Music, coronavirus, music projects, and insects!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionary Ben Tino (Serving in Zacapa, Guatemala):

It has been almost two months since I sent out my last newsletter, and well not much has changed since then. Here is a brief update on the coronavirus situation in Guatemala:

1) We will probably reach 20,000 cases in the country by the time you read this newsletter

2) Curfew is Mon-Sat 6pm-5am, and Sunday 24 hrs.

3) No circulation of vehicles to and from different states without permission

4) Mask mandatory once outside of house/proper distancing measures

5) International flights set to open Aug 15th, (although United is now offering emergency flights to the US)

The situation is very much similar in these smaller countries of Central and South America. I pray, that soon we can resume our original daily routines, so that everyone can go about without so much fear of a deadly virus, and can continue to glorify God’s name.

So what have I been doing these days? Good question… I keep myself busy with music!

Aside from my personal practice each day, I prepare the music for our Sunday service, which we record in advance, and I have taken on a few personal music projects of my own.  During the week I have been teaching 7 students, which is far less than where I was at before the virus outbreak. A new project I have taken on with them this past month is each Friday I select one of my students to record with me a Christian song, whether singing or playing an instrument, and we post that song on our church’s Facebook page for our members to watch and listen. With this project my students have something to practice towards, and the video serves as a nice musical offering for all to enjoy during these rough times. Below are the links to them. Take a listen!

Click here to watch the videos!

In Venezuela it was the tarantulas, in Miami the cockroaches and lizards, and now in Guatemala its the scorpions!! I seem to find one of these per month hiding near the bed, behind the fridge, or in my yoga mat…

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Ben!

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To the Ends of the Earth

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Jim and Liisa Tino (Serving in Santiago, Chile) write:

Where are you finding refuge? Social media? Probably not the best idea. Pining for how things used to be? The past is past. Political activism? Sometimes effective, sometimes not. The only sure and certain Refuge that we have is the Lord – who (by the way) is still the Most High! Our world right now needs front line workers who can take the hurting, the lost, the dazed and the confused by the hand and lead them to the Refuge, Jesus Christ! Will you point someone in your neighborhood to Jesus? Will you help us lead more people in Santiago to the Refuge?

Sharing Jesus’ Love in Real Ways

 “I’m desperate. I lost my job and I don’t have money to pay the rent, or even to buy food. Please help me!”  This is just one of the many messages we receive on our church website or by facebook every week. Many immigrants have had their already difficult lives fall apart. They are unemployed and are often left homeless. Our mission has decided to offer food baskets to as many of these cases as possible. When the people pick up their food at church, we pray with them and give them Christian literature. We are also using our “Used Clothing Store” to help out these people. Eventually, this resale shop will provide income for the mission, but right now it’s a resource for many people who are not prepared with winter clothing.

Life Today in Santiago

While the US is cautiously “re-opening” amid protests and violence, Santiago is moving in the opposite direction. As you may recall, Chile was rocked by violent protests in the last quarter of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. Coronavirus put an end to the protests here. As the numbers of COVID-19 cases have grown, life in Santiago has been increasingly more restrictive. Since mid-March, all non-essential businesses have been closed and a curfew has been in effect (10 pm to 6 am). Rolling quarantines were implemented next, which turned to a full quarantine for the whole city in May. As of this writing, all of Santiago (7 million residents) are under quarantine, and have been for the past 7 weeks. What that means is that you need police permission to leave your house for any reason, including going to the grocery store. The permission is obtained online using your national ID number and is good for 3 hours. Each adult can obtain a maximum of two permissions per week. Fortunately, Jim so far has been able to obtain a “safe conduct” permit for the essential workers of our mission, so we have been able to go back and forth to the church and continue ministry as best we can!

Real Ministry online?

“Greetings to everyone on the other side of the screen!”  Jim never thought this would be his normal way to start a Sunday service! But live-stream worship from our home has become our new normal.  We’re finding out this is a tiring task!  Pastor Jim also has a group of 5 confirmands studying catechism with him on-line. These last 2 weeks he has also been teaching a doctorate level class at the seminary in St. Louis, “remotely”.

Lastly, covid-19 can’t stop the music!  Liisa is busier than ever teaching on-line piano and guitar lessons!

Fall Furlough!

Although here in Chile we are still under mandatory quarantine, the United States is beginning to loosen up travel restrictions. With that in mind, and with complete FAITH in the Most High, we have made plans to travel to the USA in September. We will be stateside for about 12 weeks. During that time, we hope to visit family, friends and supporting congregations. If you would like to schedule a time for us to visit your congregation or group, please email Jim at: revtino@hotmail.com. Take note of the following tentative schedule:

SEPTEMBER: New England

OCTOBER: Michigan

NOVEMBER: Florida

For congregations not in the named areas, we are open to working with you to schedule a special trip!

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Tino!

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The vision unfolds

Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dale and Cheryl Talsma (Serving in Jos, Nigeria) write:

We’ve been here largely isolating in our home in Jos, Nigeria as the government tries to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 with orders like in much of the world – stay home, etc.  “But the Word of God is not in chains” (2 Tim 2:9), Paul asserted while forced into the lockdown of prison in Rome! How can we engage this world in need with the life-giving Word of the Gospel?

I have been filled with a sense that reminds me of the surprising impression I experienced 20 years ago immediately after my body was burned in a fire in Obot Idim, Nigeria. As the pain was searing and I could see flesh dangling from my arm, I felt an almost joyful anticipation that God was at work in this for a good purpose and opportunity. God works in way impossible to humanly program. I have, since the beginning of this outbreak of the coronavirus, had a similar anticipation that God is at work to open a great opportunity to save souls.

We are sending here a Report that attempts to summarize 18 months of Cheryl’s and my ministries as GLO missionaries. Many aborted attempts over the last months have reduced us to sending this Report which while too short to do justice to all God has been working, is yet too long for easy reading.

Click here for more details from the past 18 month!

Travel tally

I decided to tally up some stats on what was probably the most extensive travel itinerary in my 8 years serving as International Missionary Developer for GLO.  Due to scheduling difficulties, what was meant to be two trips were compacted into one of 39 days in 2019 (20 Oct. to 28 Nov.)

• Countries: 6 countries (in two continents). Would have been 7, but denied entry into the DRC.
• Flights: 14 flights, 29,937 kms, 13 different airports, 102 hours (including layovers)
• Buses: 16 buses, 3,143 kms, 83 hours.
• Different sleeping places:  16, not counting planes/airports

I thank God for making such travel possible and making complicated scheduling actually work out! Yet it was a bit grueling, and not least for Cheri managing my long absence.

Cheryl’s ministries

Hillcrest School teachers can once again attest to the grace of God that was solely responsible for enabling the successfully completion of the 2019-2020 school year! These months have been like no other in my four years of teaching in Jos!

The last quarter of the year brought another unexpected change as across the world school buildings were closed. In one short and frantic week, learning moved online for most of Hillcrest including me and my 20 fourth graders. I have never been busier as a teacher than in those weeks! I also worried more because appraising students’ comprehension and integrating the necessary aspect of socialization in the elementary years seemed impossible as students tried to learn in the isolation of their own homes.

Our school and so many other Christian organizations persisted in doing what we were called to do, even as our circumstances changed and we were unsure of the outcomes. We still don’t know what the situation on ground will be once school is to begin anew, but we do know Who is in control and Who loves us and promised to be with us, guide us and give us the wisdom we need at the time we need it.
Leaning on the Lord and learning to trust Him is certainly not a “one and done” thing. I need to practice it daily, sometimes situation by situation.

Hillcrest Administration wants to preserve some of the positive aspects of distance learning for our community of education at Hillcrest. Many of us feel we have gained some new skills and insights that could add some benefits to our students’ learning. If we need to start online, we know that is doable, but we sure would prefer having our new students with us in class to get to know who they are, personally interact, and form our new community.
As we look to August 5th, the first day of school regardless the circumstances, we first must rest and recharge, then do some additional reflection and training, before we focus on preparing for new students.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Talsmas!

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Ready to go

Global Lutheran Outreach missionary Josh Wareham (preparing to serve in Jos, Nigeria) writes:

The school year has finished. Classrooms are clean and summer has started. I have moved to Georgia, and I am now waiting to depart to Nigeria. As the days pass by and my anxious excitement builds, I laugh to myself and say,”Hmm, Africa? Okay, sounds like an adventure, God.” With this excitement also comes the anxiety of the “What if”. What if I don’t get my visa in time? I can’t send in my papers until maybe July 4th; my flight is July 12th. What if I get sick before I fly there? I can’t board the plane with any sort of fever. What if I get there and I get carried away by the mosquitoes? Who knows? It’s funny how God works in our lives. With these thoughts of worrying about what will happen in the future Christ’s words seem to somehow pop into my head, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” I believe God blessed us with a memory bank so that this verse can be applied. I have had lots of time to meditate and converse with God as I wait.

Everything has fallen into place for me to go to Hillcrest. I sold my truck, moved to Georgia; and I have most of what I will be taking there in a corner ready to go. All I need is my visa, and then in eighteen days I am off to Nigeria! (Did I say this already? I’m not counting the days or anything.)

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Joshua and his steps for a new life as missionary!

As a teacher, I am always excited to share my knowledge about what I know. I would be ecstatic to share, explain, and talk about my call to Jos, Nigeria. If you, someone you know, or bible study groups, home groups, or churches want to hear more about my mission please contact me through my dedicated missions email: warehamj72@gmail.com.

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We most trust in Him

Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi , serving in Tanzania.They write:

With so much uncertainties in the world and the world being shutdown abruptly, and many people around the world losing their love ones, their jobs and so many ministries closing down. The question many are asking now is that “Can we go back to the way the world was before the COVID-19 pandemic or can we get back all that we have lost”? “With God all things are possible”. God can restore us as a people again to where we were before COVID-19. All we need to do is have faith and keep trusting Him.

The Church in Hope, Faith and Prayers during COVID-19

Tanzania is one of many countries that  never opted for lock-down to combat the spread of  COVID-19. Even though all her neighbors declared lock-down, Tanzanians were told to continue their normal activities, except that all schools and higher institutions of learning were closed within the country. Churches and other places of worship were asked to remain open and people were encouraged to pray for the country and the world at large during this period. We at Kisesa had to reduce our regular morning service attendance to about 75 on Sundays. Meaning we had to go for two service on Sundays to make up for the rest of the people that will not be able to come at a particular time. Many of our members did not like changing their service time, so they decided that they will come to the first service, 7:30am to 9:30am, but will stay outside of the building for the service, instead of coming for second service from 10:30am – 12:00 noon.

Building Christ’s Church in the Midst of Pandemic

With the closure of many offices, foreign owned business and borders, yet members are determined to support the building of Christ’s Church. Our church has taken up a big project to get rid of all the plastic chairs and to replace them with modern wooden standard benches, that will also help to in increase the number of people coming in at a time for service(s). We met as a leaders to discuss the issue of replacing the plastic chairs, and it was a wonderful deliberation and it was unanimously agreed that we needed Fifty(50) benches costing $6,525. From the day we had the meeting up to present we have been able to received donations from members for Sixteen(16) benches $2,100.  If there is anyway you will want to help us in replacing our plastic chairs to benches please feel free to contact us through Global Lutheran Outreach.

Resumption of Teaching at the Bible College

At the beginning of this year, Dixon decided to take a semester off the Bible College, so as to help Christy at home with our daughter as she draws closer to her due date. More so, all schools were asked to close due to the Pandemic. All the students who were staying on campus were asked to return home. Again, the school have asked Dixon to resume teaching especially to continue from where the teacher for the Evangelists and Church workers stopped. Since, probably he will not be returning again to Tanzania. What this means is that Dixon has now returned to the classroom and will be teaching Four(4) classes, of which Three(3) classes are combined classes.

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Here and ther

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Tim and Beth Heiney (ed. note: Because of the complications caused by the pandemic, Beth remains in the US with no prospect of returning to Guinea, while Tim remains on the field. ). They write:

From Tim in Guinea: If you remember, in our last update, I had gotten very close to just dumping all my virus rules and just going back to the way I lived before, since there had been no sign of the sickness around here. Well, all my personal rules snapped back into place.

Presentation to the mayor of the donations made to the town of Siguiri to begin rebuilding the market that was burned down earlier this year. THANK YOU

I tried to open up a couple Discovery Bible Studies again, but in each group key members were out of town trying to earn some money or something. But also, this week we heard that the government is going to make a big announcement about the future of our national lock-down on the 15th or 16th. Everyone says they will open the borders and the mosques and churches and schools again. Since it feels like we are so close to the end, I decided not to just throw everything out, but I have started shaking hands again, and things like that. Our small church is on alert now that all the women should be ready. If the lock-down ends, they need to be cooking on the first Sunday, because we will be celebrating Easter on that day, and having our big Easter common meal.

In the meantime, I have been working with one of the members to record scripture passages for our Discovery Bible Studies so that the studies can be used also with people who can’t read. I am also doing some brushing up on the language, and continuing to teach myself Nko, a unique style of writing Maninka with its own alphabet.

From Beth in the USA: Where to begin??. I was super excited last week when I actually got through to Delta Airlines and was able to make a reservation on July 10th to fly back to Bamako. I figured if the border was not open by then I could reschedule…yet again. Not two days after that we got a message saying that Air France has cancelled everything from Paris to Bamako through to the end of August. While this has been disheartening, I’ve also been having some issues with my back. About 35 years ago I had a Herrington Rod placed in there to stop the twisting caused by scoliosis and always felt so blessed that I never had any issues with it at all. A little over a year ago, while in the US, I slipped on some ice and landed smack dab full force on my tail bone. When people say they “saw stars” I now know what that feels like. Most spines have cushions between the vertebrae. Not mine. Since then something just hasn’t felt right back there, so I need to get that checked out. Maybe there’s a reason God has me here after all.

Blessings and love,

Tim and beth ><>

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One year

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionary Cheryl Kruckemeyer (serving in Mwadui, Tanzania) She writes:

One year ago, May 27, 2019, I departed from DFW Airport for the one-week field visit and introduction to Mwadui, Tanzania, marking the beginning of my commitment to this ministry in Tanzania. On January 27, 2020, just before the Covid-19 virus was a known worldwide threat, I made the journey to begin a new life here. I ask the Lord to bless me here, make me useful to my neighbors, friends, acquaintances, students, those in need, and other poor sinners in this place, thereby displaying to His people His infinite wisdom, love, and mercy.

One day while I was observing, one of the young workers told me he did not have a Bible. He was very happy when, the following day, I handed him a Bible written in Kiswahili. God is so good. Dorothea Kruse, an agricultural missionary from Germany, serving within the Mennonite organization, moved into Mwadui and is living with me. She was seeking protection and isolation from the corona virus. Being familiar with Mwadui and Abel’s farm, she felt safer here than in Shinyanga or Mwanza. Cooking and working on Abel’s farm are her favorite pastimes.

Time Well Spent

The Wednesday morning Ladies Bible Study group is digging deep into Matthew 14:13-21. Weekly mentoring sessions with students, in between their duties on the farm, are helping them gain self-confidence, develop plans, and take steps toward their dreams and career goals. Observing and occasionally lending a hand, I’ve spent time with the manual laborers on Abel’s farm harvesting rice, planting Chinese cabbage, and working the land.  President Magafuli announced prayers have been answered and there is no more coronavirus in Tanzania, in spite of conflicting reports. Truth is evasive and simply directs us back to the Bible, knowing there is only one truth on all the earth.

“Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” (Psalm 26:1-2)

When do we test God? And He us? Testing God is actually a lack of trust in Him. Only God knows the hearts of His people. Martin Luther responded to requests for advice during the bubonic plague in Germany, and his advice has withstood the test of time. He tells us to take reasonable preventative steps and to love our neighbors. We all have responsible roles during these days of the coronavirus, even now when the threat is hopefully diminishing. But never are we to forsake our neighbors in their time of need, whether that need is physical or spiritual. It is most certainly more blessed to give than to receive.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Cheryl

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Baptism in the time of COVID-19

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries David and Luz Maria Ernst (the Ernst are serving in La Curamuca, Venezuela ).They write:

On Pentecost Sunday, May 21, 2020, seven-month-old Reiber Santiago Pirela Parra, received the gift of new life in Christ through holy baptism. We also celebrated the Eucharist for the first time since “national quarantine” was declared about two months ago.

In my last communication, I expressed hope that the quarantine would be lifted by Pentecost and we would be able to resume offering the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. wrote those words, the quarantine was extended to June 12. But the rules have since been “relaxed”. Schools, including our preschool, will not reopen until the new school year begins in September. Students are supposed to complete their studies on-line (something of a challenge, as I will explain) and we have opened the preschool every morning to distribute food and homework assignments to families in our community. Although the availablity of public transportation has been greatly reduced, we have been able to obtain the food through use of the car that your donations enabled to purchase.

The Lord’s Supper.

In addition to closing of schools, most businesses are allowed to operate for a strictly limited number of hours per day, although the “relaxation” means some businesses are able to stay open longer now. However, as far as I know, there are no rules specifically pertaining to place of worship. Since our chapel is not on public property, we have continued to hold Sunday morning services, although we will not celebrate the Lord’s Supper again until after June 12. Those who attend our Sunday morning worship are a small group of people that we see every day anyway. Nobody in our vicinity has shown signs of COVID-19 infection so far, so praise be to God for that as well.

Facemasks are in fashion.

Two thousand years of experience and scientific study have shown the likelihood of contagious disease being passed through the sharing of the communion chalice is very low. If your immune system is that compromised, you really should not leave your house anyway. Of course, we tell our communicants that they are not obligated to receive communion every time it’s offered, and if there is any indication that that they might be infected with COVID-19, they should stay home. While we certainly do not believe or teach that the Lord has promised the faithful immunity to pestilence whether we take precautions or not, we do believe that He will watch over us as we do the work that He has commanded His church to do.

Reiber Santiago’s parents, Ronelbys and Maria José, told me nearly seven months ago that they wanted their baby baptized in our chapel. They wanted Reiber Santiago baptized, so that if he did get sick and die, he would have the promise of heaven. So it was done on perhaps the best of days for a baptism, Pentecost.

To see more pictures from this past month, please click here.

To everything there is a season

As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”, and sometimes the time for everything is all at once. We have entered Venezuela’s rainy season, the period from May to November in which total rainfall may add up to 78 inches. Just in time, too, because the water level in our well was getting very low. However, now we have the problem of heavy cloud cover reducing the efficiency of our solar-powered electrical backup system, combined with longer and longer power outages almost every day. However, a somewhat more pressing concern is that our cellphone/Internet service used to last six hours after the public power went down, but now it only lasts two to three hours. This means that after a particularly long blackout, we will be without electricity, telephone, television and Internet service. This stymies the children trying to complete their studies on-line, but of course the situation is potentially more troublesome than that as we are completely cut off from the outside world.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Ernst!

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Joy and Sadness

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Eric and Linda Funke (ed. note: the Funkes are in the midst of repatriating to the USA after serving 7 and a half years in Tanzania).They write:

The suffering in the world feels so potent right now— so much injustice, so much pain, so much conflict, so much loss. As a friend recently shared her pain over the loss of a loved one, I reminded her that lament is Biblical and that Jesus cried. As I have been thinking more about lament, I have naturally been drawn to the book of Lamentations. I was reminded that “because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” In spite of it all, we cling to hope. Here are some of the bits of hope God has shown us this past month.

Virtual Presentation
After many hours of prep, we are thrilled to say that our video presentation is now online 🙂 You can find it at www.youtube.com/EricFunkeGLO. This presentation is what we would have shared with you all if we had been able to visit in person.

Zoom Calls
We are planning to host a Zoom call with each of our partner churches in the coming months. This call will give us the opportunity to connect with you all on a more personal level and answer any questions you have about the presentation, about what is happening in Tanzania right now, and about what is happening in our lives. We are still working on scheduling these calls and will let you know when they are all scheduled.

A Job For Eric
On May 4, Eric attended a virtual job fair for Garland Independent School District. By the end of the day, North Garland High School issued him a letter of intent. We are happy to announce that he will be teaching Algebra 1 (one of his favorite subjects to teach) at North Garland starting in August. We thank God for this answer to prayer!

The Big Move
On May 2, we signed a lease for a rental house in Richardson, Texas, and on May 8-10 we loaded up a trailer to be delivered to our new home. After more precious time with our family in St. Louis, we drove down to Dallas on May 12.  We stayed with Linda’s parents for the next week while we waited for our trailer and repainted the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (all of which were pink) and all the ceilings in our new house. On May 16-17, our Davis family helped us unload all of our belongings.  To see more pictures from this past month, please click here.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Funkes!

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