Request for Prayer: 27 May 2011

A company based in Provo, Utah, has recently begun business in South Carolina. Apparently much (perhaps most) of the door-to-door sales work is done by employees who are either former or future LDS missionaries. Please pray for Samuel (not his name), who will begin his mission this summer, and for Yadín (no, not his name), a former Mormon missionary to Chile. According to one website, Chile has the first and “Uruguay has the second highest percentage of nominal LDS members in any nation with over one million inhabitants . . . , although only about 0.5% of Uruguayans are active Latter-day Saints” (www.cumorah.com). Nevertheless, a visitor to Uruguay would not likely go far or long without noticing the presence of Mormonism. We would be thankful if the Lord would give us contact and opportunity to give the gospel to these who are believing a “gospel” much changed from the good news that we have been given in our Bibles.

Spring 2011 Report

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as we continue to prepare for work in Uruguay. Much has happened—and much has changed—during these last three months, and we are as always in need of the Lord.

At the end of March we completed meetings in Ohio churches, returning just before Jonatán’s battle with cancer ended and he courageously completed his 16-year race. Jonatán (Jona) is Deborah’s sister’s son. During the last 3½ weeks of hospice care, God had already arranged our travel schedule to allow us freedom to stay with Jona’s family and to help with his care. John Mark traveled briefly to Iowa for a conference; and the week following his return, on April 20, Jona went to be with the Lord. Though we understand so little of God and His ways, He has revealed enough to us in the Bible that we can look confidently toward the day when we will see Jona in Glory. This confidence is based on God’s words: that the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to those who have believed the gospel. The Father punished His righteous Son in order that He might call unrighteous people “righteous”—and be Himself righteous in doing so. We sing with confidence one of Jona’s favorite hymns: “When disappointment, change, and tears are past, all safe and blessèd, we shall meet at last.”

God has also revealed that He causes such changes to result in His people’s being presently, “practically” conformed into the image of His perfect Son (Romans 8:28-30). Much could be written about the effect that Jona’s life and death have had around the world. Approximately a thousand or more attended his memorial service.

Plans to return to the western U.S. and Canada this summer have also changed: In addition to reasons mentioned above, the Lord has opened to us an opportunity to go to Uruguay during this time. Deborah’s father and step-mother, Don and Pat Garwood, returned in April from Uruguay to begin several months of furlough. They began their trip by spending time with family (especially Jona); but they remained uncertain about whether they would be able to complete their furlough, as they had not found someone to oversee their church-planting work during their absence. At the end of April the Lord put together the necessary details for us to make definite plans to help for part of this time. On Monday, May 23, we will leave South Carolina to spend the next three months in Uruguay. We have tickets to return the end of August. We’ll plan to post notes on our blogs and to send several email updates between now and September 1, when our summer report will log our South American winter.

Pando is a city of approximately 24,000 people (not counting surrounding areas) just northeast of the country’s capital of Montevideo. We will live in the Garwoods’ home in Totoral del Sauce, outside Pando, while we work with Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha (Maranatha Bible Church), located on the northern edge of Pando. Our activities will include the oversight of the regular services, including most of the preaching and teaching. Regular meetings include a Saturday afternoon youth meeting, children’s and teens’ morning Sunday school, a Sunday afternoon preaching and worship service, and a Tuesday afternoon prayer meeting. We will also visit in people’s homes.

This church will likely be our “home” church after our permanent (future) move to Uruguay, while the future focus of our day-to-day work will be serving the Uruguayan churches by assisting and strengthening the EMU Bible institute in Montevideo. We’re thankful for this early introduction to all of these aspects of the work.

Thank you again for your prayers!

Funeral

This afternoon the gospel will be given and God's glory displayed at Jona's funeral. Please pray according to His will.

Thank you for your prayers for Jonatán. He is now Home. Though we sorrow, we do not sorrow as did so many homes around the world last night without hope. Such confidence is the air we breathe.

Final Ohio meeting today (Cuyahoga Falls).

Our nephew Jonatán would appreciate prayer as he experiences the progress of the cancer. Updates have been posted elsewhere. Will try to give more information here soon.

The pearly gates will open wide,
And we shall enter in,
To know henceforth no tear or sigh
No sorrow and no sin;
O come with us by Jesus' blood,
That land is bright and fair,—
We cannot leave you lost and lone,
We want you Over There!

(Matilda Bass)

Winter 2011 Report

Dear Friends,

Some of Jesus’ last words to His followers were instructions to them to make disciples. Though it may seem presumptuous, these eleven men had the right to make disciples in all nations of the earth. They could have this confidence because Jesus is King: All authority in heaven and earth is His. We are convinced that the King’s orders apply to us as well, even as His accompanying promise encourages us: “I am with you ‘all the days’—even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). We are going therefore, believing that God has specifically led us to have at least a small part in the ongoing teaching of “all things” to faithful Uruguayan leaders, who will in turn teach others. We look forward in faith to the day when Uruguayan churches are sending well-trained laborers to nations to which we will never be able to go.

We are currently serving among a group of North American churches and friends who, as they recognize God’s calling and preparation on our behalf, are helping in various ways to send us to Uruguay. At the end of December (2010), we resumed travel, presenting our anticipated ministry in three such churches in Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio. In Michigan we attended a family wedding in the Upper Peninsula and a conference in Troy. We are now dividing our time between South Carolina and Ohio. In April we return to the western states and provinces.

We would ask you to labor with us by praying for the following things:

• Please pray that we would be faithful in what we view as our present work: “prayer and ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4), introducing ourselves to churches, serving in these churches (Acts 13:2), and sharing information about God’s work—past, present, and future—in Uruguay.

• Please pray for success in our present goals: First, that we would help to “present every person complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28) and would help to equip and edify local churches (Ephesians 4:12); second, that our visits to churches would provide opportunity for them to evaluate their perception of God’s calling of us (Acts 13:1-4; Romans 10:15); and third, that God would continue to prepare us for Uruguay.

• Please pray that the soon result of this would be our being sent to Uruguay. (We believe that it will!) Our being sent is not our work. It is our desire, it is a goal, and it will be the result—perhaps only when the Lord knows that His work has been completed for this stage of our lives and ministry. We are currently receiving 32% of our financial support.

• Please pray for grace, strength, and safety for the entire family as we continue to travel this year.

• Please pray for Bible institute classes which are now beginning (the fall semester in Uruguay).

• Please pray for adequate oversight and continued growth of Maranatha Bible Church in Pando during the Garwoods’ furlough (April through October).

• Finally, please remember to pray for the Espinels, who are also preparing to join us in Uruguay.

We appreciate your love, your prayers, and your encouragement! If a letter like this—especially words about Jesus as Lord or King—seems strange to you, we would love to talk with you about the gospel! Please contact us.

John Mark, Déborah, Elizabeth, and Daniel James Steel

January 2011

This month took us to Michigan, Ontario, and Ohio. After completely circling Lake Michigan in January, the worst road conditions we saw were in Greenville, SC, within a few miles of home.

Today will preach in Linville, NC, from Psalm 63: Because God is all-satisfying, we should seek Him, rejoice in Him, praise Him . . . and take to the nations the good news of that all-satisfying God who offers salvation in His Son.

Hoping for gospel conversations with Uruguayans in coastal SC this coming week.