We Are Excited to Announce that we have Received Appointments for our Visas Interview

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi (serving in Tanzania)

Clarity on our Ministry in Tanzania  And Opportunity to Study at St. Louis!

As we look set to do our visas interview, it is important that we give more clarity about our ministry and why attending St. Louis is an added advantage to our lives missionaries.

When we first joined Global Lutheran Outreach in 2012, we had a plan that we were going to serve as a family for not more than Five(5) years and then take a little break to improve ourselves academically for the sake of Christ’s Church. This was what we had planned, and we are thankful to God that our prayers have been answered. As a family serving in the East of Lake Victoria Diocese, we have seen a great need for empowerment, training of more laborers and caring for Christ’s Church, and therefore we have agreed with the leadership in the diocese that it will be good we seek further help by developing ourselves spiritually and educationally for this task.

Christy’s Education and its Importance to the Development and Growth of the Church in Mwanza

It will be important we make it clear here why Christy is taking up a course in Spiritual Care and Counseling. A year back before we had our son(Uri), Christy had started a program for young girls in our local congregation, were she was helping in counseling them on hygiene, spiritual care and career development. This program led her to a wider vision for the Lutheran congregations within the Mwanza area, the Lutheran Bible college, Lutheran Hospital and the Lutheran High School that we are presently developing. With an Education in Spiritual Care and Counseling for two years, we believe it is the right fit for carrying on this task.

Dixon’s Education and its Importance to the Growth of the Church in Mwanza

Moving to Mwanza in 2015 (Dixon) idea was to actually help the diocese with her church planting efforts. This is written on Dixon’s work permit. However, knowing that there was no department set aside for Church Planting, therefore we had to accept to pastor a local congregation in the Kisesa area. Within two years of our effort in growing the Kisesa congregation, we were again asked to teach at the Lutheran Bible College in Mwanza with the responsibility of training more Pastors, Evangelists and Church Workers. Now, with this opportunity of studying at a PhD level, we believe Dixon will be able to set up a department for Church Planting, not just for the diocese in which we work, but for other neighboring dioceses that are all mission dioceses.

Appealing for your Support to Make this Happen

As we look to transition to St. Louis, we see this transitioning process as a continuation of our ministry in Tanzania, we are fully involved as missionaries with Global Lutheran Outreach. As we study we will still be carrying on our various ministries in Tanzania. Our ministry still continues and we are still in need of your support(s). As we write this newsletter, we are still struggling financially in our ministry. As we prepare for our various visas interview and subsequent return to Tanzania, we are really struggling to sustain our ministry financially. As you many be aware we took out all our finances to for our travels and visas preparation. We are still struggling to raise the remaining $6,500 for all that we will need for our ministry between now until we get to St Louis for our studies in August.

If you will want to give, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500  please go to www.globallutheranoutreach.com/blog/gbeanquoi, or

Make U.S. checks payable to

“Global Lutheran Outreach”.

Write “Gbeanquoi” in the memo line.

Mail to:

Global Lutheran Outreach,

6709 Ficus Drive

Miramar, FL, 33023

Christy and the Kids Preparation for their Visas Interview

We are thankful to God that we were able to pay the visa fees, $640 for all Four(4) of us , including what Dixon paid in Liberia. This amount is a lot for us giving that we are now going through financial constraint. However, we are thankful to God that we were able to scheduled a date for the interview. Christy and the kids have been scheduled for April 23rd. The visas cannot be mailed to us we will have to pick it up at a specific location in Abuja. Staying for Five(5) days or over as a family will required finances. We are looking to spend not less than $500 for transportation, hotel and feeding. Please keep us in your prayers as we look to God to provide and please pray for a successful interview.

Dixon Travel to Liberia for Preparation for Visa Interview Appointment

After securing Christy and the kids visa interview appointment, Dixon had to travel from Nigeria to Liberia to prepare for his visa interview appointment. Arriving in Liberia and beginning the process to secure an interview date, it was disappointing to be told that the embassy in Liberia is yet to open due to the pandemic. They finally open the embassy on 17th March and the only date Dixon could get for his appointment was 14th June. This was due to the fact that there were many interviews that were put on hold due to the pandemic and now after opening the embassy they have to attend to these people who interviews were pending. He will again travel to Liberia early June to sit his interview.

Dixon also took the opportunity to visit a village that is struggling to have a school building for the past Forty(40) years. There is no school building or even hospital in a community of over 1500 inhabitants. The only makeshift building they built for the kids was destroyed by a rain storm. Now they are using a local Church building as a temporary school building until they can built theirs. Dixon has taken upon himself to pray for this community and if possible help them a get a building for kids to have the opportunity to get a primary education.

We Took Our First Jab of the COVID-19 VaccineThe vaccine was administered to us free and we are glad we were able to take it. We have delayed our return to Tanzania so that we can get our second dose. This will help reduce the cost of doing test every time we have to travel.

To learn more about Dixon and Chrity Gbeanquoi, click here to read their latest newsletter!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

The last quarter of school has begun!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionarie Joshua Wareham (Serving in Jos, Nigeria)

Educating Global Disciples of Christ

The third quarter has ended and the fourth has begun. The year is going by so fast it seems as though I have only been teaching here for few months…well it has been only a few months here in Nigeria, but it does feel like yesterday that I was packing my things not knowing what to expect when I got here. God is great! He brought me here and has carried me through the ups and downs and has seen me through the beginning of this journey here at Hillcrest.

Luna is getting huge and is off the bottle. She now enjoys salads and fruits. Her horns are starting to poke out through her hair.

This last quarter we finished reading the books War Horse, The Giver, and The Diary of Anne Frank. These books were great to teach because the books bring up controversial topics that the students need to critically think about and apply what they have learned to create a dialogue in the classroom from their perspective in Christ’s word. These topics were sometimes tough to discuss, but they are important to have so that they can be effective in sharing Christ’s word in a loving way.

For spring break some of the missionaries in Jos went to a game reserve called Yankari in Bauchi State. It has a beautiful warm spring that constantly flows even in the dry season. It is interesting to see this spring full when a huge river dries up this time of year.

Life Giving Water. John 7:37-39

On our way to Yankari, I saw many interesting things. I saw families of four or five riding on one motorcycle. I saw people sitting in the open trunk of a Honda civic with their feet dangling a few inches from the   going 60 mph down the highway. I saw people walking on the side of the road with some sort of good to sell or keep for themselves miles from the nearest civilization. The most interesting thing I saw though on the drive to Yankari was how dry the landscape was. There was not much green to be seen except in some trees. The rivers were nothing but sand and any movement on the ground kicked up a small cloud of dust. It is truly its own sight to see and experience. I could not imagine Yankari would be much different, until I saw it.

This is the warm springs at Yankari.

When we got to Yankari, the first place we went was the spring, and it was a magnificent sight! It shouldn’t be there; but there it was, flowing water emerging from beneath a giant rock, the beginning unknown to us, and the end unseen. The water was a deep blue, teeming with plant and animal life, yet clear enough to see everything in it. It gave the plants in the area sustenance and the animal life around it the thirst quenching satisfaction of water in the driest of times. This spring keeps the life around it alive.

It was an awesome experience to have and see, but after looking at the two photos above one can get a picture of what life is like with and without Christ. In this world we are all wandering down the dry river searching for some water to quench our thirst of meaning and purpose. Sometimes we stumble upon a dirty puddle that we taste and drink. It seems to quench our thirst for a moment, but in the end causes us to be more dehydrated and sick; full of sin. We continue to taste test these dirty waters in life because it always seems good in the moment. It is what we think will quench our thirst for a complete life; and If we continue this in the dry river, we will die. God knew this was our situation. He knows we only want to search the dry river because “we know best”. God sent the Holy Spirit to stop our search in the dry dead rivers of man to guide us to the life giving water of Christ and His word. He wants us to have an abundant life here and be with Him in heaven. He says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Tales of Tanzania

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionarie Cheryl Kruckemeyer (serving in Tanzania) :

Installation and Celebration Ceremony Reverend Yohanna Nzelu, Assistant Bishop

We recently celebrated a joyous occasion in honoring Rev. Nzelu for his appointment as assistant to Bishop Makala!. Choirs from Mwanza, Kahama, and different areas filled the church with wonderful hymns of praise and celebration. Friends, family, and staff members filled the cathedral to overflowing literally, making use of the tented area provided outside. The ceremony began promptly at 9:00 a.m. and continued until after 3:00 p.m. — a memorable and happy occasion for all!

The staff and students at Mwadui Lutheran Secondary School also held a ceremony to honor Rev. Nzelu. A little less formal occasion, but equal in celebration, Bishop Makala and Happy Gorum joined us for the event. The students especially enjoyed the music and dancing following the fun event. (Videos of students and teachers dancing are posted on Facebook @Tales of Tanzania)

“Forgive us our trespasses, as He forgives us. . . “

Prayer moves mountains. I believe your prayers for protection against malaria and other life- threatening diseases here are being heard and answered. I know that if you agree with me in prayer for change to these cultural practices that are harmful to the mental, emotional and physical health of these children, He will hear and answer. Some teachers have stopped this practice already, but a few continue with the beatings and it is tolerated. Upcoming meetings among the school board and leadership here will again address this issue, as lasting change for this campus is desired. Your prayers for permanent change and elimination of student beatings will be heard, and in His sovereign timing, the Lord will answer.

Williamson Diamond Mine/ Petra Diamonds

The existence of this community, Mwadui, depends almost solely on the diamond mine here. There are some farmers and livestock owners, teachers, and a few shop owners, but all are connected to the mine for their livelihood. The mine closed operations April 2020 when the Covid-19 threat closed schools and many business operations. It has not reopened. Lawsuits, operational costs vs. production revenue, government intervention, and various challenges continue to plague mine owners and delay start-up. Workers are left “in the dark” about when, or if, it will reopen. Each month a meeting is held only to inform staff that work has been postponed again for another month. This is definitely worrisome for this community, but workers remain patient and eager to return to work. I am told a similar situation occurred in past years, and operations returned to normal after a shorter non-operational period.

Home for Vulnerable Children

The home for children at risk is complete and    ready for them to move into their new home.  We are awaiting final authorization from Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, and then at    least 7 of these children will reside here immediately. St. John Lutheran Church in Bingen, Indiana has fully funded the new building construction and provided the funds needed for the first year’s provisions of 16 children. What an awesome gift from this generous congregation. Many thanks you and to our God for this wonderful blessing.

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Spring update

Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries George and Shary Frahm (serving in Cambodia)

Immanuel Lutheran Church Snor

Even though the world has been changing, our basic human needs are constant. The need still remains for people, community, life-on-life, and the hope of a Redeemer who breathes life and sustains in and among the broken fallen context called earth and the here and now.

We’ve never been more thankful for technology and cell services as it has allowed for connection this past year between here and Cambodia. Since right now we are doing most of that work remotely, this give us a great opportunity to use this season to work even more so in how the Holy Spirit is leading our efforts. Amen!

Chinese New Year

While Chinese New Year comes every year, last year most of us forgot it because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Usually, it is filled with a great deal of celebration, feasting and visiting, but not in 2020.

Chinese New Year is based upon the lunar cycle and the twelve animal signs of the Chinese zodiac and is celebrated over the next 19 days with the first 7 days being used for visiting and celebration. The Chinese New Year started on February 12, 2021 when we left the Year of the Rat (2020) and entered the second animal of the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of the Ox (2021).

The ox is supposed to carry career advancement, business success, and prosperity. The road will be a series of ups and downs with improvements in love and relationships. But, we will have to wait and see.

A year ago during the pandemic and new year, the borders were closed. As Shary said in an earlier article, the tourist trade which is vital to Siem Reap, ground to a complete halt and the borders were closed causing detrimental economic effects similar to many countries around the world. This situation has gradually improved but the majority of flights are now flying into Phnom Penh where tourists are quarantined for two weeks in government selected hotels at their expense.

Covid tests within 3 days of entering Cambodia have also been required and of course the number of flights significantly reduced.

All this seemed initially to have worked and while there were early cases of Covid, they were very limited in number across the country. Cambodia seemed to have missed the first wave.

However, that has changed! Recently, the US State Department has issued a notice that access to Sihanouk province (which is partially situated on the Bay of Thailand.) has been eliminated and the province quarantined..

Samuel Forges On

God has protected Samuel and his family from the virus so far. This has allowed him to continue with classes and small group meetings. We have received short messages from him that he has had eight people accept Christ in Prign, Roseylok Commune in Siem Reap Province and baptized four of them.. Samuel describes this village as 35 families located about 55 miles from Siem Reap with no electricity. The children walk 2 ½ miles each way to school barefoot.

Back in Snor, Samuel continues to preach and conduct bible classes and confirmation for the students. It is amazing to see the wall hanging of Christ on the cross smiling down on the activities.

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

We are finally in Jos Nigeria!

Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Dixon and Christy Gbeanquoi (serving in Tanzania)

We are finally in Jos Nigeria. It was a very difficult journey we had to make. Concordia Seminary St. Louis finally sent our F1 and F2-I-20 visa application forms to Nigeria, as we had requested them to do. Therefore, it was important that we find a way to leave for Nigeria even though under challenging circumstances. We were still struggling to raise the needed funding for our transportation and visas processes when we got the news that the documents had arrived in Nigeria. We had no option but to look for ways to get some loans and leave. We had to cleared all that we had with Global Lutheran Outreach just for this trip and unfortunately, the expenses keep adding up. Leaving Mwanza on the 15th of February, we had to spend Three(3) nights in Dar es Salaam to get our son Uri passport and to do our COVID-19 tests if we must travel out of Tanzania. We had budgeted $100 each for the test, sadly, we paid $160 each for the test. Again we had budgeted $100 for our Son’s passport, we ended up paying $250 for express services. This is one of the most challenging time(s) in our Six(6) years of ministry as missionaries. As we write this newsletter we have emptied our account with GLO and have spent in total for this trip $6000 so far.

We now have zero balance with GLO as at February19, 2021.Now as we write, we need to raise in total the amount of $5,770. If not we will not even be able to complete this transition process or even return to Tanzania. The amount mentioned include our up keep, GLO loan of $1500, $700 for Department of Homeland Security Student and Exchange Visitor Information System(SEVIS ID), (N0031723393 for Christy and the kids) and (N0031723353 for Dixon), the kids visa fee $320, and $3250 we need to keep us going until we are able to return to Mwanza to continue our work and move to the States middle or ending July.

If you will want to give, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500 click here

Our I-20, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status

We are thankful to God that our  F1 and F2 I-20 Certificates have arrived and we were able to receive them upon our arrival in Nigeria. These certificates are in two forms one carries Christy and the kids and the other carries Dixon. Since Christy and the kids bears the same citizenship, the school thought it wise that Christy and the kids apply together in Nigeria and Dixon can go to Liberia and apply. What we did not plan for in our initial preparation was that we were going to pay for the SEVIS ID: cost which is ($700) for both of us( Christy and Dixon) as students. This amount was increase by the Department of Homeland Security in 2019 from $200 to $350. There is also visa fee for the kids (Milcah and Uri) $320. We will need to pay this $320 before the end of next week in order for Christy and the kids to do their visas interview on or before the 19th of April.

To learn more about Dixon and Chrity Gbeanquoi, click here to read their latest newsletter!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Dear Family and Friends

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Paul and Barbara Brink (Preparing to serve in Santiago, Chile)

How is 2021 looking to you? We hope you are well and seeing life becoming a bit more normal.

We are thankful to report a successful time of teaching in Liberia last month. The Lord kept us safe and healthy and gave us significant opportunities to support the congregations of our sister church in Liberia, The Evangelical Lutheran Church, Liberia Synod.

We are also praising God for opening the doors for us to go to Chile—finally! The country is gradually opening, and we received the green light to go ahead with our plans. God willing, we will leave for Santiago, Chile, on March 19, 2021. We will have 7 to 10 days with Rev. Jim and Liisa Tino before they leave on their three-month furlough. Our task is to keep their church plant going and growing while they are gone. We plan to stay in Chile until June 30.

We are grateful to all of you for your support through your contributions and prayers. We will do our best to send regular updates of our ministry along with prayer requests.

As you know, through your donations, we have reached 100% of the funds needed to make this trip. For those of you still wanting to contribute, here is an idea. The ministry we will be serving is currently worshipping outdoors and is trying to raise funds to build a chapel before the cold weather begins in April! If you would like to learn more about this project or make a contribution, click here: Santiago Ministry Center | GLO Missionaries Jim and Liisa Tino (globallutheranoutreach.com).

You’ll hear from us next when we are in Santiago! Until then, God be with you and bless you.

Partners in the gospel,

Bo and Barb Brink

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Paul and Barbara Brink !

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

God doesn’t stop moving!

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries James and Liisa Tino (Serving in Santiago, Chile)

Moveable Chapel Project

A moveable chapel? Well… the Old Testament nation of Israel had a moveable chapel called a “tabernacle” that they carried with them in their desert wanderings. We don’t plan to be wandering Santiago from week to week, HOWEVER, since our ministry location is rented, we don’t know how long we will be here! We don’t want to build something and then – if we have to move – lose our investment. Thus, a moveable chapel!

Our first step was to build a solid floor, like a cement patio. (That part isn’t moveable!) The floor cost about $800 and used up all of our funds. Walls, a roof, and electrical will cost about another $4,000. For now, we are worshipping under canopies (see next article) as we wait for the Lord’s provision, and we know that He will provide! Providing a space for worship is an important part of our ministry to immigrants. If you would like to contribute to the chapel, click here to make a donation to the Santiago Immigrant Ministry project!

Hail causes damage

Due to covid-19 restrictions, we have to hold worship services outdoors for now. With our new cement patio, we bought some canopies and were all set! Until a freak summer hailstorm, that is. It was disappointing to have our canopies ruined after just two weeks of outdoor services on our new floor! True, they were not high-quality canopies, but they cost us about $50 each. And the hail was big!

Medicine for Venezuela project blesses thousands!

GLO missionaries Rev. David Ernst and his wife Luz Maria with members of their congregation celebrate the arrival and distribution of medicines in La Caramuca, Venezuela.

The country of Venezuela – where we served as missionaries for 13 years – continues going from bad to worse. Wages are now two dollars per MONTH. For the past three years, we have been supporting our Venezuelan brothers and sisters by sending life-sustaining and (in some cases) life-saving medicine from Chile. A typical shipment serves about 1000 patients with a month or more supply of their medications.

Medicines are distributed through the network of 21 Lutheran congregations in Venezuela. Since many of our members in Santiago are Venezuelan immigrants, this project is near and dear to our hearts. Unfortunately, this may have been our last shipment as funding for the project has been exhausted. Each shipment costs about $10,000, or about $10 per patient. To learn more about this project, click here.

Furlough Plans now being made! Can we visit you?

YES! It’s time! Since covid-19 frustrated our plans to visit our mission partners this past Fall, we have rescheduled. We are well aware that for many churches, the Sunday morning dynamics have changed dramatically. Still, we would LOVE to visit your church, if possible, to share the news of God’s mission in Chile!

This year, in addition to visiting congregations, we would also like to emphasize visiting with small groups. This could be a home Bible study group, a mid-week congregational Bible study, or other group. If you are interested in scheduling a visit for a group or for your congregation, please email Jim directly: revtino@hotmail.com

Here is the tentative schedule of where we will be, and when:

MICHIGAN: March 27 – April 20 (Sundays available: March 28, April 11 and 18).

ARIZONA/CALIFORNIA: April 21 – May 10 (Sundays available: April 25, May 2 and 9).

FLORIDA: May 11 – June 7 (Sundays available: May 9 and 23, June 6).

NEW ENGLAND: June 7 – June 21 (Sundays available: June 13, and 20).

To learn more about James and Liisa Tino, click here to read their latest newsletter!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

The Newest Little Stoltenow

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries Joe and Viya Stoltenow (Serving in Cambodia):

We’re pregnant!!! I mean… Viya is, obviously. We are incredibly excited to announce that we will be having a baby girl in May and we couldn’t be more thankful to God for this precious gift! It has always been Viya’s dream to have a baby girl and to be able to do her hair and pick out her clothes and bows(of which we have already bought many haha). Raymond isn’t quite sure about all of this just yet but he has already given his baby sister some kisses and even sings to mommies belly sometimes. We can’t wait to meet our baby girl and for Raymond and her to grow up together as siblings.

Our trip to the US has been amazing and even though we haven’t done much, we’ve still loved the time we’ve had with my parents. Christmas was so much fun and Viya and I loved to see Ray’s face light up as he opened his presents.

In other news, we have had to extend our trip to the US by another month as we are working on getting Raymond’s Social Security Card(turns out those are important).

Ray of Hope Update

One of the biggest questions we get asked while in the US is “Who’s running Ray of Hope while you’re here?”, and it’s one of my favorite answers to give as it ultimately leads into our main objective as missionaries. While Viya, Ray, and I are visiting the US, Ray of Hope is run by Viya’s younger sister Vimol.

We are working with and training Vimol to eventually take over as Ministry Director of Ray of Hope and believe me, she was born for it. Everyday she shows the kids the love of Jesus Christ with her words and actions and if you ever got to meet her in person you’d know that Christ is truly at the center of everything she does. We are incredibly proud of her and the hard work she has done for this ministry and the street kids.

We are also working on hiring new staff at Ray of Hope. With our students being in so many different grade levels we want to have more teachers at our center so that each student gets more individual tutoring. It will also help to give Vimol some additional leadership experience by having some non-family staff to supervise. As of right now the kids are back in school full time, but as new Covid cases in Cambodia are continuing to be more and more sporadic we are prepared to have zoom classes recommence at anytime. But for now the kids are happy to be back in school and off their computers.

Student Spotlight

Bong Bproh (Khmer for “Big Brother)

This newsletter we are very excited to introduce you to Bong Bproh, or “Big Brother”. Bong is eleven years old and is currently in the seventh grade. He has been a student with us for the last three years and actually transferred to Ray of Hope from our friends at Crossing Cambodia, a similar Christian street kids ministry here in Battambang. Bong was already in Crossing Cambodia’s program but they were already at capacity after enrolling new students all summer. So we enrolled his sister and since we both use the same school Crossing Cambodia and Ray of Hope came to the agreement that we would take Bong so as to keep the siblings together.

Bong’s parents are currently working/living in Thailand so Bong lives with his grandmother in the same village as Joe and Viya. His grandmother is nearing seventy years old and isn’t able to support herself on her own. Fortunately her children are able to send small amounts of money to her and she is able to get by with food but the real saving grace is that one of our neighbors has an extra house in our village that they let them stay in rent free.

He is polite, gentle, and he loves to learn about Jesus and the Bible. His favorite Bible story is Noah’s Ark and he recently played the part of King Herod’s guard in our annual Christmas pageant, along with preforming in some song and dance routines. Bong is a great student and a better kid. And I know we say this about every student but we truly can’t wait to see what God has in store for him.

To learn more about Joe and Viya Stoltenow’s, click here to read their latest newsletter!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

Starting off on the right foot.. literally

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

I wish everyone a joyous 2021 and hope the transition into the new year went smoothly. In this brief newsletter I will update you on the past two months for me, and inform you on what I look forward to this year!

From December 23rd-January 31st

My update begins a few weeks after I sent out my last newsletter (Dec 11th). Amongst all the Christmas preparations and activities in the church, I found time to participate in a Christmas basketball tournament here in Zacapa (2nd place!), and take a couple trips to Guatemala City for my expired VISA ordeal (still not resolved). On a 3-hr motorcycle ride home from the capital city on Dec. 23rd, I became very sick from a stomach infection, and somehow managed to make it back among several stops to vomit and what not. The infection led to me taking some bad medicine, which greatly affected me Christmas Eve, and most of December 25th. Due to my illness, I spent the 24th-25th by myself and attended no festivities other than church.

      But the new year was received with a bang! I celebrated New Years with my girlfriends family in Puerto Barrios, and ate all the food I could since I had not eaten much from the infection of December 23rd. The following week after January 1st I went out to play basketball one night and ended up breaking my foot, the fifth metatarsal to be exact. So I am now confined to a boot and limited activity for 4-6 weeks! Although living by myself, I am managing to still get around to teach classes, grocery shop, and do other errands, but I pray I heal quickly. No long distance motorcycle rides for me.

What my work looks like for this year

My work in training musicians in the church is coming along nicely. Starting this Sunday (1/31), my students will be leading Sunday music without me at least once a month. This will serve as an opportunity for them to build confidence playing on their own, and will be a gentle transition from having me by their side the whole time. I of course will be present in the church. By the end of this year I hope to have them playing every Sunday without me.

A project I took on this past year during the pandemic was to put together a hymnal for the musicians to use. Here in Zacapa, there are 4 different hymnals/songbooks that I read from, each written differently, some with music some without, totaling over 500 songs. With my knowledge of what has been sung during my two years here, I went through the four hymnals and selected 351 songs that the church in Zacapa should know, and have put together a songbook with basic chords to serve as a tool for the musicians. It is now ready to print! Since this songbook is only for the musicians that read chords/music, I will need at least 7 copies to start, and hopefully more in the future. The cost of each one will be $32.00. As a missionary I live off financial donations from people like you, making this mission work possible. I hope to get at least 7 copies printed in the month of February and could use your support to do so! If you would like to donate $32 towards a new songbook, message me! and I will be sure to include your name in the foreword.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Ben!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow

The Last Newsletter

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries, Aaron and Yeni Farrow (they served in Valparaiso, Chile) write:

The last 3 months have flown by.  Now we are well on our way into the next stage in life.   In this month’s newsletter, our last newsletter, we will be telling you about our long journey home.  It has been a difficult one as we adapt to our new roles and over come all the logistical obstacles of resituating one’s self to live in another country.  I look forward to sharing it with you.  My hope is that this is not the last bit of my life I get to share with all of you.  There is a long pause before writing this next line because words cannot encapsulate the many thanks I have for you all in your support, prayers, attention, and love that made this mission possible.  The words I deeply appreciate it seem to hollow and weak to express how I truly and humbly feel that you all teamed up to make a vision God gave me more than ten years ago come true.

First, before I give you a review of the long journey, I want to apologize about the amount of time it took me to get this update out.  My hopes had been that I would be visiting churches and communities when I got back and once finished sharing this newsletter.  While we have visited several still there are other communities that Covid has interfered with my ability to schedule.

In conclusion to the introduction this month Ill be sharing with you the amazing and challenging journey home, what God is still doing as a result of our mission, and what are our future plans. Thanks for walking with us.

The Trip Home

We flew home the 16th of September on a two-week journey through the Dominican Republic.  As mentioned before we went to the D.R. so we could get Yenifer’s Passport renewed.  This was ordained because while we were able to also visit Yenifer’s family who were very pleased I returned their daughter to them safely, also baptized Axel and more.

One of the largest preoccupations for me in my evangelism perspective is to teach the idea od remembering your Baptism. The idea that we have been bought and buried in Christ, the grace received through it was and is sufficient.  This is much easier to do when you have someone with whom to remember.

Upon arriving to the Dominican, I began a series of conversations and answering questions about the Gospel and Baptism.  One such conversation was with Pastor Ted Krey who was serving in Santo Domingo. Side note from the one I had with my father-in-law…He said, “We were waiting for someone to come minister to us.” I willing to bet, if I was a gambling man, that there are a lot more people with the same thoughts in their mind waiting for you to come speak to them as well.  So, a few days after arriving we piled everyone in a bus provided arranged through a local Catholic Church.  Thank God for His Church.

It was a beautiful day.  Seven people were baptized there in Santo Domingo and coincidently we even had a friend and witness, the son of a Global Lutheran Outreach Pastor missionary in the South of Chile from Venezuela who is now a seminarian in the D.R.., Joshua Ventura.

The family of Christ grew that day, and while I am a proud father to have held my son and seen it happen, that’s not even the half of it.  Yeni’s town is a mountain community a couple hours in from the coast and Santo Domingo.  Pastor Krey with Joshua Ventura by his side have been in Ocoa over the last 3 months evangelizing and doing Bible studies.  The pictures speak for themselves with children lined up outside the house of my in laws listening and the more recent additional baptisms this last weekend.  Four more people so far.  More to come for sure.

The Future

Hopefully the near future will have me coming to see you after we have defeated the Covid.  As for now I am an Administrative Assistant for a Manufacturing Company and an in home tutor helping kids whose education has been affected by the Pandemic.  Will I be back in active ministry?  God only knows.  I enjoy my work but am very busy doing what I can to rebuild my life with a wife and a new son.   Your contributions have helped a lot as well getting us stable.  Yeni being a foreigner and us having a baby it is obvious that much of the rebuilding process financially I have had to do alone, but I wasn’t alone thanks to you guys and I will be eternally.  I hope to see each of you very soon.

Fundraising Finished!

This is December and the end of your commitment to support our mission. Thanks for all your help in aiding us to achieve our reintegration and cover our years payroll taxes.  Please remember to go up to our site at Global Lutheran Outreach and either reassign your support to another missionary, or cancel your support.  The links are below.  I want to lift up our African ministries as they struggle to find support on their own continent. Blessings from our Global Lutheran Outreach Family to Yours.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the Farrow!

Follow

X

Follow

E-mail : *

Follow Unfollow