Greetings from Bolivia! We want you to know how much we value your prayers for us and our ministry here. We see God impacting many lives, and we believe that God is answering your prayer!

Please pray for my trip tomorrow to Temuco, Chile to meet with pastors and denominational leaders to discuss the possibility of starting ESI (Equipping Servants pastoral ministry) in that area.

I received this encouraging testimony from a pastor in Ecuador who is studying the Bible with us. Again, this is an evidence of how God is answering your prayers!! Listen to what he says: “Hi -- my name is Leo. I’m part of a pastoral team in a large Evangelical church in Ecuador. The Lord saved me when I was 10 years old. Two years ago our senior pastor started commenting how much a course called ESI was impacting his thinking, marriage and ministry. After finishing the 3-year ESI training process, he began encouraging other leaders in our denomination to attend ESI. One day he approached me to say, “Leo, you need to get involved in ESI. You’ll find it very helpful”.

I accepted his invitation. During the first weeks I did learn a very helpful method of studying a passage within its Biblical context. The fact is that I had never really taken time to study the Bible, even as a pastor, so digging into the Bible was a new experience for me. The more I studied Romans, the more the truth of the gospel started sinking into my mind and heart. There were many things I had never considered seriously in my Christian walk, and I realized that my understanding even of the most basic gospel truth was quite superficial. To my shame I admit that this was the first significant impact the Bible had in my Christian life. I began to realize that there were many things I had taken for granted, things I had heard in Sunday School as a child and in church as a young person, but had never really understood or developed as a conviction in my life.

So I continued studying through Romans and reading the books assigned to us each week in the ESI process, and the truth of God’s Word deepened its impact my life. It’s like Jesus says in John 8:32, “If you abide in my Word, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. He really means that! I began to experience this freedom that Jesus promised – the freedom of resting in the finished Work of Christ; not in the futile, wearisome and unsatisfying effort of my own works-righteousness trying to earn approval with God. I came to see that anything of value in my life is the work of Christ, and that without Him I can do nothing of eternal significance.

I am currently studying in ESI’s 4th Module, and together with other pastors we are discovering how to improve our ability to prepare Biblical sermons and preach the Word of God. I always thought I was pretty good at communicating – I would identify a need in our church, find a verse that addressed that issue, think of a story, a poem and some good ideas – and that is what I would preach. To be honest I saw very little change in lives from my ministry. But as I’ve understood that God’s charge to me as a pastor is to hear what God says in His Word, to study and understand that truth in its context, and then to communicate God’s message clearly and persuasively to the church, I’m seeing real gospel impact. Being this kind of servant is a great challenge to me, and it takes a lot of work and serious prayer! But God has begun a new direction in my life, and it has become my commitment to never again preach what the Word of God does not say.

I’ve always thought that if something happens to me it’s for a purpose. As I consider what God has done in my life in the past two years as a result of studying the Bible in ESI, I can see that this wonderful opportunity the Lord has given me in his infinite mercy is so that I can learn and grow and prepare myself for effective gospel ministry. I thank Him for His grace in my life."

We value your partnership in the gospel with us,

Kep and Debbie