April 7, 2003

Odessa youth Bible study reaches as far as Mexico
___By John Hall
___Texas Baptist Communications
___ODESSA--A youth apartment Bible study run by Mission Odessa has sparked a faith that's all in the family.
___Eight years ago, Mexican nationals Larry, Patricia and 6-year-old Fernando Voesack moved into an Odessa apartment complex. The youngest Voesack began attending a Bible study on the grounds that was directed by Mission Odessa, an outreach of First Baptist Church in Odessa.
___Mrs. Voesack, who was Catholic at the time, also went to the studies because she was concerned about what the teachers would tell her son. Rather than hearing heresy, she saw her son learning about the Bible, playing games and making friends.
___Soon he prayed to become a Christian by committing his life to Jesus Christ.
___"He was really excited," Mrs. Voesack said. "He was really happy. That was really important to me."
___He began reading the Bible daily and asking his mother questions about God, but she did not know the answers. Mother and son began studying the Bible together and cooperating on the homework for the Bible study.
___Mrs. Voesack encouraged her husband to begin reading the Bible daily as well. He resisted at first, reading a verse quickly and slamming the book shut, she said. But soon both the parents found a personal relationship with Jesus like their son had found.
___Later, Mrs. Voesack's mother, Margarita Castillejos, came to visit. Castillejos confided in her daughter that she wanted a more active, meaningful faith. Mrs. Voesack comforted her mother and told of the "amazing" discovery she had made while reading the Bible.
___Fernando also shared his faith with his grandmother and encouraged her to read the Bible. She moved to Odessa, and her spiritual life was reinvigorated. She began sharing her faith with everyone she met.
___When Mrs. Voesack's two brothers witnessed the change in family members' lives, they also committed their lives to Christ.
___Years after Fernando first attended the Bible study, Mrs. Voesack and her mother started working in the Mission Center, a section of Mission Odessa that ministers to many Spanish-speaking people.
___The mother and daughter distribute clothes and food to needy people and families. They also have the opportunity to share their faith and pray for people who need it.
___"God has been touching our hearts in an incredible way," Mrs. Voesack said. "We want to work for him as much as we can. It's something beautiful that has happened to us."
___On her first day at the center, Castillejos met a Spanish-speaking family of six looking for food and prayer. While meeting their physical needs, she led all six to a relationship with Jesus.
___The conversion completed a circle of caring.
___"Because you cared enough to tell a young boy at an apartment community about Jesus, he told me about Jesus," she said at the mission center. "Now his mom, dad and I are Christians, as well as my two sons in Mexico."

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