03 March 2011
|Dear friends and family,
Yes, most of March is ahead of us! A couple of days have passed, but we are marching through quickly! Our Feb. rains have gone away for a while at least and our mountains have pretty snow, which will also melt soon unless the weather man is right and we do get some more rains.
Last month we were blessed to have 6 new believers baptized here in our main town church. Some of the younger ones live a bit far out but a dear believer from here has been witnessing to her neighbors. From two of her neighbor families, 3 youth were baptized. Then parents of two of the children in school were baptized as well. Efraín's father is really active in God's work in the Majes Valley, but his wife had a lot of J.W. influence. The school also has played a part in these folks coming to church more and taking that step of identifying with the Lord. Then Marcos, the dentist who works in Pedregal was also baptized. Bob will continue to disciple him on Wednesdays when he goes down to Pedregal for Bible studies.
Well, the dear old ambulance has had some more problems. Last week Bob was stuck in Aplao, in the Majes valley, because of the clutch. Seems when they put in this fabulous 2004 motor in the 1997 ambulance, it didn't coordinate with the gear shift. Bob got that fixed, but now seems it didn't coordinate with the clutch either. So that had to get fixed. Not quite a perfect arrangement, still, but it is getting him places, and we truly do pray it will work for many more years and be a service to God's work here.
School starts Monday, March 7, D.V.! We are in our second week of teacher orientation. Bob has given several of the devotionals each morning he's here, and I have done it the mornings he is gone. Please help us pray these dear teachers will remain dedicated all year and that we will see real fruit for the Lord from the school this year too! Several new students are registering, and we are experiencing growth, both in church and the school. The high school building should be finished before Monday, but as the rains held us up on some of the finishings, the final touches may be delayed a bit. Still, we trust to be able to use all 3 floors very soon for the needed classrooms and computer room, etc. Thanks so very much to you all who have shared with us for this project. It is my hope that some day we will also be able to put some more classrooms on the primary school building, but that will have to wait a while. Lord willing, we will be able to fit everyone in the buildings we have for this year and we truly are thankful to the Lord and to you all who have helped us by prayer and gifts. Please pray for the building in the dear lives we influence through the school. That is the most important and lasting building, "not made with hands..." I am preparing materials for teaching Christian formation and English with a Biblical emphasis, and need prayer for this too. Thanks!
Bob has some scheduled meetings in the mountain areas of Espinar for later this month and some more for April. Thanks for praying for these and for safe travels. As God blesses and gives growth, His and our enemy resists and causes problems. Some of our workers have had some problems. Thanks for praying for them and for their families. God has raised up some truly promising men and youth in our church here, which is encouraging. We pray some of these will be future leaders and workers for the Lord's work.
Remember our web page is: www.bobandnoelrich.com
And our support address is:
Christian Missions in Many Lands, Inc.
P.O. Box 13,
Spring Lake, New Jersey, 07762-0013
Again, thanks so much and we trust you will have a lovely spring enjoying God's best!