August 2024 Ministry Update

“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Genesis 1:2

The group that meets Wednesday nights for prayer meeting has been discussing Genesis Chapters 1 and 2. It has been great to sit with a couple different groups and to hear their perspective on Creation. This last week the group of guys and I look at chapter 2 verse 18 at the one unique thing that the Lord declared as not good. “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

The imagery we find in this passage at the creation of Woman and the unity between the two has been greatly impactful in my life. Then we also observe what was said in Ephesians 5:28-29. As a leader of the family, I have the responsibility to learn my wife, to love my wife and thus to lead my wife. I have been thankful for the opportunity to reflect and think on how I can do better in these areas of ministering within the home.

As the month of July came to a close, things started slowing down a little bit and we began to see into a routine. August started by celebrating Adara-Dasha’s birthday, friendship day, and the first day of school and we end this update just having celebrated Jedidiah’s Birthday. With the kids now in school it means that I will begin with special projects for the church. Starting school has helped in many ways, and we are continually thankful for the opportunity to homeschool our kids.

This month I sat down with both Pastor Juan Carlos Escobar and Pastor Sergio and we began to discuss ministry. As you are aware we were sent to partner with our brothers in Christ in 1) Discipleship 2) Church Planting and 3) Bible Training. Now that we are getting into a routine it is time to jump into some work. While most of this first year will be focused on making sure that the family adapts well within the culture there is still plenty of time to get ministry moving forward. I have been asked to help in a few different ways that I am excited to share. The first is that I have been asked to be on rotation for speaking with the young adult group on Saturday evenings. Secondly, I have been asked to help in the process of re-writing the churches doctrinal statement (not making major changes, but making it more useful and understandable for the church body). Thirdly, I have been asked to help in creating a roadmap to church leadership. The church has a short format for church membership but often people get lots in the leadership development of those within the church.

Adara-Dasha turned 9 this month and Jedidiah Turned 11! It was fun to have people who love and care for the kids around to enjoy the time with. We are also excited to see how the Lord uses them and their personalities to serve the people of Paraguay.

Praise and Prayer Requests:

• Praise that we have our Temporary Residency! This process went very quickly and we are thankful for the agency we hired to help us. They are working now on our Cedulas!
• Praise for great neighbors, Cristian and Evelin that have helped get us healthy through times of being sick.
• Pray as we continue the process of getting a car. We need to wait until we get our Cedulas before we can purchase
• Pray we would continue to recover from the cold that has struck our home. Elijah has had it the worse and we are trying another medication to help him.
• Pray for Carlos, the man who sells ready to eat chicken, and for opportunities to share Christ with him and his family. This last Sunday we gave him and his wife banana muffins, and they were thrilled!