December 2018 Newsletter
Greetings my dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
What do you want for Christmas? Or, maybe I should ask what do you expect? Well, I don’t know what each one of you might desire, or what each one of you deserves, or if you have been naughty or nice….I’m just grateful that God doesn’t measure us this way in order to qualify us to receive His free gift of salvation!
We’ve all been naughty and I am so thankful for the grace of Jesus Christ is freely given!
I always have a reminder of my naughty side when I get asked, “why don’t you have a SENTRI pass?” This SENTRI pass gets you across the border quickly!
However, in order to obtain this pass, you must not have any felonies. So I always have to say, “I have not always been such a good boy.” I know I have been forgiven by God, but not by the law!
I would like to share with you all, some of the wonderful reasons we are praising the Lord for in 2018!
* The biggest one is Sonora. I still can’t believe that God is moving so quickly there, and we are building as quickly as we can! People are waiting for the ministry to open up. Please continue to pray for us!
* We added our 3rd church, Jesús Impacto de Amor, with pastor Julian Contreras
* The block machine that now allows us to have our own block production for the building at the ranch!
* The building of the basketball court!
* The students that entered seminary school in Tecate, what a praise report!
*For Pastor Alex, that has been with us since 14 years old and has been with us 10 years and will soon be getting married with Anahi.
* For Federico and his wife Mari, who have been serving faithfully with us 14 years!
*Fernando, who got his first I.D. this year and was able to see his family after 27 years of not knowing anything about them!
* Elvia who 21 years old, and she has been with us since 16 years old! It’s great to see how she’s fallen in love with the Lord and shows it by serving others.
* For the 337,920 meals La Roca served to the needy, we have almost doubled the meals served since last year!
* To the 35 that were baptized!
* The boys dorm, with now 10 teens, who have grown with us!
* And last but not least Pastor Efren who has taken the role of project manager and teacher, so Rossy and I can grow into other areas that need to be developed!
Let us remember that in the early church, the disciples turned the world upside down. I see the key ingredient was their love for the Lord and their obedience to Him. The early church taught people to love God and to obey everything that He said. There were no delayed actions. There were no consumer mentality. They received the Good News and acted on it by giving it away. That is what made them so radical. That’s what cause them to be world changers, and so are we!
I am thankful for all of you for being part of La Roca family, and want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who faithfully pray for us and to those who support us financially on a regular basis. We continue to expand and in doing so we are trusting God to supply our needs and so far He has. Thank you for being His conduit and investing in us. I have to confess that I am tempted at times to think, “What if the money doesn’t come this month?” But then I remind myself, “I have a great God and I’m working with a great team.”
So in the busyness of Christmas, please don’t forget us. Please pray for Mexico and all the problems we are facing. Also I can assure you that the money we receive is being invested in people’s lives, and expanding God’s Kingdom. I think my wife and I have demonstrated our commitment in these last 22 years and God has blessed us indeed!
May you and your family have a very meaningful and Merry Christmas!
Your missionaries for Christ,
Carlos and Rossy and the rest of La Roca Team!
