Prayer Requests

For those of you who pray for us we have a few prayer requests. We appreciate greatly all of you who remember us and our town in your prayers.

Bible Study- Elias and I are starting a Bible study on Thursdays using the book "The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus". The introduction will be this Thursday. Please pray that people from the church and outside the church will come. We have had very poor attendance lately at church and really need prayer in that area. Also, pray for the provision of copies. We are able to print copies of the book from the internet but at $0.10 a page it will still be expensive for us. We are trying to find somewhere cheaper to get copies. Also pray that those we have been sharing the gospel with (English students) will come to the study.

Pot Luck- We are also going to have some fellowship activities coming up. Right now we are planning a pot luck to try to encourage the members to get to know eachother. We are very few and still everyone only knows eachother on a very superficial level. Previously the church has not had any of these kinds of activities. Please also pray for willingness to participate.

Pastor- Our pastor has been sick the past few weeks and has not been able to come to church. Elias and others have filled in with the preaching. Pray for his recovery. Also, the pastor's father passed away last week which has been very hard on him especially being ill himself. He will not be here today for church but will hopefully be able to come next week. I'm not exaclty sure what he has but something I think to do with his feet and his muscles and not being able to walk.

English classes- Our English students remain faithful and are continuing to learn. We had a test on Friday and they all did very well and passed. Our lowest grade was a C+ but only due to small mistakes. Our highest grade I think was 98%!!! I was so proud :) But more importantly we have been starting to share the gospel with our students. We showed the movie "Facing the Giants" in English for one of the classes which has started some discussion about God etc. We are alternately letting the students borrow the movie and watch it again at home in Spanish with their families. Specifically please pray for Antonio, Jose and Gerardo. Elias has been meeting with Antonio (50 yrs. old) before class while I teach his daughter and Antonio has been asking Elias about God and our church etc. Jose and Gerardo are in their 20's and have come over a few times to play volleyball after classes. Elias is also sharing with them but they are not as open or interested yet. Although, they aren't opposed to talking about it.

Leo's dad- Last night we visited Elias' grandma and some aunts and uncles who are all catholic in name and tradition only. Elias' mom and I spoke to Elias' uncle (Leo's dad), Arminio, who was asking his mom why she became a christian. He listened very intently but at the end of the about 45min conversation said well those are your ideas and I have my own ideas and you aren't going to convince me ever. I told him, gently, that he was right we would never convince him and that we weren't trying to convince him. God is the only one who convinces anyone and we are simply sharing the word of God with him. He didn't act offended but didn't show any change of heart either. We are excited though that he is showing interest. Leo and his wife Abby are Christians and are also trying to share with him. Although we were talking to him, his wife and 2 other of Elias' aunts were listening interestedly to the conversation. Please pray for all of their hearts to be softened and if possible to be able to share more with them. This is the first time I've ever seen ANY of Elias' non-christian family show interest in God.

July 5th Youth Event- On Saturday July 5th we have an event being held at Mario's church (Elias' brother) and at our property. We are putting it on with the group of youth that we meet with every Saturday from several different churches. The group is led by Mario. And Elias and I just help out. The group is called "Odres Nuevos" (New Wineskins) Please pray for this event. It is from 10am through the evening. We have 2 pastors coming to preach and other activities including lunch and dinner. Also pray for provisions for the food. We are charging $2.50 which will help but won't actually cover the full cost of the event. We were trying to have a fundraiser but none of our ideas have worked out so far and time is running out.

Elias' Papers- We will be starting the process of turning in Elias' papers for a visa to the US. We are both stressed about it so please pray for wisdom and guidance and kindness on the part of the embassy. Also for patience and that we will continue to trust God for the results.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Thanks again for your prayers!!!

Elias and Katie Jarillo