Dear Praying Friends,
Today makes six weeks that I have been living here in the beautiful nation of El Salvador. Almost immediately, God began to give me great ministry opportunities to serve people in many ways. I am grateful for Pastor Ernesto Rosales and some of the members of the church I serve with. Their hearts for the lost to be saved and a desire to see young people discipled is something that greatly encourages and challenges me.
Five weeks ago I took a city bus to visit a new friend who is part of the church. During my time with him, I got my hair cut. We talked about the ministry which God has put into my heart. The woman cutting my hair was excited to hear my plans to help her people. Because she has a salon, she knows a lot of people. Afterwards she took me down the street to meet one of the leaders of the street gang. And gloriously, these past five weeks I have taken a bus to go visit these young men who are ensnared by Satan. Each time I go visit them, God gives me great times with them. I get to explain the gospel over and over; I get to answer their questions, pass out gospel tracts and give them Bibles. I am convinced that God is doing a patient work in their hearts.
Over the past two weeks, God has allowed me to begin doing one-on-one Bible studies with several teenagers. Please pray that their hearts will continue to be tender to God and that they should learn to walk near our wonderful LORD and cherish His Bible. One teen in particular has had a troubled life as well as involvement with gangs. My heart cries for him. I hope that he will give me the opportunity to be a friend and demonstrate some stability in his life. One reason youth get into gangs down here is because of the absence of a father and the lack of structure.
The Lord is faithful and abundant in grace to daily give me joy, strength and a focus on Him in the work. Though at the present, I lack many things that we Americans take for granted, I am refreshed to trust God and be content with Him. My greatest work that I personally need, which I find to be the most important, is to spend extra amounts of time alone with God in prayer. The need here is overwhelming spiritually and physically more than I can explain. My heart grieves often because almost everyone I meet allows me to share the gospel with them, but they have a grave problem: their hearts are indifferent. There is such an overwhelming amount of fake Christianity that many people’s hearts have become dull of hearing the precious name of Jesus Christ. They do not consider that they must make a decision with Heaven’s glorious name JESUS CHRIST.
I still need a home. We have diligently been searching for a house that I could rent. I even have had a realtor look for a house, and to no avail there are no houses or apartments for rent in this area. Meanwhile, I continue to reside at Pastor Rosales’ home in an extra bedroom he has. There are plenty of properties for sale, but nothing to rent. Therefore, we are seeking the LORD to understand if perhaps I should somehow try to buy some land in order to build upon. Of course, this would be much sooner than I had been considering. So please keep these matters in prayer.
THANK YOU for your financial support and prayers!!! And thanks for writing me.
Lawrence Bowman
P.S.
I have had great difficult getting my computer access to internet. I was able to email my Quarterly Prayer Letter four weeks ago. If you never received it, please email me or contact me on Facebook, and I will send it to you again. Thank you for patience!
Today makes six weeks that I have been living here in the beautiful nation of El Salvador. Almost immediately, God began to give me great ministry opportunities to serve people in many ways. I am grateful for Pastor Ernesto Rosales and some of the members of the church I serve with. Their hearts for the lost to be saved and a desire to see young people discipled is something that greatly encourages and challenges me.
Five weeks ago I took a city bus to visit a new friend who is part of the church. During my time with him, I got my hair cut. We talked about the ministry which God has put into my heart. The woman cutting my hair was excited to hear my plans to help her people. Because she has a salon, she knows a lot of people. Afterwards she took me down the street to meet one of the leaders of the street gang. And gloriously, these past five weeks I have taken a bus to go visit these young men who are ensnared by Satan. Each time I go visit them, God gives me great times with them. I get to explain the gospel over and over; I get to answer their questions, pass out gospel tracts and give them Bibles. I am convinced that God is doing a patient work in their hearts.
Over the past two weeks, God has allowed me to begin doing one-on-one Bible studies with several teenagers. Please pray that their hearts will continue to be tender to God and that they should learn to walk near our wonderful LORD and cherish His Bible. One teen in particular has had a troubled life as well as involvement with gangs. My heart cries for him. I hope that he will give me the opportunity to be a friend and demonstrate some stability in his life. One reason youth get into gangs down here is because of the absence of a father and the lack of structure.
The Lord is faithful and abundant in grace to daily give me joy, strength and a focus on Him in the work. Though at the present, I lack many things that we Americans take for granted, I am refreshed to trust God and be content with Him. My greatest work that I personally need, which I find to be the most important, is to spend extra amounts of time alone with God in prayer. The need here is overwhelming spiritually and physically more than I can explain. My heart grieves often because almost everyone I meet allows me to share the gospel with them, but they have a grave problem: their hearts are indifferent. There is such an overwhelming amount of fake Christianity that many people’s hearts have become dull of hearing the precious name of Jesus Christ. They do not consider that they must make a decision with Heaven’s glorious name JESUS CHRIST.
I still need a home. We have diligently been searching for a house that I could rent. I even have had a realtor look for a house, and to no avail there are no houses or apartments for rent in this area. Meanwhile, I continue to reside at Pastor Rosales’ home in an extra bedroom he has. There are plenty of properties for sale, but nothing to rent. Therefore, we are seeking the LORD to understand if perhaps I should somehow try to buy some land in order to build upon. Of course, this would be much sooner than I had been considering. So please keep these matters in prayer.
THANK YOU for your financial support and prayers!!! And thanks for writing me.
Lawrence Bowman
P.S.
I have had great difficult getting my computer access to internet. I was able to email my Quarterly Prayer Letter four weeks ago. If you never received it, please email me or contact me on Facebook, and I will send it to you again. Thank you for patience!
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