Year’s End Update

Merry Christmas everyone! I trust you’ve had blessed holidays.  I’m grateful to have another opportunity to see some of my relatively scattered family. My brothers Danny and Mark were able to come here to visit (as well as Danny’s wife Jordan), and I’ve had a great time with them, as usual.With family at Christmas

I want to share  a very brief update, and hopefully give a little encouragement to each of you this Christmas. As I usually do in December, I’ve been looking back through my year to see in which areas I’ve learned the most. And this year, the theme that has been most prominent has been God’s work of sanctification. I’ve seen Him at work making many necessary changes in my own life, and I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time studying Christian growth as I’ve worked through Romans 12-14 on Wednesdays with my church over the course of this year.

But the most exciting way I’ve seen this theme played out this year has been in the lives of some of the people here in this ministry. I can’t think of a feeling that compares to the joy of seeing a person’s life change radically through the power of the Gospel. I continue to have weekly Bible studies with three of the newest believers in church, Amadeo, Lucho, and Carlos. All three of them have grown so much in this past year. Each of them has shared personal testimonies in church recently. All three are so different from who they were before being saved. I can think through the 9 fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and see fruit now where there never was before. In recent months, Carlos especially has shown remarkable growth. This summer at youth camp, as I mentioned in a previous letter, the Lord really straightened some things out in his life, and now Carlos is more faithful than ever. He is consistently witnessing to his family and friends, and he even comes out to share the Gospel in Irun with a couple church men and me sometimes. Please pray for these 3 young men. They are all from broken homes, and they face very strong pressure from their unsaved relatives, but they are trying to serve God as best they can.  Two of them have told me of  their desire to enter the ministry full-time, if that’s what God has planned for them.With my young people at camp

In the picture to the right you can see another believer who has shown much evidence of the Lord’s transforming power. This is a Basque young man in his thirties. He was saved about two years ago. I spend a lot of time with him, and he also has a strong desire to serve the Lord with his life, no matter where the Lord leads him. I have been working with him for a while now, teaching himMikel and me how to prepare a message for church. Soon, hopefully, he’ll have the opportunity to preach in church on a Wednesday night or something similar. Please pray for him as well, as he also faces strong opposition to the Gospel from his family.

There are certainly many other cases, but suffice it to say that God is miraculously changing lives for the better. I believe no man-made effort, whether it’s a rehabilitation center, charitable organization, or a religious program, can ever produce true, permanent change in the life of a sinner. Only God’s miraculous, sanctifying work in the heart of a believer can ever transform a life to the extent God is doing with these examples I’ve shared.

I hope this is as much an encouragement for you as it has been for me. God’s work here is a result of your prayers for the ministry, and so once again, thank you for those prayers. Another big source of encouragement has been the way the Lord has been providing the support I’ll need to stay here in Spain. When I came back from the States in October, I had about a third of what I need to live here. Since reaching Spain though, the Lord has provided support from several unexpected directions, and I am so grateful that He keeps providing. Personally it is a great encouragement to see the Lord moving hearts to support the ministry, as it means God wants the work here to keep moving forward. To those of you who have supported me financially in this past year, whether individually or through your church, I just want to thank you so much for your generosity and for your trust. Please keep praying for me and for the people I mention. We need your prayers.

God bless, and and have a wonderful new year!

David
Ps. 34:3

4 Responses to “Year’s End Update”

  1. Cindi says:

    I enjoyed the update! “Progressive sanctification” has been a study topic for me in 2014. Praise God that it sets us more and more apart from “the world, the flesh and the devil,” and makes us more and more like our risen Lord in character.

    “For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6)

    • David says:

      Thank you Cindi! It’s so encouraging to think how God Himself is actually working the change in our lives. I’ve got such a long way to go still, but I know He won’t give up!

  2. Mike Manwaring says:

    It is great to hear how the Lord has been working! May he give you a fruitful 2015. We will be praying for you!

    (Eph.1:17) “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”