April News 09

The LoopLoop-ez The Lopez Family Newsletter

As we have just celebrated the resurrection of the Lord, we continue to celebrate the things which He continues to do to this very day! The Lord gives us all opportunities to serve Him and to be used by Him. We pray that you may be encouraged to do just that, wherever you are and however the Lord guides you. As for us we have been surprised at the countless opportunities the Lord has given us to share the Gospel. Also the Lord has guided us to make important decisions to prepare to return to Argentina. As you read what the Lord has been doing in our lives, we thank you for praying for us, it is making the difference! In Christ, Stephen & Debora Lopez

Youth Testify He Is Alive! This past resurrection Sunday many people heard the Gospel after a full presentation done by the youth of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the acting was done by the youth. There were 12 of us in the play accompanied by the church choir. Debora and I have been working months to train the youth in preparation for this and we were so proud of the youth who gave their all to glorify the Lord with their talents. The play consisted of various eye witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can see me in the picture to the right as a Roman soldier. Don’t worry, no one was hurt in the making of this production! After the entire play the pastor gave a Gospel message and many people came forward to put their trust in Christ as their personal Savior. We even had the opportunity to counsel various people who came forward. It was awesome to see how excited the teens were. Many of them never acted before but they did a great job in front of all the people that were there. The church was packed the entire weekend and many of the teens invited their friends to come see them act in the play. There is a real joy that comes from using the talents that God gives you in ways that further the kingdom of God. What could you do? Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel

“...His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible …” 1 Peter 1:3-4 Want to see more pics, videos and more? Go to the web!

www.stephendebbylopez.blogspot.com

Courage is fear in prayer!

Countdown to Argentina At the end of May Debora and I will making an important step in order for us to return to Argentina. We will be moving to Schroon lake, NY to raise support while serving at the summer camps of Word of Life. We believe this is an important step in preparation for us to return to the mission field. Remember that we completely depend on the Lords provision through financial donations in order for us to serve as missionaries . We must to be at 100% in faith promises by August! We are currently at 55% .Please pray with us to reach this goal. Please contact us if you can help. Our reason for this is it is vital for us to be back by the beginning of the new school year of the Word of Life Bible Institute. Our prayer is to be with our students from start to finish for the whole year.

100% 90% 75% 60% 45% 30%

Debby’s Empanadas

15%

(Meat Filled-Argentine style!) Ingredients for 10 portions

If your are praying to support us but don’t know how, go to the Blog site on the front page to learn how you can join our team or contact us!

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Goya Dough Discs (found at the frozen section of supermarket)

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1lb of Ground beef

A Wedding In The Family!

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Cup of water

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1/2 Red Bell Pepper

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Olives (desired proportion)

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1 onion

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1 egg and 1 hardboiled egg

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Salt

On March 22, my brother Kevin married his beautiful wife Jessica. Debora and I had the blessing of being at the wedding and being a part of the wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful day in the town we grew up in. We also had the blessing of having many relatives and friends come from all over attend the wedding. We are really proud of Kevin and Jess. We thank the Lord that we have had the privilege of seeing them grow in their relationship throughout the past four years. We thank the Lord for His faithfulness throughout the years in our family. Pray for the Lords guidance in their new life together!

On the top left is a picture of me and my brother. Top right- Mr. & Mrs. Lopez! Bottom left-Debby and my mom Carol. Bottom right– the grooms side of the family.

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Oil

Instructions 1)

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F and Defrost Dough Discs.

2)

Fry diced onions + diced bell pepper in pan with oil, until the onions are clear.

3)

Mix in ground beef and 1/2 a tablespoon of salt. Mix well and cook until finished.

4)

Let ingredients cool off.

5)

Dice hardboiled egg and olives and mix into ingredients.

6)

Using a cup of water, use your finger to apply water around the edges of the dough disc. Then put a large tablespoon of the ingredients into the middle of the dough disc.

7)

Then fold the disc in half, pinch the edges and twist from one half to the other.

8)

Put in cooking pan.

9)

When you are done, stir a raw egg in a cup and apply it to the surface of every empanada using a paper towel or brush.

10) Cook for 30 minutes and enjoy!

“I Can’t Wait To Go To Argentina” During this past year, one of the teens in the youth ministry has decided to attend our program in Argentina this coming September. His name is Nicky and he actually is from Argentina but grew up in the Wayne area here in NJ. As we have been sharing about our ministry ,many teens have been praying to go to study at our program Nicky is sensing Gods call in his life to serve full time in ministry. While in fellowship with us the past year he has been asking us constantly about our bilingual bible program in Argentina. He feels God is calling him to prepare for ministry by studying with us. We are really excited for him as he seeks to follow God’s will in His life. We have seen an amazing passion in him to reach those around him for Christ. One of the most exciting times in a young persons life is when they decide to follow Christ with their life and actually take those first steps to make that a reality. We all really need to pray for Nicky as he takes this step of faith. It will be a tremendous blessing to be able to continue to minister to Nicky in Argentina after being with him this past year in the church. We are excited for what God is doing! Pray for Nicky as he prepares to go to Argentina!

Marshmallow Attack In The Bronx Recently we were invited by our friends Abraham and Joanna Santana to preach to the youth group of their local church in the Bronx. Debora and I shared at a Friday night service. I was able to share to the youth about missions and challenged them to deliver the message of God’s love to the people that God brings into their lives. We had a great time together. After the message they played a game with two teams where each team had to make a house out of raw spaghetti and marshmallows. About five minutes into the game a huge marshmallow war broke out! Everybody got in on it. Some would throw them as hard as they could to the other side. A group of girls used a table for a barricade! Even the Pastor was in on it. There was like more than thirty of us just whipping marshmallows all over the room. Luckily there was a tile floor! This went on for over twenty minutes! Debby hid in the corner and filmed a video that we put on our blog. I had no problem though picking marshmallows off the floor and letting ‘em rip! It was hilarious! After the fight everybody hanged out and couldn’t stop laughing about it. We stayed through Sunday and I was able to share during a Sunday school class about the book of James. We are really excited for the youth at the church and for the passion the leaders have for them. Pray for the teens who were challenged to share their faith!

Finding The Words To Say In our last newsletter I shared with you about the health of a teen named Christian who was battling cancer. On resurrection Sunday Christian went on to be with the Lord. We will greatly miss him until we see him again in the presence of the Lord. As we attended his funeral, a family member of his asked the Pastor and I to speak. His family was from a catholic background and had a traditional funeral accordingly. There were many people there including family members, friends, and classmates. After giving a few words about Christian we were given an opportunity to share the Gospel. Anybody who knew Christian was witness of the peace that he had before he died. This truth about him was living proof to his friends and family that he had something special. I have to admit it was really hard to stand in front of all those people. But I was certain that if Christian had an opportunity to share something in that moment, he would share of the greatness of having a Savior. After sharing the Gospel there were various people that put their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

Pray for the family Cereijo

Contact Us 300 Haledon Ave,

Propect Park, NJ 07508

Email: [email protected] Stephendebbylopez. blogspot.com Phone: 862-266-7545