October 2013 Report

Greetings once again from Montevideo! Most of you know that in July we returned unexpectedly to the US in order to clean up our house in SC following a robbery there. The Lord used the break-in to facilitate the handling of a larger problem that we had already begun to consider: the fact that while we waited for permission to bring our belongings (some of which were stored in the house in SC), our time to settle them into a fairly small living space here in Uruguay was slipping away. As we anticipated the busy-ness of the end of 2013, we had already lost interest in investing time and energy into dealing with a twenty-foot container of stuff on this end. Thus, as our pastor summarized it, the Lord (very kindly) lifted us up and shook most everything out of our pockets. We spent the last half of July and the month of August selling, giving, discarding, storing, and packing what remained to bring back in suitcases and boxes. Many decisions were difficult but freeing. We arrived back in Uruguay on September 2, in time for JM to begin teaching the following evening. This schedule has meant that unpacking suitcases has taken longer, but we are very glad that we will not be handling a shipping container.

We share our home with a new grandmother, Julia Piedad, who has lived downstairs for over 60 years, serving as hostess and caretaker for this house that has for years provided office and working space for the Evangelical Mission to Uruguay. The first floor is currently used for workers’ meetings, for some of the new FEBU meetings, and for Bible institute classes three nights a week. The basement houses the office. Living above all of this with only an open staircase between has a few disadvantages (your imagination can fill in the gaps), especially as we navigate the ruts and bumps of emptying suitcases, beginning homeschooling, preparing classes, teaching, and generally learning to function in an environment in which life takes just a bit longer to live. Yet we’re thankful for the relationships that the situation facilitates. We feel a bit like Paul at the end of Acts, who didn’t even need to leave his house (arrest!) to enjoy many opportunities coming directly to his door.
 

In our case these opportunities have included the kids’ (and adults’) participating in a weekly service in a nursing home up an adjoining street, our singing in and accompanying for a choir drawn from several like-minded area churches, and getting to know neighbors whose need for the Lord could hardly be more obvious. JM is teaching Bible institute classes (General Epistles and Systematic Theology III [Salvation]), which will occupy six hours of teaching time each week through the first part of November. Planning and work continue for FEBU’s opening in March, and we hope to begin more aggressive promotion of the new school among prospective students next month. We continue to travel to Pando most Sundays to help with Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha, and opportunities periodically arise in other nearby churches. Thank you for your prayers!

July 2013 Report

The following is our post from July 1 (more updates forthcoming):

Greetings from Uruguay!

We are grateful to report that by May 1 the Lord answered your prayers, providing the remainder of our required support and opening all doors for departure. Our final six weeks were divided between travel to churches in the eastern U.S. and packing in preparation to leave the country on June 11.

 

Flying over the Andes -- breath-taking and sobering...

We are renting the upper floor of a house owned by the Evangelical Mission to Uruguay, the building in which the mission’s office and Bible institute classes are located. The situation for the present appears to be advantageous, given the proximity not only to JM’s teaching but also to downtown Montevideo. Our home is extremely close to nearly any major bus route, including the route to Pando, where we have begun helping on weekends. Please pray for the ongoing discipleship and growth of people in Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha in that city.

Establishing legal residency in Uruguay is not excruciating but does take a fair amount of time. Though we completed what we could before leaving the U.S., this process involves visits to the immigration office and the gathering of required papers. Our belongings will not ship from SC until we receive official government permission (which in our case is connected to establishing residency); consequently, we will not be able to ship before late July and (depending on the source of information) it could be as late as mid-October. This does complicate our settling in, and we would appreciate your prayers.

JM has been invited to join the committee making plans for the opening of the new Facultad de Estudios Bíblicos del Uruguay (FEBU) (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay). Over the last year and a half, this planning committee—with your prayers and with regular input from area pastors and missionaries—has spent many hours preparing for what we hope will be a Christ-centered, college-level program of study serving the churches here in Uruguay. Please pray as this process continues. An important need is the Lord’s guidance to and provision of the proper location for the school.

 

July: From July 22 through 26 Dr. Nick Uwarow (Division of Teacher Education, School of Education at Bob Jones University) will be holding  workshops for prospective teachers of FEBU. These will take place at Camp Emmanuel outside of Montevideo.

August to November: On August 19, the FEBU planning committee will again hold a meeting with pastors in Montevideo to share updates and make further decisions ahead of the opening of classes in March 2014. Also, EMU Bible institute classes, which will have begun the last week of July, will continue through early November.

June through August are not warm months in Uruguay. Please pray for continued health for us and for God’s grace as we adjust to life and ministry here. We are glad to be here and depend on your prayers. Thank you!

Significance of Jesus' Humanity (Heb. 2:9-18)

Hebrews 2:9-18 gives in a short amount of space several reasons the incarnation is significant:

• Jesus, fulfilling Psalm 8’s words about “man,” (cf. Heb. 2:5-8), “was made . . . lower than the angels . . . so that . . . He might taste death for everyone” (v. 9).
• “Through sufferings” Jesus, “the author of [our] salvation” was “perfect[ed]” (v. 10).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He might render [the devil] powerless” (v. 14).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He . . . might free [captives]” (vv. 14-15).
• “He [was] made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (v. 17).
• “Since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (v. 18).

NASB

April 2013 Report

We appreciate your prayers for JM’s questioning and ordination service in February. We feel God’s kindness and the love of our sending church. We are thankful for each of the twelve churches and fifteen individuals who are currently partnering with us on a regular basis. Many, many others—including our parents and numerous teachers—have had an important part in our preparation for the gospel ministry and for work in Uruguay. We thank God for you and invite your continued prayers, counsel, and gracious accountability. You are part of God’s means for our growth into Christ’s image.

Please continue to pray that we will be able to leave for Uruguay on June 11. Our monthly support is now at 87% of the amount required by EMU before we can leave.

 

Please pray for wisdom and efficiency in making decisions and packing our belongings during the month of April and during the weeks following our return to SC toward the end of May.

 

We have meetings scheduled each weekend for the entirety of April and May, including about three weeks in MD, NY, and PA. We desire that each of these opportunities be used by God to equip His people for the work of service and to edify these churches. We always need His protection in travel.

 

We also request prayer for the salvation and growth of several people with whom we have had contact here in SC. In some cases these friendships are new; in others the relationships are many years old. We do not feel freedom to share the names publicly, but please do pray for the Lord clearly to work in the lives of this list of people who need to respond to the gospel.

 

Instituto Bíblico F.V. Dabold in Montevideo: Please pray for Matías Espinel, the other teachers, and the students. JM is preparing course material for the second semester, which will begin in July.

 

Facultad de Estudios Bíblicos del Uruguay (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay): Plans continue for opening of classes in March 2014. Those involved would still ask for your prayers for efficiency, discernment, and unity.

 

The purpose for all of this is, of course, not the building and maintenance of institutions. Rather, we desire to see Uruguayan churches strengthened as their pastors and other members of these local bodies are trained in the Word and work of God. This is the work that you are doing where God has placed you: the making and maturing of disciples of Jesus. To our friends who do not follow Jesus, we urge you on His behalf to believe the gospel!

Winter 2013 Report

Thank you for your continued interest in the work in Uruguay. God is answering your prayers:

 

We have received approval from our mission agency to plan on a June departure, though this permission depends on our receiving the entirety of EMU’s monthly support requirement. The Lord has provided excellent airfare out of Miami, and we now have tickets for our final move to Uruguay. We will leave the U.S.—the Lord willing—on June 11. Our current support level is just under 80%.

On November 19, 2012, approximately thirty-three pastors and missionaries met in the Parque Batlle neighborhood in Montevideo to hear and consider the work of the committee making plans for the new FEBU (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay). There is considerable enthusiasm for this project, and plans continue for classes to begin in 2014. Much work remains to be done in the coming year.

 

 

During the past three months we visited churches in SC, NC, IL, and OH. We pray for fruit that only God can give from the preaching of His Word. These months also included a good deal of study—not only for JM but also for Elizabeth. Déborah is homeschooling her this year; and she is on schedule to finish first grade in time to begin second grade in March (in order to be in sync with the Uruguayan school year). Daniel James turned 2 in late October, and Elizabeth turned 7 the end of January. If anyone knows how to keep them from growing so fast, we would like to hear from you.

 

 

We thank the Lord that Sofía Belén was born safely to Matías and Kristine (and big brother David Misael) Espinel in Uruguay on December 12.

 

We would appreciate your prayers during these next several months:

• February 13: JM’s public ordination questioning
• February 24: Our commissioning service, along with friends Jon and Andrea Crocker, who hope to begin gospel work in Mexico City this year
• March through May: Safety in travel and God’s gracious work in churches we visit (U.S.)
• June 11: Travel from Miami to Montevideo, Uruguay

Thank you for the calculated ways you focus your energy and resources toward what God is doing in the earth: the making of disciples of Jesus Christ for His glory. The outcome is sure. Stay encouraged!