Mérida Mission Trip Info & Prayer Request Update 4

Posted on February 24, 2009 in Blog, Congregational Resources, Evangelism/Missions

Teri has posted some more updates on the trip, on her blog. Still no new pictures, but here are some of the highlights from the most recent update:

Yesterday morning, the team went to the village of Hocába… where God brought together a large crowd to hear the open air preaching. It was also reported that there were many good one-on-one witnessing encounters. Dennis is excited that the church evangelism team members are seeing so many examples of law and grace evangelism in action.  These are tools that they will be able to use over and over after our team returns home.

Dennis also reported that they had a good time at Carnaval last night where they evangelized in the crowds gathered for another of the parades. A group of about 15 came out from the church so along with our five mission team members, there was a good group. Our friend Eduardo is so eager and he is “a joy to watch”, Dennis said. Dennis and Eduardo did several “open air” preaching sessions with Eduardo translating. Dennis even did a Spanish version of the trivia game and gave away 20 pesos. Then he offered 50 pesos to someone willing to take the Good Person Test. A young man named Gabriel took the challenge, and Dennis reports that “he was in tears” at the end of the test. He and many others asked for the church address, and others asked for Bibles. Please remember Gabriel by name in your prayers, that God would continue to work in his life.

Today was the “big” parade – the final day of their “Mardi Gras”… Dennis tells me that their celebration has much the same connotation as the New Orleans tradition…”eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we start Lent.” But whatever the reason, the crowds today were much “harder”, he said. They were less willing to listen and less willing to take tracts of any kind. It was a tough day comparatively speaking. Dennis said that it was “unbelievable how many people were out there today.” He’ll be checking the newspaper tomorrow for an estimated total, but last year’s estimate for this final parade was over 500,000 people.

The team prays that tomorrow will be a more successful day, like those earlier in the week; please keep them in your prayers. They will be witnessing in the plaza square where many families gather on Sunday afternoons. They will also be talking with people as they exit from Mass in the Catholic Cathedral which has stood in the square since 1598, and is one of the oldest Cathedral’s in the world.
They are also planning to venture into the city market which should be interesting for everyone (Dennis took me there last November – if nothing else, it will be an adventure!). Dennis said in November that he couldn’t wait to get back to the market with an evangelism team to start witnessing. Tomorrow is the day! The market is always crowded and there will be ample opportunity to share with people as they wander about the huge marketplace.

Please continue to pray for the team.