Nathan & Marllorys Arce Newsletter - 1st Quarter 2023 First 100 Hundred Days of 2023 From Jan 1 to April 10 this is what our lives looked like...
Monthly...
Our men’s prayer and mentoring meeting
Our women's meeting (prayer, crying, laughing, scripture study, some more crying, some more laughing and wonderful times)
A Bible school for marriage (This was been amazing, and so many of the couples of our church have used this ministry as a perfect opportunity to invite coworkers, clients, parents of their students, dear friends, and people whose salvation and healing of their marriage they had been praying for.
Semi-monthly...
Our "Growing in the Faith" youth group (This has become a fantastic outreach for our people who are somehow connected to our youth in their school, college, work, neighborhood, or families.)
Weekly...
Church services Sunday and Wednesday (time to study, pray and prepare for ministry on these days)
Visitation Saturday morning
Daily...
Discipling through the week; counseling sessions for marriage; mentoring and meeting with leaders, Sunday school teachers and helpers; and maintenance work of church property…
Sounds like a pretty crazy, busy and on-the-go schedule, and it is! Like everybody else, we have family time, house chores, email answering, office work, calls and text messages that need our attention, errands, doctor or dentist visits, homework that needs supervision, guidance or help... To top it all off, the reality of Venezuela!!! We put gas in our car once a week at 4:00 am or earlier just to avoid 2 to 6 or even more hours in line, depending on the gas distribution per week (We have to admit this is a terribly early and unwelcome hour for us!). We are learning to have flexible and creative ways to accomplish every day activities with or without electricity, with or without water, and with or without propane gas!!! However, we are not the only ones going through this, A whole nation is learning to do what is necessary to get the job done. This is our life, and we can make it as hard or as full of grace as we want to. Joy and thankfulness are lessons that our hearts are learning one day at a time and God, as our teacher, is very patient and absolutely loving even when we fall! This Mother’s Day, our congregation is about to celebrate one year since we started gathering on the property that God has miraculously provided for us. Our congregation is pretty mixed with new believers, elders in the faith, single Christians living with unbelieving families, youth that are gradually bringing their whole family to church, and godly families seeking every day to live in a way that honors the One who saved them. We pray constantly for wisdom on how to minister to all of them. We pray that God leads us to take the right time to disciple, to mentor and to allow God to mature and grow the character of Christ in the believers that they may become godly servants and influential leaders. We pray to have the love, the patience, and the consistency to help the new believers that are learning biblical truth in their struggles, overcoming addictions, and stepping out of sinful habits. Please pray with us as we pastor those that throughout the years have known Christ in a personal, deep, and true way though suffering; Christians that now have the opportunity to share their faith with new believers by walking beside them in their struggles and weaknesses. This part of the ministry keeps us on our knees, with our hands and eyes looking up to the only One that can teach us to teach others. We know that your prayers, your love, and your giving are essential for any of this to happen. It is our joy to share with all of you what God has done through these vessels of clay in Venezuela for the first 100 days of 2023!