Fried Chicken, Mac n Cheese, Green Beans, casseroles, casseroles, casseroles, pasta salads, and about 15 different pies lined the potluck tables after church this Sunday. We had our very first fellowship meal together with the English-Speaking congregation and it was delightful. Since our Spanish service meets in the fellowship hall, we were able to work together (all three families) after the final prayer to set up tables, chairs, food, and drinks. It was fun to share our different styles of foods, and they especially loved watching the English preacher Matt Stewart try their delicious authentic Mexican dish called Ceviche. Edgar is a chef, and his Ceviche was so good. Its a cold salad of shrimp, crab, avocado, and tomatoes with special seasonings. He even made his own white dressing to garnish it. Matt was so sweet to show his enthusiasm for tasting this new dish, and the just smiled and watched as he took his first bite. I do have to say, potluck meals together have become our new favorite combined activity. At Great Oaks Church of Christ, where we worshiped prior to this ministry, the English-speaking brethren would always scour the tables, looking for the tasty authentic Hispanic dishes. Food is definitely a universal language, and we love how it brings us together. Although there is a language barrier, the fellowship while eating was by far the best part. There was lots of laughing, smiling, serving, and getting to know one another. Earlier this week, we said good-bye to Ruth and Elias Roque Sr. They were so helpful in passing out invitations, but they needed to get back to host a seminar that started in Honduras the same day they arrived back in Tegucigalpa. Although Sunday was very encouraging, this week for evangelism was somewhat the opposite. We were just not in the right places at the right times. We only handed out about 10-20 flyers for the week, and those didn't seem very promising. We even went all the way downtown to the supposed "Hispanic Hot-Spot" on Cherokee street, and after surveying the area didn't see one Latino. We did see lots of bakeries and authentic businesses, and besides the fact that the area seemed dangerous for evangelism, it was mostly English-speaking people purchasing Pan Dulce and Tres Leches. We do, however, have several leads for this coming week, but you'll have to come back next week to read all about it. We are praying for God to lead us to the hearts that are ready to hear the Gospel. Meanwhile, back at West End, the members along with some helpful children, were preparing our tracts with labels. They now have our contact information and our ready to be passed out to those who may have specific questions about the Lord's church. We hope you have a blessed week, and thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog. It is so encouraging to know that people care about our ministry, and are excited to see what new adventures the week had brought us. Please leave a comment below to let us know you are here. May God bless you.
Sunday Attendance: 13 (our family, and 2 hispanic families) Flyers passed out: 323 Bible studies: 3
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Matthew 9:37 "Then He said to His disciples, 'The Harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.'" This verse was sticking in the forefront of my mind this week, as we began canvassing more of St. Charles Co. and beyond. There are so many lost souls just in this city, not to mention the entire world, and it can be so overwhelming. We watch as the people go about their everyday lives, some clueless as to where their salvation lies. Every Sunday morning, as we back out of our driveway, Elias points out the vast number of houses with all their vehicles tucked nicely in their garages or driveways, resting away to prepare for the work week ahead. Not realizing that true rejuvenation cannot be found in their sleep number 31220000. It is nice to have help here this week. With Ruth and Elias, we were able to canvas more ground. We had some addresses that were given to the congregation through the last "Give it away" day in October, and we were able to reach out to them and invite them personally to services. Some of our English speaking members gave us a tip on where several Spanish speaking people lived near our building, so we were able to door knock there as well. Let me tell you, it was HOOOOOTTT. Like drinking the air hot, and the kids were troopers. They really enjoyed knocking the doors, and saying "Invitamos a la Iglesia." These pictures really say it all. What a joy to watch your children labor for the Lord. Almost unanimously, we find no matter what city we are in, that most Latinos are born into the Catholic religion. With this comes lots of different challenges, including but not limited to: 1. Being disowned from your family if you deny the Catholic heritage. 2. Not having ever read the Bible. (which sometimes is a good thing for us to start from scratch). 3. Being wrapped up in lots of traditions, including idolatry. Note... exhibit A in the picture below. There is even a picture of the current "pope" kissing Guatelupe in one of our Mexican stores. 4. Lots of people not even being open to accepting our invitation because of family traditions, and with cathalicism comes the freedom to drink, etc., a few hale Mary's, father-son-holy spirit, throw extra $$$ in their tithe, and they are good to go. This makes it hard for us in teaching our new converts morality. Our Monday Bible study has been rescheduled the last two Mondays due to a work conflict. But Elias was able to have a 20 minute conversation with him over the phone...which is super exciting. This family then asked about our worship services and said they would possibly see us Sunday. Maybe...
Speaking of Sunday!!!! We had another family to come visit us this week!!! They found our flyer in one of the Mexican Grocery stores, and after getting lost a few times, were able to find the church building and worship with us on Sunday. It was a husband and wife and small daughter from Guatemala. They were so precious. Prayers that they will continue to attend services with us. So we now have two Hispanic families that have attended our services. Attendance: 12 (Isaac was sick with a fever, so him Abel, and I stayed home) Flyers Passed out: 275 Bible Studies: 4 This week has been FILLED with so many things, it will be hard to list them all so I will try to keep it to the highlights. First of all, thank you so much for clicking on our link to read our blog. It keeps us going knowing there are supporters and readers out there praying for us and the Lord's work here in St. Louis. Monday we were able to pass out flyers to several local congregations. We would love for their members to take a few and pass them out to their friends, acquaintances, and people they see in the stores while they are out and about. We have dropped off flyers at West End, Foristell, St. Peters, Arnold, Collinsville, Overland, Florissant, and the Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis. We have plans to go by other congregations and store fronts tomorrow. We would like to leave our invitations with anyone who is willing to pass them out, so if your congregation would like to have some flyers, please leave us a comment or message below. This will help us tremendously in spreading the word about our services. Tuesday Elias and Ruth Roque, or better known as "Lito and Lita" arrived in St. Louis to give us more man power, and of course see the grandbabies. After a good American BBQ and fireworks Wednesday, they were ready to get to work. We began in the Overland area, where we found several people going about their errands. We met a group of people at one Grocery store that were from Honduras, and actually one man used to be a taxi driver in the exact same town as Elias was back in his taxiing days. What are the odds? They were very receptive, and they talked about the Church of Christ for 20 minutes in the hot sun. Did you know it is currently 15* warmer here than in Tegucigalpa, Honduras...a Central American country closer to the equator. Yeah, that's hot. Anyway, so there were two women who own their own business by making Honduran food and selling it a la carte. So we exchanged numbers, and she has already messaged Kristi to tell her she was excited to meet us. They did mention they were members of the Maranta church there in Overland. It is the only other Spanish speaking services we have come across in the whole city so far. She mentioned they were so large that they have to have two services. I wonder how we can get Elias in there to preach to the masses and bring them all to salvation at once...pure "Day of Pentecost" style. Hmmm.... Friday we were able to evangelize to several contacts that my grandmother had gotten for us. We actually met an American lady who overheard the name of the Church and said, "Did you say West End Church of Christ?" She went on to explain that the preacher there, Matt, came to her aide last year when her home had burned down and she needed to buy soap to bathe her babies. He just took her to Wal-Mart, and got her what she needed. She said she would never forget that day, and the name of that church. She was so thankful for Matt and she said she has been meaning to visit us. This goes to show you never know what could come out of a good deed, even a whole year later. Unfortunately, the rest of Friday was not the kind of exciting we had hoped for. Elias Sr. was helping clean up hot wheels toys when his feet slipped out from under him and knocked him plus the farm bench directly on top of his finger. The impact crushed the bones into pieces at the top of his middle finger, and completely twisted the skin of his finger pads and nail around. Needless to say it was pretty gory and immediately I knew we had to go to the ER. The staff was very attentive to him, and everyone came in to get a good look at the damage. 100 stitches and 5 hours later we walked out of the ER with a splint wrapped in gauze and a 9 am apt with the specialist Monday Morning. The doctor said he will most likely need surgery to repair the damage, but we have high hopes that God is already healing his finger. Now I just need him to rest. He is still trying to clean up after his grandsons and do everything for himself. I want to draw your attention to the middle photo of the nice nurse who so patiently was trying to put his finger back together. During this moment he leaned over to me, and whispered, "Make sure you invite her to church." He is as good as it gets folks. Also side note: I now know what it will be like when one of my boys has a similar incident. I mean with 4 boys people keep telling me the odds are pretty great that we will have an ER visit in our life time. I had never seen stitches nor did I know what to do, but I made sure I took notes. I also have a lot more respect for ER nurses, doctors, and staff. It takes a brave person to deal with trauma, especially on little children. I do not want to go back there anytime soon. My momma heart was hurting for the children I saw in there that night. Sunday has been a great day so far. We were able to hear a wonderful sermon from Elias Sr. "For what purpose did God choose me?" and we had a Spanish speaking visitor from Great Oaks surprise us by attending worship with us. Cindy has been such an encourager to us, and she has dedicated her precious time to helping people learn English through Friends Speak there in Memphis. So in all today our Attendance was 10 (Raul and Lilly were unable to make it this morning but Edgar was there by himself. So proud of him).
Flyers passed out: 263 Bible Studies: 1 Flyers mailed out: 2,000 May God Bless YOU this week, and please continue to pray for us. The Roque Family What a productive week it has been. We are so thankful for all the people who have chipped in this week with their time, knowledge, and patience to help us get the mailers out to the 3,000 Spanish Speaking addresses. We are excited to see if any contacts receive our invitation and say "OH finally! We have been waiting for a church to come to this area. Let's GO!" We may have high hopes, but Lord willing we will have some new contacts from this type of advertisement. We could not have gotten the labels for these mailers printed without two important people. Joe Roznos, who knows about everything that is everything in Technology, made up a step by step instruction on how to do a mail merge. WOW, thank you Microsoft for that amazing software. We were able to put a spread sheet of 3000 addresses into label format in a matter of well, what should have been minute. ha! Then once we had the labels ready to print we enlisted the good help of our "fill-in" secretary Mrs. Brenda Estes. She worked with us so diligently and never cried once...at least in front of us. We had several set backs from changing out wireless internet routers to not knowing the operating code on the fancy copy machine, but we did it! After 6 hours of trying...we did it. That was in fact, a labor of love. Mrs. Brenda then proceeded to label and stamp over 700 of those mailers on her own, and set up for the rest of them to be labeled by other members of the English speaking congregation. So thank you to everyone who has helped us get these invitations out! You are so wonderful. Wednesday Bible Study isn't something we had planned to begin just yet, but when your members say "Nos vemos el Miercoles," (see you Wednesday) you get the classroom ready and begin lessons on basic Bible knowledge. These brethren have been thirsting for answers to why they believe what they believe. Even though they are already baptized, they need some tools to help them grow, and it has been great to see their "OOOH that's why" moments. Especially from Raul their 21 year old son. He has really been listening and writing down things he's wanted to remember, and he even gave Elias the sweetest compliment. He said, "Brother, if we could just get the people here to listen to you preach, I know they would love you and want to stay. You are the best preacher I have ever heard." How encouraging. Also Feliz Cumpleaños a mi! It was so nice to celebrate my birthday with my friends and family after 16 years of living in the Volunteer State. My boys spoiled me rotten, and it really turned into a Birthday Week. 34 has already been very good to me. Thank you God for all my blessings (which included eating at my all time favorite fast food restaurant that is only in St. Louis, LIONS CHOICE! Best Roast Beef sandwich you'll ever put in your mouth!) We had great evangelism this week. We were able to visit several more businesses, and leave flyers at several places for people to pick up as they leave. Saturday was the most encouraging. We visited a Mexican Store and Restaurant just down the road. We met a man working in the butcher section, and he set up a Bible study for Monday at 10 a.m. at the office. We then went to eat at the restaurant and meet more people, and our waitress was a middle aged lady (who we later on found out was the wife of the butcher) when we gave her the invitation said, "Is this a Christian church? Because we have been looking for a place to worship that follows what the Bible says. We used to live in Arkansas and worked in the fields with the Mininites and we really liked the studies they gave us directly from the Bible. I have a 20 year old daughter, and two sons 15-10 years old, and a one month old, and I would love to get them back into a church." We exchanged numbers and said we would see them on Sunday.
Sunday was a great Lord's day. We were able to Worship with our family, a Spanish speaking American member, and our faithful Cano family. Our new friends did not attend, but we have high hopes to see them again on Monday for our Bible Study. Attendance: 9 Bible Studies: 1 Flyers Passed out: 231 May God Bless you this week, and please continue to pray for us as we try to find the Spanish speaking souls that are ready to hear the Gospel. |
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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