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.

Campamento Emanuel

An average of ten kids from Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha (Maranatha Bible Church) in Pando are expected to attend this week’s and next week’s camps at Camp Emmanuel. A teen camp is being held this week and a children’s camp next week. Many of these young people do not know the Lord.

Who is this?

For those who have ever spent a Christmas wondering about the identity of Jesus, or about your relationship to Him, but who now know—rejoice!

For those who rarely think about Jesus—make good use of the season to consider His claims!

For those who are still plagued by doubt—consider the individual statements and the overall impression that the Bible gives of Jesus.

The hymn is true:
Who is this so weak and helpless, child of lowly Hebrew maid,
Rudely in a stable sheltered, coldly in a manger laid?
‘Tis the Lord of all creation, who this wondrous path hath trod;
Christ our God from everlasting, and to everlasting God.
(William Walsham How)

Nate Saint's Christmas Letter

“As we weigh the future and seek the will of God, does it seem right that we should hazard our lives for just a few savages? As we ask ourselves this question, we realize that it is not the call of the needy thousands, rather it is the simple intimation of the prophetic Word that there shall be some from every tribe in His presence in the last day and in our hearts we feel that it is pleasing to Him that we should interest ourselves in making an opening into the Auca prison for Christ.

As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility.

Would that we could comprehend the lot of these stone-age people who live in mortal fear of ambush on the jungle trail . . . those to whom the bark of a gun means sudden, mysterious death . . . those who think all men in all the world are killers like themselves. If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.”

(From Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor, 165-166)

“My testimony is that of a dishonorable man that God has saved and honored in every conceivable way. Every good thing that I’ve ever wanted to do, God has let me do; and every good thing I’ve ever wanted to have, God has let me have. That’s the way dads are to their children.”    — J.D. Crowley, missionary to Cambodia