Big trouble in El Salvador
The Quiet Hour (TQH) has created something of a problem in El Salvador because of their evangelistic efforts in 2005-2006: nearly 3,000 people there have joined the family of God! The existing church structures, some of them little more than shacks or one-room-home fellowships, are not able to contain all the worshipers. So, as it has around the world, TQH has raised funds for and rolled up sleeves to build churches and chapels to house the new converts.
The Quiet Hour’s “MP3” youth ministries program, coordinated by Pastor Joedy Melashenko, built four new churches in March 2006 for the several thousand Christian converts The Quiet Hour baptized in 2005 in El Salvador. Pastor Roy West of TQH-Canada and his volunteer evangelists ministered in El Salvador in February 2006.
Then, to create even more “havoc” among the Body of Christ in El Salvador, more than 220 people were baptized as a result of the MP3 March 2006 evangelism program, and 600 visually-impaired people received eyeglasses in mobile clinics at the four evangelism sites. Nightly meetings were held by evangelists Carlos Salome, Sergio Balboa, Arturo Quintero, and Merlin Beerman. What to do with all these new brothers and sisters?
“Our MP3 team had 26 people this year in El Salvador. It was delightful,” says Pastor Melashenko. “ El Salvador was a very positive experience. We had a number of bilingual young adults that made translating [the sermons, programs, clinics, and work instructions] a breeze. I would love to work closely again with the Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Federation as a cornerstone for future Central American MP3 projects. They are eager to team up with The Quiet Hour to help organize and coordinate short-term mission projects that would include a number of their youth and young adults as well as their local pastors to serve as evangelists.”
Seven-day solutions
Pastor Melashenko reports that the four church-building sites each have four walls and a roof. The Quiet Hour’s volunteer team, mostly youth and young adults on spring break from school, was supplemented by Salvadoran volunteers and hired masons, and at each building site, they “strung lights and worked well into the night, many times past midnight.”
Pastor Victor Burgos, El Salvador Conference President, was overjoyed and extremely satisfied with the overall impact of The Quiet Hour MP3 Project, says Pastor Melashenko. “What we accomplished was unprecedented in their history. Normally, it takes five to six weeks to erect the walls of a church. To see three churches completed in a week (and one almost completed) was a miracle. This project has ignited a fervor and an eager spirit throughout the conference to purchase more land to build additional churches.”
Trouble-makers and trouble-breakers
A 17-year-old female volunteer from British Columbia said, “I am the kind of person who doesn’t cry in public, but when I was leaving the El Carmen church, I found myself in tears. Those people have such drive. They were behind schedule, but the church was up, the roof was on and there were curtains in the windows. The tears in their eyes, men and women alike; their hugs, kisses, and love were enough to take my breath away. I saw that church in the beginning when there was just a trench for the footings all the way around, and I saw it raised up in seven days. Praise God for this heart-warming experience. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. I just hope it was enough.”
Another MP3 participant, a young woman from Los Angeles, said, “At the eye clinic, I was taught a great lesson. Many do not have the precious gift of vision. However, providing the gift of sight is not as important as letting others know that one’s focus needs to be on Jesus, the One who sees beyond our limits…the One who sees beyond our imperfections…the One who sees beyond our sins. This is the type of sight that we must acquire with all of God’s children. Thank you, Lord, for teaching me the true meaning of sight.”
“I never knew that helping people get glasses would be so fun!” said Kaylie Beerman, 11, who participated in her second Quiet Hour evangelism mission to El Salvador. She and her entire family play significant roles in speaking, music ministry, prayer, ministry to children, visits to orphanages and hospitals, and conducting health clinics.
Be a part of the problem; be a part of the solution!
Yes, The Quiet Hour causes problems all over the world—but the ministry, with its Seek-Reap-Keep model of evangelism, is not a bit repentant! Its worldwide evangelism and mission projects are creating thousands of new believers with insufficient place to fellowship and grow in faith. Those “problems” are being solved by The Quiet Hour’s ministry team and financial supporters: building hundreds of chapels in India, the Philippines, Russia, Mongolia, Romania, and Ghana; schools and orphanages in Kenya, India, and Bolivia; medical launches, flights, and shipments to the Amazon Basin and remote Philippine islands… the accomplishment list is long. But the needs-list is longer. Find out what you can do to help by calling 800-900-9021, or visiting www.thequiethour.org. |
