As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
So is good news from a distant land.
Proverbs 25:25

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, . . . "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52:7
good news from a distant land (all posts)
quarterly

Thursday, October 31, 2019

October 2019 Report

Greetings from Montevideo, Uruguay!



The quarter-year since our last report was in some ways routine: Weeks passed in a pattern of preparing and teaching college and institute classes, facilitating video courses for the institute, teaching in DJ’s school, taking E and DJ to their respective places of study, teaching and preaching in Pando on the weekends. But in other ways these months have not been “normal”: For just over three months we housed a former student; and in these last days of October we enjoyed a visit from JM’s sister Shannah (from SC) and a group of workers from Hamilton Acres Baptist Church (in AK). This team worked and slept at Camp Emmanuel, sixty kilometers to the east, contributing to the annual work event at the camp. They also spent several days with us here in the capital, where they participated in a FEBU class, toured some of Montevideo, and helped us with yard and painting projects.



In late August Matías and Bethany Acevedo and their three children relocated from upstate New York to Uruguay. Matías is Uruguayan, the brother of a friend and former student. (In 2018 he helped us during part of our four-month absence from Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha in Pando.) They are renting a house in the community of Totoral del Sauce, approximately fifteen minutes from Pando, where they plan to contribute to the ministry of our church. Please pray for the Lord’s leading for them and for the church and for an effective ministry among us. Daniel and Viviana continue to faithfully work alongside us, and we appreciate Jorge and Blanca’s help as well.

In September we were given opportunities for teaching and preaching in a one-day family conference in the city of Fray Bentos, on Uruguay’s west side, and at anniversary services in Iglesia Evangélica Siloé in the northern Montevideo neighborhood of Colón. The church in Fray Bentos is currently pastored by 2017-graduate Gabriel (married to Valeria). Another graduate from the same year, Exequiel (married to Vanesa), is assisting our friends Matías and Kristine Espinel in the church in Colón. Pray for these families and their ministries in each place.




Please pray also for a brief trip in November to the city of Paso de los Toros, in the heart of Uruguay, where pastor José Kowalcuk from the nearby city of Durazno is regularly engaged in evangelism. We will not be able to participate that weekend, but several Bible-institute students plan to accompany mission evangelist Juan González and take part in focused effort there.



By mid-December JM hopes to submit a prospectus to BJU Seminary, which (if approved) will form the first chapter of a research project focused on expository preaching and designed to strengthen Bible-college and institute classes and ultimately local churches here in Uruguay.

Uruguay held general elections on the last Sunday of October and will hold runoff elections on the last Sunday of November. Judging from the past ten to fifteen years, the results of elections will significantly impact the next five years and beyond. Please pray for God’s mercy on this country.