July 22 2009
Please pray for the outreach campaign this week in Colima, Mexico. 12 people from
Eastwood Baptist Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma are here this week to help us to share
the gospel message and invite people to a series of devotional messages. Pray for
the Lord's blessing on all of the activities of the campaign and the follow-
* 8am-
* 12-
* 5-
* 8 pm devotional messages for youth, family, and individual cell home groups on different nights.
* Sunday 10 am church service
June 2009
* Pray for the church Cristo Vive to continue to grow numerically, in maturity and unity.
* Pray for strong and healthy families in the church and community, as that is God’s plan.
* Pray for our family, for the kids to make friends their own age, and for Titus’s foot to continue to form correctly.
April 22, 2009
1. Pray for Marcos, one of our cell group leaders. He has been without work for several months and needs to find work to support his family.
2. Pray for a young man who we baptized last November to stay true to his commitment to the Lord. He has been under pressure to return to Catholicism.
3. Answered prayer in that Jose Luis has agreed to lead the cell group in Real Centenario. Jeff is now training leaders for all 3 cell groups in the church.
4. Praise for how God used the volunteer team from Mississippi State University in
Colima March 15-
5. 4 new college students have attended church services or youth group meetings as a result.
6. Pray for a Christian couple to be trained to lead the new youth and college group.
5. 6. sm
January 25, 2009
1. We now have two leaders in training to lead home groups in San Sebastian, Colima and Comala. Pray for the Lord to raise up a leader for the home group in Real Centenario.
2. Praise: The 3 home groups have been meeting together for a worship service and
fellowship on Sunday mornings at our house. Today we had the largest attendance with
22 adults and teen-
3. Pray for the children to grow in their knowledge of the Lord, and that the Lord help Deluiegha prepare each week for Sunday School lessons.
4. Pray for worship leaders to be raised up for each home group. Jeff started teaching guitar classes this week with this goal in mind.
5. Praise God that Titus has taken his first steps. His foot continues to heal and does not seem to affect his ability to walk.
6. Pray for our visa renewal process to go smoothly. Pray for God’s protection as we travel to Mexico city this week to renew our visas.
November 18, 2008
1. Praise: In answer to prayer, Marcos's wife, Susana, and their daughter, Maria, committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
2. Pray for Susana, Maria, Fernando, Eric, and Emanuel who made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized this past Sunday.
3. Pray for the three home groups to grow and that leaders will step forward to be trained in each group.
4. Pray for the Lord's blessing as we bring together the three home groups for a regular Sunday service and form a new church. The home groups will continue to meet during the week.
August 23, 2008
1. Pray for salvation for the wife and daughter of a Christian man attending the marriage seminar in our house.
2. Praise: 3 persons made a profession of faith in Christ during the evangelistic campaign last week.
3. Pray for follow-
4. One man in Comala is terrified by the presence of an evil spirit in his home. Pray for deliverance and that he find peace and salvation in Christ.
March 8, 2008
1. Praise God for three young adults who have become new believers in Christ in the home group that meets in San Sebastian! Pray for all three to grow in their Christian faith.
2. Pray for one of the new believers who is experiencing opposition from his family. His mother does not want him to attend our home groups because she does not want him to change his religion. Pray for God to open a door for him to be discipled, and for his mother to be saved.
3. Pray for one of the home group leaders, Marcos, who is discouraged and does not want the group to meet for awhile.
4. Pray for the outreach efforts of 2 volunteer teams in Colima March 8-
students.
February, 2008
1. In January, Titus was diagnosed with clubfoot and he underwent castings and a tendon surgery with a doctor in the United States. Thanks to the Lord that such treatment options are available.
2. Pray for complete healing of Titus’s foot. He will be wearing a foot brace for 3 or 4 years.
3pm
7:30 guitar
8pm Study
Sunday Service
6pm Leaders meeting
Swanson Scoop June, 2009
The Work: What a privilege it is to serve Jesus Christ in Mexico! We have been serving on the mission field for 7 years and in Colima for 3 years. In the first part of 2008 three home groups were meeting of mostly new believers. We met weekly to model how a church functions through worship, prayer, teaching the Word of God, discipleship, and observing baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The new believers did struggle with marital and family issues. Spiritual and numerical growth was slow. Yet God was faithful, and several new believers were coming to know the Lord.
We became inspired by several other mission families to try something new that has been of great benefit to the work here. We decided to initiate a cell church model for church planting. One missionary, Ben Argil, traveled to Colima in November, 2008 to give an inspirational talk on cell church structure.
The result was that after 5 people were baptized in a river outside of Colima in November, we launched the start of a new cell church, Cristo Vive (Christ Lives), the following week. The people responded well to the new church structure. They continue to meet in homes during the week, and on Sunday mornings we get together in our house for a worship service. People especially like the increased opportunity for fellowship with one another from the different home groups. Most often stay after the Sunday service for 2 or 3 hours to talk and encourage one another.
We have been in the modeling phase of the new church start. Jeff has been training leaders for each cell group and preaching or casting vision regularly. Deliegha has been teaching Sunday school for the children. Other leaders teach in the cell groups. Just recently, we have been able to start having some of the men in the church preach.
There are now 4 cell groups meeting in the Colima area, and a fifth about ready to start. There is an attendance of up to 25 people on Sunday mornings. More are involved in the cell groups where we emphasize that most of the ministry is to take place.
Statistically, Colima has one of the highest percentages of divorced and single parent families in Mexico. We have seen the effect of this sad statistic in all of the cell groups and among neighbors around us. Marital and family counseling has been a necessary role for us in both evangelism and discipleship.
God did a marvelous work in the lives of one of the families in the new church. Marcos and his wife were separated and living in different cities. Marcos became a new believer as well as one of his daughters. He was discipled and began leading a home group. His wife returned and several months later became a new believer, after seeing his changed life. Two more of their daughters became believers in Christ and all were baptized. Marcos and his wife continue to work through some difficulties in their relationship, but their relationship has improved. And now they have the hope of God in their hearts, and a hope that their family can stay together.
God does answer prayer. Just last month, Jeff felt convicted by the Holy Spirit to challenge Marcos with Scripture to be more proactive in looking for work to provide for his family. After praying together, Marcos became convicted. Jeff agreed to help him by getting a newspaper and helping take him to look for a job the next day. That wasn’t needed because God answered our prayer that very day! Marcos called an old friend, who had just got off the phone with his boss. His boss told his friend that he really needed to hire an assistant, someone he could trust, to help him out. As soon as he hung up, Marcos called asking for work. He was offered the job on the spot. Both Marcos and Jeff saw this as an answer to prayer. His boss did, too, as Marcos shared this testimony with him! He continues to share the Word of God with him.
Our family: Titus, our one year old has been doing very well. We are so grateful that his little foot has responded well to the tendon surgery, and foot brace he wears at night. He is a happy and rambunctious kid! He enjoys playing with his sisters. Charissa has completed 5th grade of home school, and Lois 1st grade. We are happy that both have made a commitment to follow Christ. Both enjoyed taking care of pet turtles and iguanas this year. A puppy for the future is a possibility. Jeff has been taking the girls to swim classes thee times a week for the last few months. It has been good exercise and good father/daughter time. Deliegha has been teaching Charissa to sew, and Lois to read.
* Pray for the church Cristo Vive to continue to grow numerically, in maturity and unity.
* Pray for strong and healthy families in the church and community, as that is God’s plan.
* Pray for our family, for the kids to make friends their own age, and for Titus’s foot to continue to form correctly.
Thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program. The Lord uses these offerings to support us and other missionaries sent out by Southern Baptist Churches.
In Christ.
Jeff, Deliegha, Charissa, Lois, and Titus Swanson
www.swansonscoop.com