Dear Friends and Family,
As I sit down to write about this first Awa Conference organized and carried out by the Awa believers, I am really finding it hard to put into words. I feel kind of like Joshua must have felt after crossing the Jordan with the Israelites, or like Paul as he was writing his first letter to the Thessalonians. We saw the Lord work in so many ways in the past week I feel like I could write about it for a whole day. That would make for a very long email, but here I will try to share some of the highlights.
It began with a tender, generous display of hospitality by Meregildo who insisted on having the first seven people who came from the lowlands stay at his home for the night before conference. He had even killed his own calf to feed everyone at his house, and this was in addition to the $30 he had given for buying the bull for the conference meals.
It ended with a special Easter Sunday service in which Paulino and Milton were ordained as elders of the Awa Church, and with a new family publicly expressing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
In between, there were great times together in God�s Word, sweet fellowship, and believers working together in harmony. Our partner Kevin described it this way:
�This year Doug and Milton taught through the first part of Daniel, as Doug just recently completed the first draft translation of that important OT book. Those familiar testimonies of faith and faithfulness�like Daniel in the lions� den-- were heard for the first time by many that came. In the afternoons I taught some simple principles of money and debt from a Biblical perspective, as easy credit and loans have become an increasing problem here in these mountains�.Paulino and Milton both demonstrated their leadership in so many ways during the conference. The maturity and wisdom they displayed in the planning was incredible, even in such simple areas as the food. Each morning they discussed with the ladies what should be cooked, and made sure there was what was needed. They organized men to carry water up from the spring. They waited until last to be fed, to make sure there was enough food for all. Milton even helped to serve food one day, a definite ladies� job! They earnestly taught, admonished, and encouraged their fellow believers. One of the highlights for me was overhearing Milton in deep conversation with Alfonso, Meregildo�s neighbor, about what it means to be saved. As Alfonso expressed his worries (he can�t read, he can�t help getting drunk), Milton patiently encouraged him and reminded him that salvation rests in Christ�s sacrifice on the cross. Both Alfonso and his wife, along with their adult son (Manuel), all made a public show of their trust in Christ on Sunday.�
Easter Sunday was celebrated with Paulino leading the service and sharing the story of Christ�s death, burial and resurrection. He gave a strong admonition to those who had been slack in their commitment, saying that God�s Word is not a toy to play with, but that we must be serious and faithful in obeying and following the risen Lord. After he finished, I reviewed Paul�s practice of ordaining elders from the book of Acts, and his teaching about it from 1 Timothy 3. We had first presented Milton and Paulino as candidates for leadership about a year ago as we were teaching on this passage in great detail for several weeks. Here, after praying about it and talking about it among the believers for a year, we layed hand on them and formally named them as elders of the Awa Church. Then Paulino and Milton distributed the Lords supper, and it was a wonderful way to bring Awa conference to a close, especially with three new people participating and declaring their desire to follow Christ.
To sum it up, our hearts of full to overflowing with joy and praise ��to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.�
(Eph 3:20-21)
Doug and Dorcas Williams
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