Greetings!
Tomorrow (Feb. 7) we (Ricardo and Beth) will be leaving to go to the Free Methodist Latin American Leadership Summit for Missionaries in Lima, Peru. It will be the first time we've both left the kids for more than two nights (this trip will be 7 nights long) and Juliana has already been crying for days about our upcoming departure. We would appreciate your prayers for all of us during this separation!
In addition, we have been very aware of the pain that comes with parting over the last few weeks.
Last night we were with two of our church members (Wilma and Natalia) after the death of their mother/grandmother. Likewise, we have been accompanying Rolando through his grief after the loss of his mother 10 days ago. These have been difficult goodbyes.
Thankfully with each "goodbye" comes at least one "hello." For example, tomorrow night we will be saying "hello" to our Latin American team members, some of whom we've never met. Similarly, on Wednesday we said hello to Ricardo's mother and sister who have come from Colombia to take care of the kids.
Likewise, in Christ death has lost its sting and parting becomes a sweet sorrow! We know that he who dies in Christ has the privilege of a very happy hello in heaven!! Please pray for us as we help disciple new Christians in relationship with Christ so that they too may know the gift of peaceful goodbyes and joyful hellos!
|
| Goodbye Old Year, Hello New! |
 |
 | | Click on this picture to see more. |
On January 16, Comunidad Cristiana Casa Grande wrapped up its 2nd year of ministry with a church-wide picnic! Even though summer attendance is down due to vacations, 40 people came to the church's birthday party, ranging in age from 3 years to 80+. We had a pool side service, a delicious cook out and then enjoyed swimming and relaxing for the rest of the day.
Our ministry at Casa Grande continues and we've said hello to new ministries this month. Wednesday night prayer services have begun and we initiated a youth program one Saturday night, but due to vacation schedules, have chosen to wait and really kick off the youth program in March, when the kids go back to school.
We are particularly looking forward to welcoming Pastor Luis Alberto and family back to Santiago this week after their prolonged vacation in Colombia! Actually, they return while we are in Peru but the overlap is great - we won't have to find someone to preach while we're gone (and we can go back to living in just one house).
Actually we celebrated two church anniversaries this month because on January 22 we went to Ovalle to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the church there that we have been supporting. About 20 people were in attendance for the celebratory service that day!
|
|
| Hello Abbie, Goodbye Ignorance |
|
 | | Abbie is the little one in the middle |
On January 5 we welcomed Abbie to our family. She is a 3 month-old little mixed-breed puppy (Yorkshire Terrier and Schnauzer). The kids have been asking for a dog for more than a year and since Abbie is small and was abandoned near our home, we finally gave in. Much of the month of January was spent in lessons, professional evaluations and school shopping. Both Juliana and Jonathan enjoyed two weeks of intensive swimming lessons and will continue their training 3 nights a week for the next few months. In addition, Juliana has been visiting speech and occupational therapists. Together with the psychologist, they have determined that she has Sensory Integration Disorder. While we've still got a lot of learning to do, at least we know now what we are dealing with (hence, "Goodbye Ignorance"). When school starts she will probably begin 3 days-a-week of therapy. Because of this revelation we have chosen to withdraw the children from the school they have attended in hopes of finding one that can better address Juliana's needs. Most of the schools we visited didn't have any space in the first grade classes. Since schools are closed for vacations, we now have to wait until March 1 & 2 to go through the exploratory/entrance process at three schools that hopefully do have space. School starts on March 3. Please pray that we will find the one that best meets our family's needs!
|
|
