Greetings from Uruguay! In December we
celebrated Christmas by participating in an evangelistic outreach (in a public plaza and local stores) and in the Lord’s Day service in Iglesia
Bíblica Comunidad in Carmelo with FEBU co-workers. Our two nieces,
Florencia and Lucía (also part of our church in Pando), accompanied us. We also
celebrated the wedding of a former student in Vergara, JM being given the
opportunity to give a gospel message during the ceremony. And we celebrated the
second FEBU graduation: Two young ladies completed requirements for the
four-year degree; three other ladies completed a certificate program; and five
local pastors and missionaries received recognition for their faithful
attendance during the five years of pastors’ classes. Nations and ethnicities
represented by this group of ten graduates include Uruguay, Argentina, Costa
Rica, Germany, Brazil, and the Armenian diaspora.
During the next several weeks we will finish
our move, now in process, out of the EMU/MEU mission house to an apartment up
the street in the same neighborhood. Over the past six and a half years we have
appreciated opportunities provided by living so close to Bible-Institute (B.I.)
classes and, for several years, FEBU classes. However, the time seems right for
our family to have a place of our own. January has been taken up with
preparation of the apartment, organizing and moving, and participating in
workshops at Camp Emmanuel on the topic of Christian music. February activities will include
translating for part of a two-day class on ecclesiology and eschatology (the
wrap-up of the five-year Pastors’ Program mentioned above); attending the
EMU/MEU workers’ conference; preaching in the wedding of two former FEBU and
B.I. students; and taking a week of family vacation. Matías Acevedo, who is
helping with the youth activities in Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha, is
organizing with the teens and college-aged group an evangelistic soccer tournament
in the church neighborhood. Please pray for the Lord’s work in this barrio and for the ongoing growth of the
church. The elementary academic year (for DJ and D) begins on March 2, as do B.I. and FEBU classes (for
JM and D). E also returns to local public middle-school in March. This semester
D will teach Grammar & Composition in FEBU. JM teaches OT Poetic Books in
FEBU and Homiletics I in FEBU and the B.I., while continuing work on a manual
for tracing argument in the N.T. Epistles.
According to her
national ID card, Julia Piedad
(pictured above right) was born in April 1926. She says her birth date was really in
February, however, and we aren’t sure of the year. We know that this year she
turns at least 94. She dates her new birth to the month of the 1950 Uruguayan
World Cup victory when—in contrast to the temporal celebration around her—her
thoughts turned to God. For approximately seventy years she was the housekeeper
and bulldog of the EMU/MEU mission house. The word bulldog is not unkind and
might, in fact, be euphemistic. This description now is necessary, not only to
give a picture of the fierce care that she took for whatever she considered her
realm, but also because the description highlights, we think, the work of God
in her life over the past several years. As her health has waned she has
experienced increased pain and near blindness. She has also been forced more
and more to depend on others for her care. At a time in life when complaining
about her discomfort would be understandable and even expected, her disposition
has sweetened. Her occasional comments about pain are rarely—if
ever—complaints. The picture, taken this week, is a regular scene. Please pray
for her continued growth and unwavering trust in Jesus, and for wisdom and
grace for those responsible to make decisions about her care.
