This November we head to Managua, Nicaragua – a city with tremendous need – both physical and spiritual. We have seen firsthand that the city is ready and their hearts are spiritually receptive … so the time is now! Please pray for our Latin team as most of them have already moved to Managua to prepare the way for the festival. Pray that the Lord would give them great favor with the city and public officials who have the power to ensure things run smoothly. Pray also for unity among the local church leaders and an enthusiastic heart to serve.

When we pray and step out in faith together, we see God do amazing things only He can do.  Thank you to everyone who made the Festival Por la Vida in La Chorrera, Panama possible.

Results from the Festival:

Attended the Festival for Life: 70,000

Attended the Festikids: 25,000

Received Christ at the Festival: 18,000

Churches involved: 126

Friends of the Festival: 1,915

Attended the Devotion with the National Police: 25

Received Christ at the devotion with National Police: 18

Attended the Fruit that Remains Pastors Conference in Arraijan: 1,560

Attended the Fruit that Remains Pastors Conference in La Chorrera: 756

Mike Silva speaking at the festival in La Chorrera, Panama.

People in the crowd making public commitments to Jesus Christ.

After a miraculous evening at the Festival Por La Vida, where an estimated 70,000 heard the message of Jesus Christ, the ministry continued today as Mike Silva preached at Hosanna Apostolic Community Church. Our team was encouraged by the Body of Christ who warmly welcomed us with open arms. Mike’s Palm Sunday sermon emboldened church members and new believers alike to live for Christ. Back to back packed services eagerly received the message from God’s Word. Over 300,000 people heard Mike’s sermon either in person or on a TV station that is broadcast across multiple Latin American countries! It is evident that La Chorrera, Panama has been profoundly impacted by the Gospel this week.

Last night, as the sun fell below the horizon and stage lights lit up the night sky, the Festival Por La Vida brought La Chorrera, Panama to life!  Electrifying musical performances by Tercer Cielo and Raza for Christ stirred the enthused crowd.  A sea of people flooded the festival grounds, all of whom heard, not only the best music the Latin world has to offer, but also the life-giving message of Jesus Christ.  An estimated 70,000 were in attendance.

As Mike Silva passionately and clearly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ, tens of thousands of eyes and ears intently watched and listened.  And then, He invited all those who had not begun a relationship with Jesus to raise their hand in acknowledgment of their need for forgiveness.  A staggering amount of hands lifted into the night sky and many people believed in the name of the Lord!

People responding to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ!

The Amigos del Festival (Friends of the Festival) encouraging and praying for new believers.

Mike Silva speaking to pastors and leaders in Arraijan, Panama

Pastors and church leaders listening intently to Mike’s inspirational message.

A view of the Panama Canal and the Panama City skyline from La Chorrera, Panama.

Mike Silva and Dr. Jaime Miron are pictured here during a radio interview on Friday, in La Chorrera.

Today, Mike Silva had the privilege of leading a devotion with the National Police force of Panama.  Seventeen policemen and military personnel made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ!  Mike was the first preacher to ever be granted access to this restricted facility.  This is a great start to what we are convinced God is doing this weekend in La Chorrera.

Additionally, Mike met with the mayor of La Chorrera and presented him with a copy of the NTV Bible, a Spanish translation of God’s Word our very own Dr. Jaime Miron helped translate.

There are only 15 days until our festival in La Chorrera, Panama.  We are so excited!  Please join us in prayer for March 23 and be sure to check for updates from the festival on our blog.  Click to watch this video message from Mike.

Here are some praises and prayer requests for this outreach:

Praises:

• Full support of the Mayor of La Chorrera and the National Alliance of Panama Pastors.
• Provision of an MSI office and a house for our Latin team to live in while preparing for the festival.
• Pastors and local Christians are ecstatic about this festival and are spreading the word throughout the surrounding areas.

Prayer Requests:

• Protection and favor as our Latin team moves to La Chorrera to begin the “on the ground” work for the festival.  They arrive the first week in January.
• We are trusting the Lord to provide the finances needed for this festival.
• For the believers in La Chorrera to be bold and passionate about sharing their faith with others.
• That God would begin softening the hearts of the people of La Chorrera today, so they will be open and receptive to the Gospel when we arrive.

Originally Post on Christian Post:

 By Mike Silva-

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

–John 3:16

Imagine you are nearing the end of a cross-country flight to visit relatives when the pilot accidentally flips on the intercom, allowing you to eavesdrop on this exchange:

“This is flight 270 to traffic control. Request permission to land.”

“Traffic control to flight 270: You are cleared for landing on runway 2.”

“Negative. I don’t like runway 2. I’m the pilot. I’ll find my own way.”

“Traffic control to Flight 270: There is no other way. Your only option is runway 2.”

Which choice would you prefer the pilot make? It isn’t hard to guess. What baffles me is why, when it comes to their eternal destiny, millions will opt for their own way instead of listening to the ultimate Traffic Controller. READ MORE.

Incredible results from San Miguel, El Salvador Festival        

-55,000 attended the Festival on Friday

-75,000 attended the Festival on Saturday

-9,915   New believers Friday Night

-13,380 New believers Saturday night.

-77 Churches Involved

-1,652 Friends of the Festival

-1,350 Ladies Conference

-40 Marriage Pastors Conference

-1,725 Conference Fruit that Remains

-9,000 Childrens Fair

-18,000 Festikids

By Mike Silva International-

Mike Silva International made history last week in San Miguel, but some of the most significant events in El Salvador took place beyond the two nights we saw massive festival crowds.

Volunteer team member Kelly Read observed one up close, when the Lord prompted one of our staffers to have her team perform a gospel-centered skit for employees at our hotel.

“Six employees were saved because of it,” said Kelly, a member of Cedar Grove Community Church in Livermore, California.

“One had been suicidal and painfully identified with a scene in the skit. It wouldn’t have occurred to me that maybe the hotel employees would like to see the skit. Praise God for using our team in such a powerful way!”

Team leader Susan Thomas saw another the night after the festival concluded. It happened at a church service where Ricardo Cortijo, a member of our team, preached.

Afterwards, Ricardo invited the pastor to the platform. Then he asked every man in the church to come up and lay hands on the pastor and pray for him

“Ricardo talked about how the men of the church had to come around him—that he couldn’t do it by himself,” Susan says. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. That was pretty powerful.”

A member of Team #1 (of three), Kelly passed out flyers promoting the festival, attended two freshwater well dedication ceremonies, and witnessed the powerful dedication service of a new church.

Her team also visited many public schools and orphanages, where the children welcomed them with open arms. They sang songs, played games and snapped lots of pictures since the kids enjoyed seeing digital images of themselves.

“Those precious little ones just wanted to be touched, get hugs, hold hands, looked in the eyes and be listened to,” Kelly says. “That none of us spoke Spanish was rarely an issue.”

Susan says the school visits offered a golden opportunity to share the Gospel. She stated they had multiple chances to talk about Christ in between presenting drama skits and telling stories.

“We couldn’t do that in the U.S., but being able to share the Gospel in so many ways was just amazing,” says Susan, community life director at Cedar Grove Community Church. “You touch so many lives. They are so much more open in the schools there.”

This was Susan’s fifth mission trip since April of 2009, when she traveled with us to Honduras. The festivals are always a highlight for her, since she is passionate about hearing the Gospel proclaimed and enjoys the Christian bands that play.

On this trip, she especially enjoyed the interaction with children.

“It’s heartbreaking when you go to an orphanage and find out the children are there because of sexual abuse or psychological abuse,” Susan says. “So being able to love on them was special for me.”

This trip marked the first time Derek Olson has taken a mission trip outside the U.S. A resident of Madras, Oregon, he says the highlight of the week was that Sunday night service where Ricardo preached.

“It was so wonderful to see other believers from a different country worshiping God,” says Derek, youth pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church. “I felt connected to the body of Christ like never before.”

Derek was also touched by so many accepting Jesus as their Savior and the receptivity to the Gospel that he witnessed.

“It’s hard not to go again once you go and see the impact on so many lives,” Susan says. “It impacts not only their life, but yours. Where else can you go and tell so many people about the Lord? It’s what made me want to get involved.”

Historic Crowds Gather for Both Nights of San Miguel Festival with Mike Silva
More Than 125,000 People Hear the Good News of Jesus Christ

Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva crowd on night two of the festival. This was the largest crowd ever gathered in this venue and some are saying it was the largest crowd ever gathered in the city.

The dream of pastors in San Miguel, El Salvador, to have a massive evangelistic festival to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in their city came to fruition this weekend as crowds of more than 50,000 and 75,000 attended Festival por la Vida on Friday and Saturday night.  These are the official numbers for the festival as confirmed with local media.  Commitment cards are still being counted.

An evangelistic outreach in San Miguel, El Salvador, seemed out of reach just a few years ago but a small band of leaders began to pray and sought God for direction.  Eventually God led them to the ministry of Mike Silva International.  After seeing and hearing about Silva’s festivals in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Leon, Nicaragua, and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; this small group of leaders knew they had found the right evangelist with which to work.  A letter of invitation to Silva soon followed and plans for a festival in late 2012 took shape.

Silva’s team in Latin America moved to San Miguel in the summer of 2012 and began to build unity in the local church and to train Christians to share their faith.   At the same time the team put together an elaborate marketing campaign that slowly took shape over the months and exploded in October with signs, billboards, busses, and hand bills literally plastering the city with the message about a free festival on November 9 and 10 at Stadium Charlaix.

Silva’s team also began working with several communities just outside San Miguel that were struggling with issues of clean water.  In the town of El Brazo the local water source was so contaminated that it left holes in clothing and would kill vegetation.  A well drilling company was hired to drill a new well.  The project was estimated to take 8 days.  It ended up taking 60 days!  The volcanic rock made drilling difficult and the well had to be dug 130 feet below the ground.  The results of that project brought clean water to more than 365 families in El Brazo for the first time.  When Silva’s team from the United States arrived for the dedication of the well they were showered with love and praise by locals who were thrilled to finally have free drinkable water in their town.

Another well project was completed by Silva’s team in the town of La Puerta.  The existing well in La Puerta did work but the piping to the road and to the school was old and rusted and very little water came down the hill.  Silva’s team worked with local leaders to lay new piping and provide water stations at various locations on the road and make sure the town’s school had access to fresh water.  In addition to this project, Silva’s team also built a classroom for the town’s children and improved the archaic bathrooms at the school.

These projects were met with great success and approval by government officials who praised Silva’s team for coming to the area and serving so many people.  Both the Governor of the State of San Miguel and the Mayor of the City of San Miguel gave Silva certificates of appreciation and the Key to the City as thanks.

Festival por la Vida’s tag line of Buena Vida (Good life), Buena Música (Good music), y Buenas Noticias! (Good News) seemed to be apparent in Silva’s operation in San Miguel.  The message from the stage on Friday and Saturday was that God loves you and wants to be in personal relationship with each individual.

Silva’s team built a world class program for the people of San Miguel.  The festival was complete with a program for children on Saturday afternoon that included inflatables, games, free haircuts, and face painting.  Thousands of families brought their children to participate in these activities and then see a special performance by Miss Tani and her dance troupe called “iDance.”  Tani’s mix of dancing, singing and storytelling left the crowd of youngsters mesmerized.  Hundreds of children raised their hands when Tani invited them to join her in giving their lives to Jesus Christ.

The program for the festival on Saturday night closely followed the program on Friday.  The pop band One Love, who came from San Salvador, provided the first performance of the evening.  One Love recently released a new album called One Faith, One Hope, One Love.  Their current hit is called Libre.

As the afternoon slowly turned to evening, the crowd at Charlaix Stadium began to grow.  By the time One Love completed their first set, space was at a premium.  The crowd stood shoulder to shoulder as far as the eye could see.

Adan Velasquez and Alex Martell, members of the hip-hop group Raza for Christ, returned to their roles from Friday as the emcees of the festival.  With relative ease the two introduced bands and speakers and seamlessly transitioned from their role as emcees to performers.

Raza for Christ performed song after song that seemed to move the crowd from being casually interested at the start to rabid fans by the time the group finished their performance.  The crowd responded to the music jumping up and down and singing.  At one point, they had all 60,000 people swaying their hands back and forth.  Raza for Christ hails from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and their latest album titled, Non Stop can be found on iTunes.

The crowd on Saturday night seemed more excitable than the crowd on Friday night.  Silva’s appearance on stage this night didn’t quiet the crowd but his words did.  The North American speaker grabbed their attention by addressing them in Spanish and launching into a story about a blind man named Bartimaeus.  The crowd quieted and seemed stuck on Silva’s every word as he told the story transitioning back and forth between Spanish and English (translated into Spanish).

Silva linked the story of Bartimaeus to the traditional Gospel message about God’s gift of salvation to mankind.  He used the same rhetorical device he used so effectively on Friday night to explain that the gift of salvation was free by using the local word “de Choto” to communicate God has no strings attached to His gifts.

Silva used a baseball ball and glove, signed by festival performers, to illustrate his message.  He offered both gifts to the crowd for free and the crowd went wild.  The screams and cries for the offered goods were deafening.  Just as he did on Friday night, Silva told the crowd that the gifts were not free if the person who got them thought they owed him something for them.  This illustration of God’s free gift of salvation was executed to perfection.  Silva challenged the crowd to see if they understood and they responded that they got it.  He then asked the crowd to raise their hands and ask God for the free gift of salvation.  Thousands of hands went up across the heaving crowd and “Friends of the Festival” were asked to move in and fill out a response card with those who raised their hands so that a local pastor could follow-up with them after the festival.

After Silva’s message, One Love came to the stage and sang a haunting and beautiful song about God’s love as people in the crowd filled out cards and met with strategically placed “Friends of the Festival” to share what just happened in their life.  The scene would remind readers who have a history with evangelistic events of George Beverly Shea singing “Just as I am” as the crowds came foreward at a Billy Graham crusade, only a little peppier and with a lot more Latin flare.

As One Love’s song ended, the crowd began to call for the main act of the evening, the band Tercer Cielo.  Their appearance on stage sent a wave of energy through the crowd which now exceeded the largest crowd ever gathered in San Miguel by a factor of two.

Tercer Cielo’s performance and style is slightly more subdued than Friday’s main act Vico C.  Their music is a wonderful combination of traditional Latin song and modern pop.  The quality of their performance on stage left no doubts in anyone’s mind about how special and unique it was to witness the two-time Grammy award winner’s perform.  Between songs, Tercer Cielo challenged the audience to follow God and again reinforced Silva’s message about salvation.

As the festival came to a close, the crowd lingered wanting more, expecting more, and knowing the last two nights in their city were special and historic.  The results of the festival will be seen in the city for years to come as the new Christians join churches and grow and serve; and as those Christians who made commitments to follow and serve Christ begin to live out the call of God on their lives.

Decision cards are still being counted at this moment but we know that thousands of decisions for Christ were recorded.  The Bible says in the book of Luke that when one new person accepts Christ that the angels in Heaven celebrate.  Based on the results of Silva’s festival in San Miguel, El Salvador, there must have been a massive party in Heaven this weekend.

The teams from the United States that came with Silva to serve in the orphanages and schools around the city will return to their homes on Monday bringing the actual work of the festival to a close.

Butch Wilson, a member of the Board of Directors for Mike Silva International said, “This festival is over but we believe what happened here was a catalytic movement for the church in San Miguel.  You can expect the Christians here are fired up about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and will continue the work of this festival for many years to come.”

Mike Silva International’s next festivals will be in La Chorrera, Panama and Managua, Nicaragua in the spring and fall of 2013.  For more information about Mike Silva, please visit www.MikeSilva.org.  For interviews with Mike Silva, please email Bradley Burck.

The following are pictures show the activities of the last week:

Chris Fox of Santa Barbara, California, shares the Good News from the wordless book with school children in San Miguel. Fox shared this story multiple times in different venues to more than 1,500 people.

Mike Silva on stage with Raza for Christ at Festival por la Vida in San Miguel, El Salvador

Tercer Cielo perform at Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva to a crowd of 75,000.

New water well in Canton La Puerta

Pastor Ruben Guajardo from New Mexico speaking at a conference for pastors in San Miguel, El Salvador, as part of Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva.

The new school building in Canton La Puerta provided by Mike Silva International.

Free haircuts were provided to children who came to the festival for children which was part of Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva in San Miguel, El Salvador.

One of three new toilets provided by Mike Silva International as part of the water project in Canton La Puerta just outside of San Miguel, El Salvador.

Grammy Award winners Tercer Cielo performs on Saturday night at Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva in San Miguel, El Salvador.

Crowd getting ready for the second night of Festival por la Vida con Mike Silva.

]]> http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/12/history-made-in-san-miguel/feed/ 1 http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/10/festival-report-friday-night/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=festival-report-friday-night http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/10/festival-report-friday-night/#comments Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:03:58 +0000 Bradley Burck http://mikesilva.org/blog/?p=1219 Read all the details about the first night of the festival...]]>

San Miguel Festival with Mike Silva Draws Massive Crowd
Governor of the State and Mayor of the City Present Mike Silva Key to the City and Award for Service

After months of planning, Mike Silva International’s evangelistic festival in San Miguel, El Salvador, launched last night to a massive crowd that exceeded all records for the Stadium Charlaix which is the largest complex in the city.  Early crowd estimates for Festival por la Vida by Mike Silva International called Friday night’s crowd at just over 40,000 with state officials saying at the peak the crowd ballooned to 68,000.

The festival tag line, Buena Vida (Good life), Buena Música (Good music), y Buenas Noticias! (Good News) came to fruition last night as speakers and musicians talked about living a life of goodness and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in word and song.

Miss Tani and her dance troupe called “iDance”, warmed up the crowd in the early evening, inviting the children to attend the FestiKids on Saturday afternoon.  She also invited the crowd to visit www.MissTani.org to learn some of the dance moves they were seeing on stage.

Tani was followed by the pop band One Love, who came from San Salvador.  One Love recently released a new album called One Faith, One Hope, One Love.  Their current hit – one that is being played on the radio – is called Libre.

Adan Velasquez and Alex Martell, members of the hip-hop group Raza for Christ, emceed the festival introducing bands and speakers and seamlessly transitioned from their role as emcees to performers.  Working the crowd into a frenzy, Raza for Christ performed their hit songs Dale Gozate and Qué Pasó.  The crowd responded to the music by swinging their hands in the air and at times jumping up and down turning the mass of people into a giant swaying body.  Raza for Christ’s latest album is Non Stop.  The group hails for San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Raza for Christ member Adan Velasquez said, “The crowd was really receptive to the word of God.  We love to see that.  For us this was like performing at home – the people of El Salvador are our neighbors.”

When evangelist Mike Silva took the stage, the crowd grew quiet with an uneasy expectation.  The North American speaker instantly set them at ease, addressing them in Spanish and reminding them of all the interesting sayings he had learned during his time in El Salvador.  Within minutes the crowd was laughing and listening to his every word.

Silva shared a classic Gospel message and challenged each individual in the crowd to accept the free gift of salvation.  He explained that the gift of salvation was free by using the local word “de Choto” which means something is free without strings attached.  Over and over again Silva used the Spanish phrase “Lo Tienes, Lo Tengo” which means “You got it, I got it”, to interact with the crowd and drive home his point about salvation.  Silva also used a soccer ball and a stuffed animal to illustrate his message.  He offered both gifts to the crowd for free as an illustration that God’s gift is free, but he teased the crowd saying that it wasn’t free if the person who got it thought they owed him something for it.

Each time he explained the Gospel, he asked the crowd, “Lo Tienes,” to which the crowd replied in unison “Lo Tengo.”  Silva ended his message with a call to respond to the Gospel.  Thousands of hands were raised.  Those who raised their hands were asked to meet with “Friends of the Festival” and to fill out a response card so a local pastor could follow-up with them after the festival.

Harold Velasquez, program director for Mike Silva International said, “This crowd was very respectful and interested in what Silva was saying.  I was impressed with the size of the crowd and with the attention that was given when the Gospel was presented.”

The Governor of the state of San Miguel honored Mike Silva with a framed certificate and thanked Silva for coming and for his team’s commitment to help some of the small towns surrounding the city of San Miguel with water projects.  Over the last year Silva’s team has drilled and improved two wells in the towns of El Brazo and La Puerta.  In addition, Silva’s team built a school room and improved the sewage situation in La Puerta.  Early in the week Silva received the key to the city from the mayor of San Miguel.

The chants for Vico C started immediately after the Governor left the stage.  Raza for Christ added to the chants by leading the crowd in a rap calling Vico C to come to the stage which he did in a blaze of smoke and heavy drum beats.  The crowd exploded in applause.  During his performance, Vico C regularly stopped to tell the crowd about his life of drugs and prison and how God radically changed him.  Repeatedly, he told the crowd to give your life to Jesus.  He said if you don’t believe; ask God to reveal himself to you.

Mike Silva International’s festival in San Miguel broke all the historical crowd records for the venue and united a Christian community in acts of service and evangelism.  One local pastor said, “We will never be the same after this.  We’ve seen what God can do when we work together to share the Gospel outside of our churches.”

Tonight Raza for Christ, One Love, and Grammy nominated Tercer Cielo will perform at the festival.  The crowd is expected to be even larger.  The event starts at 6:00 pm at Charlaix Stadium.  Mike Silva International’s next festivals will be in La Chorrera, Panama and Managua, Nicaragua in the spring and fall of 2013.

For more information about Mike Silva, please visit www.MikeSilva.org.  For interviews with Mike Silva, please email Bradley Burck.

Follow the Water – Friday Morning – Canton La Puerta (just outside San Miguel, El Salvador)

The fresh spring water was ready to use – just sitting in a concrete cistern at the top of the hill.  The problem…  the pipes were old and rusted and only a little water ever trickled down to the bottom of the hill.  To make matters worse only a few people had access to the water.  Hundreds of families were forced to get their water from the old well at the school even though they knew it was contaminated.

“This was the situation we heard about and knew we had to help,” said Butch Wilson a member of the Mike Silva International Board of Directors.

The team for Mike Silva International put together a plan to provide new piping from the cistern and take it down to the street, provide multiple points to access the water, and continue the piping all the way to the town’s school to make sure the children would always have fresh water to drink.

Today we celebrated the completion of this project.  One pastor told us that he and other local leaders have been praying for 30 years for someone to come and help them with this water project.  The following pictures show the pipes that were installed, the new drinking stations, local people drinking the water, and the Mike Silva Serve Team celebrating the dedication.

This is the cistern at the top of the hill.

The first of several shots showing the path the water travels to the school.

The second in a series of photos show the new pipes.

The third in a series of photos show the travel of the water from the top of the hill to the school.

The fifth in a series of photos showing the water traveling down the hill.

The sixth in a series of photos showing the path the water takes to get to the school in Canton La Puerta.

The last of the pipe before it emerges at several water stations along the road. It travels underground for a mile to reach the school in Canton La Puerta.

A local of Canton La Puerta smiles as she carries a bucket of fresh water from the local school.

A young girl washes her hands in the clean water that now comes to her school.

Christy Abbe and Rae Ellen Stillings interact with the new water system at the school in La Puerta.

Mark and Patty Zachary and Pastor Derek Olson interact with the new water system at the school in Puerta Plata.

Pastor Keith Cromie from Cedar Grove Church in Livermore, CA, tests the new water system at the school in Canton La Puerta.

Ron and Kelly Read from Cedar Grove Church in Livermore, CA, test the new water system at the school in Canton La Puerta.

]]> http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/09/follow-the-water/feed/ 1 http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/09/new-school-building-dedicated/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-school-building-dedicated http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/09/new-school-building-dedicated/#comments Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:43:25 +0000 Bradley Burck http://mikesilva.org/blog/?p=1200 In addition to providing water to the school, we also built a small school room.]]>

NEW SCHOOL BUILDING DEDICATED

A new school building in the town of La Puerta was dedicated today.  In addition to providing the town with fresh water, Mike Silva International also built a small school room.  Before this building was built, all the children in La Puerta (no matter what their age) met for school in the same room.  Separating the older children and the younger children will improve the level of education that happens at the school.

And there is more…  The bathroom situation at the school was intolerable.  The open holes in the school’s bathroom served as toilets.  As you can imagine the smells coming out of this area were horrible.  As we worked on the water and classroom projects, our team in San Miguel also addressed the sewage situation.  Today the children of La Puerta have modern toilets to use and the smells are gone thanks to a new septic system.

The Cedar Grove Community Church team celebrates the new well in Canton “El Brazo” a small town just outside San Miguel, El Salvador…

– By Bradley Burck

The well in Canton “El Brazo” was supposed to take just 8 days to drill, but like a lot of things in El Salvador, deadlines have a way of changing.  It actually took the team 60 days to see clear, sparkling, and clean water explode from the ground.  The work still isn’t completed as electricity needs to be directed from the highway, roughly 30 yards away, to the drilling site so a permanent electric pump can be attached.  Right now a gas-powered generator is being used to pull the water from 130 feet under ground.

A local resident of Canton “El Brazo” experiences fresh water for a well dug by the Mike Silva International team.

The local community of “El Brazo” consists of 350 families.  For years they have had to walk more than two miles to get clean water or pay exorbitant fees to have portable water brought to them.  Over the years, attempts have been made to drill for water, but the rocky volcanic soil has foiled most efforts and brought water that was so toxic that it destroyed clothing and killed plants.  Today the locals celebrated!  Clean water is now at hand.  Every member of the community showed up in their Sunday best for a festival to celebrate the work that had been done to bring the community the most valuable of resources – drinkable water!

The honored guests at the festival were evangelist Mike Silva, his wife Crystal, and more than 40 service team members from the United States.  The Mayor of San Miguel, El Salvador (who has jurisdiction over “El Brazo”) was on hand to congratulate everyone involved and talk about a better future for the residents.  In his speech, he thanked Mike Silva and his team on the ground in El Salvador for leading the drilling operation, and the team from the United States for giving so sacrificially to make it happen.  Behind the mayor, an American flag waved in unison with the flag of El Salvador as slight breezes passed through the metal roofed and open walled meeting structure.

The program for the festival consisted of a local band playing traditional music, dancers from Miss Tani’s dance troupe who are in from Guatemala City for the San Miguel Festival at the end of the week, a drama about God’s love by Silva service team members, and a presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by Pastor Josue Rubio from Avon, Colorado, who is traveling with Mike Silva.

Festivities in “El Brazo” continued into the afternoon.  Health officials arrived as the festivities wrapped up to announce the water passed inspection.  Everyone was sure it would pass, but the formality of the announcement just added to the celebration.  For all those in “El Brazo”, today marked a new chapter in their lives.  The celebration of the new well will be remembered and talked about for generations to come as they recount the story of how people from the United States partnered with them to bring clean water out of the ground and shared the message of Jesus Christ with them.

A pastor from “El Brazo” said, “Today we have water for life and you have shared the message of water for eternal life.  It could not be a better day!”

SEE PICTURES FROM THE DAY BELOW

The team from Cornerstone Church in Madras, Oregon, celebrates the new well dug for the people of Canton “El Brazo” just outside San Miguel, El Salvador.

Mike Silva and local city leaders cut the ribbon to celebrate the new well in Canton “El Brazo”

Fresh water pours from the pipes of a new well dug by the Mike Silva International team as part of San Miguel, El Salvador.

Mike and Crystal Silva rejoice with a local leader in Canton “El Brazo” a small town just outside San Miguel.

Pastor Ruben and Nellie Guajardo celebrate the new well in Canton “El Brazo” a small town on 365 families that have never had a fresh water well.

Performer Miss Tani and her amazing dance troupe pose with Mike and Crystal Silva.

Pastor Josue Rubio from Avon, Colorado, shares the Good News of Jesus Christ in Spanish with the whole town of “El Brazo.”

Pastor Josue Rubio sharing the Gospel.

]]> http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/08/water-of-life-and-for-life/feed/ 1 http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/08/san-miguel-festival-day-one-pictures/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=san-miguel-festival-day-one-pictures http://mikesilva.org/blog/2012/11/08/san-miguel-festival-day-one-pictures/#comments Thu, 08 Nov 2012 04:03:45 +0000 Bradley Burck http://mikesilva.org/blog/?p=1150 Serve Teams are at work in San Miguel, El Salvador, sharing...]]>

The ministry of Mike Silva International has been at work planning a massive evangelistic outreach in San Miguel, El Salvador, for more than 6 months.  Today marks the first day service teams from the United States arrived and began working in local schools.  Nearly 40 people from all over flew in on Monday and Tuesday.  Today (Wednesday) they loaded buses and visited schools across the city.  Their message was one of eternal hope and present love.  Every child they encountered was invited to a massive festival that will take place this Friday and Saturday.  In addition, the teams also shared a story from the Bible, a drama about redemption, and the Gospel message from the wordless book.  During the day, a few team members also handed out festival invite flyers on the busy streets of San Miguel.  The following are a few pictures from the days activities.  Each day we will be posting pictures to this blog and Facebook.  Make sure to share the link to the blog with your friends and family and to “like” and “share” the pictures you see on Facebook.

Just 7 days until the festival in San Miguel. Once again we ask you to join us in prayer and thanksgiving for what God is going to do for this city. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest details.

Today November 1, 2012 our team and supporters of the ministry around the country will fast and pray for our upcoming festival in San Miguel, El Salvador. We would like to invite you to join us.

Lift these requests up to the Father with us:

-Pray for the hearts of the people in San Miguel that they will be open to the Gospel and that many would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

-Pray for the Christians in San Miguel that they will be supernaturally empowered to go and share the Gospel and invite people to the festival.

-Pray for the pastors and community leaders in San Miguel that they will continue to join together and see this festival as just the first of many opportunities to reach the people of their city.

-Ask God for GREAT weather on November 9 and 10.

-Pray for artists: Vico C, Tercer Cielo, Raza For Christ, and Miss Tani.

-Pray for Mike – that his message will be God inspired, for his health, and protection against the enemy.

-Pray for travel safety for everyone going from the States to El Salvador.

-Pray for the compassion projects – that lives will be changed because of them.

-Pray for the Silva family and MSI team, for protection against the attacks of the enemy as they have been experiencing more spiritual warfare than almost any other time in ministry.

-Pray that nothing would hinder the Gospel going out in power!

So let’s do this… Let’s stand together, join hands across the country, and spend a day purposefully focused on God and the work He is doing in San Miguel. Thank you for all you do for this ministry. It is an honor to know you are standing with us every day as we work to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Mike Silva

P.S. We’re still behind on the money we need to execute this festival. As you pray, please ask the Lord to specifically bless the work we are doing so the finances are all received before the festival starts.

I just wanted to take this brief opportunity to say thank you for your support.

We appreciate your loyalty.

We are so grateful you have allowed us to serve our Lord, and represent you around the world. We know you have choices when it comes to financially supporting effective ministries and therefore, we want to make sure we’re always your best evangelistic investment.

We are here for you.

Whether you have a prayer request, or a question… we want to hear from you!

Thank you again for giving, praying, and serving the world’s most spiritually receptive peoples with me.

“The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed”! Proverbs 11:25

Gratefully Yours,

Mike Silva

Click here to send me an email.

Praise God!  One of the wells we are digging in San Miguel came to life yesterday.  Check out this video of the water coming to the surface.  A lot of families who haven’t had easy access to water are soon going to have more than they need.  More to come as the festival gets closer…

By Mike Silva-

With the next Mike Silva International festival less than two weeks away, the scene in San Miguel is one of excitement and constant activity. Our Latin America team is presently calling numerous pastors and other supporters and distributing thousands of posters and flyers around the area.

In addition, next week we plan to put the finishing touches on two crucial compassion aid projects in this city in El Salvador. Both will provide clean drinking water to hundreds of people.

The first is a large well that will service more than 800 families in a community where the previous well had been contaminated with sulfur. That forced people to buy drinking water, which many could rarely afford.

Given such conditions, you can understand why the residents have been appealing to us to complete the well as quickly as possible. To say they are overjoyed it is almost done would be an understatement.

Thanks to efforts by Bayron Lechuga, our Latin American festival director, we will only have to pay $9,500 of this project’s $35,000 costs. The remainder will be assumed by the city and the well-drilling company, which is owned by a Christian. (Isn’t it amazing how God places His children in strategic locations?)

The other project will cost $9,600. It involves bringing a water line down from a hidden stream on top of a hill to a village and school almost three-quarters of a mile away. The school lost its well more than 25 years ago.

“We will also convert the school’s horrible outhouse into a four-flush toilet beauty,” says team member Butch Wilson. “We even had enough money left over to finish a partially-built building that will give the over-crowded school some needed classroom space.”

Can you sense the anticipation building? Not only are these vital improvements going to bless people in San Miguel, they are helping spread the word about the festival, which will be held Nov. 9-10.

To summarize other preparations:

– Pastors meetings have been held in six different zones around the area.

– We have trained 600 people as “friends of the festival,” volunteers who will play key behind-the-scene roles. Our schedule calls for training 700 more.

– Two days before the festival opens, we will distribute vests and identification to all those who have completed this training. One of their key duties will be collecting decision cards from those who accept Christ, and giving converts the book of “Si a la Vida” (which in English means, “Yes to Life.”)

– We have held four prayer services, with participants coming from numerous churches. “Prayer has been the most outstanding thing as a fundamental part of this festival coming together,” Bayron says.

– Publicity. We have installed 600 banners in strategic places around San Miguel. Through pastors we are also coordinating the installation of 4,000 posters and distribution of 100,000 flyers. Before we finish, we will air more than 900 spots on numerous radio and TV stations.

– The festival will include a “Festikids” aimed at children. Two staff members are presently coordinating children’s teacher training, securing partnerships with different companies and arranging a value fair.

– In addition to calling area pastors, our office staff is handling logistics for remaining pastors meetings, training sessions, church services and security issues. The latter includes such things as parking and police patrols during the event.

With all this going on, it will be hard to miss us—even before our 45-member team from the U.S. arrives!

Yet there is one more vital aspect of the festival. We would love it if everyone reading this would pray daily from now through Nov. 10. The devil is not happy we are going. Please pray that God will empower us and prepare thousands in San Miguel to make life-changing decisions for Christ.

Originally Post on Christian Post:

By Mike Silva-

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

Solomon had it figured out. No matter how many sales we make, promotions we secure or money we earn, none of are immune to forces that are beyond our control. Nor are the world’s measurements of success necessarily the right barometer to use.

Three leading things the world expects are production, results and performance. If you aren’t good at what you do, the world tells you that you will never achieve the power, wealth, fame or recognition you crave.

In this system, performance is everything. Too many of us have bought that fish tale hook, line and sinker. Many of us believe our job defines us. Work success, productivity and power over others are what matter most… READ MORE.

Dear Friend,

This is a special kind of invite.  Our team is taking the day on November 1, 2012 to fast and pray for our upcoming festival in San Miguel, El Salvador.  We would like to invite you to join us.

Over the years, we’ve learned that prayer is one of the most critical parts of our ministry and Christian walk.  Now, don’t get me wrong, we have always committed ourselves to prayer.  What we learned during our festival in Oregon a few years ago is that prayer that is purposeful, intentional, and driven by humility gets the attention of our Heavenly Father.

One of my friends says, “When a child crawls up into a fathers lap and asks for something, the Father can’t help but listen.  When we pray like this – that’s what we’re doing.”  This attitude has totally changed the way we act as a ministry.

So let’s do this….  Let’s stand together, join hands across the country, and spend a day purposefully focused on God and the work He is doing in San Miguel.  Thank you for all you do for this ministry.  It is an honor to know you are standing with us every day as we work to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Mike Silva

P.S. We’ll be posting prayer request and updates through out the day on Nov 1st to our Facebook page. Make sure that you like our page for all the latest news. We’ve also created an event on our Facebook page where you can stand with us and share your experiences on the day of prayer. Click here to see the event page.

We are a little less than 30 days away from our big event in San Miguel. Please be joining us in prayer for Nov 9-10.

By Mike Silva-

My daughter, Jenna, has a new heart for El Salvador after her visit the last week of September for Affinity Events related to the San Miguel Festival that is coming up Nov. 9-10.

She was joined by the highly respected and well-known, Dr. Jim Williams and his wife, Gail.  The first event was a Couples Conference for Pastors and their wives and the second was an event for girls in their teens and early 20s. That week, Jim and Jenna also did interviews with TV stations and other media outlets.  They spoke about their personal background, Mike Silva International and the reasons for the festival.

“The people there are wonderful!” Jenna told me when she returned. “I fell in love with them. The Lord gave me a heart for them—to pray for them more than ever. To have faces now to go along with what I’m praying about is powerful.

“In the past, the festival week is the only time I’ve been there. Now, to have context and be able to picture the festival grounds and the people is exciting.”

This marks the first time we have used these kinds of events prior to a festival. Part of it is logistical. With our Latin American team numbering only six people, trying to pull off multiple events in less than a week’s time spreads them too thin.

In addition, our trial run showed the value of us visiting an area ahead of time. It helps create more awareness, anticipation and unity among the pastors and churches in a particular area. We will use the same model in the future.

“All of these things are building momentum,” Jenna says of the recent visit. “Now, when we go in four weeks there’s going to be much more excitement behind it. Hopefully people are telling their friends and churches are spreading the word to help tip the scale.”

Affinity Events provide more exposure for the gospel, too. Some 1,500 came to the girls’ event where Jenna spoke about how God uniquely created them and values and loves them. At the end of her talk, approximately 30 girls responded to her invitation to receive Jesus as Savior.

The events the last week of September started with the Pastors Conference, which attracted approximately 50 couples. After opening remarks, the team conducted separate sessions for men and women.

Jenna delivered a message of encouragement to the wives, while Gail spoke about marriage. She reminded the women they communicate love differently than their husbands and suggested ways they could express love to please their spouses.

“We already got some feedback from wives who tried a couple things and said how well they worked,” Jenna says.

Although she is looking forward to returning to San Miguel, Jenna acknowledges there are major challenges ahead for the team of 45 from the U.S. that will be going. The city is a dark place spiritually, with considerable interest in witchcraft, the practice of mixing religions, and beliefs in curses.

However, Jenna is looking forward to what God will do through the festival. That week will see dedication of a new water well MSI is presently completing in an area of San Miguel. The previous well there had been damaged and ultimately contaminated by an earthquake a number of years ago.

“The potential for this city to be changed and rocked to the core is tremendous,” she says. “My prayer is at the end of the festival, San Miguel will go from being known as a city of spiritual darkness to being known as a place where God is God of the city.”

We’ve made it a long way together. Help us celebrate our 50th episode by sharing it with a friend. And remember you can subscribe to the #1 Man on iTunes. The September issue of Consumer Reports has an article about making your car go 200,000 miles. The question for men today isn’t how to make your car go the distance but how do you go the distance in life? 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV) “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” In our special 50th episode Mike answers that question.

The San Miguel Festival is on! We are 36 days out, and we are hearing from our team in Latin America that the impact is going to be huge. This video is the latest Spanish promo for the festival.

Join host and author Mike Silva and his daughter Jenna for this week’s #1 Man Podcast. In the September issue of Men’s Health Magazine there is an article titled “Be the man that your dog thinks you are”. What is it that a dog sees in a man that people don’t see? Is there a way to make those fine qualities that a dog senses in you more apparent to people? Your dog sees you as dependable and trustworthy, forgiving and fair. Those are also traits that men who want to be Biblical men seek in their own lives. Did you know you can subscribe to our podcast via iTunes? Just search for Mike Silva to add #1 Man to your subscriptions.

For the first time, Mike Silva staff and volunteers have gone into a Festival city in advance to accomplish a number of Affinity Events. Our goal is to build the excitement for the Festival with the local people and begin reaching out before the big event begins. We have started our time with a Pastors Conference. The men were blessed with a session with Dr. Jim Williams, while the Pastors’ wives had a special breakout session with guest speakers Gail Williams and Jenna Silva. The Conference lasted all day and was an encouraging success. Never before has there been a conference of this kind for Pastors in San Miguel, especially nothing specifically for the wives.

Approximately 50 couples were in attendance and saw the Lord move mightily.  Our team saw a visible difference in the countenance of the Pastors from the beginning of the conference to the end. We have even been blessed with hearing successful testimonies of couples who immediately put into practice the tools they learned from sessions throughout the day. We praise God for the amazing accomplishments He allowed!

Festival site! Please pray for the thousands that will gather here and
hear Gospel proclaimed publicly for first time in San Miguel.

Our team visiting the near-by village where our well drilling project is under way. The local people have been buying water from trucks for month because an earthquake destroyed their previous well.

Originally Post on Christian Post:

By Mike Silva-

A few years ago our family sat down to play a board game. None of us knew how, but with a set of rules we thought with a little practice, we could figure it out.

Instead, before long we were completely confused. Frankly, it was so depressing that nobody was having any fun. Then we figured out why: We were playing by the wrong set of rules.

No wonder it didn’t make sense! I see this as a parallel to life. The more you try to live life by the world’s standards—the wrong set of rules—the more unfulfilled you become.

Oh, it may be fun at first. You may get so busy trying to figure everything out you won’t even realize what is happening. However, in the end, you’re running round in circles while getting confused, upset and progressively angrier.

Men who don’t read and listen to God’s Word (the Bible) and then do what it says always chase a moving target, which they can never hit. The results are a laundry list of negative outcomes… READ MORE

By Mike Silva-

The sense of Christian unity and reliance on prayer that we saw spring up through the Willamette Celebration in 2010 is continuing today through several prayer groups that remain active.

These grassroots initiatives are part of what we hoped to see when we sponsored this interdenominational event in western Oregon. It started with community service projects in the spring of 2010 and culminated in a two-day festival in late July, where nearly 700 accepted Christ as Savior.

The groundwork for this event started two years before the celebration. More than 30 churches in Albany and surrounding communities gathered to pray on a daily basis.

These prayer warriors continued meeting after the festival and formed the House of Prayer and Celebration (HOPC) in Albany. It is now connected to others that have organized the 24/7 Oregon movement, with various groups dividing the state into seven regions.

“Our desire is to see HOPC become a 24/7 house of prayer and worship,” says Albany prayer leader Roger Peterson.

“Until that comes about, we are also encouraging churches to commit to a 24-hour day of prayer, once a month. We have made two different attempts to accomplish this. Our next effort to enlist churches in this effort will start in January.”

Prior to the Willamette Celebration, participants say most congregations were going their separate ways and having little influence on the community.

“Among the churches we didn’t have the unity in our community to do this,” says Rob Nielke, pastor of the Jefferson Evangelical Church.

However, when they reached out to serve others in a coordinated effort, “community agencies who wanted nothing to do with the church opened their doors and said, ‘Come and help,’” Nielke adds.

While it is pleasing to hear such comments, what thrills my heart is to see churches still meeting for prayer. One of the weekly prayer groups, led by Vicki Harris, devotes its time to interceding for Mike Silva International.

Peter Carlson, co-leader of the Heart of the Valley HOPC in Corvallis, said initially the intercessors only planned to meet for two weeks to pray for follow-up and protection of the new converts.

However, once they did they wondered what God would do if they continued praying for the community. That gave birth to the Albany House of Prayer. After several months, they committed to act as MSI’s prayer partners. We send them requests each week.

“We made this commitment out of gratitude for all the impact MSI had in our region,” Carlson says. “And, so that ours would be a House of Prayer for the nations.”

This unity in prayer lives itself in other ways, including the “Days of Service” held the past two summers.

Each time, some 700 members of various churches turned out to paint and do landscaping work at area schools. MSI donated 500 backpacks filled with school supplies for the most recent community outreach.

“We continue to pray for our next large community outreach event, as well as upholding the MSI events,” Carlson says. “One of our long-term dreams is for intercessors from HOPC to attend MSI festivals in person.”

It is hard to put into words how wonderful this kind of support feels! People willing to devote their time and energy to supporting our ministry and expanding the kingdom of God is the kind of dream I have for countless communities.

You don’t have to live in a major metropolitan area to see such divine activity—Albany’s population is less than 50,000. We serve a Lord who is alive and active, no matter where you live. Why not start an effort to bring other like-minded believers together to pray that God will move in your community?

By Bradley Burck-

As Mike Silva International marks the one-year anniversary of Mike’s book, #1 Man, we are preparing for the release of The Word app.

This iPhone app is a natural progression in Mike’s teaching over the past year. First, his book addressed ways that fathers can better raise their daughters and included insights he has gleaned from bringing up four girls (three of them now married.)

That gave life to the #1 Man podcast, which explores topics reviewed in the book. This weekly continuing series has branched into deeper scriptural discussions with various participants—the latest being his daughter, Jenna.

The book and podcast have stirred considerable comments, reactions, and questions. All this activity has reinforced one of the ministry’s foundational principles: the Bible is the essential tool that will equip individuals to become great men of God.

To further this quest, we set out to create a platform that can deliver scriptures regularly to men. It will challenge them to memorize these verses, which focus on spiritual growth.

Mike will take each verse and, in his unique style, break that verse down in a way that promotes memorization.

For example, 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

In his commentary on this verse, Mike points out how it dispels the idea that God only wants to supply our bare necessities, because of His abounding grace. “Abound” means to be great in number or fully supplied, meaning that no matter what challenges we face, God’s grace is even greater, He says.

Mike also addresses those who argue against prosperity by using negative examples of rich men who are greedy, selfish and corrupt:

“However, that is not the purpose of God giving us wealth. The purpose of God’s prosperity in our lives is so that we can be the blessing to others that we need to be. Before we can be a blessing, we have to be blessed. If we are not selfish with our riches, then wealth can be a wonderful thing.”

The app is a great tool for delivering audio messages, which will also be podcast on iTunes. It will transmit a Bible verse each week, along with a “ping!” reminding users they have a new Scripture to review.

The app will include a game that facilitates memorization of the verse while playing the game. It also delivers text for those who want to read material to help them memorize. Audio, gaming and text all promote the idea of holding this verse close to one’s heart, thus becoming a better man.

Although #1 Man focused on fathers and daughters, The Word applies to a wider range of topics. The Scriptures may or may not be referenced in the book, however, all will discuss male issues, whether that is something like father-daughter, father-son, or husband-wife relationships, or man’s relationship with God.

We haven’t set the rollout date, but look for it later this year. All initial verses have been selected, recording completed and graphic design finished, with testing and debugging now in process. I should note that additional work will be necessary in the future, since this app is designed to continue indefinitely.

The release of The Word marks the launch of MSI’s foray into more electronic communication. Future e-books will reference the app. We hope it will be successful enough to consider developing others in the future.

We plan to promote The Word through the MSI web site, various radio, television and other media interviews; and Facebook, Twitter and other social media. We hope you will respond to this offer.

 

photo credit: Freimut via photo pin cc

photo credit: J. Mark Bertrand via photo pin cc

photo credit: premasagar via photo pin cc

GET READY FOR FESTIVAL EVANGELISM IN SAN MIGUEL

Please be praying for Mike as he speaks to pastors and community leaders in San Miguel, El Salvador to prepare them for festival evangelism in San Miguel, El Salvador.  When the pastors conference in the Azores Islands was canceled, we diverted the time and money for this conference and set up a week in San Miguel for Mike to connect with the leaders there, do some teaching, and make sure everything is running smoothly in preparation for the big festival we are doing there on November 9 and 10.

As you pray, lift up the following requests:

- Ask God to be working in the hearts and minds of the people of San Miguel.

- Pray that the Christians in San Miguel will make the most of this unique opportunity to share the Gospel with their friends and neighbors.

- Raise up the pastors and city leaders in San Miguel and ask God to bless them and their families and pray for continued favor on the work we are doing.

- Lift up the artists that will be performing – Tercer Cielo, Raza for Christ, Vico C. and Alex Zurdo.

- Pray for our team in San Miguel – Bayron & Taty Lechuga, Jimmy & Cori Acevedo, Heriberto Gutierrez and Arqui Zapata.

- Ask God to bless the work of our serve teams as they prepare to provide clean water wells and other compassion aid projects.

Pray that all the gifts that are needed to make this festival happen will come in before October 15, 2012. As you read this email, we are a little behind and finances are getting tight.

Thank you so much for praying for our ministry. Together – we are a great team doing the work that God has called us to do. Your prayers are making an eternal impact!

Join host and author Mike Silva and his daughter Jenna for this week’s #1 Man Podcast. Did you know you can subscribe to our podcast via iTunes? Just search for Mike Silva to add #1 Man to your subscriptions. This week is the the discussion on Colossians. Paul writes about the danger of false teachers and how Jesus is not just “important,” but He is supreme and preeminent. There is a reminder to devote yourself to prayer. Mike talks about how devoting yourself to prayer is important and asks for prayer for the upcoming Festival in El Salvador.

Get ready for this is going to be BIG. Watch this festival video done in Spanish and now playing all over San Miguel.

Originally Post on Christian Post:

By Mike Silva-

Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10.)

Those words are as true today as when this wise king wrote them. Many men spend their lives daydreaming of ways they could spend the fortune that they think could buy them happiness.

However, if just a little more would make you happy, the question is: How much more? Enough to pick up everyone’s check at a five-star restaurant? Pay cash for a Ferrari? Enjoy a two-week luxury cruise through the Caribbean?

The truth is, it wouldn’t be. You would always think of “one more thing” that supposedly would satisfy. But in the end, you would come up empty.

Money doesn’t fulfill you… Read More.

Join host and author Mike Silva and his daughter Jenna for this week’s #1 Man Podcast. Did you know you can subscribe to our podcast via iTunes? Just search for Mike Silva to add #1 Man to your subscriptions. This week is the half-way point in the discussions on Colossians. Whoever has the Son has life… Paul starts Chapter 3 of Colossians by saying, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,” (NIV). If you need a fresh start, Jesus gives you the opportunity to clean the slate and start over by trusting in Him. Mike walks you through a prayer to begin trusting in Jesus as your personal Savior.

Get ready for the biggest thing to ever hit San Miguel. It is Festival por la Vida. The festival will have a children’s area, great music, and a powerful Gospel message from Mike Silva.

As we near our 50th episode we’d like to revisit one of our most popular podcast series from the first season of #1 Man. Don’t forget you can subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, just search for Mike Silva.

Has your daughter gone a little wayward? If so – tune in this week to hear Mike Silva’s daughter Jenna Silva talk about what it is like to be a wayward daughter and how her father won her back with love and prayer.