April 4, 2014

Dear friends and co-laborers for Christ our King,

Greetings from relatively dry Pereira! Yes, spring has sprung just north of the Equator and south of the Canal. We’ve had a change from the constant rain to only occasional rains, at least for the time being. People are beginning to complain of the heat (It got clear up into the 80’s earlier this week!) as is humanly typical. However there is a much greater problem in another region of Colombia, around Casanare, where there is a terrible drought with a great loss of wildlife and agriculture as well.

March was a tough month for us. Besides our usual work load we were also hindered by health issues. Sheri had a total of 7 days off from work (plus two that I wanted her to take but she didn’t, due to her testing schedule) and I managed to get three days in which I was of little use to humankind as well. Nothing major, but a common cold/flu put a halt to anything productive and in Sheri’s case moved into her chest which required the use of antibiotics to shut down the bronchitis that developed. Thank you all for lifting us up before the Lord.

We took the St. Joseph’s day holiday to spend with one of our young couples. We try to do one on one or couple on couple discipleship as much as possible and this was a great opportunity to get out and do some fishing while also building rapport with them. Lucy has been like a daughter to us and Johny has proven to be an excellent husband for her. They are dreaming of an eventual move to Canada, we are asking the Lord to prepare them and use them for His glory where ever He takes them. Of course, we hate to see them go and would much prefer that they remain with us here – but know that the Lord has a greater and wider vision than our own and trust Him to work in their lives for His greater glory. By the way, we had a great day fishing. Johny caught a pacu that weighed over three pounds and then followed up with one that weighed over four! And this with artificial lures, something I’ve never managed to do. The people who run the place where we were fishing fried up some of our catch for us for a nominal fee. Fishing here is different from the U.S.. Here it is almost all done on private land with privately stocked fish and one pays per pound for the fish that one catches.

Many in the church have been facing different battles. One of the main issues has been the matter of finances. We’ve been doing our best to help people change their ideas on finance and to become free from debt and thus freer to serve God and their fellow man. Slowly the concept of biblical money management is taking place and people are starting to break out of bondage to their lenders. In the meantime, many struggle to make ends meet.

Sheri has been hosting a weekly Bible study and prayer time for the ladies of the church that can take this time from their schedules. She has been able to do some teaching on very specific issues that they have been facing, answering questions that have come up for different reasons. There are a couple of ladies who have started coming since their pastor packed up and left the country. They are very open to learning from the Bible and have a lot of questions dealing with false doctrines they’ve picked up from the popular theology common to certain movements here. As we show them the Scriptures and how God is looking for lives offered to Him as holy sacrifices (see Romans 12) and minds transformed by His Holy Spirit they begin to see the true glory of His Gospel message. I praise God for the special wife He has given me as a partner in the work here.

As we move into the annual celebration of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection we look forward to helping people learn what those simple facts mean to their lives today. He willingly gave His life on the cross to bring us into communion with God our Father and with each other. He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, of calling all men everywhere to repent and turn to Him Who can cleanse them from their sin and transform them into the image of our blessed Redeemer.

Thank you for being a part of our ministry. Thank you for making it possible to live and work here. Thank you for remembering to pray for us and for the people with whom we are working. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.” He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) And you also help to make it possible for us to fulfill this ministry.

In Christ,

Paul and Sheri Moreland