We mentioned in our last newsletter 3 different special activities that we had programmed for the month of November. Let us give you an update on these events.
The first one was a women's conference held in the city of Tepic where over 290 ladies were in attendance. Lucy was in charge of making the event work along with other pastors' wives from the city. The two days of services were packed with life-changing teachings, evangelism and good Christian fellowship among the participating churches.
The second event was an evangelistic outreach in the town square of Tepic that was programmed for November 9th. Once again we worked along with other churches of the city's Pastors Alliance in this outreach. At the last minute the city changed the date of our permit and we weren't able to hold the outreach until the 30th of November. Once again a double purpose was fulfilled. We were able to reach out to people that had never had the gospel shared with them but also we were blessed to work together with other churches in our area in this endeavour. Lastly we held our men's retreat in November up in the mountains in a town about 4 hours away by car. One of the biggest goals met was that the retreat was programmed and carried out by the men's group in the church. Philip did not attend on purpose so that the leaders could expand their leadership skills without his help. The main purpose of the retreat was fulfilled and hopefully this year, 2020, we will be able to repeat this activity.
December came with a flurry of activities, Christmas get togethers and services. It is culture here for each church to have a Christmas church party and in the larger churches each department wants their own party also. Over 20 parties were held in the churches, of which we were only able to attend about half of them. Aside from the Christmas parties each church continued with its regular services and activities. Philip was also able to minister in 3 different services in churches that are not under our pastorate. The last one was at
a church along the coast that was celebrating its anniversary. Philip was able to preach there in the morning and then make it back to the Xalisco church that same day to officiate a wedding in the afternoon.
a church along the coast that was celebrating its anniversary. Philip was able to preach there in the morning and then make it back to the Xalisco church that same day to officiate a wedding in the afternoon.
Not all ministry is, as we say “fun and run”. There are times of tears, struggles, personal differences and domestic issues that need to be attended. Within these last months we had one of these times. The wife of one of our village pastors passed away after struggling with cancer for over 6 months. We know that this is part of our life but when we preach a God that heals and suddenly He has other plans, it is sometimes difficult to explain that to people that have never had a personal relationship with Christ. We felt the need to dedicate special time to our brother after his wife's death.
We want to thank all of you for your prayers for this ministry and your financial support. We bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philip, Lucy, & Vanessa Tolman
