April 2018 Report

Greetings from North America! We arrived in Miami, FL, on the morning of March 7 and have spent the past weeks visiting family, friends, and churches in Florida and South Carolina.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the training programs in Uruguay. The FEBU school year began with meetings on Saturday, March 3, and classes the following Monday. We’re thankful for new students from Argentina and Uruguay. The FEBU library and classes were moved from Avenida Garibaldi (Templo Calvario and the MEU library/office area below our home) to a nearby church in the Parque Batlle neighborhood of Montevideo. Most classes are now offered on weekday mornings. There are 23 FEBU students enrolled this first semester: 16 part-time and 7 full-time. JM is teaching an online Homiletics course to 9 of these. Please pray for their ability to understand and for grace for both teacher and students to keep up with the course load. Classes in the MEU Bible Institute also began on Monday, March 5, with 23 students: 8 in Montevideo and 15 others in 3 local-church locations in the interior.

Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha (Maranatha Bible Church). Toward the end of last year we were contacted by Matías, the brother of one of our FEBU students. Matías grew up in Templo Calvario in Montevideo but is currently living in the U.S., preparing to return to serve long-term in Uruguay. He expressed interest in the ministry in Pando, and by the end of our conversation we had discussed the possibility of his helping the church this year during part of our four-month absence. He, Bethany, and their three young children arrived in Uruguay on March 23 and will remain until May 31. Matías’s special interest is the discipleship of the teens and college-aged youth. They are living in nearby Totoral del Sauce, and his presence and availability during the week—together with his training and his already-evident love for this group—seem to be exactly what is needed at this time. He will also be helping Daniel with a large share of the preaching and teaching. Thank you for praying!

April through June. In mid-April we will drive west to report to churches in Iowa and Utah. On May 1 we will fly from Salt Lake City to Anchorage to visit our half dozen (or so) churches in Alaska for 6 weeks. We will return via Colorado. Here are several requests for prayer during this time:

• Please pray for safety in travel and encouraging meetings with ministry partners and friends.

• Our travel spans the first semester of the Uruguayan academic year. Please pray for efficiency (and focus!) for E and DJ as they (road-) school. Please pray for the Bible students in Uruguay, especially for growth in their ability to interpret accurately and to preach and teach faithfully.

• We are spending time with our parents during these months. Thank you for praying for their health and for their ministry in their churches in Jacksonville, FL, and Greenville, SC.

• We’re thankful for EMU International, our mission agency, for its service to local churches and missionaries by handling office responsibilities and supplying administration. EMU recently asked that we communicate the need for an increase in our monthly support. Though not the purpose of our current trip, we do want to clearly offer this information to anyone interested. God has consistently supplied!