Cy-Fair Ladies -- First team of the year!

Well, our first team of 2008 has just wrapped up: the women of Cy-Fair Christian Church in Houston, TX. They came last year for the first time and ministered to the women of this area. This year, only three of them came back, but they did such a wonderful job, and the women of Cofradia, Santa Fe, and Arrayanes, thoroughly enjoyed having them here. I admit wholeheartedly that I did as well. It was wonderful to see their familiar faces and have the chance to catch up and continue building friendships, and I feel so spoiled to be able to watch them shower love and affection on the people I love!

During their week with us, they visited each one of the three main towns in which we minister: Arrayanes, Cofradia, and Santa Fe. They had an open meeting for the women that wanted to attend in each town. During that meeting they shared testimony about how the Lord worked in their lives and spiritual growth through their involvement in small group ministry; their testimonies then naturally led into a talk about the benefits of small group ministry and teaching on how to maintain healthy small groups. This was their focus because the women of the church are going to start a Bible study in which they will complete the lessons at home on their own and then meet weekly for small group discussion, fellowship, and prayer. Every other week those small group meetings will be corporate for all three towns, and each town will take turns hosting those corporate meetings. The Bible study is called He Speaks to Me by Priscilla Shirer, and it looks great. The Bible study books have also been provided by the ladies ministry at Cy-Fair, and one of the women even shared testimony about how the Lord moved in her life through this very study.

With the women in Arrayanes

Aside from testimony and teaching, they also did crafts and had time of fellowship with the women of each town. After the morning meeting, they had the opportunity to have lunch in the home of one of the women in the town. This is always a treat for our short-term teams because they get the chance to see the church members in their own homes and experience a taste of what their lives and culture and food are really like! Of course, it's also a really great time of fellowship and to get to know one-another better.

Crafts in Arrayanes

The ladies of Arrayanes

Lunch in Arrayanes with Pola

Hanging out in Arrayanes

Crafts in Cofradia

The ladies of Cofradia

Then in the afternoon, the three ladies spent time with the small group leaders in each town. They shared more details about the study and gave more pointers on leading small groups. They also had time for the small group leaders to ask questions or share their concerns, etc.

Finally, at the end of the week, they had a corporate meeting in Cofradia for all three towns. They shared about a woman named Acsah, who appears very briefly in Joshua. They shared about this woman and her boldness to ask her father for her portion of the land that he received as his portion when the Israelites began to inhabit the promised land. They used this brief story of boldness in this woman to illustrate how we ought to be with the Lord. We should come to him as our loving Father and make known our needs and our desires to Him. We need to open ourselves up to ask for what is on our hearts and then be ready and willing to receive from Him, and we should continue to ask until He has satisfied our hearts. It was a very encouraging message, which was followed by a time of communion.


It was quite clear that the women of Cofradia and the surrounding area really enjoyed having these ladies back again, as did we as a staff. They are such a joy to work with, and we are looking forward to how the Lord works through our ladies as they participate in this Bible study and open themselves up to the Lord as they never have before!