March 2011
Warm greetings to you in the Name of our faithful Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God that He has allowed us the blessings of starting a new year and continuing to labor in His service. The last six months of last year were very busy with the construction of the new building. God marvelously supplied all of the materials, the equipment and the team to finish the parking lot and the driveway. With the help of a good team of volunteers, from both the church and the community, the front of the church was enclosed with wood. In December, a team came to help us install the underground plumbing, which was approved by the inspector. Now we are waiting for warmer weather to be able to continue with the cement floor. God has been faithfully supplying what we need for the construction in His time, in such a way that we owe very little to the company that has put up the shell of the building. We will continue construction as God provides. We have believed from the start that God's direction in this matter is that we should not take on the burden of a mortgage for this building, being a church that is composed of immigrants and in large part migrant workers, with all of the attendant fluctuations and uncertainty that this entails. This winter the attendance has varied between 35-55 people each Sunday.
God has allowed us to lead a man to Christ whose name is Nicholas, he is the husband of Maryland, who has been a faithful member of the church for over a year. Nicholas has been a great help when he accompanies me to the jail ministry and provides music for the services. He has been attending the Thursday discipleship classes along with some other people. The jail ministry continues and there is now a chapel especially for the services. Due to an increase in the population of the jail, we need to have three or four services every week. Between 40-55 men have the opportunity to hear God's Word in these services, and many of them respond to the call of God. The radio ministry continues to be a great opportunity to reach the Hispanic population in West Michigan.
In February, I had to take an emergency trip to Ciudad Juarez. My 65 year-old sister, Candelaria, went home to be with the Lord after ten years of struggling with kidney problems. She was a faithful Christian ever since she came to know her Savior. She sowed the Word of God in her children's hearts, and now all four of her children and their families walk with the Lord. God graciously provided the means for me to make the trip and blessed me greatly by moving my brother in Christ, Miguel Bedolla, to accompany me. As you may know, there is a great deal of danger in this border city, but God protected us, and we never saw any violence, even though the funeral procession passed through some of the poorest areas of the city. We spent precious time with family and my sister's church family, and I was even able to preach twice. The Gospel has transformed almost my entire family in Mexico.
This year in June, my brother Paul Newton and I are planning to visit Mexico to attend the dedication fo the new building of the church which Rosina and I had planted in our living room in the city of Lerdo, Durango before we were called to Michigan. We then plan to visit a number of churches and pastors in the cities of Monclova and Monterrey as well. My goal is to be able to send ten boxes of 24 Bibles each to Mexico for the churches we will visit. Each box of Bibles costs $54. The American Bible Society will ship them to the border at Laredo, TX, and a pastor from Monterrey will pick them up and bring them across the border for us. I ask you to support this project with prayer, and if God puts it on your heart, to help with our expenses for this trip. We will fly to Mexico and will travel in vans belonging to brothers in Christ or use public transportation while in Mexico. As you know, the situation in Mexico is very serious. Many people are passing into eternity wihtout Christ because of so much violence. The pastors there are faithfully preaching the good news, and the request that I receive most often from them is for more Bibles. I believe it is very important to go and encourage them personally and let them know they are not alone in this difficult situation.
May God richly bless you. I appreciate your love for my family and the Hispanic community.
Love in Christ,
Pepe and Rosina Morales
Pepe and Rosina Morales are involved in church planting for the Spanish American Mission in Grant, Mich.
In August 1998 Pastor Isidro (Pepe) Morales, his wife Rosina and their three children, Hiram, Candy Sharon and Noemi, moved from Mexico to the Grant, Michigan area to plant a church for the hispanic people of West Michigan. Today, La Iglesia Hispana Bautista Biblica de la Gracia (Grace Hispanic Baptist Bible Church) is established and growing. The church has a strong focus on evangelism with an active jail ministry and oputreach to the community, both migrants and permanent residents, with the gospel of Christ.
Currently the church meets in the old white building of Rice Lake Baptist Church on the corner of Spruce and 108th in Grant Township, Newaygo County, Michigan. God has graciously provided the church with the funds to buy 12.22 acres on which to build their own church. The property is located on the corner of Elder and 128th in Grant. Plans are now underway (spring 2006) for building construction with blueprints already complete. Fundraising for construction will begin soon.
Support for the Morales Family can be sent to:
Spanish American Mission
118 E. Exchange St.
Spring Lake, MI 49456