Andres Galaviz Family
Sent out as Missionaries from Community Baptist Church
Sent out as Missionaries from Community Baptist Church
5697 Labus Road #1 • Elmendorf, TX 78112
www.cbcweb.net • cbcelder@juno.com
Kyle White, Pastor

2009 Third Quarter Report

Dear Brethren in Christ,

I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ desiring His richest blessings in your lives and in each congregation.

I would first like to thank you for your abundant prayers on our behalf as well as your support of the work here in Chihuahua where the Lord has been pleased to place us as His witnesses. I would also like to thank you for your prayers and support on the personal level, especially during the time of my father’s illness and subsequent death. He has now gone home to be with our Lord where he is so much better. He had been fighting for so long with diabetes and his last few months were full of complications and in the end he fell asleep and went home.

The Lord gave us the opportunity to testify of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ to family members as well as friends and work associates of my brothers and sisters. Even though it could be said that these were sad times, God gave me the strength to preach. Here in Mexico we still have the custom of the wake….and we only have the body for 24 hrs. My father, Daniel, died on Wednesday, Sept. 23rd. The authorities had him for the autopsy all that day and they handed him over to the funeral home on Thursday. So we had 3 preaching services. One of his pastors from Mt. Zion Baptist, Bro. Adrian, preached Thursday evening, with me directing the service. On Friday morning, Bro. Antonio Gomez F. preached. He is the son of the pastor under whose ministry the Lord saved most of my family and is the pastor of one of my sisters. I also directed that service. Then, before leaving for the cemetery at 4 p.m., I preached on Divine Consolation with my text out of 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. Bro. David Aguilera asked me to preach at Mt. Zion on Sunday morning and Sunday evening I was invited to share at Bro. Antonio Gomez F.’s church. We stayed for a few more days in Torreon with my mother and brothers and sisters helping them to attend to certain issues before heading back to AguaCaliente. As I write these few lines many memories of my father come to mind some with sadness but others with joy because I know I will stand with him before the throne of our Lord and praise Him for His goodness and mercy toward us. Again, thank you for your expressions of care and love toward my family and me during this time.

The work here in AguaCaliente, El Terrero, and Guerrero has continued regularly and faithfully. As I have reported before, in May we have our conferences here and Lord willing we have planned special end of the year services. We will have “Christmas” services, even though we don’t celebrate it per se, but during that time many families from the village visit. There have been times that we have around 80 people attending services. Since they come, I preach the Word. I pray that the Lord will bless during this time with His salvation. Please pray to this end also.

The ladies and sisters here in the village continue to meet once a month for the Woman’s Bible Study. My wife has been faithfully sharing with them doctrinal studies. Some of the women want to meet more than once a month. But since others can only attend once a month it will, for the moment, continue as it is now. The Women’s Bible Study in Cuauhtemoc every Tuesday continues strong. They have been studying verse by verse I Corinthians 13. Many of the women have had difficulty understanding what the Scriptures mean by love. So my wife has stopped the regular study and is now explaining, as much as one can, about what it means when the Lord commands us to love. It has been a blessing, though at times very difficult, but yet a real blessing to all who attend. She has also had another opportunity to minister to another young married woman who called her asking for help. She has been able to meet with her several times. Her husband has been unfaithful. Her name is Cely. If the Lord lays it on your heart please pray for her. She is a nominal Catholic and all “Christians” she had been in contact with in the past have left her with an ill savor. She has seen my wife and daughter’s testimony and when she had difficulties has called for help. May the Lord have mercy on her, saving her, and give Rhonda strength and knowledge as she deals with her. Another woman who in the past attended the Woman’s Bible Study in Cuauhtemoc, Betty Tarango, has gone through a difficult time. Her 18 yr old daughter recently died in an accident. Betty had moved away to southern Mexico 2 yrs ago leaving this daughter in Chihuahua City to study. Betty was devastated and Rhonda has been slowly working with her. Betty’s family has been trying to keep her from communicating with us. She is tormented, anxious, and suffering from depression. It is not easy to work with someone under these circumstances. We are praying that the Lord will take away the interference and give Betty the peace she so needs.

On our trips to Cuauhtemoc I have been meeting with several men from the First Baptist Church. We meet on Monday evenings. They remain gripped by years of tradition and yet they want me to come. This church in October celebrated their 40th anniversary. They had special preaching services every Sunday and I was invited to share on October 18th in the evening service. It was an honor and a great opportunity to bring the Word of God to this church. They have had continual difficulties with a good portion of the church dividing off from them to follow a “leader”. There is much disorder there. I was pastor there in 1983 when we were still part of the Baptist convention so it was good to see some of the people who were members during that time. I am asking you to pray for the man who is now pastor there. His name is Jesus Manuel Majalca. I have been sharing with him material that teaches about the doctrines of grace. May the Lord be pleased to open his heart to the truth. I will continue to share with him until the Lord says yea or nay.

Well, winter has reached the mountains. We had our first snowfall on Oct. 29th. It was such a blessing because we got at least 5 inches. The weather has changed here so much that we pray that this is an indication of the Lord’s mercy for this winter even though it may be long and cold. Of course because of the frailty of the human bodies along with the cold came the illness. Some of the Brethren here as well as people from the village have asked for help with medicine. God has given us the opportunity to share and minister to this need even when we run a little low. God has always supplied the need. I am asking you to pray for my wife and me as the cold does affect us. My wife with three back surgeries does have more difficulties during this time and I feel a little weaker (even though I just had a check up and all is going fine). I want to thank the Lord for my daughter, Damaris, because she has been such a great help taking over so much of the heavy work for us and helping us drive also. The Lord has been so good to us permitting us to continue in His service and allowing our daughter to learn to serve Him by helping others and us.

I also want to thank the congregations who have sent special love gifts. The Lord does such marvelous things. We badly needed new tires for the Nissan pickup. I had been pricing them in several stores but I only had enough funds to buy one and get another on credit. Well, in the precise moment, the Lord permitted a church to send an undesignated love gift. So we will be able to buy the much needed tires before the snow comes full force and makes traveling harder and more dangerous…as we say here you could see the air through the tires…they are that bare. We thank the Lord for each one of you. Because you minister to us we are able to minister to others. 2Co 9:11 “ Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.” 2Co 9:12-13 “ For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;” Thank you Brethren and again we thank the Lord for each and every one of you.

Please continue praying for us. Things as far as the dangers that exist in the zone have not gotten better but our Lord has been pleased to keep us. We have shared with many of you about a pastor that was ministering to several of the wives and children of the cartel leaders in the area. He was shot in front of his wife and children a little while ago. Our lives belong to the Lord. May He have mercy on this family but also may this incident be used to work in the lives of those involved. The Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.

The Brethren here in AguaCaliente and Guerrero send greetings. May the Lord be gracious unto you, and give you peace.

In our Lord’s service always,
Andres Galaviz and family

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12/04/2009