First of all, I want to thank everyone in the Capital City Baptist Assoc. for your continued prayer and financial support during these last three years. You have been faithful in serving the LORD through your physical presence during many of our outreach events and have truly made a difference in the people's lives that have attended our mission events. The LORD has been real good to our ministry and has given us the opportunity to raise our first church plant in Springfield which we have named Iglesia Bautista Principe de Paz (Prince of Peace Baptist Church). We began our first services in January of 2008 and since then we have been worshipping the LORD every Sunday. We have seen many faces come and go and have shared the gospel with everyone who has come our way. In the last quarter of 2008, we began to see people become more consistent and regularly attending our services. We are averaging about 18 people for worship services, but have even seen more than 50 attend our Easter and Christmas services. This is a praise as there were 0 in attendance a little over three years ago. The LORD has been good to us. We have also begun discipleship classes with 4 individuals and have been involved as a group with many other outreach projects, and have also been privileged to have worshipped with New Life Baptist Church, Athens and Living Faith Baptist, Sherman in order to promote unity and to eliminate cross cultural barriers in the LORD Jesus Christ.
In looking ahead, our goal is to continue our church planting endeavors. We would like to see other new Spanish works in both Sandy Creek Baptist and Capital City Baptist Associations. My goal in the coming year is to begin another church in the area where the LORD may open an opportunity. I am currently praying about and scouting Jacksonville and will be looking into Taylorville as well. In order to see more church plants, our board will need to look for ways of raising local leadership or bringing other church planters and/or pastors who will be able to lead these new congregations. This will be a key factor to continue to grow and have success in our expansion of winning people to and growing them in Christ. As you see, EL CIELO Ministries will continue to depend on you for your prayers, physical involvement, and your financial support. We pray that God will continue to put a yearning in your hearts to reach our people group throughout central Illinois. Our hope is that many people will have a personal encounter and daily relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ and use you as a key factor to that end. Again, thank you very much for all that you have done and will continue to do for us. God bless you!
