Rudi and Carla left, Ben, Brendon and Gabe Booher arrived, instruments in hand. In company with the Hermanas Barocio, well known for their ranchero music before becoming believers some years ago, the Booher Brothers gave an excellent concert. For the first time, we were granted permission for an event on Sunday evening when the Plaza is packed. There was clear preaching of the Gospel, a stirring testimony and songs that exalt Christ to the lost.

The next week was filled with concerts - in Santa Maria del Oro, in Rancho Viejo and twice in Arandas. These were all in public plazas, where the Christians of the area took advantage of the time to distribute literature, witness and preach publicly.

Leadership Seminar
A group of church leaders from 4 congregations in Washington visited Arandas and Atotonilco in March to see the Highlands and to find out how they can help the advance of the Gospel here. They toured the area, meeting Christians in different communities and visiting communities where there are no churches. One afternoon they drove to the top of a mountain from which they could see and pray for several towns. Imagine their surprise when they found that the guard at the radio towers had lived for many years in Yakima, WA, home to several of the team. More significant yet, they found him reading a New Testament which had been given to him by a believer only a few days before!

While here, this team presented a one-day leadership seminar which was superb. Those attending were exhorted by the material shared and challenged also to see how they worked together in the presentation.

Baptisms
The entire congregation from Atotonilco made plans to meet with the church in La Barca on a Sunday. We announced that at that time Josefina would be baptized. As the time drew near, others said that they, too, wanted to be baptized. That Sunday, 7 new believers were baptized! And the following Sunday two other new believers were baptized!

Conversions
The evangelistic study with Hortensia was going well. She seemed to be understanding the Good News. For a few weeks, she had shown up at the Sunday church meeting, asking questions afterward and expressing a desire to learn more. Then came the Sunday in which she stood up at a time when many were sharing testimonies.

"I want to accept the Lord. I've been a sinner. I've..." (Here, in tears, she began a litany of her sins). "I know I need the Lord to forgive my sins, and I want to give my life to Him." She called out on the Lord that morning and was born again. The next Sunday, she bounced to her feet at the first opportunity to share a testimony: "The Lord has really been doing some tremendous things since I got saved!" she exclaimed. What a glorious thing to see lives captured by the beauty and glory of Christ!

As I was writing this letter Efren, one of those baptized in the past weeks, arrived at the house with a friend, Ediberto. As we began to talk, it became apparent that through reading the Bible and talking with Efren, he had become convinced of his sin and wanted to know what to do. We talked about the inspiration and trustworthiness of the Scripture then began to look at some of its promises. When we got to Romans 10:9, I explained the verse by relating my own conversion experience some 36 years ago. We prayed together and he called out on the Lord, declaring he wanted Christ to come into his life and take over. We talked more, looking at some further promises from the Scripture, and then he and Efren left, rejoicing. Now I'm back at the computer finishing this letter. Ediberto is from Acatic, one of the counties of the Highlands where there is no church. Again, what a glorious thing to see lives captured by Christ.