Holiday break for the ERM team

Greetings to our readers!  I am sorry that it has been awhile since I have posted anything.  So much has happened since our last post.  We will try to do our best to update you.

Our last week on the road (11/11-11/15) we were involved in meetings at Maugansville Bible Brethren Church in Maugansville, MD.  We saw God move in so many awesome ways.  During the testimony time on Thursday evening, we heard many of the church members give testimony of God doing awesome, divine things in their lives.  One lady stood up and shared that she had been holding a grudge, for four years, against another man that she saw every week at church.  The night before, during the sermon, God had touched her heart to go and take care of that situation with the man.  She spoke of great freedom as a result of doing that. Another man got up, while holding his wife's hand, and began to cry as he pleaded with the congregation to help them in their marriage.  He said that they didn't know what to do anymore and they were desperate for help.  It was amazing to watch 4 couples stand around this couple and plead for God's help.  I could share a half dozen more stories like that.  We praise the Lord for His working in our lives that week.

We held meetings at Garden Chapel, in Harrisburg, PA, the following Sunday morning (11/18).  We were involved in two services and the Sunday School time. It was a short, but great, time of fellowship.

Monday (11/19) was a big day for the ERM team.  Every year we spend several hours at the headquarters of ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism).  This year was my (Nick) 5th time being there with the team and it was such a blessing! We are privileged with spending a few hours with men and women who are greatly concerned about God and His passion for Missions ministry.  Team members always make many comments about how God greatly uses one or more of the day's ingredients give them a passion for Missions. We also were able to help them decorate their many Christmas trees throughout the headquarters.  It was a blessing for us to help out in that way, and it was a blessing to them (a job that usually takes 2 ladies a couple of days to finish).  

On Tuesday (11/20) the team left to begin their winter break, which will last until 1/2/08.  Please keep the team in your prayers as they interact with friends and family.  May they continue to be a blessing to those around them, and put into practice all that they have learned so far this year.     

prayer for the Wilcox family

Please keep Matt Wilcox, our sound technician, and his family in your prayers.  Late this morning his mother passed away.  Almost 3 weeks ago her cancer came back for the third time.  Two weeks ago the doctor gave her a week to live.  We flew Matt home (Harrisburg, PA) that day and he has been taking care of his mother since then.  Last week they decided to put her on Chemo treatments and a couple of days ago she asked to be taken off them.  She was in so much pain and there was already so much irreparable damage done to her body as a result of the cancer. 

She is in a better place than we are, and for that we are joyful.  She is no longer in pain.  We do covet your prayers for Matt and his family during this hard time.  Please pray for them.  

LifeBlood

Encounter Alumni, David Villanueva, along with many other students at Bryan College, are giving to our orphan ministry in an interesting way.  There are about 75 students who go to Chattanooga, once a week, to give plasma at $20 a visit.  All the money that comes in from giving plasma goes straight to the Orphan Fund.  We first heard about this about 6 weeks ago and it has been a joy to watch God develop this unique ministry.  This is a great reminder to me that God uses many creative people and ideas to accomplish His work.  May we continue to be creative in how we serve God.  Please pray with us that God will continue to raise up students to give in this unique way.  Keep Life Blood in your prayers. (the link for LifeBlood can be found in the upper right corner of the blog)

Shelby Bible Church (Shelby Township, MI)

Greetings!  This week we have the privilege of ministering at Shelby Bible Church.  Last year we came to this church for the first time.  It was such a joy to be with them, and we were so excited for the opportunity to return this year to minister again.  Ardy and Jean's daughter and son-in-law, and their two children, Ella and Drew, attend church here.  Ardy and Jean are enjoying the week with the grandchildren and they are making sure to spoil them while they can!

We, as a team, have been reminded of all the hurts, struggles, and battles that God's children are going through.  We have begun, once again, to pass out prayer cards during the service and encourage the church body to share things with us that we can pray for.  We get up onstage and we sing,we see smiles, and we receive a round of applause at the end of our songs and everything seems fine and dandy.  But the reality is that God's people are hurting.  We have struggles and trials that God is bringing Hid people through.  And we have been challenged to continue, as a team and as a church body, to lift each other up in prayer.

Continue to pray for Christopher Boda.  He will be in the US for about another week involved in many church meetings, trying to raise funds for the BTM ministries and to raise an awareness of all that God is doing over in Hyderabad, India.  For more information on BTM ministries, click on the link in the upper right corner of this blog.  Or go to our website to learn more about sponsoring an orphan for just $25/month.  

Continue to pray for the ongoing of our ministry and for the many needs we have.  May God richly bless you and may He draw you closer to Himself in the days to come.

Factoryville Bible Church (Athens, MI)

This week the team has the opportunity to minister at Factoryville Bible Church in Athens, MI.  Ardy and Jean both grew up around this area, and this church is literally out in the middle of nowhere (or so it seems).  Yes, they have running and water and electricity...well, most of the time!  Ella, Ardy's granddaughter, on her way up here from Detroit the other day, asked her mom, "do people live all the way out here in the woods?"  

Our exciting news for this week is that Christopher Boda is here with us for a few days!  We are delighted to have him share a few days of ministry with us.  He flew in on Monday from Wisconsin and he will fly out Friday morning for Dallas, Texas.  He has been able to share in school chapels and he has shared several times with the team.  Yesterday he shared his testimony with the team... what a blessing!  We have been challenged to see his passion for God's work and for his ministry in India.

Continue to pray with us about the different ministry opportunities we have in the near future.  We are going to Detroit this coming weekend.  Thank you for your prayers and for your support.  God bless you all!

Warren Dunes (Sawyer, MI)

This week we have the opportunity to minister at Oakridge Baptist Church in St. Joseph, MI.  Each year when the team travels to St. Joseph we make an effort to visit the Warren Sand Dunes located at Warren Dunes State Park, which is found along the South Eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan.  This morning we packed a sack lunch and headed off for a few hours of fun and refreshment.  My favorite part of going to the Dunes is to stay at the bottom and watch all the new, ambitious team members try to run all the way to the top without stopping.  About halfway up they usually slow down and then they finally end up walking the rest of the way.  I think it's great! 

God really worked things out so that we could go today.  When I woke up this morning at 5 a.m. to go the gym it was pouring rain.  It did this until about 10 a.m.  We were a little disappointed that we weren't going to be able to go, but God cleared the skies up for us and we enjoyed (and we still are enjoying) partially cloudy, beautiful skies the whole time we were there!  God is so good!

This is the first post for the ERM blog!  I, Nicolas Laparra, will be writing frequent updates of all that is happening in our ministry.  Visit our blog often to read updates about different opportunities we have while traveling here in the U.S. and abroad.  Many times, besides the week-long revival meetings that we hold in churches around the U.S., we have opportunities to minister in schools, nursing homes, soup kitchens, etc.  Our goal is to keep our friends and partners in ministry informed about what God is doing in our ministry and in our lives.  We may, occasionally, even have a testimony, praise, or a verse from a team member or from the leadership staff.  Thank you for visiting!  

"The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.  Amen." (I Corinthians 16.23,24)