January 2009

^KJV Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

Hello from Texcoco, Mexico. I am finally updating my letterhead to reflect our current situation. I felt it was time to acknowledge that the Lord has closed the door for our family going to Colombia for the time being and has opened a door here in Texcoco, Mexico. I have been working in Mexico now for 6 months, and the need here is that of establishing a church. I will not have liberty to leave until I have finished this job that the Lord has given me to do. The Lord gave my home church (Mission Boulevard Baptist Church) a group of people here in Texcoco, Mexico, who called asking to be under the authority of our church. Through the work of my pastor, Brian Disney, and fellow-missionary, Robert Creech, the mission was begun. I was then asked to come help while waiting to go to Colombia. The Lord has a way of changing circumstances to meet His will. We as a family have accepted that He has redirected us here until further notice.

I continue to disciple nine men. Three come nearly every day for a couple of hours at a time. Brother Juan Arellano is a young man whom the Lord has called to preach. Through discipleship he has grown and is beginning to take a leadership role in the congregation. Please pray for him! My wife is currently working with eight women in a group study. The Lord has given us fruit through the teaching. The Arellano family (eight people) joined the congregation on January 18th. We did lose a family who attended regularly, but would not submit to Baptist baptism. We hope that the literature we left with them will have an impact. Brother Jesus Arellano (Juan’s father) is one of the three who is being discipled every day. He is actively helping me in the print shop that has finally been set up and is functional. We now have a printer, paper cutter, and industrial stapler to produce the correspondence courses and tracts. We will need a collator in the future so that we do not have to go around the table to put the pages together. We have already begun passing out the tracts and studies and are awaiting our first student. It is an exciting time. Please continue to pray for this ministry.

I want to thank you for your prayers about our high blood pressure. It looks like our bodies are beginning to adapt to the altitude. We also appreciate your financial support. May God continue to bless you richly.

In Christ,

Michael Lea and family