April 2019 Report

In a recent newsletter our mission director observed that the EMU mission house in Montevideo shares the same latitude—in the other hemisphere—as Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. This means that our summer camps take place in January and February. Summer plans this year had included JM’s participation in staff training at Campamento Emanuel and a week of teen/young-adult camp, plans that were adjusted on Thursday during staff training when Dad Garwood’s health rapidly destabilized. Early Friday morning, January 11, we received the message that “Don went Home . . . very peacefully.” Though we had planned to see him once more, the timing of his Home-going was determined perfectly by the Lord whom he had served for over forty years as missionary to Uruguay. The summer break allowed our and Daniel’s (Deborah’s brother’s) families to be together with US and Canadian family for the memorial service in Jacksonville, FL, and interment in Greenville, SC.

The grandchildren sang a favorite hymn in both English and Spanish.

Since 2012 JM has taken an average of one class per year toward the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree from Bob Jones University Seminary (though changes in the program now require more accelerated completion). In December he finished an independent study course (in Montevideo) and in February took his last class (during our trip to SC). The DMin is usually done in conjunction with current ministry, and the Seminary in recent years has refined the focus of the program toward expository preaching. During the next several months JM will seek approval for a research project that maintains this focus and directly serves the training programs in Uruguay.

We returned to Uruguay on March 6 in time for the beginning of the FEBU, Bible-institute, middle-school, and elementary school year on March 11. FEBU had organized its first student-teacher retreat during the first week of the semester, a productive time likely to be repeated annually. Though only able to attend the final morning, we are thankful for this opportunity for the teachers and approximately 18 students (9 full-time) attending this year.

Bible-institute classes take place Monday through Wednesday evenings, this semester including Systematic Theology and a course on the pastor’s life (both taught by local pastors), two video courses (Bible Geography and Pastoral Epistles), and Apologetics. The latter, with 11 enrolled, is larger than most due to several FEBU students who join us. Not counting those, 8 students in Montevideo and 19 more in the interior locations are studying in the Bible-institute programs. In March we participated in the graduation of Nanciley, a former Mormon who completed the four-year video program in Treinta y Tres. Her husband and son are 2 of the 7 studying there.

Overall the semester is off to a good start, and we’re very thankful for your prayers. Elizabeth and DJ are adjusting well to their new school situations. E actively looks for opportunities to befriend and share the gospel. One of her friends in the local public middle school is one of many Venezuelan immigrants now in Uruguay.

In Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha we are currently taking time to help our people know how to talk to members of some of the more prominent sects and cults. We received encouraging reports about the work Agustina, Gonzalo, and Sebastián did this past summer as staff help at Campamento Emanuel. Please pray for their growth and that of other teens and young adults in the church: Sofía, Lucía, Florencia, Tabaré, Stefi, Selena, and Elizabeth. In June Bible-institute students plan to help us with an evangelistic outreach to the neighborhood around the church.

With Dad Garwood’s Home-going in recent months we are aware of the brevity of life and the need for laborers. In addition to the work in Pando, two other churches he helped to start continue in San Fernando and Minas. These and others are in need of laborers. We trust the Lord of the Harvest to accomplish His work—sometimes in ways we don’t understand—but we also know that our Lord instructed us to pray for laborers. Thank you for your part both here in Uruguay and there where He has placed you. Please also be willing to be moved!