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Luke 23:34,  “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what  they are  doing.”

Dear Servants of God, thank you so much for your prayer for God’s work around the world. How wonderful it is to remember our Lord’s death and resurrection! In the midst of great pain, our Lord Jesus Christ cried out for the forgiveness of our sins. We remember that it is thanks to this prayer that we too have been forgiven and saved. 

  To us, this conference was like a taste of heaven. Usually our Sunday worship service consists of 8 adults and 2 children. We were not sure how many sheep would be able to attend but by faith we made a reservation for 15 attendants at our conference site and also received  a good discount. 

  But, where would we find 7 sheep? We decided to worry about this later. Time passed and amazingly 16 sheep registered and we awaited 7 more to confirm their attendance. However, there was a swarm of earthquakes and we were under alert. As a result, one day before the conference sheep began to cancel one by one. In the end 13 adults and 2 children attended the conference. We decided to focus on those who attended as Jesus focused on His core disciples. 

  Just after leaving San Salvador towards Chalatenango which borders Guatemala, we didn’t want to think about returning home because listening to God’s word continuously was like being in the kingdom of God. The days went by very quickly. Sh. Jose, in addition to delivering a message, presided, prepared a skit, and was in charge of the power point presentation for each message. 

  M. Raul shared God’s word from Matthew 11, “I will give you rest.” Later that day, Sh. Maria spoke to us on Matthew 25, “The Parable of the 10 Virgins.” She memorized her message and diligently prepared the worship program. 

  The following day, Sh. Ruth served us with a message from Luke 11, “The Lamp of the Body.” Afterwards, we heard a message on John 14, “Jesus, the Way to the Father.” That evening Sh. Jose delivered the message on Luke 23, “Father, forgive them.” We ended the day with a skit presented by Sh. Jose and also watched a movie titled, “The Pilgrim who exemplifies the true path to the Kingdom of God.”

  On the last day, we concluded with a message based on John 21 titled, “Do you love me?” Our closing message was based on Luke 7:11-17, “Young man, I say to you, ‘Get Up.’”

 By God’s grace, Veronica received God’s word and repented for living a materialistic life. She sincerely repented with a desire to follow the right path. She cried tears of sorrow over her ignorance, recognizing that her way of thinking was not correct. We praise God who helped her to open her spiritual eyes. We pray she may remain faithful to God’s word and truly follow Jesus.

  Johana missed the chance to meet Jesus due to Satan’s temptation. She had broken up with her boyfriend. However, two days before the conference, he called her and they restored their relationship. Her heart was occupied and there was no room for Jesus. This has been very disheartening to us since we have been serving her with God’s word for over one year. Yet we do not lose the hope that God will deliver and save her.

  Guillermo was bent on closing his heart. He did not want to write his testimony. We pray he may have spiritual desire. Sh. Jose’s sister has a sincere heart. She attends church with her children and was amazed by how God’s word was profoundly shared. She realized she had to correct her way of life.

  We were all very happy during these three days. However, we realized we needed to struggle more sincerely, depend on God more, and prepare God’s word more deeply.  This saddens us and we repent. We pray to the Lord for the sheep who did not attend that God may bless them and save them from sin and death.

  After the conference, Veronica and Jennifer resumed their 1:1 Bible study. They had previously stopped studying God’s word. Also, Claudia, a Law student, studies God’s word faithfully and Claribel who cancelled attending the conference, began Bible study(Shp. Isidro Perez; trans. Spanish into English by Socorro).

One Word: Father, forgive them!