Four souls put on Christ in baptism

January 11, 1999

Dear Beloved Family of God:

Our Father in heaven continues to work through us, and His power is being seen in Crystal City, Texas as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed to all. It is my prayer that each of you will be re-energized with the Spirit of Christ in your lives, and that your spirit be encouraged to stand on God's promises as you walk by faith with the vision of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The Gospel of Christ is indeed the power of Almighty God, and the lost who hear it obey His calling. The Lord Jesus is kind and caring to His servants, and I am amazed at the manner in which He is able to work mightily in us when we work to win lost souls to Christ.

This past Saturday morning three of us went out on a door knocking campaign to invite our surrounding neighbors to attend our worship services and bible study classes. We had a successful morning, and the Salinas family was one of the families that we visited. After lunch Brother Carlos Rivera (a well known coach at the local school) and I began working on replacing the doors of our Annex which will house our Bible classes for the children of Crystal City, Texas. This part of our building in poor condition. It is a brick structure, but the flat roof needs to be completely replaced with a gable end roof. The estimated cost for doing this will be about $20,000. This will be an expensive endeavor for this new mission, but I am sure that the Lord will provide us with the financial means via members of the Lord's church throughout the world.

As Brother Rivera and I worked hard to replace the seven doors to our future Bible classrooms, the entire Salinas family of five came to our aid. Without a word they began cleaning out all of the class rooms. The sheet rock from the ceilings had fallen to the floor and they removed it from the class rooms for us, and the swept and mopped our floors. They brought brooms and cleaning supplies to help us. Now there were seven of us working to repair and clean the annex. Later that afternoon two other individuals from the neighborhood stopped to help us remove some of the trash such as the old doors and plywood that was used to cover those old rotten doors. Then four other people from the neighborhood stopped to help with the clean up. At this point I decided that it was necessary to see what could be done to fix our baptistery that has not been used for several years. The Salinas family volunteered to help me with this task as the others continued working on our annex. The standing water in the baptistery was about one foot deep and it would not drain. Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas suggested that we get a plunger in an attempt to unclog the drain. We sent for one and I tried and tried to unclog the drain with the plunger, but it would not drain. As we worked together the Salinas family all began asking me questions about baptism. They were excited about fixing the baptistery as they learned more about what takes place in this tomb. Among all of the people the Lord has used me to share his word with I have never experienced this type of opportunity. This was the best Bible study that I have ever had among the lost. We were all working together around the grave and birthplace that is used for burying the lost and raising up the Saints. Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas asked if she could try it unclog the drain, and I let her go to work. This lady was determined to get that drain unclogged. As she was working I prayed that God would allow her efforts to success, and within ten minutes the drain was unclogged. She did it with God's help, and she was happy and her children began clapping their hands as they saw their mother succeed. We then washed the baptistery and left it dry in order to paint it later during the week. Brother Carlos Rivera's wife Pat and his mother-in-law Mary stopped by to invite us all to their house after we finished for a good home cooked meal. What began as a work day for two men ended up being a work day for fifteen people both Christian and non-Christian. God is great and He does provide assistance for His servants even if He has to get the non Christians to help us.

Our heavenly Father blessed us again with a fantastic Lord's day. On January 10, 1999 the powerful Word of God Almighty touched the hearts of four lost souls in Crystal City, Texas. Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas and three of her teenage children decided to put on Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. I decided to take the congregation to the Lord's church in Carrizo Springs for the baptisms since they had clean warm water and baptismal clothing and towels for this event. We stopped for gas, and Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas asked me why we had to go to Carrizo Springs. I replied by saying that we had no baptismal clothing and that the water would be ice cold in our baptistery. With tears she said it did not matter if the water was ice cold or warm, and that they would go home to get a change of clothing and towels for their baptism. I convinced were that it would be best to continue to Carrizo Springs for the sake of the children. After traveling about four miles toward Carrizo Springs I began having second thoughts about is matter. Her tears and her words began to weigh heavily upon my heart. I stopped our caravan and asked the her children what they wanted to do, and the children said that they preferred to get baptized in their home town of Crystal City. They all said that they could withstand the cold water. We then returned to Crystal City.

To the glory of Jesus Christ our Teacher, I baptized these four souls into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Their names are Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas, Rudy Salinas, Ruby Salinas, and Esmeralda Angela (Angel) Salinas. Sister Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas is the mother of Rudy, Ruby, and Esmeralda Angela (Angel) Salinas. Emily Salinas age ten (the youngest of their family) decided to wait on her baptism until she understands what this means for her. Her brother and sisters wanted her to get baptized, but I saw that she was not sure so I recommended that she wait until she is ready. The family was pleased that we gave her a choice in this matter. Sister Esmeralda Rodriguez Salinas is blessed with a very loving family.

They were all filled with profound joy and peace as were the rest of the people and myself. God blessed us and we did it. Everyone was excited to see four people being baptized one right after the other. The Christians who witnessed this event said that they had never seen this many people obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ at one time. Afterwards we all went to have lunch together and then we all went to see the movie "The Prince of Egypt". After the movie we went to the church building for our Sunday evening Bible study. We all spent the entire day together as a church, and we all had fun.

Since our first Lord's day of worship on December 27, 1998 we have now had a total of thirty-two people visit us for worship and Bible study. In just fifteen days we have been blessed by God with four baptisms. We had fifteen attend yesterday's worship service and the same fifteen people attended our Sunday evening Bible study class. Last Saturday the City Manager of Crystal City visited my home. He lives across the street from my home and our church building. He wanted to know if I had made a decision on my appointment to head the new Boy's Club and Girl's Club for Crystal City. I let him know that I would assist him and the city in what ever way possible in order to build up the spirit of the children of this community. He said that next Sunday he and his family would be attending our worship services and Bible study classes.

With the Lord's blessings I will begin preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the radio from Monday through Friday for one hour. The cost for this radio program will be only $500 per month. The daily radio program will have thirty minutes of programming in English and thirty minutes of programming in Spanish. The local radio station reaches San Antonio, Texas, Laredo, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and several cities in Mexico. If you would like to help us in this missionary effort in Crystal City please let me know. Jesus Christ will bless you and Almighty God will honor you for assisting us. Please remember us in your prayers.

May the grace of God, the love of Jesus, and the peace of the Holy Spirit be with you and your family forever.

Your brother in Christ Jesus,

E-mail questions or comments to: garcia@church-of-christ.org

The church of Christ at Crystal City

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