My Right to Be Ignorant

If I am to follow the example of Paul—and of Christ—who gave up personal rights for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. 9 and Phil. 2), then I must at least be willing to give up my right to be ignorant of things that bore me. No, I cannot be so diversified that I never learn anything well. I need not be scattered. My time and energy are finite. But if I am unwilling—and a willing or unwilling attitude, I think, is key—unwilling to discipline myself to care about tennis, or cricket, or soccer; unwilling to listen when I have the right to speak;  unwilling to learn which way is north (or south!); then I am exercising a right that may hinder me from being the global-minded, useful Christian that I otherwise might have been. To such a list we could add more significant data: the persecution of Christians in Mexico or Nigeria, the existence of something called Khmer, or the demographics of Provo, Utah. I have a right to be ignorant. But to insist on this right is not the way of a Christ-follower. Such discipline to care will, as always, require grace.

April 2014 Report

The first quarter of 2014 has evaporated. Most of January was taken up with camp (for JM) and school (for Elizabeth and Déborah). Campamento Emanuel is operated by the Misión Evangélica del Uruguay (EMU) and serves many of the churches in Uruguay. This year a group also came from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gabriel Gómez, one of the Uruguayan missionary-pastors who counseled with JM, commented especially on the great number of unsaved young people—in many cases, teens who have grown up regularly attending an evangelical church, who have come to camp year after year, but who show no evidence of a real conversion. This is an ongoing concern: the genuine salvation of children and teens in the churches here.

 

 

On the other hand, we are repeatedly encouraged by many young people whose big thoughts about God and whose commitment to Christ make us feel dwarfed. In their efforts to follow His leading, they are pursuing fields of physical therapy, agronomy, computer science, and teaching. They will be—indeed, already are—essential parts in their local bodies, Uruguayan churches. They are taking the gospel to hospitals, public places in the city, and nursing homes. And some of them are pursuing further Bible training. We have to think that some of these young men should not only be lay leaders in their churches but also constrained ministers of the gospel. And we must pray that the Lord of the Harvest would make it clear to those whom He has called in this way.

 

 

Elizabeth (and Déborah) plowed through second grade work (homeschooling) until the end of February, when Elizabeth began third grade in a school operated by Tabernáculo Bíblico Bautista in Punta de Rieles, on the outskirts of Montevideo. She’s doing well, and we’re grateful. During the month JM helped prepare for the opening of FEBU (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay) and translate material for upcoming pastors’ training.

 

 

We’re encouraged with the work in Pando (Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha)—with faithful attendance and with enthusiasm among the half-dozen teens who regularly come. Gonzalo and Sebastián have taken opportunities to involve themselves in ministry and are seeking baptism. Recently JM preached for a baptism service for three believers from Iglesia Evangélica Siloé (the EMU church in Colón). Nearly all of the teens from Maranatha attended to observe. Please pray that we would have well-grounded confidence that all are genuinely converted.

 

 

In March, sixteen students (eight of them taking a full load of classes) enrolled in the very first semester of FEBU. These men and women are from Montevideo and interior Uruguay, along with an Argentine and an American expat. Déborah is teaching Spanish Grammar & Composition. JM is assisting with Principles of Bible Study and is helping as interim director while the Espinels are in the U.S. One week later, Bible institute classes began on the same “campus.” All classes this year are held at Iglesia Templo Calvario. JM is teaching the Pentateuch in the Bible institute. Our living so close facilitates not only teaching but also informal opportunities to talk with students, eat together, help with a sermon, or give song-leading tips. We’re glad to be here. Thank you for your part in making it possible! Please pray for God’s working in us and our students.

Argyle Paddock

Coming home from Pando Sunday night—just hours before hearing of Dr. Paddock’s homegoing—we stopped at the home of some friends on the north side of Montevideo. We talked, drank carbonated water, and watched tennis. They told me that one of the tennis players is quite good (and quite famous, though I had never heard of him). As we sat I remembered an afternoon a number of years back in the home of other friends. The television was on, and the world was very aware that this was Andre Agassi’s last match. Even I had heard of this man. And this was his day.

We weren’t there to watch tennis, though. We had gathered to say “thanks” to Argyle and Wanda Paddock. We were a small group; only a few people knew we were there; and the crowds cheering Andre didn’t know that the Paddocks even existed. Somehow I have to think, though, that God was more interested in our living-room meeting than in the fame and spectacle that happened to form the backdrop that day.

The Paddocks had loved and served us in many ways, largely in the context of mission trips to Mexico or Spain. We had watched them defy the challenges of their aging bodies, driving vans full of immature youth to take the message of Jesus to the sides of steep mountains, the streets of tiny villages, and plazas of Old World cities. Most of us gathered that day had traveled with them to represent Camp META in Mexico, a vision that Dr. Paddock never forgot.

In one of the messages that we heard Dr. Paddock preach, he raised the question of why a Christian’s rewards will not be given to him immediately upon his arrival in glory. He concluded that one reason must be that even after a person finishes his race, the fruit that he sowed has not yet been harvested. The results are not yet in. He went on to talk about former students who had traveled on mission trips with him and how they were serving the Lord, revealing his interest not only in the immediate effects of these trips but the ongoing results that they had in the lives of the students that traveled.

Dr. Paddock will have to wait for his reward, too. And I think when Jesus’ mission has been fully brought to completion, Dr. and Mrs. Paddock’s privileged part in this wonderful, ages-long Story will be stunning. We’ll see how God made Dr. Paddock—and hundreds of students influenced by him—look like Jesus. And that will be Jesus’ day. I can’t wait.

But now, Dr. Paddock, for a few more short days, we have fruit to harvest from seeds you and your dear wife planted. We go gladly back to work.

January 2014 Report

Happy New Year! We are grateful for the many ways you have encouraged us and participated in the work in Uruguay over the past year, in addition to the ways in which you serve the Lord where He has placed you. All of us will undoubtedly need much of God’s grace for the days ahead. We are highlighting some opportunities here in Uruguay in the upcoming months—work in which you can participate through your prayers (2 Co. 1:11). Most of these needs involve not only our family but many others as well.

 

Campamento Emanuel in Guazuvirá. Most of the summer camp season this year takes place during January. JM will spend most of the month there (about an hour outside Montevideo), helping with counselor training, counseling and preaching. Please pray for long-term fruit from this effort to serve Uruguayan churches by means of the camping program. Please pray for Déborah and the children during his absence. Due to new immigration requirements, she and Elizabeth are working hard to finish the U.S. school year (at home) so Elizabeth can be ready to start the new Uruguayan school year (probably in a small Christian school on the outskirts of Montevideo) by the end of February.

FEBU. On November 16 a group of well over 100—including potential students, their pastors, and other interested people—met for a youth meeting designed to offer information about the Facultad de Estudios Bíblicos del Uruguay (FEBU) (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay) (www.febu.org). On March 10 the school year will begin with sessions for teachers and an opening meeting for teachers and students. The following evening the first classes will be taught in an upstairs hall provided by EMU’s Iglesia Templo Calvario. A different, long-term facility—especially as the number of classes and students potentially increases each year—is a matter for which we would appreciate prayer. Matías and Kristine Espinel will return to the U.S. for a furlough following the opening of the school year. The timing of their trip helps to avoid an absence in upcoming years when he will be teaching more courses. JM will help to fill Matías’ place as director during these first six months.

Primer Instituto Bíblico F.V. Dabold. Classes ended for the semester in November, and Juan José graduated from the three-year program of EMU’s Bible institute in Montevideo. A separate, parallel course of study is offered in several churches in the interior, primarily via DVDs. In one of these locations (Iglesia Templo Betel in Pando) two young men, Rodrigo and Claudio, graduated a week later. Pray for the Lord’s leading of these three men.

 

Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha in Pando. On January 13 the Garwoods will travel to Jacksonville, FL, where Don (Déborah’s father) will undergo surgeries to correct blockage in a carotid artery and to replace a heart valve. These are high-risk procedures, and we would appreciate your prayers for him and for the group of believers whom he serves as missionary-pastor. The date of his return is indefinite, depending on his progress following surgery. We, along with Daniel and Viviana, Iguazú, and Cristian, will help to maintain weekend services at IBM.

October 2013 Report

Greetings once again from Montevideo! Most of you know that in July we returned unexpectedly to the US in order to clean up our house in SC following a robbery there. The Lord used the break-in to facilitate the handling of a larger problem that we had already begun to consider: the fact that while we waited for permission to bring our belongings (some of which were stored in the house in SC), our time to settle them into a fairly small living space here in Uruguay was slipping away. As we anticipated the busy-ness of the end of 2013, we had already lost interest in investing time and energy into dealing with a twenty-foot container of stuff on this end. Thus, as our pastor summarized it, the Lord (very kindly) lifted us up and shook most everything out of our pockets. We spent the last half of July and the month of August selling, giving, discarding, storing, and packing what remained to bring back in suitcases and boxes. Many decisions were difficult but freeing. We arrived back in Uruguay on September 2, in time for JM to begin teaching the following evening. This schedule has meant that unpacking suitcases has taken longer, but we are very glad that we will not be handling a shipping container.

We share our home with a new grandmother, Julia Piedad, who has lived downstairs for over 60 years, serving as hostess and caretaker for this house that has for years provided office and working space for the Evangelical Mission to Uruguay. The first floor is currently used for workers’ meetings, for some of the new FEBU meetings, and for Bible institute classes three nights a week. The basement houses the office. Living above all of this with only an open staircase between has a few disadvantages (your imagination can fill in the gaps), especially as we navigate the ruts and bumps of emptying suitcases, beginning homeschooling, preparing classes, teaching, and generally learning to function in an environment in which life takes just a bit longer to live. Yet we’re thankful for the relationships that the situation facilitates. We feel a bit like Paul at the end of Acts, who didn’t even need to leave his house (arrest!) to enjoy many opportunities coming directly to his door.
 

In our case these opportunities have included the kids’ (and adults’) participating in a weekly service in a nursing home up an adjoining street, our singing in and accompanying for a choir drawn from several like-minded area churches, and getting to know neighbors whose need for the Lord could hardly be more obvious. JM is teaching Bible institute classes (General Epistles and Systematic Theology III [Salvation]), which will occupy six hours of teaching time each week through the first part of November. Planning and work continue for FEBU’s opening in March, and we hope to begin more aggressive promotion of the new school among prospective students next month. We continue to travel to Pando most Sundays to help with Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha, and opportunities periodically arise in other nearby churches. Thank you for your prayers!

July 2013 Report

The following is our post from July 1 (more updates forthcoming):

Greetings from Uruguay!

We are grateful to report that by May 1 the Lord answered your prayers, providing the remainder of our required support and opening all doors for departure. Our final six weeks were divided between travel to churches in the eastern U.S. and packing in preparation to leave the country on June 11.

 

Flying over the Andes -- breath-taking and sobering...

We are renting the upper floor of a house owned by the Evangelical Mission to Uruguay, the building in which the mission’s office and Bible institute classes are located. The situation for the present appears to be advantageous, given the proximity not only to JM’s teaching but also to downtown Montevideo. Our home is extremely close to nearly any major bus route, including the route to Pando, where we have begun helping on weekends. Please pray for the ongoing discipleship and growth of people in Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha in that city.

Establishing legal residency in Uruguay is not excruciating but does take a fair amount of time. Though we completed what we could before leaving the U.S., this process involves visits to the immigration office and the gathering of required papers. Our belongings will not ship from SC until we receive official government permission (which in our case is connected to establishing residency); consequently, we will not be able to ship before late July and (depending on the source of information) it could be as late as mid-October. This does complicate our settling in, and we would appreciate your prayers.

JM has been invited to join the committee making plans for the opening of the new Facultad de Estudios Bíblicos del Uruguay (FEBU) (College of Biblical Studies of Uruguay). Over the last year and a half, this planning committee—with your prayers and with regular input from area pastors and missionaries—has spent many hours preparing for what we hope will be a Christ-centered, college-level program of study serving the churches here in Uruguay. Please pray as this process continues. An important need is the Lord’s guidance to and provision of the proper location for the school.

 

July: From July 22 through 26 Dr. Nick Uwarow (Division of Teacher Education, School of Education at Bob Jones University) will be holding  workshops for prospective teachers of FEBU. These will take place at Camp Emmanuel outside of Montevideo.

August to November: On August 19, the FEBU planning committee will again hold a meeting with pastors in Montevideo to share updates and make further decisions ahead of the opening of classes in March 2014. Also, EMU Bible institute classes, which will have begun the last week of July, will continue through early November.

June through August are not warm months in Uruguay. Please pray for continued health for us and for God’s grace as we adjust to life and ministry here. We are glad to be here and depend on your prayers. Thank you!

Significance of Jesus' Humanity (Heb. 2:9-18)

Hebrews 2:9-18 gives in a short amount of space several reasons the incarnation is significant:

• Jesus, fulfilling Psalm 8’s words about “man,” (cf. Heb. 2:5-8), “was made . . . lower than the angels . . . so that . . . He might taste death for everyone” (v. 9).
• “Through sufferings” Jesus, “the author of [our] salvation” was “perfect[ed]” (v. 10).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He might render [the devil] powerless” (v. 14).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He . . . might free [captives]” (vv. 14-15).
• “He [was] made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (v. 17).
• “Since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (v. 18).

NASB