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The Benoit Newsletter Dear Friends, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19) In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul devotes the whole chapter to the resurrection. The very message of the Gospel is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ (vs. 1-11). And the truth of that affects the entire Christian faith (vs. 12-19). If it isn’t true, then Jesus never rose from the dead (vs. 13, 16), Christianity has no hope and is pitiful (v. 19). But,…if it is true? Wow! It means that there is life after death! And we have hope in this life and after this life for all of eternity! That is the hope of Easter: because of Jesus’ resurrection, everyone will live eternally. But the crucial question is where will they be? With the Lord, or eternally separated from Him? Only those who’ve trusted in Him will spend eternity with Him, all others will “pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord ...” (2 Thess. 1:9) May you have a renewed hope in the risen Savior and Lord Jesus Christ this Easter and know that the Gospel is true! Puebla del Río Church news: The rainiest winter of the last 50 years has combined with illnesses to drop the Church’s Sunday attendance from 32-35 people to 22-25. The Thurs. Bible study/prayer meeting was going well, with 10 of us studying the book "One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven" (if you haven’t read the book, I recommend it!), until the rain hit before Christmas and the attendance dropped to 5-7 of us. It has rained every few days for over 2 months. In January, Seville had the 1st snow since 1954! As I write this, the Guadalquivir River has flooded hundreds of square miles in Seville, Córdoba and Jaén provinces. Weather aside, the church had a Valentine’s Day reception/game night for couples on Feb. 14th and 8 couples came, including one man who had never set foot in the church even though his wife has come for 6 years. At Easter we plan another reception for all ages with a movie as a way to reach out, besides our Easter banner at the town’s main intersection. Please pray for the movie Apr. 1st (and for that husband to come again!). Just 12 days before then (Mar. 20th), the church will host the regional Ladies meeting for 24 churches from the Federation that the Puebla church is in. They expect about 40 ladies to come. Salud will give the Bible study on how to handle one’s emotions. Please pray for her and the activity too. TBM ministry news: Our missionary intern, John D. Bennett is still in CA waiting on his residency visa. The document he needed from the FBI came on Feb. 17th, so he may have his visa in a few months. Please pray for his visa! His sister Lisa, serving with TBM in northern Spain, has been on chemotherapy since Dec. Please pray for her strength and healing. You can see updates on her at: http://www.tentmakersbiblemission.org/ (just click the “Praise and prayer” link). I’ve been working 14 months to arrange a Spring Youth Retreat for 100 youth from our Federation churches in Andalucía (whose board asked me to direct it). The speaker will be Paul Washer of HeartCry Missions Society. The registration is now at a time when I’m teaching 2 classes at the Al-Andalus Bible College and getting church Easter activities ready. Please pray for the retreat Apr. 30-May 2nd and the results in the lives of the youth. And please pray for me as I organize and direct things between now and then and try to keep up with teaching and church too. Family news: Jonathan is doing a government-certified 12 week training program for Passenger cabin stewards. He’ll learn emergency first-aid, airport security, crowd control, etc. and will be certified to work on planes, trains and ships when he finishes the end of May. He hopes to get a summer job with that. This leads to our next item: our deputation trip to the U.S. this year. Because of Social Security requirements between Spain and the U.S., I must spend over 6 months in the States. We were planning on all 4 of us going, but now it may be just 3 of us. However, if Elisabeth’s school plans change, it may just be one of us: me! We don’t know yet how things will work out. Please pray for us to have wisdom to know how to arrange the trip. Thank you for praying for us, for the Puebla del Río church, and the other items we mention in this letter. Thank you too, to all of you who financially support us to serve here. May God bless you with “hope in Christ”! In Jesus’ love and service, Frank, Salud, Jonathan and Elisabeth |
