2021 September

No Turning Back

No Turning Back

Pastor Efrain made the decision to surrender his life to the Lord’s service at the early age of 14 and has never turned back. He went on to serve in Sunday school and then later as a Youth Group leader. In 1998, the Lord called him to serve as pastor in the mountain town of San Jose de Quiero. Since that day, Pastor Efrain daily repeats his vows to serve God by helping those in need and without hope. It has been 24 years since he began pastoring but his love for the Lord and zeal to service His kingdom has not diminished at all. He considers it a great blessing to serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords by reaching his community with the gospel of Jesus Christ in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. As the whole world is facing very challenging times, he held worship services outdoors for past 7 months, taking necessary precautions, with the single desire to see the body of Christ to continually mature into true disciples of Jesus for His glory. Though now he is at the ripe age of 61, his greatest desire is to continue to be an instrument of God to preach the gospel wherever and whenever he can. In recent years Pastor Efrain has dealt with chronic health conditions and is unable to afford the long term medication costs. But his utmost confidence in God as his provider is never fading even during this difficult times. As co-laborers in God’s kingdom, we are praying for Pastor Efrain’s health and also for a sponsor who feels led to support and encourage him as he faithfully stewards the calling God has placed on his life. As always, we humbly ask for you to join us in prayer to a Father in heaven who hears us.

Coming Home

Have you ever wondered what happens to Riverside Tree students after they graduate from college? One would expect that they find a job, start their careers, find love, get married, buy a home, have children, and live purpose driven lives. But the reality is that a journey into adulthood during college is not easy and students can get lost, not realizing the moment they had started to take their eyes off their Guide. This was true for Jorge. He had decided to drop out of college and started working at a secular job; slowly, he found himself becoming distant from God. While he still attended church, he stopped serving and even stopped keeping in touch with friends he made through Riverside Tree. But he remained in the group chatroom on WhatsApp, where he would receive an invitation every two weeks to the Saturday Zoom Bible study, prayer, and fellowship. Days, then months, passed by. And then, one day, he responded. He had just gotten off work and on the bus ride home, he joined the Zoom. The students and Riverside Tree staff were elated to see his face. It was like the returning of a prodigal son. After the meeting came to an end, Jorge realized why he had gotten lost – disconnection with Jesus and his family in Christ. After that day, Jorge has not missed another gathering. The Riverside Tree ministry was founded on Jeremiah 17:8, which says “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.” While the ministry, with the help of sponsors, provides financial support and scholarships for students to attend college, the ultimate purpose is to help students develop and hold onto a Kingdom mentality and perspective as they complete their degrees and enter their future workplaces. But even after school, Riverside Tree continues to follow up. Graduates are invited back to participate and join in the meetings for prayer and fellowship. Riverside Tree desires and aims to be a family and a source of encouragement to all present and former students that they will live God centered life to glorify Him who loves them unconditionally. And we want to express our gratitude for your faithful partnership in this endeavor.

Jehovah Jireh!

Last month, we were excited to share that with your support, food baskets were being prepared by local church pastors to deliver to the COJ children and their families. We are even more excited to update you that delivery of food baskets to COJ children has been completed! We have started to receive the letters of gratitude children have written to their sponsors and are working hard to have them translated and sent to you by next month. Same time, we are preparing the second wave of food supplies to all the COJ children. Please pray for us that the wisdom of our Lord will direct and guide us to provide what they are lacking the most. We want to thank you for allowing all the children to experience ‘Jehovah Jireh’ through your faithful and generous giving. We give all the glory to our wonderful Abba Father!