June 2009

^KJV 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.


Dear Pastor and church,

Greetings in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.  We continue to labor here in Texcoco, Mexico, focusing on a congregation that the Lord has given our church the opportunity to develop into a New Testament Baptist church.  Many from this group came out of a "Baptist" church which began straying.  Missionary Robert Creech came for six months and was able to get them started.  Taking over the work from him has been difficult, because it takes time to really get to know people and their needs.  I came in thinking that people were already grounded in Baptist doctrine, However, I came to realize through training and teaching that not all the congregation held Baptist distinctives.  In my past experience of developing congregations "from scratch" I did not run into these problems  as much, since we were winning new people to the Lord and teaching them Bible principles from the beginning, or we were teaching Christians that we had won with the truth.  I have found it very challenging, indeed, to come into a situation already established and try to correct church concepts on authority, baptism, and methods.  I found that about half were entrenched in an eccumenical Bible church mentality and would not respond to sound doctrine.  Praise the Lord for those who made adjustments to adhere to the truth and continue to labor in the Lord's work.  We have been able to win new people to the Lord and have added many through baptism, so that we now have a solid base in the congregation here.  I am excited to see that we are moving forward, and that men and women are being discipled and trained in the Lord's work.  Now I am not the only one involved in this, many are now pitching in and working at my side!  I am still very occupied in discipling several men, most on a daily basis.  My wife Tammi has also been a great asset in discipling many of the women.  We consider it an important investment in their lives and in the ministry at this stage of their development.

I would ask that you continue to pray for us and the work here as we try to reach a level where the congregation here can govern itself, finance itself, and be able to reproduce themselves with leadership that comes from among them.  I feel that we have all the ingredients necessary to accomplish this, and are growing towards that end.

I want to thank you for your continued support and prayers for us as we try to do the Lord's will and glorify Him.  May God continue to bless you!

In Christ,
Michael Lea