October 2023

“He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, through He is not far from each one of us”

Acts 17:26-27

This month was full of celebrations. The beginning of the month we celebrated Dia de la Raza (Columbus Day). It is Latin America’s celebration of the discovery of the Western Hemisphere. This day on campus is very special as all the countries celebrate and share a piece of their history, culture, and way of life. If you watch our YouTube you will see just a little bit of what went into this day!

For missionaries this day is celebrated a little different. We get to share a little of our North American culture but also get to participate with the country God has called us to serve. There were lots of volunteers for team USA, and team Paraguay invited us to join in. It was a real blessing to help cook, decorate, and to stand with Katherin and Miguel while she raised the flag of Paraguay.

It was a real blessing to reflect on the culture we come from. Many of the students in the language program even coming from different backgrounds. Then to see the cultures that surround us here on campus. As we reflect on what God has asked us to do and where he has asked us to serve.

Growing to have a three-culture perspective is interesting. As children of God we have our heavenly home and are blessed to have the Word of God to give us a Biblical Worldview. As citizens of the United States of America we have our place on this earth with laws and government. But as a family who seeks a residency elsewhere, there is a different take-off/put-on principle being applied. We don’t give up our first two to make this happen, but we add to our cultural perspectives (it gets more fun to think about when you consider that each of our kids will have their own perspective). We are excited for what lies ahead and are thankful for what God has used to prepare the way.

The rest of October stayed pretty busy. Kathleen was blessed with the opportunity of sharing a Bible study with the ladies from our church. I lead in the Lord’s Supper at church as well as attended a class on the Israel Palestine Conflict (in Spanish). We packed in as many family activities as we could as well as celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary. It was a month full of exciting things.

As the month closes out we are on a fall break. We have mission conference here on campus that begins Wednesday and have the week off from normal classes. We will then have three weeks of classes, Thanksgiving break, followed by our last two weeks of classes. Hard to believe that in just over a month we will be heading back to Washington. In the meantime, what needs to be done both for school and in preparing for the move to Paraguay continues to be our focus.