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Apr 21, 2005
March-April 2005 Update
FURLOUGH
-
“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…” - Mark 6:31
We
have been in Paraguay for 6 years now without a furlough. Most missionaries
return to their home country every 4 years for a time of rest and reporting to
their supporters.
We have prayed much about this and the Lord has provided the money for us to go to the States. We have our tickets in hand and will fly out of Paraguay on May 26th.
It is with mixed emotions that we are leaving. We look forward to seeing friends and family again. But, we are going to miss the new believers we have been working with to plant a local church in our neighborhood.
However, there is another assembly of believers in a nearby neighborhood that we fellowshipped with before we started meeting in our home. In our absence, the believers from our neighborhood will be able to attend meetings there. We have also discussed the possibility of one of the men from that group meeting with our people in one of their homes in our neighborhood in order to continue teaching and grounding them in the Word.
In addition to making arrangements for the ongoing care of the believers in our neighborhood, we have been working to get our personal family details all in order.
The main item has been getting our permanent residency renewed before we leave. This has meant getting documents from the neighborhood police station & their central identification bureau, and visiting the Immigration office downtown.
We have been working on renewing our residency for months now. It is just that many things, especial official paperwork, move so SLOWLY here in Paraguay. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish wrapping up things here.
In addition, pray for us once we reach the States on May 27th. There are many details that still need to be worked out, such as a place to live, transportation and a job.
Why a job? Quite simply, it will be difficult to live in the States on our current level of financial support; the cost of living is just too high. It has been a blessing to live in Asunción as it has one of the lowest costs of living of any capital city in the world.
FELLOWSHIP –
When we first arrive in the States we will spend time visiting family and friends, as well as, reporting to our supporting churches. Then, after getting Autumn settled in at New Tribes Bible Institute in August, we will be looking to the Lord for direction concerning where He wants us to live and work during the rest of our time in the States.
One of the main reasons for our decision to go ahead and return to the States at this time is our need to find a new church home. As many of you know, our original home/sending church, Midland Baptist Temple, stopped supporting their missionaries due to a lack of finances quite some time ago.
Since then, we have been in contact with a number of people concerning a place to fellowship. As a result, we have several local assemblies of believers with which we want to visit.
Pray with us that we will clearly discern God’s will in this very important area of a church home.
FRUIT -
Remember Nicasia? She was the first lady to accept Christ through our Home Bible studies. In our last newsletter, we reported how she had visited her family in the northern part of Paraguay in January. While there, she won her father and sister to the Lord.
Well, last month Nicasia went to visit her family again. We were somewhat surprised since she had just visited them and it is expensive (in her economic condition) to do so.
Never the less, it was worth the expense. Nicasia tried to witness to an uncle who has lost his mind apparently due to witchcraft. Sadly, he can no longer understand anything he is told. But, there were other family members listening. In fact, three of them, two ladies and a man, accepted Christ through Nicasia’s witnessing!
Remember Andrea? She is the believer in our group whose husband is Lazaro, the atheist Cuban. Andrea’s mother-in-law from Cuba is here for an extended visit in order to see her new granddaughter. Unlike her atheist son, this lady was a devout Catholic.
I say WAS a devout Catholic because she
accepted Christ through Sherri & Andrea’s witnessing! In fact, she was so
convinced of her need to trust solely in Jesus instead of the Catholic Church,
that she said she is going to throw away all her Catholic idols as soon as she
gets back to Cuba!
PRAYER REQUESTS
Furlough - Grace in finishing our preparations to leave. Discernment of God’s will concerning where to live, work, and which local assembly of believers we should fellowship with.
Cameron - Endurance, safety, grace and wisdom as he works and continues his flight training.
Autumn - Grace as she begins her studies at New Tribes Bible Institute in August.
As
always, thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for us. We truly
depend on it. May our Lord richly bless you in return for your faithfulness in
praying for our family.
Yours in Christ,
Posted by David Pryor in Prayer & Praise | Permalink
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