Prince and Gina’s Praise Report from Spain

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June - September 2009

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Dear Prayer Partners,
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Greetings in Jesus’ Name! Sorry, but I am a bit behind in getting out this praise report. I simply lost track of the time.

Consolidation/Discipleship Cells

Since our last communication we have been given over wholly to the task of consolidating the new Believers that God has brought us. We are doing this by way of what we call, “Consolidation Cells”. This is how we perform our very first steps in discipleship. These are small groups (and as much as possible, one-on-one) teaching sessions on the rudiments of the Christian life.

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This is an important time where we invest quality time in the lives of these precious souls and these cells are bringing us the true fruit of the Lord’s harvest. These new Believers will be our leaders and key people in the not-too-distant future.

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To the right and below are photos of a fantastic new couple; Jorge & Sonia and their daughters. Jorge was saved in our Men's Encounter and has since brought his wife to Christ. They have four lovely daughters, the oldest of which is now an active part of our group of preadolescence. All are really excited about their new lives in Christ, the church services and cell meetings.

Below is a photo of Freddy and Dabeyba. They are both lawyers that have been saved under our ministry here. They are now activly involved in all aspects and are progressing tremendously in our discipleship cells. They have a five year old daughter named Camilla (that can almost be seen in the photo).

Children’s Ministries

This is another area where we need a lot of ministry growth, but where we are also progressing. Being that the Lord has brought us so many young families, we have close to 40 children in our children’s church!

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This might sound like good news (and it is) but just about all of the people in our church are new Christians – many have come within the last two years! This means we really don’t have many experienced workers for our Children’s ministries. Also, many of those children are now entering into preadolescence. It is vital that we effectively minister to them as they enter into the minefield of their teenage years. Thank God that one of the older Believers has stepped forward to take part in this all important ministry.

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Our First Men’s Encounter (Retreat)

In July we had our first men’s encounter. A total of twenty men were in attendance. I let two men who I’ve been discipleing organize the event and saw, once again, just how great God really is. The retreat was an organizational disaster, but yet the Spirit of God worked so impressively that the six non-Christian men that we invited to come all had a powerful encounter with Christ. If God doesn’t build the house ... (Psalm 127:1). As is proper, these men are being duly consolidated and a few are beginning to bring forth really good fruit!

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One fairly new young man named Elmer, who, along with his wife, gave their lives to Christ close to two years ago and has finally begun to bring forth good fruit via our consolidation/discipleship cells, was present. In the middle of the first night we received an emergency phone call notifying us that his father unexpectedly died and he had to leave early. None the less, Sunday morning he was present in the service and during praise and worship took his son to the front of the church and began to dance in praise before the Lord! The truest worship is often found in the midst of our deepest pain.

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Above and to the right are photos taken at our first Men's Encounter.
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Baptisms 2009

In early September we celebrated another baptismal service and two new Believers, Yesenia and Claudia, completed their first stage of discipleship and were baptised. The river was so shallow that we had to kneel in the water so that I could immerse them. It’s beautiful to see people silently weeping as they are being baptised!

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Theological Seminary Professorate

I absolutely love teaching in a Bible school or Seminary context; but the burden and passion of my heart is church planting, discipleship and pastoring. I have been offered many teaching positions, but none have been compatible with what I’m called to do here in Cáceres… that is until now.
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The Assemblies of God of Spain has asked me to become a part of their teaching staff for the Centro Superior de Teología de las Asamblea de Dios* (CESTAD), extension courses. I love it, I get the best of both worlds; the courses are intense and taught in modules. I get to stay in Cáceres and the students come in every two weeks from all over Extremadura, for four hours of concentrated teaching, exams and further assignments.

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The teaching is the “fun part”; the rest is normal teacher stuff: grading papers, reading reports, etc…
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Below are photos of our most recent baptismal service... no leeches in the water this time; it was just knee deep shallow.

Please Keep Us in Your Prayers

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Brothers and Sisters, the Gospel is FREE, but getting it to people is not. We have many spiritual, situational and financial needs here on the mission field. We know that without your earnest and constant prayer support we would be severely crippled.

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August turned out, financially, to be the most difficult month we’ve seen in close to 20 years. In our 33 years on the field, we’ve had some months where our money has really been funny and our change extremely strange. So to say that August was a historically bad month financially is quite a statement. September wasn’t as notably horrific, but it was far from being recuperative. None-the-less, God is faithful and always has been! We simply mention our financial needs so that you might be kept aware of our needs and keep us in prayer.
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Please know that we do thank you so much for all of your prayers and your loving support of our ministry and may God continue to bless you for your much needed generosity! As always, you are a matchless BLESSING to our lives and the lives of countless others that you help us to reach for Christ! We love and deeply value you all!
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H.M.S.,
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Dr. & Mrs. Prince M. Parker

Your prayerful support is absolutely vital to the success and survival of our ministry. Thank you!