Gospel Advance in Tijuana & Beyond

Kingdom Advance

This has been a huge week as we seek to see gospel expansion on the border, the Baja and Beyond.
In Tijuana Lo Mejor del Trigo is partnering with Transformation Ministries to conduct a Discovery Center (church planter’s assessment) for five church planting candidate couples. I was able to be with them on the first day of the Discovery Center, and there was some excitement in the air as it got underway.
This assessment an important tool to evaluate whether the church planting candidates have the gifts, calling and skills to be church planters. It can save them much heartache if they are not right for the job. It also can be a real boost, and a great opportunity to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses if they called to plant a church. Church planting is not for the faint of heart!

Training Church Planters

After we determine that they are called to be church planters, it’s critical that they receive training and support.
This week we are partnering with our MTW team in Monterrey, Mexico to provide training for church planters. Pastor Ivan Casados who is planting a church in a community called Ribera del Bosque in Tijuana is going through this training, and he is in Monterrey this week.
Our hope is to strengthen and further develop our selection process and our training for all the church planters that we are partnering with. Lo Mejor del Trigo has been such a valuable partner, and we love being able to work with them with the hope of helping them to reach their goal of planting 50 or more churches in Tijuana and beyond.
We are also working with the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Soon we will be launching a new church planting project with them in La Paz, Baja California Sur. The lead church planter is also in Monterrey going through the church planting training.

A New Work in Tijuana

While we are busy evaluating and training church planters we are also ramping up for the new church plant that we will starting with LMT in March. I saw pastor Victor Bravo this week, and he is chomping at the bit to start this new work. Victor and his wife, Sol are already holding outreach events in the community to share the love of Christ.

Join Us In Prayer for the Church & Our Family

Your prayer is so important to us. The Lord is the one that builds the church. We look to him and trust him. We ask him to guide and lead us along the way.
Thanks so much for your ongoing prayer for Hannah and for our family. It has been a long trial. Our hope is in the Lord and in his faithfulness. We are so encouraged by the outpouring of prayer by our friends.
As this trial has gone on more and more people are asking us what is going on. I’m purposefully being discreet about how much I share. While we need the prayer and a lot of it, I believe it’s important to protect Hannah’s privacy by not sharing too much. It’s a fine balance to try to maintain.
We know that the Lord hears your prayers, and he knows how to intercede for us even when we don’t know quite how to pray. He is answering and sustaining us through you!
In His Loving Grip, Dave
DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org