Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in Jesus’ love. Cold weather is back, and snow won’t be far behind, but it is STILL a great time of the year! Why? We take time to express our thankfulness. Indeed, I’m so thankful because you have received my family and me with sincere love since we arrived in Indiana in 2000. Dear friends, thank you for keeping my wife Rut in your prayers. We are strengthened knowing that our Christian family is praying for her. Also, please keep our ministry in your prayers.
Let me share some HOPE Ministries happenings. In Lafayette, we continue developing our ministry to extend God’s kingdom. Within the Lafayette congregation, we are developing a program for spiritual and personal growth during November and December. Some new attenders who have read very little of the Bible before are now reading the Scriptures and praying. While we are not yet halfway through this program, we are already seeing valuable results. The goal is growth in our relationship with Christ as we seek for all involved to become servants of the Lord. Through this program focused on spiritual growth, mature Christians, new believers and even non-Christian are all working together to grow in their relationship with Christ. Soon we will begin another phase as we meet at different homes for fellowship, prayer, and Bible study. Plus, we will have meetings in Delphi every other week as well.
Also in the Lafayette area I began distributing business cards with basic information about our congregation (Sunday worship service times, address, the church’s Facebook page, etc.), and they’ve been well-received by many. We want as many people as possible to know about our congregation. During November and December, my family and I will deliver provisions to people who are not attending the church yet. We’ll be praying with them in their homes as well.
Regarding the church in Monticello: the minister of the Hispanic congregation resigned because he and his family are moving to California. On November 27th, I’ll start traveling to Monticello to help the congregation. The Monticello congregation has a faithful brother who could serve as the bi-vocational minister, but his current job causes him to miss services every other Sunday. We are praying the Lord would provide him a job that allows him be in the services every Sunday or that God would provide another qualified leader here. Please pray for this congregation during this transition.
Another concern: I ask you to please pray for the Dominican Republic. Four straight weeks of heavy rain on the north side of my native country have caused catastrophic flooding and misery in that region. Mora than 19,000 people have evacuated as the flooding rains destroyed their homes and villages. Many bridges have collapsed and roads washed away. The Dominican Republic’s north side is mainly an agricultural region, and so much of its agriculture has been destroyed, too. Unfortunately, it's still raining. People don’t have property insurance, which makes the situation even more critical. I come from this affected region, making this whole heartbreaking situation even more near and dear to my heart.
I am so thankful for the support I have received from you and our churches. Your prayers and financial support strengthen us. Many thanks to Scott Jewell, family minister at the Church of Christ at Logansport, for creating a logo and website for HOPE Ministries. Along with HOPE’s Facebook page, it has good information our ministry: www.hopechurches.org.
If you’d like to make an end-of-year gift for the ministry, please send checks to HOPE Ministries at PO Box 211, Monticello, IN 47960. Thank you. Also, if you would like me to come and talk to your Missions team/committee, please contact me via phone or email. God is doing great things through HOPE Ministries and we’d like to spread the word.)
Thank you for partnering with us in serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Rafael Tirado