MOVING DAY!
The early New Testament Churches were powerful Churches for many good reasons. They were going, growing, sending and always on the move. We have purposed in our hearts and have asked God to help us be like His early Churches. We pray He will give us strength to keep going when many are falling by the wayside and will not go. We also pray he will give the increase and we will grow for His honor and glory. So we continue to pray and continue to go by faith believing that God will give the increase in His time. In order to facilitate future growth we stepped out by faith this last year and purchased a used Modular to free up more room in our small sanctuary and to facilitate continued growth in our youth program. We want to be good stewards with what God has blessed us with and this temporary building is the final step to maximize the use of our current location. As you can see from the (above and below) pics, the new building is already a blessing to the Church plant. In addition to providing a large room for Jr. Church and Youth activities, the new modular also serves as a fellowship hall. We dedicated the modular at our annual Fall Festival Outreach program.
TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS (Below)
The first picture is of the shed we previously used for Jr. Church which is in stark contrast to the second picture with the new modular in use.
PRISON MINISTRY 2019
God is working in the lives of many men from many different countries behind the barbed wire fences at Cross City Correctional Institution. Not only are some getting saved but some are being trained to preach the gospel to their own Nation upon their release. For example, we have seen men from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Ecuador and Columbia released after years of teaching and training to become ambassadors for Christ in their home land.
We are also still in the
process of training one of these men to return to the prison as a Missionary.
These captive audiences are some of the greatest opportunities to
preach the gospel to a receptive crowd and some will believe. While the
Prison Ministry involves leaving your comfort zone there are great blessings to
be found.
(Cross City Correctional Institute, Cross City, Florida)
2019 FRUITThe Prison Ministry is not the only area of our ministry which is bearing much fruit. The end of 2019 brought in a renewed spirit for soul winning through Saturday visitation. You will find Terry and I out in the highways and hedges each and every Saturday trying to reach the lost and encourage the saved to be faithful to the Lord. During the last month of 2019, our Saturday visitation team grew to seven. Its not easy work, but it is a blessed work that is driven by our love and obedience to Christ and a burden for the lost.
Please pray for us as we need
another van to start another route in 2020. If your Church has one sitting
and wants to get rid of it, email me at missionaryfernandez@gmail.com.
As we go out into the Highways and hedges we are seeing theHand of God upon us!
Youth Camp 2019
(BELOW) was our first as a new Church plant. We took twenty five campers
to Florida Baptist Encampment and had a great week with our youth. Due to
our mission work in Kenya/Uganda, Terry and I had not been to camp in almost
fifteen years but it brought back great memories of the past to see our kids
getting saved and making commitments to the Lord.
We have seen twenty two
professions of faith over the course of 2019 through various ministries and
outreaches. Ten of them have followed Christ in scriptural baptism
and we are continuing the discipleship process of many. 119
was our record high in attendance for a special promotional outreach.
In addition to the Church plant activities, I'm still a Missionary on
designated funds which necessitates Terry and I traveling on deputation
appointments, ABA Meetings as well as preaching appointments for revivals and
missions conferences. Add in our regularly scheduled trips to Kenya and
Uganda and we have a busy busy life burning for Christ. We might burn
out some day but at least we won't rust out from sitting still. We could
not do all that we are doing without a group of faithful servants who come alongside
Terry and I to fulfill the Great Commission. God's grace has been great
upon us and we thank Him for our ministry partners who are faithfully holding
the rope. Thank you for allowing us to share what God has done in
2019. We pray you have a Happy and Blessed New Year. Kenya/Uganda/Florida Plant