“Uruguay is the
country with the most atheists in Latin America, matched only by the
Scandinavians.” So began a December 2016 online article, “Uruguayos
de poca fe.” This was not good news. Nor—indeed—was it news at all, since Uruguay
has long been known for such statistics. Secularism
is the air our students breathe. We’re thankful for the opportunity FEBU has
given us over the last four years to have a small part in equipping Christian
young people to live and serve in this context. Thank you for your part!
Ultimately we are grateful to God for this grace.
In October and November seven students
in our Apologetics class will be
presenting a final project, part of which will include each one’s public presentation
countering some non-Christian or non-theistic philosophy or position. They are
each required to invite ten people, including at least one non-Christian. Research & Argumentation students are
working on papers in which they argue how a Christian should vote (or not) in
light of biblical teaching on life, family, government, and the Christian’s
place in society. Hermeneutics students
are learning to identify relationships between clauses in order to preach and
teach the Bible’s flow of thought.
FEBU’s first graduation program—a
cause for much thanksgiving—is scheduled for December 2! Over the past years God has provided, guided, and
preserved students and teachers to make this moment possible. Please pray for
the five graduating—Gabriel, Manuel, Maxi,
Vanessa, and Exequiel—that the Lord would continue to lead them as they
move on to the next stage of their lives and ministries. In December our E will also graduate (from sixth grade).
The kids’ school offers only elementary grades, so we are in need of wisdom
during these months to know how to proceed with their schooling in the coming academic year (beginning in
March).
Thank you for praying for our parents—D’s in FL and JM’s in SC. In
August JM’s parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Though we were
not with them, we’re thankful for this milestone and for their unwavering
faithfulness to the Lord, each other, and us. A helpful book in preparing for
Apologetics this semester includes these comments: “I grew up in a home where the Bible was assumed to be the
infallible word of God. Whether they succeeded or failed, my parents tried to submit
to the authority of the Bible. I think they succeeded pretty well. [We would
say, “Very well!”] That’s probably one reason I never rebelled against them.
They tried to form their ideas about God and man and sin and salvation from the
Bible. They tried to bring their attitudes and emotions in line with the Bible.
And they tried to form their behaviors by the Bible” (Piper, A Peculiar Glory, 24).
Our children,
like our students, are growing up in a culture that doesn’t value the Bible. As
we write, concerned citizens (many Christians included) are collecting
signatures to counter the latest implementation of sex education in elementary
schools. The new guidelines are blatantly and explicitly biased away from
biblical (and traditional and even proven scientific) norms. Please pray for
God’s protection for our children and for wisdom for Christian parents to
instruct their families and to win their children’s hearts by consistent lives
and biblical words.
We know that votes,
signatures, and even logical arguments—as helpful and right as all of these can
be—are not the final answer. Nor is there any geographic refuge from the
onslaught of unbiblical ideology. We—and you—are where we are by God’s
appointment and must be faithful, depending on Him and on His
self-authenticating Word, especially His revelation of Jesus Christ in the
Gospel.
We rest on Him and in His
strength we go!
