Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Victory!

Yesterday evening during our training and bible study time in Medina we experienced a great victory as Bello surrendered his life to Christ!  Bello is an older guy who has been faithful to attend our worship services and bible studies for more than 3 months.  He never misses a meeting.  Yesterday after the bible study, we talked.  He was so ready to give all to Jesus.  He did and will be baptized this coming Sunday afternoon.  Will you pray for his faithfulness as a new believer?  Pray also that he will have a great influence on other men in his community.  We believe God is so close to unleashing an amazing harvest in Medina.  Please pray for one of our sister Baptist churches and pastor Salvador who is helping us in the work.  They are planning a three-day evangelistic event in February.
Posted by Wagner family at 07:03:34 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 28, 2008

Celebrations!

What a weekend!  Saturday begin with a midday birthday celebration of the youngest precious baby girl of Socio and Celeste.  We celebrated with cake and a praise and worship service, with preaching and everything.  Socio and Celeste have eight children and each of them are coming to Christ as they understand the call of the gospel.
Speaking of coming to Christ, early Sunday morning at 6:30 am, Micah, our youngest son, awoke early and went into our room to talk with his mother. He began talking about baptism and what it means to be a Christian.  I did not know this conversation was taking place.  As it so happened I was in the den praying for a harvest in our country.  In a few moments, Lisa and Micah walked in to announce Micah's desire to surrender his life to Christ!  He did and we have been celebrating since.
At 7 am of the same morning, I left to celebrate the baptism of new believers at the church at Ochocienta.  It was a joy!
Celebrations of this magnitude make the missionary life more than worth it all.

Posted by Wagner family at 18:20:45 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 21, 2008

Annual Dominican Baptist Convention

This past weekend we had an exciting assembly of the Dominican Baptist Convention. Here are some quick highlights of what happened:
  • 54 national church planters presented and prayed for!
  • 30 (estimate) new churches planted this past year!
  • 14 new churches presented as full members of convention!
  • 125 churches now connected to the convention!
  • 54 affliated member churches!
  • 21 out of 31 provinces now with Baptist presence!
  • New vision of cooperation between various Baptist entities in the DR!
  • Great vision growing for church planting!
  • Church planting conference planned with goal of 400 in attendance!
Will you pray today for Manolo Martinez (photo below)? He is a key Dominican leader in the Baptist Convention who has a heart for the Lord and a vision to reach his country for the Lord Jesus.




Posted by Wagner family at 09:46:55 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, January 14, 2008

Confronting With Biblical Truth

Yesterday we had a truth encounter in Medina.
For some time we have had several folks, who have yet to surrender their lives to Christ, come to our Sunday evening worship service at the new Baptist church in the community.  The believers who have accepted Christ are living out the faith in a great way.  The changes unbelievers see in their lives continue to draw interest to know more.
Yesterday we told the story of Lazarus.  His death and resurrection led us to a discussion of eternal proportions.  I know that in these days of jello theology and not wanting to offend anyone with biblical truth, my presentation yesterday evening of the realities of life, death, heaven, and hell would probably make many Americans, even a number of Christians feel uncomfortable.  One mention of the possibility of someone spending all eternitiy in a place of suffering freaks a lot of people out.  But on the other hand the gospel should freak us out!  When was the last time you heard a sermon on the biblical realities of heaven and hell?  Well, it didn't freak out my Dominican lost friends.  The rawness and harshness of these truths are consistent with the hard, difficult lifes they live.  I simply shared with them in a calm but direct way the biblical truth that those who belieive in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, would spend all eternity in His presence in heaven after they die.  Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ condemn themselves by their unbelief and thus upon their death will spend all eternity separated from God's love in hell, a place of eternal suffering, and yes unending flames.  There I said it.
This past week, two young men in Medina, ages 19 and 20, died in a motorcycle wreck.  They hit a truck and were killed instantly.  No chance for even a prayer or thought of eternity.  Dead, just that quick.  I ask if the boys knew Christ.  The answer was no.  Last night we had about 6 unbelievers in the service.  They all listened to the truth and to the warning that time is short.  None of us know the last hour of our lives here on earth.  Are you prepared for eternal life?  No one responded last night to surrender their lives to Christ, but they are thinking hard on the matter.  Some are very close to full surrender to Jesus.  I just pray it will not be too late.  If I did not believe in the biblical realities of heaven and hell, I would pack it up and come home from the mission field.  By faith in Jesus Christ, we move from sin to forgiveness, from death to life, from a path toward hell to the gates of heaven.  I want to see my friends in glory!
Will you pray today for my lost friends in Medina?  Will you pray for a harvest of souls in the community?  Will you pray for a harvest of souls in all of the Dominican Republic?
Posted by Wagner family at 08:15:29 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Praying for Key Harvest Areas in the DR

Will you pray for some key harvest areas in the DR?  Harvest areas are places where it seems God is up to something only He can do.  Places where we are seeing salvations, baptisms, and new churches planted.  Here are some key places and people groups I would ask you to present to the Father:

San Juan de la Maguana
Monte Cristi
Haitians living in East Santo Domingo
Santiago Rodriguez
Medina
Puerto Plata
Professionals through the International Baptist Church in Santo Domingo
Ozama in Santo Domingo
Rio San Juan
The Hole in Santiago
Sola Escritura in Santo Domingo

Pray specifically that God would manifest in these areas the promises of the Lord Jesus who already told us in the Word of God that "the harvest is plentiful..."



Posted by Wagner family at 20:21:52 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday, January 04, 2008

Amazing Partnership Trip to San Juan de la Maguana!

It's back to work people!
On Wednesday and Thursday, Carlos Llambes and I took two key Dominican Baptist Convention leaders to see what God has done in the city and province of San Juan de la Maguana. The work began there through Steve and Marilee Flook, who gave their lives in service to the gospel for the people of this very lost sector of the Dominican Republic. God has blessed so much! Right now Steve and Marilee are on stateside assignment. Before they left, a legacy of faith was established. To date there is one national missionary and visionary church planter, 13 house churches, 114 baptized believers, and people coming to Christ on a weekly basis. We had the change to visit with all the leaders and visit some of the church sites. To top it all off, we worshipped on Wednesday night in one of the house churches. An elderly lady made a decision to follow Christ that night. A true movement of the Lord is taking place. The leaders have asked for our help particulary in continued leadership training and biblical doctrine. We are making plans now for that. Our convention leaders were in tears of joy and excitement for what God has done and is doing. All of our hearts were broken. Will you pray for the work in San Juan? Pray for a harvest to continue! Pray for the leaders and pastors of the churches. Some are discouraged. Pray for a continued development of a great partnership. We learned so much from our brothers and sisters in San Juan! Below is a photo of the worship service:
Posted by Wagner family at 09:04:57 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |