January/February 2011 Prayer Letter

Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,

TRIP UPDATE: We are thankful for the opportunity that we had to be back in the United States for one month in January and February. We were able to attend my brother’s wedding, visit with family and friends, and stop by several supporting churches in NC, GA, TN, and OH. Our boys enjoyed playing in the snow for the first time. Although we did see quite a bit of winter weather, the Lord kept us safe throughout all of the traveling. Thank you for praying for our family!

VALENTINE’S DAY: February 14, we took a church outing to the coastal city of Mollendo. The Lord blessed with more than 50 people from the church going, so we had to rent an extra bus at the last minute. What a good problem to have! That day, I had the opportunity to perform my first baptism - in the cold Pacific Ocean. I have been discipling Moisés (Moses) for several months now and am excited to see him growing in the Lord. Pastor David’s daughter, Yamilet, also followed the Lord in believer’s baptism that day.


VISION UPDATE: The Lord has been blessing the Vision Baptist Church with new folks visiting and several new people accepting Christ. Our emphasis for outreach this year is by way of holding Bible studies in different homes throughout the area of Miraflores where we work. People are more willing to come and learn how to have a better family than they are to come to a regular church service. Of course we know that the only way to have more harmony in your home is to bring Christ into it. Right now, we have three Bible studies held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. We are working to see not just the pastor or missionary, but also leaders in the church beginning to teach in these meetings. Just last week, three new families came to the Saturday night meeting. Please pray that the Lord would use these outreaches to bring many new people to Christ!

BIBLE COLLEGE: March 22, the new Bible College semester will begin. I will be teaching 2 classes: Missions and Hermeneutics. Please pray that the Lord would help me as I prepare and teach these classes. We are planning to incorporate the material from the Hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) class into our Tuesday evening leaders’ meetings as well. We believe these principles will be very beneficial for the folks as they begin to prepare lessons to teach in the other weeknight Bible studies.

Answered Prayer! On December 23, we had a Christmas party in our home and invited several families from our neighborhood. Almost everyone that we invited came, so we had a pretty full house with about 20 people present. We had some time for just “mingling” and enjoying all the treats my wife had prepared, but also had a time where I presented the gospel through some Christmas illustrations. Although there were no professions of faith that night, several neighbors commented afterward on what a nice time they had had, and we are praying that they will come to know Christ soon! The Lord promises that His Word will not return void! (Is. 55:11) Please continue to pray for the salvation of: Otie, Kathy, Jesús, and Luis.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We could not be here without you!

Your Servants for the Savior,
Robert, Sara, Josiah, Caleb & Joshua Stover