Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in Jesus’ love! I am grateful for all who have been praying for my wife Rut through her health complications. On August 10, she was admitted to the Emergency room of Franciscan Hospital of Lafayette. Although the pain has spread to different parts of her body, she remains spiritually and emotionally strong. As for our family: Esther landed the job in Muncie and moved to live there two months ago. José took over the position that Esther left at the bank in Frankfort, and now lives with us. Juan is a high school senior.
Regarding HOPE’s ministry, we continue expanding our ministry in an exciting new way as we accelerate evangelization and church planting in Indiana. Until now, I had expended years mostly concentrated in each local congregation before starting to work in evangelization in another town. I have no criticism about this way of ministering. In fact, I love spending time serving my brothers and sisters in a particular congregation. Moving forward, I want to follow the apostle Paul’s New Testament’s model by preaching and teaching the gospel in a city or town for a while. Then, as we see people gladly receive Jesus’ gospel and there is a solid group of believers who love the faith “once for all delivered to the saints,” my goal is to appoint leaders in the various congregations, allowing me to move on to new places. My goal is to preach the gospel to as many people as possible in Indiana, reaching them for God’s glorious, eternal kingdom.
Pursuing this newest strategy, as soon as I start planning the process for establishing a new congregation, I will equip and involve the men who will lead the congregation. Some of those leaders will come from churches already established in Indiana. Others will come from elsewhere. But all these men should be affiliated with the Restoration Movement. Throughout my thirty years as a minister/evangelist in the Dominican Republic and the United States, I have trained many leaders, and some are willing to be part of HOPE’s powerful ministry in Indiana.
Currently in the congregation of Lafayette, we are evolving into this new way of developing the ministry. While we pray and look for a leader, I’m considering several qualified men to lead this congregation. Soon I will start training these prospective leaders in an in-depth study of biblical doctrines, leadership and the Restoration movement heritage.
As I write, many in the congregation of Lafayette are adjusting to our new Sunday services hour of 2:00 PM. However, we have seen new faces in the services. I pray people can adapt and attend the services regularly.
I am also praying and planning to establish a congregation in Kokomo. Please join me in praying for these plans of extending the Kingdom. I will keep you updated about the progress of plans for Kokomo.
I want to conclude with a note of gratefulness. The ministry of food and goods distribution was interrupted almost two years because my van for this ministry broke. Chapel Hill Christian Church of Kokomo and Francesville First Christian Church made significant donations to pay for repairing the van. I still owe $400 to the mechanic, but the distribution ministry is back, and people are being blessed. Thank you brothers and sister of First Christian Church and Chapel Hill Christian Church for your donations.
Rafael Tirado