Hi Everyone.
As some of you already know, many of us 18-20 somethings are in an active relationship with El Circulo Juvenil, a youth church in The Dominican Republic. Fausto Liriano, the pastor of E.C., will be sending us updates about the cool new developments with E.C. Keep checking in monthly for the exciting details!

Also, if you’re interested in being apart of this year’s trip, check out the Dominican Republic link.

Here’s the latest from Fausto:

Hi all!!
The last few months have been very interesting.
As many of you know, after spending a few weeks in prayer, my
wife and I made the decision to focus solely on El Circulo and its
development as a church, and leave some other alternate ministries
we were working on aside. It was a decision made after much
conversation and prayer, because we had been working with
friends, to whom we are extremely thankful; however, we came
to the realization that it was time to concentrate on what we
considered was our prime calling in the Lord.

This was a challenging decision, not only because we were trying
to figure out if this was the right way (as in “God’s Will”) for this
time, but also because it was a risk we had to take, as we had
been depending financially on other ministries for our support (this
is because El Circulo is not capable of fully supporting us). However,
the decision has been made, and here we are. God has been
faithful (not that this is news at all!). There are still a few things
that we need to complete financially, so I count on prayer and
support from each of you.

So what’s up with El Circulo? Allow me to summarize with one
word: WOW! Everything we can see going on has made us realize
that we have made some good decisions. Last February 27th we
had our first official baptism as a church, during our Prayer Retreat.
There were four people baptized, 3 guys and one girl. Brenda (the
girl) had received the Lord last year while we had been working
with one of the missionary groups from the USA at the Universidad
Autónoma de Santo Domingo. We felt great to see that efforts of
that nature are actually bringing forth fruit. At the same time, there
are few experiences as pleasant as seeing about 50 young men
and women spending time with God, speaking and giving thanks
for the ways that He was worked in their lives.

At the same time, this month we began
with YO AMO EL CIRCULO (”I LOVE
EL CIRCULO”), a campaign where
we try to involve as many of the guys
as possible in service for the
congregation. That way, they can
discover the gifts that God has placed
in them, and in turn we grant them
opportunities to use them. The result:
we have been able to integrate more
people into the work teams. Our
services our more dynamic, and there
is a contagious feeling of joy as more
and more people come in to serve and
edify the church. That is, in a nutshell,
our dream: a participatory community,
where not just one or two people carry
the weight of service, but a place where
you can feel as a part of, because of
the one brick (or two, or three!) you
layed in the whole wall.

Prayer Requests:
1. For Noelia and her continuous adaptation into the country.
2. For our marriage, that we can be an example to the marriages
that are coming about from El Circulo.
3. For our finances, so that there be pathways to be fully supported
by El Circulo.
4. For Noelia’s mother, for her recuperation, because two weeks
ago she went through a somewhat complicated surgery.
5. For El Circulo and for its leadership, that God would continue
to use it as an important way to reach the youth in our city.
6. For the lives of each of the guys that recieved their baptism
a few weeks ago.

We are extremely appreciative for your prayers, and for the many of you who feel like a part of what God is doing here, within each of us and in El Circulo as a whole.

Fausto and Noelia Liriano