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!