Building People of Substance for Works of Power
Ready for Spring, Friend?
Condolences to all you folks in the East and Midwest. We here in Arizona are warm and dry, but we have been praying for you!
I want to thank all of you who continue to be so faithful in your prayers and financial support of what we are doing at Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson / Abundant Heart. Together we are impacting many lives. God has been very good to us, and our reach seems to be expanding daily.
TRAINING LABORERS
In January and February, our cr
ew of ministers continued the Instituto de Entrenamiento Ministerial de Fe (IEMF) in Miguel Aleman, Sonora, Mexico. The students there are devouring the Word on healing right now, and we will soon be finishing the first level. What a joy it will be to see those grads get their diplomas! On the January trip, Rev. Eric and Wilma Sonera, met with pastors in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora.. As a result, a new outpost of IEMF will begin there in two weeks, with 4 churches cooperating. This last month, Wilma began training children and youth workers while Eric and Pastor John taught the main classes. Her vision is to help these pastors train workers to intervene with the kids in their churches who are so often lost to the drug gangs that are so powerful in Sonora. Many of these small churches have no youth or children’s ministry at all. Soon, they will have excellence! You are part of the war on drugs, when you support our work in Mexico.
The picture here shows Eric in the sanctuary of FCF Miguel Aleman – what a huge difference in such a short time- walls, windows, lights, roof!!!! Now for the floor!
Next week, Eric and I will be in Montego Bay, Jamaica to speak at the FCF Leadership Summit. We are also bringing them info on our Faith Ministry Training Institute, as well as flashdrives with the first year classes on video. Eric will be there to meet and collaborate on a greater outreach to Cuba. It is an exciting time.
HELPING ADDICTS
One of the ministries that has grown up out of our local church is a support group program called Hebrews 10:24-25. They use our 7 Principles of Recovery materials to minister to addicts and alcoholics in a discussion group setting. Tom Barker, one of our FMTI grads, has been the entrepreneurial force behind the amazing growth of this program. There are now meetings in the county jail, the local detox facility, and in several churches in the area led by students trained in FMTI. In addition, we have FMTI-trained people working and ministering in two recovery facilities in the city. One lady commented, “You can get arrested drunk, get bounced to detox, then transferred to the Rescue Mission, and finally put out on the street, and there is someone from FCF there with the 7 Principles.” She is right.
Since the first of this year, over 100 people have been born again in these meetings. It is genuinely amazing. If your community has an addiction problem, we have a tool that works. Please contact us if you would like some practical help on how to get it done. We can put the materials in your hands and provide instruction on how to use them effectively.
I could go on. Remember to send us names and contact info on prisoners for the correspondence bible school. We are adding about 15 new students per month. Each one gets a personl response form our well-trained ministers. Also, check out the www.fmtionline.com website for free classes and info on enrolling in any of our available online courses. Our online mentors will walk you through to completion. Classes in Spanish are being added regularly!
As you can see, we are very busy. In our current facility all of these ministries and more are sharing space with the church office that is a converted closet with no windows. Pastor Valarie posted on Facebook yesterday
“John just updated the website to make it easier for those who would like to help us purchase a building for #FCFTucson — we need a new headquarters for the ministry. We need more room…our youth meet at the IHOP down the street because we have no room, our ministries share a workspace that was a big closet (we call it the bunker), our secretary offices in our book store, our media team functions in an office the size of a closet…and so does Pastor Virgil! Our two children’s rooms are overflowing with children during services. We are impacting Tucson daily, reaching out to the broken and helping them repair their lives with God’s love. We are reaching the nations by training and giving resources to pastors and leaders to anyone who wants help to reach the people in their countries. If you would like to help us continue this work, make a donation by clicking on the building fund donation link on this page: http://www.fcftucson.org/contact.php. ”
The biggest need we have at the moment is room. All the above without mentioning the fact our sanctuary is full and we need a place to start Bible school
classes in Spanish to train more laborers. We have a building picked out, the price has been negotiated, and all we need is money to move in. If you have it in your heart to help, please do so. If you have acquaintances looking for good ground, this is it!
Thinks you for your faithfulness. We are always at your service,
Virgil Stokes
www.fcftucson.org
Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson
2425 N. Huachuca Dr
Tucson AZ 85745
520-792-FCFT
pastorvirgil.com 