| Dear Family and Friends, We have had a wonderful and challenging few months. We have had 16 new visitors from the reservation, 3 salvations, and 2 baptisms these last 3 months! Praise the Lord! During the month of August, Samuel started school at his new school (Liberty Baptist Christian Academy in Yuma, AZ). He was so nervous but now he is adjusting wonderfully to school. He loves his new teacher! On August 11th, we began our foster care classes. We have been praying about doing so for the last 4 years. It was not until now that God gave my family and I peace to begin the process. On August 15th, we had our church teenagers come over to our house to play board games and have a Bible study with them all. On August 20th- 22nd, my father-in-law (Missionary Michael Veldhuis from the Cocopah reservation) and I attended a Revival Meeting in Ganado, AZ. We had a great time! It’s amazing to see God working on the Navajo land with Missionary Mark Haynes and other preachers who came out of his church!! In September, we held our annual Fall Revival meeting with Pastor William Wallace from Marina, CA. He and his wife were a huge blessing to our church! The messages he preached were exactly what we needed! On September 21st, we had our Membership Sunday. We had our first 2 members join the church, the Gonzalezes. This couple started visiting our church in the month of May. They were already saved and had previously attended a Baptist church. God began working on them in the area of music. Amber has a gift for playing piano, and Anthony, who is Quechan, is talented in song leading. We are so blessed to have them! During the month of October, Jacob attended a Church Planters Conference from October 7th- 10th in Yukon, WA. He was able to raise the funds for small projects in the church and for some of Lydia’s Dental work. (For some of you wondering, because she was born prematurely, Lydia has enamel hypoplasia. No or thin enamel, which causes cavities quickly.) On October 10th, Jacob came home from the church planters conference. Just 2 hours later, he got a call from a lady who faithfully attended our church. Her name is Mrs. Monica Vargas. She has a loving husband and three young adult children. We got word that night that her two boys were killed in a murder-suicide caused by a mental health crisis. When we got the news, we were heartbroken. Jacob and a Spanish Pastor nearby met the family at the Winterhaven police station. It was heart-wrenching. For these last few weeks, we and our church have been calling and texting them words of encouragement, bringing food, and helping with the fundraiser to bury their two boys. As of this letter, they need $11,000 for the funeral and burial for their two boys. They are $1,500 dollars short. If you would like to give towards this family, please let me know. On October 14th, 21st, and 28th, we hosted soulwinning classes to help the people of our church learn how to lead others to Christ. We had several people come out for it. October 19th was Friend Day, and we had Bro. Chris Delgado and a group of men from Riverside, CA, come down to preach and be a part of it. They were a huge encouragement to the Vargas Family and the rest of our church. The Vargases said it was a huge blessing to see a group of young men soulwinning and out serving on Friend Sunday. On October 29th, we had our Life Safety Inspection after completing 3 months of training and certification, and we are now licensed to become foster parents! Please Be In Prayer For Our Upcoming Events *December 12th Teen Christmas Party 21st All Church Christmas Party *January 3rd Youth Rally – Toby Garcia *4th Vision Sunday *26th- 29th Winter Revival with Pastor Matthew Wootan Prayer Requests: *The parents of Jared, a young man who attended our V.B.S. this summer. He was a friend of one of our Teens. He was only 13 and committed suicide two weeks ago. * Tatiana and her daughter. God led her to be the delivery driver for our grocery order and she was from the Quechan Reservation! She has come to church the last 2 weeks. *For Salvation : Manuel, Genavicia, Andrew, Oscar * Spiritual Growth: Zane, Ivan, Diana, & Damaris* That Seneca can get her liver transplant soon and recover from her stroke. * For Pastor Jacob’s application to be a chaplain at the Quechan nursing home and Police Department to be approved.* Pastor & Mrs. Veldhuis’ health and for co-laborers in their ministry on the Cocopah reservation. Thank you all again for your prayers, words of encouragement, and financial support! On a final note, some of you might have received a letter about us raising money to go to Israel next year. Please disregard that. In Christ, Jacob, Lydia, and Samuel Jones Missionary to the Native Americans Colossians 1:18 KJV |
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