We moved here on December 28, 2016. As we were getting settled, we began meeting with friends and family as well as new people God brought our way, and started sharing the vision God had put in our hearts for this city and for the new church plant, Iglesia Vida, which would launch September 10th, 2017. On February 12, we had our first vision-casting meeting. With 65 adults in attendance, we worshipped and dreamed together. Many of those we talked to were excited and wanted to join us, although most couldn’t understand why we would wait so many months to launch the church. But God had put in our hearts a plan and we knew God would use those months to solidify our launch team and provide all we needed to have a strong launch for His Glory. And that He did!
At the beginning of the year we received the missions pastors from a couple of our partner churches in the USA to pray for us and to prepare the way for future mission trips. We also hosted several mission trips that visited us from Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. We had Prayer Walks and shared the love of Jesus with people in plazas and soccer fields, to the hungry by the railroad, to children in schools and poor communities, to families in parks and even to parents at a karate academy.
We began meeting with our launch team monthly to train them to be ready to serve once we launched. God continued to add to us those who were willing and ready to invest their hearts and lives into reaching Guadalajara for Christ through Iglesia Vida. God provided a beautiful place for us to meet and on July 23rd we began having weekly gatherings there to practice before our official launch day and had our army of volunteers serving in their different ministry areas. At that point we had 35 amazing volunteers, including incredible band and worship team and children’s ministry. To this day, the volunteer has grown to over 80 strong!
Right before we launched VIDA Church, we had 21 days of prayer and fasting, which we ended with a baptisms service the Sunday before launch day and 13 were baptized! On September 10, we launched and 357 people attended our service. In October we had our first Marriage Conference “El Arte del Matrimonio” (The Art of Marriage), We concluded it on Sunday morning, where almost 400 people attended, marriages were restored and over 40 people came to Christ!
We can’t wait to see what God will continue to do!! We are so blessed and honored to get to serve our Lord and Savior in this wonderful place that is so ripe for the harvest and so thirsty for the Gospel!! Since we started our ministry in Guadalajara, we have seen more than 500 Salvations and we know this is just the beginning! ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Some prayer requests:
1. Our church is growing…that’s a good problem to have that leads us to the big need of a permanent place. Please pray God provides us the funds to buy a piece of land for us to start building a house of prayer and worship.
2. We need full timers on our team, right now it’s only our family and the rest are volunteers.
3. For our church to keep growing in Jesus, not centered in any other but on Him.
4. For our children’s continued adaptation to Guadalajara.
By: Julio Arriola
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