After nearly 20 days of continuous campaign work, we are finally home. It has been such a blessing (a tiring blessing) to be able to door knock, evangelize, provide for the needy, and encourage fellow brethren both here at West End, and in the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Although having our two large campaigns back to back was very exhausting, it helped us see that the church at West End and the church at Tegucigalpa, Honduras was very much the same. Both congregations were striving to seek and save the lost. No matter what language we speak, we have a Love and purpose that is a universal language, The Gospel of Christ. Over the course of our campaign in Honduras, we were able to conduct 63 Bible Studies with 83 people. We had 3 baptisms and 2 restorations as a result of those Bible studies. The members and visitors of the churches of La Canada and San Miguel were blessed with socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hair accessories and combs. To say they were grateful, would be an understatement. The children of Villa Claudia were given a Bible lesson and a meal to feed their hungry bellies. These children live in a government funded community with their mothers and are in great need of food, clothing, and sometimes care. (see pictures below). The congregation at San Miguel church of Christ was our main focus during this particular campaign. The members were given a short Marriage seminar Saturday evening, and then a gospel meeting each night there after on the topic "Living with God in a world who rejects God." The children were also taught lessons on the life of Jesus. (see photos below) Our new sisters in Christ were a little timid of the baptistry, but overcame their fears knowing it was more important to push those fears aside and receive their salvation. Most of people we study with have never been in a bathtub let alone a baptistry. The door knocking is always my favorite part. You never know who you are going to meet, and it never ceases to amaze me just how receptive these wonderful people are to hear the Gospel. Almost every door we knocked on, we were invited inside to sit down and study the Bible. Praise God. His truth was preached over the entire department of San Miguel, Tegu. Eli was given the opportunity to serve as well on this mission, and we are so proud of his willingness to jump right in and serve. He was able to lead singing in Spanish, give a devotional to encourage the team, and help out around the kitchen and clinic. He did not complain about the heat or the changes in schedule, but he was your typical kid at every dull moment he would ask to play a game on his Roque Families phones...insert eyeroll...even in Honduras. None of these successes would have been possible without our amazing, go with the flow, never complaining, always willing to jump in and help TEAM. This also includes our "team" of contributors who were not able to attend this mission trip in person, but they sent their love with their monetary donations that helped bring 12 preachers from Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to help us canvas the area. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this trip possible.
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I am so excited to tell our readers about our very first door knocking campaign and Gospel meeting that I hardly know where to start. From the give away day to the wonderful guest speakers, or perhaps the countless volunteer work or the delicious meals shared while having a Bible Study. It all was truly more than we ever expected. God is working friends. We began our campaign on Thursday Morning bright and early. Some volunteers even beat us to the building where we made some last minute organizational changes, and at 10 am, the doors opened. We met 12 families that day, roughly 30 Spanish speaking people walked through our doors and were given an invitation to worship services. And unlike last time, we had each guest register in our handy-dandy....NOTEBOOK. While the parents were "shopping" the children were fed a warm meal accompanied with cookies and lemonade. The parents later joined them, while Elias, Carlos, or Wayne studied the Bible with them around the table. Every family was able to listen to the Word without rejection. (OH did I mention Carlos Hughes from South Carolina along with his wife Mari, Dallas and her two teenagers, Wayne Brewer from Mayblevalle, AR and a Maria, Roberto, and Evelyn joined us from out of state to help door knock and evangelize? What a blessing!) We closed down the give away around 3:30 pm, and prepared for the first night of the Gospel meeting. Aaron Baker delivered a great sermon on Raising a Christian Family in a World without God. What was most shocking to the Spanish speaking brethren and us is the amount of support we received from the English-speaking Congregation. We had so many come to support us Thursday and Friday nights at the meeting we almost cried. It was so empowering and encouraging to see our friends and family walk through those doors and shake our hands. Thank you to all who came to support our meeting. You meant so much to us. Friday, we got up, and did it all over again. Being at the building from 9 am to 9 pm with four children is not for the faint of heart, and I am so thankful to all the people who showed compassion and forgiveness and mercy to my sons while they were "trying" to help, play, waste energy and time, and not eat every cookie they saw on the counter. I am most thankful to my mother who rescued them Saturday night, when they were holding on only by threads. She took them home, fed them, bathed them, and put them to bed in our home while she waited for us to arrive. GOD BLESS HER TEN FOLD. What would we do without family or church family? Friday, we saw around 5 families, 15 people, and lots of items were cleared out of our give away stash. Josh Robinson delivered a message on how Christians are to live in this modern world. Thank you JOSH! Saturday we saw another 8 families or around 20 people come to our give away. Every family that walked through the door this weekend was a new face to us. We had never met them before, and several people are actively looking for a place to Worship on Sunday mornings. We had a delicious meal of Lasagna and salad to feed them all this day, and they were so appreciative, especially of the homemade cookies. Saturday evening, Christian Torres, or Hannibal Church of Christ came to speak to us and encourage us on how to stay the path in a world without Christ, followed by Carlos Hughes and his sermon on finding your salvation in this modern world. All of our speakers did a fantastic job of studying and bringing us the Word. Sunday was a day to remember. It was the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of our meeting here at West End as the Iglesia de Cristo. What a very special day it was! We had two families come back to Worship with us from the give away days earlier that week. They had many questions, and Elias was able to sit down with them and answer those questions. They said they would be back next week also! We couldn't end this post without a huge shout out to the people who pitched in to help make this event a success. We met over 25 families, 60 plus people, door knocked 50 doors, and conducted over 12 Bible studies, several of which will be on-going. What a blessing! We had volunteers come up and stay with us from 9 am to 9 pm each night! We did not even have to ask for help, and there they were buying more food, cleaning more tables, speaking Spanish to our guests. Our helpers who have been in the "business" for many years could not express enough how they had never seen such love and support from a congregation to a Hispanic Ministry that is just starting out. God bless each one of you. We are forever grateful.
The Roque Family We were blessed this Memorial Weekend with a visit from the youth group at North Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, TN. This group of teenagers worked so hard to get all of our give away items organized, mail 500 flyers (hand sealed and addressed), and pass out some invitations personally out in the community. We honestly could not have done it all without them and the brave chaperones that accompanied them. We also had a hardworking and dedicated crew from West End that chipped in to help feed the group of 50 volunteers on two separate days. Not only did they feed them, but they served them, cleaned up after them, and supplied them with all their needs while they were here. Being a last minute event, we were not sure anyone else would have time to help us this holiday weekend, but we were blown away once again of the generosity and servanthood of the members here. Thank you to all that helped make this preparation day a success. We could not have pulled it off without you. Our Give Away Day and Gospel Meeting event is now all set up and ready to deliver. Thank you to all the local congregations and members who donated items, food, and their time to help make this event happen. We will begin on June 6th-8th.
9 am-12pm Give away. Lunch at 12. 1-4 pm Give Away. Dinner at 5 pm. 6:30-8:00 Gospel Meeting The Campaign will end Sunday Morning on June 9th followed by a fellowship meal with the Entire congregation. If you would like to attend the Gospel Meeting, we will have an English speaker on Thursday and Friday nights that will be translated into Spanish. Also, during the campaign we have two groups from Hispanic congregations coming to help us door knock. One is from Maybelville, AR and the other is from Greer, SC. We are so excited to have these preachers and their members with us to help conduct Bible studies and door knock during our campaign. Please continue to pray for this work, that their hearts are ready and softened to hear the Gospel, and that our groups arrive safely. Thank you again The Roque Family |
AuthorElias and Kristi Roque have been married for 9 years and during this time have planted/grown 4 congregations. They have 4 boys 7 and under working alongside them. Archives
April 2024
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