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Guatemala
Byron E. Benitez & Hawatthia "Hi" Jones
Guatemala Mission Work
Kingsley Terrace Church of Christ
2031 E. 30th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46218
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Greetings Hermanos (Brethren) and Amigos (Friends),
It's our desire that this message finds you in good health.
We were able to once again witness this past Sunday the work of God as He
stripped away sin from the life of Valerie Claudette Lemus. She responded to
the Lord's invitation that morning requesting to be baptized for the
remission of her sins. Valerie is the sister of Arelis, who with her family
already worship at Linda Vista.
We are very excited to have Valerie as a new part of our church family.
Please pray that she will grow stronger each day as she strives to please
her Lord and Master. We have included a picture of this special occasion.
Yes, the water is green due to algae in the water deposit : -)
In addition, we write you asking for your prayers in two situations. First,
a couple of weeks ago our building was broken into. The thieves took some
things that the brethren at Linda Vista have worked hard to achieve.
Second, we are facing many challenges here at Linda Vista. One family in
particular, a mother and two daughters, at the moment are leaders in causing
problems. They have found it difficult to submit to the leadership,
especially in areas of Christian women usurping authority over Christian
men. In addition, they have taken comments made by members and have made the
comments mean something other than what the member was saying.
The ladies are also causing much division among many of the members. They
are making themselves appear to be victims and talking with other members of
Linda Vista trying to get them to take their side. Unfortunately, some,
including some new members and recent converts, have chosen to participate
in this error.
As of this past Sunday, the 3 ladies and some other members have removed
their membership from Linda Vista. The men of the congregation, on Sunday
night, walked to the ladies home and one of the daughters came to the window
and stated that they would not receive our visit. The daughter was not
honest in some of the comments that she stated at the window.
That same night the men of the congregation walked to a Christian young
man's house that is also heavily involved in this situation. The young man
was not at home but was reached by one of the brothers on his cell-phone.
Unfortunately, this young man lied as to where he was at the time. Two of
the men did, by accident, find him. When they found him he was very hostile
to one of the men and even threatened him if he did not leave. The following
day one of the men of the congregation was able to set up a meeting with him
for that night. Regrettably, he refused to meet with all of men and the ones
that he met with found him to have a hostile attitude and a closed mind.
They also addressed a sin in which he is involved and he told them that was
his personal life and no one else's business.
Much dissension has been sown by these disgruntled members. Please pray that
we will handle the situation biblically and that there will not be a major
split in the Linda Vista congregation. We and other members have had to take
personal attacks and have seen other members, who have believed some of the
lies, act in ways we never expected. It is truly heart breaking. We are
asking the Lord for wisdom, patience and understanding through this
difficult time. We are confident the Lord will help us. It is just painful
to go through the process.
As we have stated in earlier messages, we know the devil is not happy with
the progress at Linda Vista. Just when things are going well he definitely
makes his displeasure known. However, we know God will make His pleasure
known if we do His will.
We'll close for now. Thanks for the concern you have for the work here.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Con amor,
Hawatthia
Byron
Valerie's Confession |
Valerie's Baptism |
Valerie and Other Young People |
“Teaching the CENTRAL MESSAGE in CENTRAL AMERICA!”
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