This week has been full of finding places to pass out flyers and meet new contacts. We have learned many differences this week between St. Louis vs our last two TN locations.
1. There are no specific neighborhoods or streets that have a majority of Spanish-speaking people. In Memphis and Mt. Juliet, we knew that if we wanted to spend an entire day door knocking and passing out invitations we could drive to a few specific areas and all the doors we knocked on would be Hispanics. The more we ask around here, the more we find out that this is not the case here in St. Charles County. Every Hispanic we have asked says the same thing, "We are scattered all over, and there is no specific area to door knock." So...new strategy. 2. There are several Mexican Grocery stores all the way from Wentzville to the Overland area that we visited this week. The stores were HOPPIN! We were able to pass out around 80 flyers just by visiting the people coming to purchase food at these places. We even had a Bible study right in front of one of the locations with 3 Puerto Rican men who were on their "Happy Hour." On this particular occasion we really felt the impact of the words Jesus spoke in Mark 2:17 " When Jesus heard it, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." The men were very attentive to the scriptures being quoted, and had several questions. The study lasted about 30 minutes, and we left feeling like at least these men will go home thinking twice about the life they are living. The most interesting fact about the study was that these men KNEW several things about the Bible, and confessed to us that the life they were currently living wasn't the life God wanted them to live. It was beautiful. It was easier to talk and study with these men, than with the men/women we met who confessed to already have a place of worship. They did nothing short of throw the invitation back at our faces and send us on our merry way. (On a unrelated note, since we were evangelizing at most places this week that involved Hispanic food, our grocery bill/waste lines are growing. We felt like if the owners were letting us leave our tracts at their store, that we should at least thank them by buying something...or at least that is how we justified buying Honduran soda, cheese, and Mexican fajita nachos. We need an intervention...asap. :) 3. For the first time in our ministry, we have been given a way to send out mailers to Spanish-Speaking people. We have a family-friend who is a librarian. She is good at what she does, and she was able to give us a list of almost 3,000 names in St. Charles Co. alone that are supposedly Spanish households. The mailers are printed, the mail merge has been created, and this week we are going to be working on making and printing out those labels to stick on the mailers. We have even had some volunteers offer to help us stick the labels on the mailers. We are so excited about this type of evangelism. Just maybe, someone who receives the mailer has been waiting for an Iglesia de Cristo to come to town. Prayers are appreciated for this effort. 4. From what we have observed thus far, the types of Hispanics here in St. Louis are doing well. They have stable jobs, paperwork, nice homes, and appear to be more self-sufficient than the Hispanic community in Memphis. This makes it a little harder to reach out, because offering them a food pantry or clothing closet is almost offensive to them. We want to be a place that feeds the hungry or clothes the needy, but in the last 3 weeks we haven't found anyone in need. I know they are here, but just not as prevalent as Memphis. Because they seem to be doing well on their own, most of the people do not see an immediate need for God and His Salvation. How very sad. Although there are many differences to these cities, there are some things that remain very the same. 1. There are so many different highways, and the GPS is our very best friend. (Even though I grew up here its been 16 years since I have lived here). 2. The weather is so unpredictable, and the humidity is unbearable at times. Even though Honduras is closer to the equator, it feels hotter here, and spring lasted 1.2 seconds. Now the forecast says 100* for Friday. 3. It's easy to get discouraged. Even though we worked so hard this week passing out more than 80 flyers, we had our faithful family of 2 show up for worship service. We had several people say they were coming, but 10 am on Sunday comes around, and those people did not come to worship. Time, patience, and endurance are all things we are going to need a never ending supply of in this ministry. 4. Its amazing how encouraging it is to work with an English-Speaking congregation full of members willing to help. We had several needs these past two weeks, and without missing a beat those needs were met. We needed a classroom for Bible class, computer help, mailer help, label help, location help, tract ordering help, and encouragement. So many people stepped up to the plate, and they were willing to give their time to further this work. God bless each and every one of them. This week we forgot to take many pictures, but here is a picture of our new Bible study room for Wednesdays and Sunday mornings. Thank you to West End for letting us have this room to feel welcome and at home. Please continue to pray for us and the hearts of the community here in St. Louis.
2 Comments
Lisa
6/24/2018 08:12:24 pm
Dios los bendiga!
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Ansley and William
6/24/2018 08:28:21 pm
Prayers for all above, especially for patience and endurance and open hearts!! ❤️❤️ We love y’all!
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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
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