Esmirna

One thing that we have loved about Luis´ internship is the tremendous support shown to us by the local church here, Esmirna. The church has around 239 members and 300 + assistants. One thing that I think God has used to bring spiritual health and growth to the church is the fact that all of the pastors have had the opportunity to go to really good Bible seminaries. (Many of them from SETECA) The church was planted almost 100 years ago.  Portrero Sula, the village that we are living in, has been greatly influenced by the church and is known for its Christian majority. Why in the world are we doing a missions project in an area where the majority are Christians? Well the answer to that has been very exciting for us. Even though Potrero Sula is pretty much a Christian community, the surrounding communities are not. There is a huge Catholic influence with much spiritual need. Esmirna has been very motivated and enthusiastic about reaching out to the surrounding communities. In August the church began to formally go out to evangelize each Saturday. Since Luis´ goals on his internship are to learn from the church and the culture about missions (not so much teach about it), this has been the ideal place for us to learn and grow. We love the church´s passion for missions. Even though this a small village, the church knows and understands the call to missions. They support different missionaries around the world as well as students from SETECA. They are learning that as Christians, everyone has a call to be missionaries. Monday nights are prayer services, so the congregation gets together to pray about specific needs, including missions. We have joined with Esmirna in reaching out to the surrounding communities and what a tremendous blessing it has been for us!