News from El Salvador

This coming June will mark the completion of our eighth year as missionaries in Central America. We are grateful to our home church, Abundant Life Church in Lee's Summit, Missouri, for supporting our ministry here. It has been a privilege to serve with Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva, and we are grateful for the prayer support we have received from our family and friends.
As we were called by God to serve here, we have always felt that our retiring would likewise be led by God's calling. After much prayer, we want to share with you that we will be retiring and returning to the States on or about July 8.
We ask for your continued prayers during this time of transition, and we look forward to God's further calling on our lives back in the States.

"Dinner and a Movie" Night

Last night was our first "dinner and a movie" night with two of our missionary friends--Rachelle and Tiffany.  We're hoping to make it a monthly event, although we might do a "dinner and cribbage" night every now and then.  It was fun to hang out, talk English, eat comfort food (chicken noodle soup) and laugh together at a goofy movie!

We didn't take any pictures, so you'll just have to use your imagination.  

New MetroAmerica 0-20 Missionaries

Yesterday was a very special day in the life of our church as two missionaries (and their families) were commissioned to start a new work in Bogota, Colombia.  Pastor David Guadron and Pastor Alex Hernandez and their families are leaving for Bogota this Wednesday.

Planting a church is hard work, and there will be challenges as they serve God in Bogota, a city of 9 million people. However, they know that they are answering God's call on their lives and He will be with them every step.  Please add them to your prayer list.  

Weekend Between Campaigns

The Hilo, Aguja y Biblia group continued working on our most recent project . . . . drawstring backpacks.  We are working with a public high school in a small town.  We'll be sharing a value lesson in the classroom and then distributing the backpacks.  Here's a couple of pictures of our work.

Saturday night we introduced Koky and Ena to healthy food from the Daniel Plan and then taught them how to play Cribbage.  It was a fun night!

This morning we went to church in Lourdes instead of the hotel because we had to pick up a second inflatable.  We'll be using two of them during the campaign this week--one will be used in the afternoon VBS and the other in our regular family festivals.  Don't know if it's possible to get them both in our truck, but we'll find out tomorrow.

The really exciting news this weekend is that we bought our tickets to fly to Bogota, Colombia, in January.  The sending service for our new missionaries, David Guadron and Alex Hernandez and their families is the last weekend in August.  They will begin their church planting work in September and will host the first campaign in January.  We're thrilled to be a part of this new work . . . . please pray for them, us and the group of North Americans who will be coming for this campaign.

Annual Missions Conference

We start our annual missions conference tomorrow night.  The theme this year is "Export Life," which, of course, is encouraging us to take the amazing gospel to the whole world.  Pastor Rudy Garrido will be sharing in the services Thursday night, Friday night and Sunday morning.  His wife, Rocio, will be sharing at the women's breakfast event on Saturday morning.  They are visiting from Bogota, Colombia, where he has been a pastor for many years.  They are dear friends of Pastor Julio and his wife, Patty.

If you've been following the blog for very long, you know that we're "all about missions."  It's something we live everyday here in San Salvador.  Please take a minute to pray for all the missionaries you know!  I can assure you that they need and appreciate your prayers.