What an exciting/encouraging week of evangelism it has been. St. Charles County is full of Hispanics that are searching for something. They're searching for a place to belong, or a place where they can meet other Spanish-speaking friends, or really mostly they are searching for just a non-catholic worship service. Since we are the ONLY Spanish speaking Church of Christ in the entire Metropolitan Area, we have such an awesome network or Churches helping us canvas the area and filter all their contacts into one central location...our Iglesia de Cristo en West End. How amazing is that?!
We wanted to share with you a few stories from our busy week. Our spirits are up, and we are ready to get out there again this week and make even more contacts. Our next major task is to get our phone line set up at the office, and then we will add that number to our post card invitation. Then, hit up all the area churches of Christ and leave flyers for their members to take out with them as they grocery shop, work, and meet people. We have had several people already request these flyers because they are excited to help us spread the word about our Iglesia. What a huge help that will be! Ok, there is so much to tell you that it is hard to stay focused...but here we go.... After one of our long days of moving in, unpacking, and getting the church building set up we decided to go to Aldi for a late night grocery run....and I mean late night as in 8:30 p.m. with 4 kids that are 7 years old and under...one of those being 18 months old and they were ALL hungry and tired. What were we thinking???? So needless to say the entire store is "fascinated" by our side show circus. We are putting the essentials in our shopping cart (or buggy as my beloved Tennesseans would say), boy number 3 is throwing in some sugary cereals and begging for more chips, baby boy is being suspiciously quiet (we are trying to choose the "on sale" apples because we all know that they are only going to take 10 bites out of them and proclaim that they are "full" AND waste the rest. Every single time!) So baby boy decides to work his tiny hands in a way that I had no idea he can do, and open the egg carton and drop two eggs onto the FLOOR. I mean, seriously y'all, it was time to go home. So on our way out, we hear a couple speaking Spanish. Elias grabs a flyer and heads over to invite them (as I am left to fend for myself with these 4 vultures trying to bag my own groceries in boxes, because we forgot our Aldi bags...) So, long story short...the sweet lady is a volunteer at Ronald McDonald House and comes in contact with Hispanics all the time that are looking for a place to worship while their children are receiving treatment. She normally points them in the direction of the Catholic Church, but she said most people are asking for a non-catholic congregation. So she jotted down our church address and contact info. and said she would be sending them to us from now on. What?? This Aldi trip had a bigger purpose. Also, we are going to go to orientation there this Wednesday to become volunteers for the Latino community. What a good resource it will be for us! We were also able to meet several more contacts throughout the week, and we have set up our first two Bible studies for this Monday and Tuesday. God is good. We are finding the people are so receptive here. But the best part of the week was finding a family that are Members of the Church! They moved here from Nashville about 9 months ago, and were shocked that there was no Iglesia de Cristo in the entire area. They were congregating with an American church near by, and a mutual friend sent us their contact information. They met with us on Wednesday night, and were there with their son today for our first worship service! God has sent a family to help us, and to begin this new work together. What an encouragement it was to see their faces today as they walked through those double doors. Our first Worship service we had 15 people. 6 Roques, 3 Latino brethren, 2 bilingual members, and 4 English speakers who came to support our efforts. We never dreamed our first service would have gone so well. We even had Bible class at 9 a.m. The English speakers were so kind in welcoming this new family. So many people shook their hands and tried to communicate with them. The best compliment of the night was them saying, "It feels as if this Spanish congregation has always met here at West End. You would have never of guessed it was the first Sunday worship service." Please continue to pray for the Lord's word to be spread throughout St. Louis. Dios le Bendiga. Our Running Count is Tracts given: 47 Bible Studies: 0 Attendance: 15 Cannot wait to see what this week holds. To God be the Glory Amen! Roque Family.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |