Baptisms in November 2012

On Sunday, November 25, 2012 our church celebrated the baptism of 3 believers in Jesus Christ. Each of them gave testimony of their saving faith in Jesus and of their desire to follow him as faithful disciples. Julia and Paula are sisters, part of one of our church families. Diego came to Christ a couple of months ago through his friend Juan who was baptized earlier this year. What a joy and privilege it is to have a part in making disciples as Jesus commanded!

Evangelism Missions Group

During the past several months our church has been getting more involved in doing missions at home, visiting communities, sharing the Gospel, and being part of the harvest team that goes out to the nations. We're really excited about what's ahead for this congregation in missions and multiplication.
Just last week a group of 14 people went out to a village about 90 minutes from Manta to share a puppet presentation, a mime mini-drama, games, and songs with a school that had given an invitation to our church. I've put up just a few of the pictures. I wish you could see all of the people involved.

Seventh Anniversary Services

We celebrated the Seventh Anniversary of the beginning of this congregation on February 5, 2012. The morning service was very exciting, and we had a record attendance of over 200. Then on Sunday evening we had another terrific attendance of around 210 with many, many visitors. We are very thankful for all God has done through this church in Manta, Ecuador since 2005.

Visitors from Battlefield Baptist Church

Pastor and Mrs. Karl Skinner and six other members of Battlefield Baptist Church in Gainesville, Virginia were our guests for a week. They did a terrific job of evangelism and outreach in parks, children's homes, our Travesia village ministry, and in all of our Anniversary Weekend activities. They were a great blessing.

Baptisms

Two girls named Domenica were baptized on January 29. We are always happy when people take the step of faith and obedience to follow Jesus' example and make public their testimony through baptism. Also, on February 12 we handed out baptismal certificates to those who had been baptized over the past 12 months. 30 had been baptized, and most of them were present at this Sunday service.

Celebrating Jesus' Birth

On December 25, we had a great day at church celebrating the birth of Christ. The attendance of 165 was our highest of 2011. We collected a great missions offering and had a pile of toys and clothes to give to needy children. There were party activities and refreshments for all ages. We honored Jesus and made Him the center of our Christmas. It was cool to have a good crowd in the auditorium, and to imagine when we are really filling it up.