Dearfriendsandco-laborers–WARMgreetingsfromSouthwestTexas.How

warm?About110degrees!Wetrustthatnobodyisdoingaswarmasweare.

WearegratefulthatsomespecialfriendshavecontactedustofindoutaboutourPanamatrip,Priscilla’sweddingandmore.Inresponse,wepresentyouwithourJulynewsletter.

Our Panama trip (March 20-30) was great andencouraging.Mary’smother’s80B’daycelebrationwasadelight.Shereally enjoyed having all her children, which she had not hadtogether in many years. For those couple of individuals whofinancially contributed for this trip– thankyousoverymuch.Thiswas a very memorable family time. I took care of driving, takingpicturesandsharingjokes(whichshereallyloves).However,atthetimeof this letter, she isnotdoingsophysicallywell,whichbringsformy belovedwife a bit of concern. Your prayers are verymuchappreciatedonherbehalf.

AjoyfuleventwearesopleasedtoinformyouaboutinourMaranathaMatterssectionisthatofourparkoutreach.WehadanabsolutegreattimewithafewfamilieswhocamefromHopeintheCity(Austin,TX)whocontactedusontheirwillingnesstojoinusinaministryadventure.Inshort,thiswasourbestchurchspringbreakever.WhatawaytostartupanewLifeGroup.Asaresultofthisoutreach,wecurrentlyhaveaboutthreenewfamilieswhoarenowcomingtochurchonaveryregularbasis.PraisetheLordwithus! Asamatterof fact,ourLifeGroupministry(smallgroups)tookafewweeksoff(June)torefreshandrefuel.We ended May with some very good statistics. In ourtraditionalministrymode from2015we averaged about55 in attendance on Sunday andWednesday nights. OurMay2017monthlyaveragewas100.Ofcourse, thesearesimply numbers but these numbers are actually peoplewho are favorably responding to the gospel in our newministrymode. Wealsoreviewedourprimaryobjectivesat the end of May. We started with two main pillars in2016: 1. To edify the believers and 2. To evangelize the

non-believers. At the end of our first year, weconcludedthatwhilewecoveredtheformer,wefailedonthelatter.Sowestarted2017withthechallenge of being more committed toevangelismandwearesogladto informthatwehavehadmoreconversionstotheLordinthelast5monthsthaninthelastthreeyearsputtogether.We now have the Valladares family, theHernandez, the Sandovals, Armando & Araceli,Dolores,Angélica,Cireniaandothers.Infact,asin

SteadyandstrongFBCyoungstershardatwork.

HopeintheCity(Austin,TX)bringshope.

Onehappymotherandchildren

Box160LaGrange,WY82221

TheOrtega’sJuly2017Newsletter

thebookofActs,thenewbelieversarenowaskingusaboutbaptism.Ofcourse,weareabsolutelypleasedandoverjoyedaboutthis.

NowthefactthatwetookabreakinJunefromourLifeGroupministryuntilthesecondweekofJulydoesnotmeanthatJunehasbeencompletelyidleandcarefree.Asinpreviousyears,ourdearfriendsfromFBCcamedown(June3-10)fortheirlaborandministryatMaranatha.Whileinpreviousyearstheyhadgraciouslyworkedonourchurchbuildingandourparsonage, thisyear involvedreplacingouroldhouse fence. But before they did that, I had to completely bring down the old onewe had. I workedalongsidethemforacoupleofdays.ImustsaythatforthatgroupofJr.Highkids,theyworkedashardasanyadultIknow.Evenintemperaturesaround100degrees,theseyoungmenandwomenworkedanddid thingsasunto JesusHimself.Whata sight thatwas!TheverypresenceofGodwas vividly sensed throughout their stay.Wheretheyshinedevengreaterwas intheirsharingthegospelwithourneighborhoodkids.Infact,whenwedidtheinvitationdistribution,someofourcommunitykidsalreadyknewwhatitwasallabout–their buddies from Oklahoma were coming to town. What animpact these young lives have continued to make in ourcommunity.Theyclearlysharedthegospelthroughworship,Biblestories,skitpresentations,craftsandevengames,wrappingthingsupwithablockpartyonThursdaynight.TheygreatlyencouragedournewkidsandevenparentswhohavebeenreachedthroughourLifeGroupsministry.WecouldneverthankGodenoughfor thesepreciousones.

On June 8-15Mary, Sylvia and Imade a quick

road trip fromMcAllen all theway to SantaBarbara,California for our daughter Priscilla’s wedding. Thiswasasortofbittersweetexperience,assheisthefirstofthreedaughterswegiveawayinmarriage.Sheandher husband Brad Wright now live in Dallas.Interestinglyenough,PriscillawasbornontheLord’sDay and she gotmarried on the Lord’s Day, aswell,oneweekbeforeher27thbirthdayonthe17th.Onthenightbeforetheweddingday,MaryandIpresentedher

withanoakpiecewithDeuteronomy6:5-9 inscribedonit. Itwasaverymovingevening.SpeakingofJuneevents,MaryandIcelebrated31yearsofmarriage on June 14 and on June 26, Sarai and I celebrated anotherbirthdaytogether.

Cubaremainsprettymuchaliveinourhearts.Iamcurrentlyprojectinganothertriptothatisland

nationaroundOctober.My last three trips toCubahave revolvedaround thecapital cityofHavanaaswellasthewesternpartoftheisland(yes,wherethebestCubancigarsareproduced,andno,Ihavenotsmokedone).Thesehavebeenbyfar,theverybestandmostaccomplishedvisitsI’vemadeinall10yearsthatI’vebeengoingtoCuba,especiallysinceI’veconnectedwithsomeverysolidpastorswhoareverystrong in personal evangelism and church planting. However, they really appreciate encouragement,resources and training, sincemanyof themhaveno formalBible training.Of course, these gregariouspastorshavealsotaughtmemanyvaluablelessonsonhumility,devotion,service,faith,joyandlove.Onmylastvisit,PastorChris(Nebraska)andIweregiventhehonorofbaptizinganumberofnewlyborn-againbelievers,whileIledotherstoChristandchallengedthemtoremainfaithful.I’mlookingforwardtoreconnectingwithMarcos,Papo,Emilio,JuanCarlosandmanymore.Istillvividlyrecallthejoyandtearssome pastors shed when we closed out the last conference. I’m sure those church leaders from FBC

Mr.&Mrs.Brad&PriscillaWright

TheSandovalsnowcometochurch

(Tulsa,Ok)whojoinedme,aswellasmydearfriendsfromWyomingandNebraskareallyholddearthosedearbelievers.TheFamily:Atthetimeofwriting,MaryandIfindourselvesdoingalright.Sylvia,ontheotherhand,wasfoundwithheraortavalvehaving furtherexpanded.Please continue topray forher.According toherspecialist,weshouldanticipateadecreaseinhergrowthspurt,thuseasinguponheraorticenlargement.Sylviaremainsprettymuchconsciousofherconditionandweliveenjoyingandlovingheronedayatatime.DorememberthatMaryandIcouldnotpossiblydoministryinMcAllenandinCubawithoutyou.Thankssoverymuchforbeingavitalpartofourteam.Pleasekeepthefollowingprayerrequestsclosetoyourhearts:

1. BradandPriscilla’smarriage,thattheywouldseekGodintheirnewhome.TheyarecurrentlyattendingFellowshipDallas.

2. MyCubatripinOctober.3. OurMaranathaLifeGroupsandthenewbelieversandtheonesstilltocometofaithinChrist.4. Mary’smothercontinuestobeinpoorhealth.5. Sylvia’ssyndrome,especiallyherenlargedaorta.6. ForMary’sandmyhealth,thatwewouldcarryontheministriesGodhasentrustedtous.