Hi Everybody!
First I need to welcome some new friends to our update—most of whom come from various places in Nebraska Welcome!
I leave Wednesday, May 18th, for a two-week trip to Guatemala, and I haven’t updated you on some ministry happenings in April and now the first part of May! Wow, time is flying! The April happenings involve our friends in Northeastern Nebraska who are doing some great things, and the latest story involves a flashback connection with a bull rider from an event in 2017 that now connects several of us in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Brazil!
Men’s Retreat At Camp Assurance
In April, Bill Burrows, Grant Walton (a new friend from Oak Grove, Missouri, who is hanging out with us), and I went to Camp Assurance near Belden, Nebraska. Shannon Arduser, the camp director, had invited Bill to lead some Play. Story. Eat. training for a men’s retreat on Saturday, April 9th. It was great! Bill did a fantastic job leading us in equipping drills to increase our confidence in soul-connecting conversations.
Bill invites the guys to respond to a question during the first part of the training at Camp Assurance.
Here, Bill is orienting the guys to our famous “Wagon Train” drill that helps us initiate spiritual conversations with two simple questions.
On the far right, Shannon Arduser, the director for Camp Assurance, shows us some new ground where the camp plans to build new facilities for accommodating groups. In the red sweat shirt is John Smith, pastor of Gospel Chapel of Newcastle, Nebraska.
Before finishing out the day, the guys shared around a campfire of what bull they were going to ride. (Also known as what they intend to do about what they learned!)
After wrapping up the retreat, Bill and Grant traveled to Newcastle, Nebraska, to serve Gospel Chapel on Sunday morning. Pastor John Smith and his wife Carrie lead a warm and welcoming church committed reaching their community for Jesus.
Spanish Speaking Ministries in Northeastern Nebraska
David Martinez of Northern Heights Baptist in Norfolk, Nebraska picked me up at the camp to go to Norfolk, where I spoke at their Spanish service and got a bonus of being able to speak at the nearby Calvary Community Church in Madison, Nebraska. David and others are doing some amazing things to reach out to the Spanish speaking folks in their region. Later that day, they sent a team to Atkinson, Nebraska for an event celebrating the start of a new Spanish speaking group there.
David Martinez introduced me on a Sunday morning at Northern Heights Baptist in Norfolk, Nebraska.
For me, I need to say a special word of thanks to Aaron Alanis, the new pastor of Calvary, and to his congregation for inviting me to come speak to them. Aaron speaks both English and Spanish and has recently been called by the church to lead the church’s English speaking service while also beginning ministry to Spanish speaking folks in Madison. Demographically, Madison has a majority of Hispanics now, and the church has felt a burden to do more. Hearing about their dreams for reaching their community was inspiring to me.
Brazilian Bull Rider Reconnects!
A few weeks ago, I got a strange call from a lady named Eliana in Brazil who was speaking on behalf of a a bull rider outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who had met me in 2017. The bull rider is Eliezer Vital, and he had been a part of our gathering in Agua Blanca, Guatemala in January of 2017. Evidently, I had given him my card, and he had kept it in his wallet for these 5 years. Because he speaks Portuguese and no English, he thought he needed someone to call me who spoke English. Eliana, a pastor’s wife, and her husband ate at Eliezer’s restaurant one day and struck up a conversation with him. When Eliezer found out she had lived in the US for 30 years before coming back to Brazil, he felt that she was the perfect person to contact me. He wanted to invite me to Brazil and asked if she could help contact me.
Eliezer’s bull riding promo shot
Here Eliezer is on one of his rides in Agua Blanca, Guatemala in January of 2017. Incidentally, Eliezer won the rodeo that year.
As you might recall, in February, I had the privilege of baptizing two bull riders in Chiquimula, Guatemala. Since then, Cesar Gonzalez and I have been on a weekly discipleship call with them and several of their friends. Long story short, when I asked them if they knew an Eliezer of Brazil, they did! And the next week they invited him to our weekly call! That day, there was me in the US, Cesar and a couple of guys in Guatemala, a guy from Costa Rica, and Eliezer in Brazil!
I’ll treasure that first call with Eliezer for a long time. At one point he shared the story of trying to get in touch with me and how we finally got connected. Eliezer speaks some Spanish, and when he does say things in Portuguese, the Spanish speaking guys usually figure out what he is saying. His story filled me up with so much gratitude that even now I get a little misty thinking about it.
This photo was from January of 2017 when we did a lunch with the bull riders of the Agua Blanca, Guatemala, rodeo. Here Cesar is opening up the time with introductions. During that time together, 19 of the guys prayed to receive Christ.
Eliezer is the one in the shorts. He says that he remembered hearing the testimony of Clint Bailey, one of our team members, who was a bull rider and is now a horse trainer. You can see in his left hand one of the written testimonies in Spanish of one of our other team members. That tool with the testimony of Clint Bailey was what we used that day to lead the guys to Christ.
Another shot from January 2017, this one was taken of Clint Bailey meeting other bull riders after sharing his testimony.
10:02 PRAYER
(Praying Luke 10:2 each day at 10:02 am or pm that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest fields.)
Please pray for our friends in Northeastern Nebraska who are starting new Spanish speaking groups and churches. Pray too for Eliezer and the new guys connecting with us through these bull riders. Pray for wisdom in figuring out how to help them start new groups in their hometowns.
Also, pray for me as I leave for Guatemala. I will be spending time with Cesar Gonzalez and other leaders starting Christian Rancher groups. I will also be hiking in the mountains with a group of guys doing a men’s ministry, and we have planned one full day with the bull rider group near Chiquimula, Guatemala. Alfredo, the leader of that group, says that there are over a dozen ready to be baptized!
Also on this trip, pray for the preparations and connections with a couple of mayors on the idea of doing a big soccer tournament next year.
ENGAGE
Bill and I have really enjoyed meeting you in your churches. Note that we plan to be in Valentine, Nebraska, on Sunday, June 5th, to speak at First Baptist in the morning, and to the Cowboy Church meeting at the sale barn Sunday night. Then June 6-10 we are scheduled to be at Calvary Chapel of Colome, South Dakota, for their Vacation Bible School. If you would like us to come your way sometime this summer, let us know!
INVEST
Because of your faithful giving, you make it possible for us to continue to travel and stay in touch with our friends who are doing such amazing things. Thank you!
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.
Keep those cards and letters coming on your prayers and concerns. We want to return the favor of praying for you as you pray for us.
Love y’all!
Steve