Blog Archives
February 2016 Prayer Letter
Dear Praying Friends,
Productive Christmas Trip
Christmas with Aubrie’s Family in Ohio
With Pastor Alfonso Gonzales at the Spanish church we started in GA way back in 2006. They’ve grown!
In addition to preaching opportunities in Ohio, Georgia, and at the Our Generation Missions Summit in Tennessee, I was able to record 15 Spanish sermons in our home church’s television studio, Lighthouse Global Studios. These will soon broadcast throughout Latin America. Pray that the Word would have free course and be glorified!
Phenomenal Growth
During our month-long absence from the work in Colombia, several of our men stepped up to preach & to make sure the services ran smoothly. They did an excellent job, and we returned to find that our church had even grown by a few new families!
We had an excellent Christmas program for our outreach ministry kids. God is changing lives!
Training Men
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2
From The Mouth Of Babes
The girls with their uncle Brian (aka: “the horse”) and cousins Rhett and Conner.
Praises & Prayer Requests
- Vehicle. Praise God for the funds that have come in for this need! Thanks to those who have given. Lord willing, we will be purchasing something in the weeks to come. Pray that we can find the right vehicle, and that all paperwork will go smoothly.
- Mission Trip. We are expecting a mission team from one of our supporting churches toward the end of March. Pray that God would work in and through them. If you would like to line up a trip, just get in touch and we can work something out.
- New believers. There are several people who have recently believed on Jesus for salvation. Pray as we help them grow in grace and truth, and for others to be saved.
-
Church growth & plans. This year we are focusing on training men and furthering our discipleship development, as well as opening a mission church on the outskirts of town. The enemy is not happy, as we have had some spiritual attacks lately, but the Light is always stronger than darkness!
Pray for these men and others as they train for the Gospel ministry (Juan Danilo, Félix & Jhon Freddy)
- Financial Support. With the ministry growth and family growth, we could use at least another 5 monthly supporters. Would you pray about partnering with us as we continue to lift up Jesus and his Gospel to the Colombian people?
Love In Christ Jesus,
Aaron & Aubrie Vance
(along with Amira, Anabel & Aris!)
Breaking news! Our updated prayer cards are in. Let us know if you want us to send you one, or a bunch of them for your church.
Click here to see a printable PDF of this letter.
December 2015 Prayer Letter Update
Dear Praying Friends,
First of all, I apologize for the delay in getting updates to you. Our September letter did not go out, so I am sending it along with this one. It has honestly been the most blessed period in all of our years of ministry.
Church EXPLOSION!
Don’t worry. We’re talking about the good kind — an explosion in growth! Since being in the new building, our attendance is now nearly 100. This is in addition to the many we see in our outreach ministry in the north part of the city! People are finding joy in the Lord and his Word. We are regularly seeing people saved and baptized. Colombia is experiencing a great movement toward the Gospel, but we need more laborers. There is much to do!
In September, we finished our series on the Gospel of John. To conclude, 7 of our men helped me by each preaching a mini-sermon on the “I Am” statements of Christ in John. It was a sweet night of reflecting on the sufficiency of Christ, and more exciting still to see him work in new preachers of the Gospel. This is why we are here — to train men! Pray for these & others as they develop the calling God has placed on their lives.
Click for a printable PDF of this letter (with pictures).
In December, we will conduct a special Christmas program again in a poor area of town where we have a weekly outreach ministry. We did this last year and it was a huge success! We’ll prepare a special gift and meal for each of the 200 children who attend and then preach to the families and community. For about $5 per child, we will include a toy, toiletry items, a gospel-centered kids book, and a personalized letter. This is the area of our next church plant, Lord willing.
We have also just started a bus route to this area on Sundays to bring families in until we can get a church officially started there. Pray for an increase in our monthly support to provide for this new ministry. Also, pray for funds to purchase a personal vehicle. This has become an urgent need.
Residents At Last!
It was quite a struggle to get our new visas, as the laws changed multiple times this year, extra certifications were requested, documents were lost internationally, and we paid much more than anticipated, but the Lord is faithful in providing each part of this need and allowing us to finalize everything just in time. Thanks especially to Community Baptist in NC and Calvary Baptist in OH for the special offerings. We are now permanent residents of Colombia!
Christmas Trip
Thanks to our sending church & family, we will be back in the States for one month over Christmas. This will be the first time we’ve been back since two years ago when we arrived in Colombia. We thank God for a full schedule including a couple new churches who wish to join our team of financial supporters. This is an answer to prayer!
We will also participate in an amazing missions retreat called the Our Generation Summit in Pigeon Forge, TN from December 31 through January 2. Why don’t you come join us? Time is short. Contact me for information.
Prayer Requests
- More lost souls to be saved, baptized and discipled
- Continued growth in our church — Iglesia Bíblica Bautista El Faro
- Christmas program for needy children in our outreach ministry
- Christmas traveling to Georgia and Ohio
- Our people who will be leading the church in our short absence
- Church Youth/Singles ministry camp in January
- URGENT: Purchase of a vehicle for family and ministry
We wish you a very Merry Christmas! Thanks for standing with us & supporting the Lord’s work in Colombia.
Aaron & Aubrie Vance
(with Amira, Anabel & Aris!)
September 2015 Prayer Letter Update
Dear Praying Friends,
What a joy it is to report to you that God’s work in Colombia is bursting in growth!
Ministry Milestones
Our church, Iglesia Bíblica Bautista El Faro celebrated its first anniversary on July 19th. After our first year, we have had an average attendance of about 50 but on the anniversary we had a big day with a record attendance of 140 people! Each week we’ve seen new visitors. Many have repented and believed the Gospel for salvation and we praise God that many others are in the initial and advanced stages of discipleship. We praise God for this growth.
In August, God opened the door for us to move our church to a new location just on the other side of the block from where we were. The timing of this can only be attributed to God! Because of the growth we’ve seen, it was difficult to fit into the first building, then just one week after we left the old location the entire road closed down for a construction project. We thank the Lord for many of our men who have pitched in to paint, knock out walls, put up new walls, and get things ready for services. We now have over double the seating capacity! With the rise of the value of the US dollar lately we were able to do much more than we could have just a couple of months ago. Still, there is much to be done. During the construction one of my key men, Eduardo, fell off a ladder and broke his leg. Pray for a quick recovery!
Click to see a printable PDF version of this letter (with pictures).
Family News
Our two-year religious visas will be expiring in October. Since our youngest daughter was born in Colombia and has dual citizenship we can now apply for residency. This will be a slightly higher up-front expense than reapplying for the temporary visa, but much better in the long run. Pray that everything goes smoothly. [Update: we got them!] Please also pray that we would be able to purchase a family/ministry vehicle soon.
Fruit Bearing Fruit
A dear friend, Rafael Gomez, is a pastor and missionary in Barranquilla Colombia (on the northern coast). He and his church invited me to preach their third anniversary and first missions conference at the end of August. They are excited about getting involved in supporting other missionaries to reach the world while reaching their Jerusalem. Would you pray for them? Will you pray about coming to Colombia to plant solid bible-believing churches?
Prayer Requests
- More lost souls to be saved and discipled
- Men who are heading into full-time ministry
- Eduardo’s recovery
- Resident visa application and trip to Bogota
- Vehicle for family and ministry
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and financial support! Lives are being changed because of your investment!
For King Jesus,
Aaron & Aubrie Vance
(with Amira, Anabel & Aris!)
January 2015 Prayer Letter
January 2, 2015
Dear Praying Friends,
We trust that you all have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Life is more busy & blessed than ever here in Colombia. Up front, thanks to all who have supported us this year through your prayers and giving. We couldn’t do what we do without you allowing God to use you in this way!
Growing Church, Growing People!
In July we started our first church here, and in 6 months, God done things far beyond what we expected! New people visit nearly every week, many accepting Christ and getting into discipleship. There are also now 4 men who have expressed desire for ministry and are taking steps toward that end. Pray for Óscar, Eduardo, Sergio and Jhon and for me as I work in training them and others to do the work of the ministry. This is why we’re here!
Merry Christmas for Many Children!
In September we began an outreach ministry for children and adults in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of our city. The response has been phenomenal! We are averaging around 150 each week, with over 250 attending our end of the year Christmas program. Gifts were given, as was the Gospel, and several accepted Christ as their Savior! Thank you to those who donated toward this need. If you’d like to give toward future projects, you can give online (www.bemagnified.org), or by sending a check to our mission board marked “A. Vance – Special Project.” Our plans are to start another church here within a year.
Big God, Big Plans!
We are looking forward to seeing God work in 2015. We have big plans and ask that you pray specifically for these things. Be praying for free English classes we will be starting Monday January 5th. Pray for a youth camp that I will be preaching this month with churches from around the country. Pray for our leaders, and me as I train them. Pray for open doors to start more churches here. Pray for more laborers for our city of Bucaramanga, and the dozens of others that are full of unreached people. Pray for a missions trip we have planned for U.S. students and singles June 15-25 (There’s still time to sign up — info at http://www.bemagnified.org).
Home Happenings
By our next prayer letter we’ll be able to introduce you to our new little baby girl, due February 23. Aubrie is doing well with the pregnancy, and our girls are thrilled about being big sisters. We’re required to leave the home we’ve been renting, so please pray as we find another house. It’s been over a 2 month process of complicated ups and downs, but we hope to finalize something this week. Contact us for our new mailing address. Also pray for a vehicle for our family and ministry. We have not have the funds for this, but we know that God can provide in his timing. If you’d like to give toward this need, you can give online or by sending a check to Macedonia (address below) and mark it “A. Vance — Vehicle.”
Once again, thank you! Thank you for holding the ropes for us! God is good. He is worthy. He is working. Are we willing to take steps forward this year for his glory?
Serving King Jesus,
Aaron Vance & Family
Click to see a printable PDF of this prayer letter (with pictures!)
Week In Review – September 22
- Thank God for new salvations! One of these was a lady named Rosalba who repented and believed on Christ on Monday! Pray for her as she grows in this new life.
- Saturday was the second time we’ve gone as a church to a community outreach on the outskirts of our city. We had 115 children, several adults and 10 from our church! I taught on the fall of mankind and our sinful nature, showing that though we all have sinned, Christ loved us and died for us while we were yet sinners. Pray as we lay a foundation for the Gospel in this needy community! Our hope is to start another church here eventually.
- Sunday services are always a joy as people come, worship the Lord passionately and listen attentively to the preaching of God’s message. It is an exciting thing feeding the spiritually hungry and seeing Christ and his Word satisfy their hunger.
- We began a weekly email for our church. If you’d like to receive this (it is in Spanish, by the way), you can sign up here: eepurl.com/3ycWr
- One of the most thrilling things for me this week was that a young single man and another middle aged married man came to me and expressed their desire to be in the ministry. God had been dealing with them. Pray for Jhon & Óscar, among a couple others that I believe the Lord is working on!
- We went Thursday to find out the gender of our next child and we discovered how rebellious (or modest) it was! No cooperation at all… So we went back Friday and without a doubt it is a… well, check out this short video we put together to find out: youtu.be/7GFXx9kxNNE
- This week, with the city’s fair going on, we’ve been in many situations where thousands and thousands of people surrounded us. I couldn’t help but to think of the Lord Jesus’ words in John 4:34-35:
“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
- I challenge you to lift up your eyes around this world and realize that the need is great, the time is now, and the responsibility is ours! Let us commit to doing the will of the one who has sent us, and to finish his work!
The Vance Family 