January ended up being quite the topsy-turvy month for us here. Nothing went quite as planned and there were some lowlights and highlights. Among the lowlights were trying to rent a house and discovering that the real estate agent had been, shall we say, less than honest about the terms (we didn’t sign the contract), so we still haven’t found a place in Pueblo Nuevo; we just learned that our health insurance has risen substantially which significantly affects our support level (~80%), Gavin, Barbara-Lee and Drew (the iron stomach man) all spent a night throwing up and Tim battled an ear
infection.

The highlights include special visitors, continued relationship building with leaders in Pueblo Nuevo, setting up a computer class in the elementary school there, finding out that we’ll have a colleague coming down in May (Lord willing) as Eddie Ferguson is committed to coming down, getting our temporary house all to ourselves, Drew’s great adjustment to his new
school, and God’s continued faithfulness in all these circumstances. Oh, and brilliantly warm sunny day after day after day (you see why our friends Dan and Victoria were smart to come down and visit in January??!!). The highlights
certainly outnumbered the lowlights both in quantity and quality.

As we have been reflecting on these highs and lows and trusting God for the future, the book of Joshua has been an encouragement. It is exciting for about the first eleven chapters, then settles into a whole bunch of lists of all
the kings conquered and lands divided up. We think that the lists are a good reminder to look back at all God has done for His people for thousands of years. He continues in His power and faithfulness and we look forward to adding our own lists of victories to come.

School time
It took the whole month, but Tim has gotten the green light to start helping the school use their computer lab. He’ll be working with groups of ten kids at a time to teach them computer basics and get them familiar enough with PowerPoint so they can make a presentation. The principal and the teacher in charge of the lab were pretty excited about this when we met. This seems to be an exciting opportunity for us to meet a need in the school and gain credibility as people who really want to help and serve. So we’re excited about moving forward with this.

Small group in Pueblo Nuevo
It’s been good to get to know the group on Friday nights (9 PM-midnight). It makes for a late night as a family, and Tim will probably go alone sometimes, but it’s been good just to get to know people committed to serving the Lord in the neighborhood.

House hunting
We’re still looking. We spent an afternoon looking at five possibilities in Pueblo Nuevo. At this stage, buying a lot and building a house seems like the best option–although it presents a unique set of challenges. We’re convinced we should live in the neighborhood, and we thinking buying rather than renting holds the potential to open up ministry opportunities by showing our commitment to the neighborhood. We want to be invested there in every way and we’re waiting for the Lord to open this door.

Help Wanted

This isn’t so much a “Help Wanted” as a qualified invitation. We had such a good time with Dan & Victoria, and it was a blessing to us to host a couple interested in missions and exploring God’s leading in their lives. We are always glad to help people in that, so if you are thinking of missions and want to see some missionaries muddling through a starting ministry and talking through what that looks like and are interested in how God could direct you, and if you feel like it would be helpful to see things firsthand and aren’t too timid or squeamish, well, come on down!