March, 2004

Dear Faithful Supporters,

Greetings!  It’s starting to get warmer here, as we imagine that it is there also.  We never thought that we would be glad to see it get hotter living in Mexico , but it gets surprisingly cold here in the winter.

This past week, we participated in two showings of the Passion.  The first was with another church in the area who rented a 570 seat auditorium.  Bryan went as a counselor.  Several hundred people raised their hands for salvation!  It will be difficult, however, to do follow up since they don’t have a list of those who made decisions.  The following night, we participated in another showing with our church.  We almost completely filled a 250 seat auditorium.  Fifteen people turned in follow up cards, and fourteen of those indicated that they put their trust in Christ as their Savior.  We will be starting follow up with these people this next week.

Recently, a girl that Bryan has counseled at one of the universities introduced him to her brother, Mario, who wanted to start a Bible study.  He is going through some difficult times in his family and with his marriage right now.  His sister is the only Christian in the family, and after seeing the change in her, he wants to know more.  He has gone to church with us once so far.  On the down side, we are not sure how interested he really is, because he has cancelled every Bible study meeting that we have had so far.

We have started our second evangelism class in the church.  This time, we have six, and three of them have had some experience in evangelism.  So far, one man, Pedro, has led a friend to the Lord and also started an evangelistic Bible study with his neighbors.  In April, Bryan starts another evangelism class with another church here in Puebla .

English tutoring is going very well.  I have one student, Pino, who comes just because he wants to get practice speaking English.  He usually wants to practice with controversial topics, although he has told me that he doesn’t want to talk about “Religion.”  However, it is almost impossible for me to talk about a controversial topic without bringing the Bible into it (such as homosexuality, abortion, etc.).  He went to the viewing of the Passion, and next week, we will be talking about that in class.  The Lord has also opened up many opportunities to talk with other students about spiritual things, and I have started an evangelistic Bible study with one of the students, Juan Pablo.  We are excited about the possibilities.

In April, we hope to make three trips to visit possibilities for future ministry.  Two are in the Mexico City area, and another is near Guadalajara .  We hope to have an idea of where we will be going in the next couple of months.

We also praise the Lord for the increase in our support recently.  Reston Bible Church in Virginia has raised our support, and First Baptist Church of Calvert County in Maryland has taken us on.  We still plan on returning to the States this fall for two to three months to raise additional support.  If you would be interested in us coming to your church while we are in the U. S. , let us know.

In family news, Susan has been having some physical problems.  This past week, she had tests on her thyroid.  We get the results back on Tuesday.  We are hoping that the doctors will be able to solve the problem with medication so that she will be feeling better soon.

The boys are doing well.  Josh loves school (usually), and he is learning Spanish.  It has been sad for him recently, though, as just this year he has had to deal with the death of his cat, dog, goldfish, and Susan’s miscarriage.  Josh has begun to understand more about salvation, so please pray with us that he will soon understand it completely and make a decision.  Caleb is Caleb, and has learned to climb everything, which has added a new challenge to rearranging the house.  He is talking a little bit more, and is starting to imitate Josh when he plays.  It is fun to watch them play together.

Praises:

1.                  The salvation decisions that have been made.

2.                  The evangelism training courses that are being given.

3.                  The contacts being made.

Prayer Requests:

1.                  Susan’s thyroid problems.

2.                  Those taking the evangelism course to apply what they learn.

3.                  Ministry in the universities…salvations, evangelistic encounters, etc.

4.                  Salvation and growth of Mario.

5.                  The “Passion” follow up.

6.                  New contacts to be made.

7.                  Our goal of 10 evangelistic Bible studies.

8.                  Our future ministry

Thank you so much for all of your partnering with us in the ministry.  We couldn’t be here without you!

In Christ’s Service,

The Nevin Family