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
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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
March 2024
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