Greetings!

Happy March to all of you. I hope that all of you are doing well and that those of you in Ventura County enjoyed the snow-capped mountains. What a pleasant surprise!

The month of February was the initiation of a number of new commitments for me. First off, I started team-teaching a course called Transformational Discipleship. It’s an eight-week course with the objective of preparing Christian leaders to walk with others in a relational discipleship. At the conclusion of the course I will be assisting those students who are interested in developing their own curriculum in order to lead their own discipleship group.

As a student I also started taking a year-long course called Fundamentals of Biblical Counseling. The purpose of this course is to grow in one’s faith while gaining the necessary tools for walking with others in a biblical counseling setting. Furthermore, the curriculum is designed in such a way that it lends itself to cultivating relationships outside of a counseling setting. I’ve learned a good deal thus far and I’m looking forward to the coming months.

These are the students in the discipleship course. We’ve got a vibrant group of people–a number of whom are taking their first course at El Alfarero.

As a matter of prayer, please lift up my upcoming English courses. The university students are returning to their campuses from their three month summer break, so I’ve already begun advertising the classes. Please pray that I can be wise and diligent in reaching out to my future students.

Also, as another matter of prayer, please lift up our evangelism teams that will be sharing the gospel and praying for students on campus starting next week. Please pray for my organizational skills to coordinate the outings, but most especially that we would courageously share the name of Christ and form long-lasting relationships with others.

A group of beginner English students interviewed me for a project they are working on.

My time at Talita Cumi is growing more gratifying with every visit. In recent weeks some of the older boys and I have had meaningful conversations about their lives before they moved to the children’s home. They have also opened up more about their current struggles. I do a weekly devotional with the older boys and in the last few months we’ve covered the entire creation account and they memorized the 10 Commandments. They also learned a new word/process: exegesis.

I would like to thank all of you who have stepped up to help the children of Talita Cumi directly. Because of you: all of the children will receive new school uniforms, four new children have sponsors, the children received Christmas gifts and school supplies, and they were able to go to a Christian camp this past weekend. Nothing gives me greater joy and satisfaction than seeing the children mature in their faith and receive gifts of love.

This was a special night with a special meal since the former director of Talita Cumi Graciela Spence (in yellow on the left), was visiting from the United States.

Eating dinner with Graciela Spence’s family: the Albas.

If you would like to take a more active role by being a spiritual and/or financial sponsor of a child, or helping all of the children collectively, please contact me. There are numerous ways to help and not all of those ways entail financial obligations.

Prayer requests:
~ Please pray for my English classes as they get started next week. It’s all about lifting up and equipping Christians and sharing the gospel with those who are not believers.
~ Please pray for our evangelism efforts that will start next week at Gabriel University.
~ Please pray for the kids of Talita Cumi: their spiritual growth, their studies, and their families.  

Praises:
~ Praise God that he has brought 11 new volunteers to our evangelism team. My prayer is that we can triple our evangelism outreach this year.
~ Praise God that we are experiencing unity and peace amidst challenging economic circumstances at El Alfarero.
~ Praise God that the kids of Talita Cumi were able to go to a Christian camp this past weekend.

In Christ,
Derek