Time has passed ...

Days come and days go ... and here we are in September 2014.
I think it must be time to update this blog a little!!! :)

Many things have happened since my last post. 

At the beginning of last year (or thereabouts ... we actually received our letter of commendation in December 2012), the elders from our home assembly here at Conference Hall, Brisbane, along with the elders from our previous home assembly in Tarapio, Venezuela ... felt at peace to commend Willians and myself to serve the Lord in full time work. Our exercise has been to serve Him, just wherever the Lord would seem fit to place us. There is so much to be done for the Lord ... the fields are great ... time is short. 

Now, 10 years ago the Lord saw it fit to bring us to Australia to live. Several years later, we longed to return home to Venezuela ... where we could be of more "use" in the things of the Lord. Many important factors stopped our return, until one day a sister from Venezuela said to Willians on the phone, " the thing is that you want to come back, but the Lord doesn't want you to come back!!" 
True, we accepted that as His will for us to stay ... why did He want us to stay?! 

Well, time went on and we constantly made contacts with more and more Spanish speaking folks here in Brisbane. At one time we were having studying the Bible in Spanish with several of them ... 

Time later, after prayer and also after inviting many friends to gospel meetings in English, where they didn't understand much due to language barriers and maybe some "big" not commonly used words in the gospel meetings ... and many circumstances more ... a monthly gospel meeting was started in Spanish. This was held at Bethany Gospel Hall, South Brisbane, due to the strategic location of the hall, close to the bus and easy accessibility, rather than at Conference Hall. 

The believers from Bethany Hall have been a tremendous support, even from Uncle Joe Jamieson giving Willians a key to the hall and full fellowship in the work ... 

For many many meetings, many of the dear believers from Bethany would drive (some large distances) to be at the Spanish gospel meeting, even though the wouldn't understand a word of the meeting. They would also be very devoted in hospitality and Christian love and care, as we would have some supper after the meeting, also giving an opportunity to talk further with our visitors.  

At the beginning of 2014, the Lord guided and we have been having the gospel meeting twice a month. 

We thank the Lord for the continued interest in the gospel. Some folks come, others go, some return to their homeland, others lose that interest in the meetings, yet we labour on knowing that the seed is being sown and that only the Lord will give fruit for His honour and glory. 

There has never been a meeting without at least one unsaved person present. Often there will be a dozen, sometimes twenty or more, sometimes just two or three ... but we are reminded constantly that the Lord has called us to be faithful! to preach the gospel! to share His love! to pray constantly for there is one enemy of our souls who would not like to see this work continuing ... and much less souls being saved. BUT greater is He that is for us than he that is against us.

We have been blessed to see fruit from the Lord's work (not for our glory... we long for souls to be saved for eternity!). 
One dear lady was saved ... she has been baptised in another church and attends there :( due to family circumstances. A dear man, Jose, was brought along by a friend (I believe he had tried to commit suicide on at least one occasion, due to health reasons and his family abandoning him even though he is not that old) ... Sr Jose was baptised last December. What great joy it was!!! He has been received into assembly fellowship at Toowong Gospel Hall, even though he cannot attend regularly due to health reasons. He will rarely miss a Spanish gospel meeting. 

Please pray for us ... pray even more for this work ... pray for those who have heard the gospel many times ... pray for those who have been under the conviction of the need of their sins being made right with God ... pray for those who no longer attend, many being caught up in the busyness of life ... pray even for those who profess to be saved that they will be convicted of gathering to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.