5th day in Moroleon

I cannot believe the week is almost complete. It has been a wonderful experience. God has blessed in so many ways. He has opened many doors for us to bring Him glory.

We have completed the columns with the forms around them and poured concrete in the forms. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I must admit that I do not want to see concrete for a while.

We are praying for our new brothers and sisters in Moroleon. We encourage you to join us as well as pray for the Lord's blessings upon them.

The ladies completed the door-to-door visitation today. I will post the full report from their ministry hopefully tomorrow. I am excited to write that there are 8 new believers as a result of this week. We pray that the Lord will mature them, and the church will minister to them in the future.

We look forward to seeing you all soon.

In Christ,
Luke

4th day in Moroleon

Hello all,

Things are going great. It has once again been a long but very productive day. We erected all of the steel columns in concrete. God has blessed us with strength and safety. Thank you for your prayers.

We will work again tomorrow (Thursday) pouring more concrete around the columns. It is very rewarding to be a part of the beginning of this church building. We are praying that the Lord will use La Joya Church to reach many souls for Him.

The ladies once again went door-to-door this morning. I am not sure how many Bibles they distributed. I know they discovered some prospects for future Bible studies, and this afternoon they worked with 56 children. The ladies have done a remarkable job working with the children and going door-to-door throughout the community.

I have a message for Mike from Pastor Roberto. He says, "Mike I am praying for your health, and that God will bless you."

Thank you all for your support during this campaign. God has blessed us in so many ways. May He bless you as you seek to serve Him.

See you soon.

Tuesday in Moroleon, Mexico

The day has been a long but productive one. It began at 5:30 am with Joe and me accompanying Pastor Roberto to participate in his radio program. He does a weekly radio program from 6:00 - 7:00. It is an AM station and the format consists of the pastor reading and expounding on a passage of Scripture with some music and then people call with prayer requests. Joe and I had the privilege of speaking for a few minutes on the program with Nahum (Pastor's son) translating for us. I shared Matthew 6:33, and the Lord used His Word to impact the host and the people listening. It was a good experience.

After the radio program, we were off to the construction site in Moroleon which is an hour away from Morelia where the pastor lives. We arrived at the construction site, and we began preparing the footings for concrete. We assembled the steel forms for the columns by hand and then began mixing concrete by hand. It was extremely hard work.

We had a dedication service for the property before the concrete was poured on the first footing. The service consisted of the pastor reading Scripture, praying and then placing a Bible in a plastic bag at the base of the footing and concrete was poured for the footing. It was a wonderful symbol of our faith and reminder that God's Word is what we stand on as believers. At the end of the day, we had finished seven forms and placed them in concrete. It was difficult work but worth it.

The ladies once again went door-to-door in the community distributing the Gospel of John and attempting to discover prospects for the mission (La Joya). I think the distribution went well. In the afternoon, they worked with the children at the church in Moroleon. I believe they had 53 children today. They made another craft with a Bible verse on them and also played some games.

Needless to say, there is no rest for the weary but the Lord has blessed us with strength and good health.

Thank you for your prayers.

Second Day in Mexico

The day was long. We began construction on the building. We helped prepare the footings for the foundations to be poured tomorrow. It was hard work, but it was worth it. Ramon (74 years of age) worked circles around all of the "Gringos" all day long. As we prepared the footings, we would shovel dirt, rocks, and other things out of the holes. Everyone worked extremely hard. Tomorrow we should actually begin pouring cement, let us all hope.

In the morning some of the team went door-to-door distributing the gospel of John, and they discovered a person who was willing to host a Bible study. It was a great success. In the afternoon, the ladies worked with children doing crafts, took pictures of the kids with a digital camera and then printed the pictures which the children loved.

One of the pastors from Scott County (Chris) had the privilege of preaching at the mission church which is the one we are helping to construct their future building. It was a beautiful sight to behold. There were probably 15 people meeting in Raphael Diaz's home. He is 80 years old, blind and he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. They are extremely faithful.

I met Jose an employee at the hotel where the team is staying. He is 35 and has an 8 year old son. He wants me to give him a Bible. It was a joy to share with him. I hope to have an opportunity to share the gospel with him this week. Please pray for Jose and his salvation.

I will update more tomorrow.

May the Lord be glorified.

First Day

We just completed our first day. It was a wonderful day. We were so blessed to participate in two worship services in Moroleon. I had the privilege of preaching with an interpreter. Our team sang two songs (first time in English and the second time in Spanish). We did pretty well. The believers love the Lord Jesus Christ so much. It is such a privilege to worship with other brothers and sisters in another country.

We had a great Mexican lunch. The chicken was unbelievable. We even ate some cactus (very good). After lunch, we had a prayer walk in the community surrounding the mission where we will begin construction on Monday morning at 8:00 am. After the prayer walk, we had another service with one of the pastors from Scott County preaching and the same brother interpreting for him. Once this service concluded, Joe Pugh and I went with the pastor and his family to Morelia (an hour away) and had another service. I had the privilege of preaching in this service with the pastor's son interpreting for me. The pastor is extremely busy (three services a day in two different cities).

After the service, we went to the Mexican version of Wal-Mart to purchase dinner items. Mimi (pastor's wife) prepared homemade quesadillas. They were delicious. We finished dinner at 10:00 pm. It has been a long day. I am going to attempt to get some sleep now.

We appreciate your prayers. We encourage you to pray for our strength as we begin construction tomorrow. I will update again tomorrow evening.

We are here!

We made it. We arrived at 8:00 pm, and we all made it through customs fine. We had three cars transport the bags and all of the people from the airport. It truly was the beginning of the mission trip. The bags were packed extremely high on the back of the truck and packed tightly in the two vans. The team were packed in the three vehicles nice and tight.

We will be attending the worship service at the mission in the morning. We will be constructing the building for this mission. I will be preaching with an interpreter translating. We will attend their service in the afternoon and also have a prayer walk.

Thank you for praying for our safe arrival. I will keep you updated as often as possible.

Waiting in Houston

I am presently in the Houston - Bush International Airport awaiting the arrival of the rest of the mission team to meet me. There are 21 of us who will be leaving Houston (Sat Apr 19th) for a week in Mexico. I will attempt to blog as often as possible to update the mission.

We would appreciate your prayers as we seek to bring glory to God this week. We also request you to pray for our families as we will be separated from them for a week. This week will be the longest time Jennifer and I have been apart. I know the Lord will take care of her and the kids. I miss you guys, and I will see you in seven days.

Next post will be in Mexico!

Father and Son

This video is absolutely powerful. What love that is displayed by this father!

GodTube.com - My Redeemer Lives - Team Hoyt

God the Creator and Sustainer

This video is amazing. You will want to take the time to view it and then share it. God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
GodTube.com - Louie Giglio - Laminin

Mexico Mission Trip

I would like to ask you all to pray for our upcoming Mission Trip to Moroleon, Mexico. There are 21 people from Newton/Scott Baptist Associations who will be going. The dates of the trip are April 19-26.

Our main objective is to begin construction on a church building. We are uncertain how much construction will take place that week. We are praying for opportunities to share the gospel within the surrounding communities. We will have numerous opportunities to minister for our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will attempt to blog as often as possible during that week.

Service

What does it mean to be in service to our Lord Jesus Christ? That is the message for this upcoming Sunday morning. We are going to study about the importance of serving Jesus Christ. We are going to be reminded in Scripture that God has gifted us to build His kingdom.

I want to encourage you to pray for the Lord's leadership in service for Him. He has designed you to serve Him for His glory. He has plans for you to minister to His believers and also seek opportunities to share the gospel with the lost.

There are no places on the bench in a believer's life. The call is for us to be involved in ministry. May the Lord guide you as you seek to serve Him!

I am joining you in service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

First Baptist Church - Easter Reflections

First Baptist Church - Easter Reflections