JUNE 12, 2023

FURLOUGH PLANS

“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them…” (Acts 14:27 NKJV).

We are now back in Ames, Iowa, for the start of our fourth furlough. If God permits, from July to December we will be visiting the 18 churches that support the work that God has called us to in Colombia. We hope to see each of you to catch up on what God has done in your lives and ours!

We want to thank God for his faithfulness over all of these years. Holly and I celebrated 25 years of marriage last month! And we enjoyed special times in the ministry in Santa Marta in the last few months. Holly is especially excited because Rodolfo (pictured below on right) has agreed to take her place as the children’s ministry director.

Our teachers organized a conference with Pastor Jacobis

Download Prayer Letter as PDF

I did a Bible study with Victor Graterol’s family over the last few months, and they were very receptive to the gospel. Please pray for Yudith and her five children (Victor, Junior, Jhonatan, Yudianni and Yudieth). Pray that they could see the importance of getting connected to the local church.

I was blessed to participate in an academic conference on the University of Magdalena’s campus in May. My talk was on whether we can trust the reliability of the New Testament, and a number of attendees asked some great questions. More importantly Jacobis has begun a Bible study on campus, so pray that God would work through this new initiative.

CULTURAL PHOTO

”Motocycle taxis” is a strange phrase, but thousands of men work in this technically illegal activity. They take their passengers around town for an agreed upon price. This photo is from a protest they staged last month due to “abuse and persecution” from the police.

KIDS’ CORNER

I asked Marcos and Jason what they were most excited about for furlough. Jason said, “To maybe play chess tournaments,” and Marcos said, “To see our family.”

Eliana had a good trip to Brazil, so thanks for your prayers for her. She’ll be staying with us for the summer.

Lucas and Clarissa are doing well. He’s doing an internship at Ag Leader in Ames and should graduate at the end of the year.

Together again!

P.S. Our new phone here is (515) 817-9880 if you need to contact us. We are currently looking for an apartment, so we will let you know soon about our new address.