What happened to the little flutters?

Last night I had my hand on Annie's stomach and felt the baby kick; she's only 4 months along! She was asleep. Well, tonight she felt a pretty monstrous kick herself, very neat.

Another blog

You may or may not know that I have another blog. I am not as frequent on that one, but from time to time I have the desire to write something that doesn't really fit on here, so I will post it on the other blog. I guess the other blog is more geared towards sharing Bible and this one is more towards sharing experiences; although any Bible believer knows that the impact of believing the Book is intricately woven together with our experiences. Anyways, if you are interested, here is the link: http://goyeintoalltheworld.blogspot.com/.

Chaplaincy bearing fruit

This new opportunity of being chaplain of a local school has already proven to be fruitful. We have had at least 3 first time visitors at our church in the last two weeks who are affiliated with the school. Two of them are children who attend there and who absolutely loved Annie's class. Also, this last Monday I had the privilege to counsel a troubled teen. It did not take much convincing from the Scriptures of his need for a Saviour because he was already well aware of his sinfulness. It was my joy to lead him in a profession of faith in Christ. I am picking him up a half hour before Sunday School this weekend so he can be a part of our church. There is no greater joy than winning a precious soul to Christ!

Twenty Minute Blitz in the Plaza

I have had the privilege of working alongside some great people at a tract company called Chick Publications. I really love to use some of the tracts they print. They have a saying around there, "Chick Tracts get read!" It may sound kind of cliche, but it certainly is true. I have passed out dozens and dozens of types of gospel tracts, and even thousands of copies of those various kinds. Many times when I pass out gospel tracts after all is said and done I will walk in the general direction that the recipients were going to pick up crumpled and torn up tracts that have been littered. Sometimes the number is very high, and sometimes the number is low (depending on a multitude of variables). One thing is sure though, of the thousands of Chick Tracts that I have passed out, it is very rare that I have seen one on the floor.

We are thrilled to have received 10,000 custom printed Chick Tracts with our church's information on the back. They are beautiful on the outside, filled with a powerful message on the inside, and we know that people are reading them. Just the other day with my father-in-law we passed out 125 in about 20 minutes. We didn't see one on the floor!

The house is quiet

My in-laws left yesterday afternoon. It was a sad time for all of us. A lot of crying and hugs. It reminded me of the time after Paul had spent three years in Ephesus and he was saying goodbye to the elders it says this,
"And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." - Acts 20:37-38

It is tough to say goodbye to ones you love. When you say goodbye as you are leaving for the mission field, when you say goodbye to your children as they return to the United States for college, and then, if one day you should leave, saying goodbye to the saints with whom you have worked. Goodbye's are one of the most difficult parts of the life of a missionary.

But you have to ask yourself, are the goodbye's worth it? Yes, they are! That the Lamb may receive the reward of His suffering.

Family in town

My in-laws got here a week and a half ago and we are loving it! It has been great, and has made me really excited for my parents to visit later this year. I had dad, who is also my pastor, preach for us last Sunday morning. He preached a good message on the resurrection and I translated. We've done lots of fun things like: seen local places and get to know in town, went to see el velo de la novia, did a bonfire and roasted hotdogs for completos at Laguna Verde, fished in an isolated laguna called Laguna Brava up in the snowy mountains with dad (quite the adventure getting there) and caught brown trout which I'd never caught before, went on a date with Annie, did an Asado al Palo, and of course church ministry continues on. We have started our third month now since opening day service for our church. This morning there were 25 in attendance and 8 first time visitors. Annie had 11 in her class! Wow! Here's some pictures from the last week and a half or so.

Smoke stacks coming up from every home in town

The weather is starting to get cold here. We've been in the 30's, and so our house and everybody else's have smoke coming out of the chimney. I actually like the smell, unless the neighbors are burning rubber or something. I think if and when we take a furlough to go home I'll miss the smell. Seeing those smoke stacks make me think of this famous missions quote:

"Many a morning have I stood on the porch of my house, and looking northward, have seen the smoke arise from villages that have never heard of Jesus Christ. I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."
-Robert Moffat

Lord's Supper

Last week we celebrated the Lord's Supper! It was a very special time. As you are aware of, the biblical Lord's Supper has two elements: fruit of the vine and bread. I truly enjoyed making homemade grape juice and homemade unleavened bread. Annie snapped a picture of the experience.