And the Word of God increased

Amid troubles in Acts 4-6 Luke
points out that “the Word of God
increased, even those from
among the priests came to
faith”. We see this great
manifestation of success the first
church had in spreading the
good news in Jerusalem.
Frankly, it seems impossible
with all these internal/external
problems to even think about
the growth. Yet, the Lord was
giving them a revival which was
greater than their troubles.
That’s what we often see in the
time of crises here in this area.

ESL school and Workshop
We continued to teach English
as second language in March.
Although we were not pleased
to learn the landlord wants to
raise the rental. Continue to pray
for those who attend, with
whom we maintain meaningful
connections for the Kingdom.

The workshop for prospective
leaders is going to be on April
29-30. We have a lot of things to
discuss. After that, I and a few
leaders are going to travel to
Kazan for a conference. Pray for
that, too.
Pray for Easter service which is
on April 24th this year according
to the Eastern Calendar. Pray for
people to come to our
fellowships and be saved.
Please pray with us as we think
and plan for the future events
even as many things remain
uncertain.

Featured Leader
This month we are going to tell
you about a young man who
yet to become a leader. Marsel
was a student in our English
class for several years. He first
came to us when he was very
young. Little by little he started
to stay after our classes for an
extra cup of tea and discussion.
It turned out he had problems
in his family. As we spent more
time together we discussed
some Bible stories and he
shortly received Jesus as Lord
and Saviour. Marsel boldly
shared about being born again
with his family members. His
life bloossomed and his family
became our friends in the
village.

Friends and Family
Tim and Christinas continue
their classes. Pray for good
attitude to the studies and
good memory. Also, for good
prep for the final tests.
Thank you for your standing
with us during these days. We
truly appreciate your love and
prayers. That’s what co-
working for the Kingdom is!

You can make tax deductible contribution to
Ufa Bible Ministries which is recognized by
the IRS as a 501c3 non-profit entity. Make
checks payable to:
Ufa Bible Ministries
PO BOX 1761, Columbia, SC 29202

Dear loved ones and friends,
We hope and pray that this newsletter will bless you.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow…One day at the time, trusting Him who is faithful and true!

February…Was a month of grieving for our congregation because four different members of our church lost someone in their family due to sickness in the time space of one and a half weeks.
You might ask, why share it? We share it because it’s important to know that one of them didn’t know Jesus, one did know Jesus and two others received Jesus as their Savior before they died. Three out of four, that is a reason to rejoice. It also admits of the pain and is a wakeup call to make the right decision before it’s too late!

Construction of the Sunday school…We have the roof on and are now hoping to finish up with the doors and windows. Since it is a holiday season, we are not actually building but are more into the logistics of material gathering and preparing the site to be able to pour the floors and install the electrics.

Feliciano: God answers prayer in amazing ways…In February we started to pray for new people and converts. Due to the pandemic the church attendance suffered a lot.
One Sunday we came to church and there was a man sitting on the steps. It was 6:30 am and we greeted him. His name is Feliciano. He is in his late fifties. He was introduced by one of our members during a testimony time we have at our Sunday services. He came forward to explain that when he was much younger, he had visited a Baptist church while living in Asuncion. After a while he left there and went back into the world and messed up. He went through a depression that he couldn’t shake off and that went on for years. Then he came back to his village in the country, which is about 3 miles from our church.
A month and a half ago he finally dared to ask God for help.  (He thought that because of his many sins, God wouldn’t want him, or listen to him for that matter.) One morning he started walking and he saw a man dressed in beige signaling him to follow him…He followed him from a distance not knowing what to think. The man who led him to our church walked in and when Feliciano got there… he disappeared. He looked for him, but could not find him so he just sat on the steps.
Now, one and a half months later, he received the Lord,found forgiveness for his sins, and is being discipled  and has such hunger for the Word. He comes to help to clean the church on Saturdays and helps with the construction of the Sunday school. He volunteers happily for whatever is needed and walks back and forth to church and to his Bible classes. That’s 6 miles every time he comes and he says it keeps him healthy and happy. Last Sunday he came up to us and gave us a list of 11 people which he said were his brothers and sisters and if we could please help him to pray for their salvation, which we gladly do!

Which brings us to: The Glory of Easter!!!

I found this little gem many years ago and it’s very dear to my heart, but I have no idea who the author is… but it gets deep into the very soul.

The throne…
When I stand before Your Throne
Dressed in beauty, not my own
When I see Thee as Thou art…
Love Thee with unsinning heart
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe…

A very blessed Easter to all of you and much love wrapped up in prayers.
Robert and Joy.

Easter Reflection and the Ministry Update

This past Good Friday morning (it wasn’t really a “good” morning for our Lord), I got up around 4 to go to the bathroom. Suddenly I heard a cock crow (not too uncommon here in the Dominican Republic). It was loud and clear and must have been nearby. Wow, my mind went immediately to Peter the night the Lord was betrayed. I waited a few seconds and it crowed again. Then the dark morning became silent. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours and then got up for the day. After breakfast I stepped out to see what Debbie had been doing with some plants that needed doctoring. There was a dry vine laying on the stone path. I rolled it up and realized it looked like the crown. I thought, yes, at about this time (mid-morning) on that fateful day somebody thought it cool to place a crown of sharp thorns on my Lord. I felt saddened. He would shortly be led out to be crucified.

He was politically incorrect to many Jews; he never supported a zealot uprising against the Romans. He was also accused of opposing allegiance to Rome by “supposedly” declaring himself “king”, thus the crown of thorns and the inscription on the cross. He represented a threat to the religious establishment with his views of the law. To them He was the nail that stood out and needed to be hammered down. But they had no idea that they were unconscious participants in fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament that spoke of the coming suffering Messiah (Isa. 53). Their punishment of Jesus helped fulfill His ultimate goal of winning forgiveness and acceptance before God for all who would believe. He willingly gave Himself up as an offering for us all. He took the bread and said “This is my body given for you”(Lk. 22:19), words he spoke the night before. “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”(Lk. 22:20)

So, something special occurred a couple of thousand years ago; a new era of forgiveness and acceptance for mankind before God. It was sealed with the sacrifice of Christ for us. It began in my life when I was 19 years old. I recognized my life was empty and I had wandered far from God. New life was offered to me at a church service I attended. I reached out and prayed to receive Christ into my heart. He began the life-transforming process in my heart that day!

I know his sacrifice for us was accepted because the heavenly Father bore witness to its validity by raising Christ from the dead. In the Resurrection we see he gave Christ the victory over sin and its consequences, death. For the next forty days, Christ visited and taught his disciples (up to 500 at one time) until he was taken to heaven. And now as we share this wonderful liberating news with others, we await his return from heaven.

It is Christ’s power and authority we celebrate with the Resurrection!

The Haitian Children’s Education Ministry: Over a thousand Haitian children are in school now who might otherwise not have an opportunity for an education. The language barrier, the over-crowded school situation in public schools, and the legal status of the vast majority of the Haitian children have created the need for these Education Centers.  Haitian churches are the base for the schools and they provide a strong spiritual foundation. Debbie is giving direction and help to 15 schools right now, thanks to the generosity of God’s people.  The basic salaries of 90 teachers with directors are being paid, and a mid-morning meal is being provided to the children.  We believe a future is being secured for them through education.  If you are led to help with these costs please email Debbie at lavegaschool@gmail.com, or call the US Vonage number 863-248-1119.

Featured in the photo above is the Ranchito Haitian School and church building.  We are praying funds will come in to get a them a property and build them a new facility.  Currently they rent their building, and use the four corners for their classrooms.  

The El PIno Haitian Church School is looking for property for their program to move to in the future.  Because of title complications they are now $9000.00 shy of the needed amount.  Land is high now, but we have already received the first $18,000.00 for this purchase.  

The El Hatico School Project was completed before the new year.  Currently 135 children attend there in the educational building.  The finances have been promised for the new church building.   We are coming out of the ground with blocks for the new church building.  Rick and Isabel Piña Ministries (RIPM) have raised the funds for these two buildings. Praise the Lord!

In Limoncito, the walls are at window height.  Finances have been coming in slowly for the completion of this 2nd story sanctuary.  This week the second floor exterior walls are receiving a concrete bond beam at top of the window height. Next come the last two feet of the walls and then the stucco work (inside and out) for the whole 2nd floor.  The cost of building materials have almost doubled in the last year and so our projects are costing more than usual.  But God is always in control.  As we wait on Him, the needs are being met.  We hope these two projects will be finished before the end of the summer, in time for the new classes to start in September.  The Limoncito 2nd Floor Sanctuary Project will free up the space on the first floor for the much needed classroom space.  

If you or your church would like to help with these projects, please email Debbie at lavegaschool@gmail.com or Mitch at dominicanmissions@hotmail.com.  We would be happy to answer any questions you have.  You can also visit our website at www.DominicanMissions.Org or call our US Vonage number 863-248-1119.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Bishop Mitch and Debbie Martinez

  Mission to the Children
“Changing our world one life at a Time”

It is nice to be so busy doing the Lord’s work. Our ministries are growing, and we praise God for our increase. Yesterday, for the first time ever, we sent twelve youth to camp, six from Astilleros and six from Colima.  Thanks to discounts and donations our children will have a life changing experience at camp. Our Churches are small and when four chartered buses full of youth pulled into the gas station to pick up our kids, it was an impressive sight. 

God is awesome. Thank you all for your support. We are also going to put in our back fence at the ranch soon. Our neighbor’s cows have been helping me cut the grass, but they also eat everything else. We want to start our church beautification project as soon as we get the fences up. We do not have any money to buy plants, but we do have several people who are willing to donate plants.  

About 15 years ago our little church was full of plants, so I am excited to bring back some life to our facilities. Also, I need your prayers; I have been trying for months to get a backhoe to come clean out our drainage ditch in front of the ranch.  This ditch floods into our ranch and will wash out our newly fixed driveway.  Time is short and the rain comes at the end of May. Please pray God will send us a backhoe. Finally, one thing I especially love doing is going to schools and seeing our children perform. Last week me and Lis were invited to kindergarten to watch a spring celebration. I have always had great love for children, and I thank God who has allowed me to minister to so many children in the past thirty plus years. It has been a great pleasure to sow seeds of the gospel in so many young hearts. Please keep my ministry in your prayers. With your continued support we are Changing our World one Life at a Time
Thank you for your Continued Support. Please make checks to Mission to the Children PO BX 211322 Bedford, Tx 76095 orhttps://www.paypal.com/paypalme/missiontothechildren 

Dear Friends,
God bless all of you! We thank you all for standing with us through
this challenging time with Sylvia’s health. Your prayers strengthen
us and your encouraging words give us hope. Thanks also to those
who have helped us to pay down Sylvia’s medical bills. Your
kindness shows the goodness of God to us in so many ways!

God’s Word tells us to “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). This Scripture is easy to agree
with when we are going through times of ease and blessing in our
lives, in our family and in our ministries but is much more
challenging when we are in the times of trial and tribulation when
sometimes it seems as if our prayers are bouncing off the gates of
heaven. These times of trial and tribulation are when we learn to
trust God even when we do not know what He is up to in our lives.
Maybe we will understand later on, maybe not. In these times we
focus on the goodness of God, which never changes, and we trust
Him to work all things for our good, which He promises to do, “and
we know that in all things, God will work for the good of those who
love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans
8:28).

Our time in Rochester has been difficult but God is sustaining us.
Thanks to all of you who have helped with hotel rooms, helped with
apartment rent, given gift cards for food, etc. A week ago, Sylvia had
four blood patches put in her back, each between two vertebrae. If
all goes as planned the body will seal the leaks with these blood
patches and the spinal fluid will no longer leak into her brain,
alleviating her headaches, frequent headrushes and loud noises in
her head.The surgery went well, the doctors said, but Sylvia is still
recovering from the pain of the surgery and it is still a little soon to
see if the surgery did what it was supposed to do. Please continue to
agree with us for total healing for Sylvia and that she will be filled
with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sylvia and Joshua
plan on leaving Rochester on April 9th, if all goes according to plan.
Joshua, for the last couple of days, has been watching over his mom
and taking care of her while I am in Madison trying to get some
important ministry administrative things accomplished before
heading south as well.

While in Minnesota the ministry has kept on working through the
pastors throughout Mexico to impact lives for Christ. Thousands of
Bibles have been given out, many hundreds of thousands of tracts
have been given out, many pastors have come to the warehouse to
pick up blankets, quilts and clothes to give to needy people after
outreaches and in their churches. One pastor from the state of
Veracruz drove twenty hours to get steel for his church roof,
windows and doors, Bibles, literature, toilets for the church
bathroom, chairs, a table and much more

A dear friend of the ministry, Fred, made a trip from Minnesota
with his semi-trailer full of thirteen pallets of beans from South
Dakota for a ministry based out of Pharr, Texas. We were able to fill
the rest of the semi up with ten pallets of Gospel literature for
Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, along with a pallet of blessing bags,
clothes, quilts, chairs and much more.

Many Bible Colleges are being started in Mexico in Saltillo, Acuna,
Piedras Niegras, Poza Rica and one just began in the country of
Nicaragua. Please pray for God to use these Bible College
students to spread His Word across Mexico, Nicaragua and
wherever else He wants the Bible College to spread to. Also, for
spiritual and physical protection around them so that they will be
able to get well trained in God’s Word.

GCOM has an opportunity to minister at a large family outreach
in Guadalajara April 30th or in Monterrey close to the same date.
Both of these will be big events. Please pray for God’s guidance,
for protection from sickness and from wicked people, and for
many people to make Jesus their Lord and Savior at these
outreaches.

Of the two pallets of beans that the other ministry gave us when
the semi came down six hundred pounds of it is going to be
distributed by a friend of the ministry, Jose Benito Allende, to
feeding centers he has in Veracruz, the other twelve hundred
pounds will be used by Pastor Arturo Corpus at the outreach in
Monterrey, in a real needy area, as well as at rehabilitation
centers in Progreso, Reynosa and Matamoros, where God’s Word
is preached. GCOM still has one 1800-pound pallet of beans that
we will distribute during outreaches in Mexico.

A pastor in Matamoros who has the feeding centers in the
central state of Veracruz is in need of a van for his ministry. Also,
a pastor friend in Nuevo Laredo, Jose Luis, has a daughter in
college and she is in need of a car. Pastor Jose Luis is willing to
pay up to $1,000 for the car for his daughter. GCOM recently
donated a Ford Taurus station wagon to a church planter and
evangelist in the mountains of San Luis Potosi and a van to the
Mexican director of our Bible Colleges in Acuna. Thanks to those
of you who donated these cars to GCOM to donate to needy
pastors who are busily spreading God’s Word!

Thanks for your partnership in spreading the Gospel, and making
disciples of all nations, with GCOM. We are a team that works
together to see lives transformed by the power of God as we
each do our part and are led by the Holy Spirit. We appreciate all
of your sacrifice to spread the Gospel!

In Christ’s Love,
Rev. Kevin, Sylvia and Joshua Rosendahl

Ministry Needs

• A van for Pastor Jose for his church in Matamoros and for him to use
  to visit, and bring supplies to, his feeding centers in Veracruz, Mexico
• A car for Evelyn, Pastor Jose Luis’ daughter to use for college.
• Mission groups to use their gifts and talents to impact lives for Christ

Prayer Needs
− For total healing for Sylvia and for every pain to be gone
− For many souls to come to Christ through the upcoming outreaches
− For protection for all who work with GCOM in Mexico and other
parts of the world
− Abundant finances for all of Sylvia’s medical bills and for GCOM
− Wisdom and guidance for every decision