Dear Friends in Christ,
The world is tentatively starting to open up. We took advantage of the opening. Sheryl and I, and Alex, our fellow storytelling trainer, recently went to Acapulco to train a church in evangelism. During and after the training, the pastor and I had several evangelism encounters. One of the encounters was with Pepin, a beach lifeguard. I said to Pepin, “Pepin, your job is to save lives. Have you ever thought about what is needed to save your soul?” Pepin answered, “Oh, no. I’m too busy enjoying life to be concerned with God.” I shared with Pepin the story of the rich fool. A man suddenly found himself wealthy, and he decided to stop working, store all of his wealth, and enjoy the lazy life.
But God said to the man, “You fool, tonight your soul will be required of you . . . and all your wealth, where will it go?” This is what it’s like for those who are rich in the world’s eyes, but not rich toward God!
I said, “Pepin, do you think you are rich toward God?” Pepin answered, “No, I don’t think so.” Pepin also said he didn’t want God to think he was a fool. The pastor and I talked for about an hour with Pepin about the state of his soul. Pepin let us pray with him as he considered what to do with the message of eternal life.
After ministering in Acapulco, Alex and I drove down to Chiapas and taught evangelism to a group of young people who are interested in missions. Our friend Adonias is training them, and this is the third year that we have gone down to help in their training. We really enjoyed our time with them. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will use their lives in the future
Our daughter Emily and my dad came down to visit us in Mexico during February and March. They went with us to enjoy our daily ministry activities with the small groups we lead during the week. While she was here, Emily shared with the women in our home group and also at the rehab center. What a blessing that was to see her sharing from her heart about the hope that we can only find in Jesus Christ! Thanks for coming, Dad and Emily.
Sheryl and I have been praying for some time about inviting women to live with us in order to be discipled. We now have our first live-in disciple. Her name is Karen. The Lord rescued her out of a life of addictions about a year ago, and she is very desirous to learn more about God and the Bible in order to know Him better and to help others put their faith in Jesus. She is now accompanying Sheryl to share with the women at the AA rehabilitation center. It’s a real joy to work with her and to watch her life touch others who are in need of freedom in Christ.
The women’s ministry is expanding. Besides our Thursday morning women’s meeting, we now have a discipleship class on Tuesday afternoons. Sheryl is also taking three of those women to a Christian rehabilitation center on Sunday afternoons to take another course that focuses on God healing our past and teaching us how to walk in His Spirit. We are especially glad that our neighbor Adela is taking this course and also a brand new friend, Brenda, who recently decided to follow the Lord and allow Him to free her from alcoholism. Please, pray for these women, and pray for us to have God’s strength and wisdom as we teach them through our words and example. Thank you so much for taking time to read this and for praying for us. If you’d like to be part of Sheryl’s prayer team on Facebook Messenger, please send us a message so she can add you. Her name on Facebook is Sheryl Bottoms Conrad. If you have a specific prayer need that we can pray for you about, let us know. We’d love to pray for you also. May the Lord use your life to reach others with His love where you are. We appreciate your love and support so much!
Much Love, Andrew & Sheryl
