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Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you so much for your continued
prayers and support. What a blessing it is to have
you partnering with us and the ministry in Peru. We
certainly know the power of the support of believers
in Christ as you work together to lift us and others
up in so many ways. We praise God for all of you
who are so faithful in encouraging us!
It is amazing for us to realize that we have
been living in Costa Rica for seven months! Our
time here has taught us many things about the
culture, God's work in other countries, our
incredible need for His Word and His grace daily in
our lives, and of course the reason that we came
here in the first place Spanish. We are able to
communicate fairly well in Spanish now. We still
make LOTS of mistakes but we are improving.
Suzanne is currently helping lead a Bible
study for the maids at the school. She is doing a
great job facilitating the study in Spanish. It has
been a great opportunity for her to serve and share
her faith as many of these ladies do not know
Christ.
Frank is serving as co-chaplain this term on
campus. While this is an English speaking position,
it is a good opportunity to serve the body of
students as they transition to Costa Rica and have
needs too. For the majority of students going to
Spanish church is a lot of work just to try to
understand the language. So the weekly chapel
services in English are the only time students can
really understand fully the encouragement God has
for them.
We just had a wonderful break in between
quarters. Suzanne's parents and brother were able
to join us for 10 days and we had a great time
visiting and seeing some different parts of the
country. Needless to say they really enjoyed seeing
their only grandchildren too.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING IN PERU
"Mission to the World has recently made
some changes in what is known as the
Bethesda Team in Lima, Peru. The team has
consisted of Santos and Norma Buendia,
Mark and Lori Berry, Frank and Suzanne
Matthews, Julie Murphy (2-Year) and Sean
Galton (2-Year). The MTW Atlanta office has
decided, in consultation with the team, to
restructure the team. We are reassigning the
Matthews, Julie and Sean to work on a new
team under the leadership of Mark Berry. We
desire for this new team to work in a broader
spectrum of churches and church leaders in
Lima, and not be confined to work with only
one church. This newly-formed team is
beginning to formulate plans for their ministry
in the future. Santos will continue to serve as
the pastor of San Pablo church and lead their
ministry efforts."
In light of all the changes within the team and
the ministries the team will now be looking to
work with, we are currently in the process of
praying and seeking God's leading on where
and how God wants us to use the gifts and
talents He has given us.
Please pray for us, and all our team
members during this time of transition. We
are planning to visit Lima over July 4th
weekend just to talk more and pray with the
Berry's as well as to pray about God's
direction for us. We would greatly appreciate
your prayers for wisdom and a clear
understanding of God's leading for us.
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JOSHUA AND MICAH UPDATES
Joshua (on left) & Micah (on right) are doing
great here in Costa Rica! They are enjoying
the rainy season here. The rainy season lasts
from May until the end of October. The
heaviest months are in August and September.
The boys love their rain jackets and rain boots.
They continue to learn more Spanish and enjoy
watching Barney and Bob El Constructor in
Spanish. They also frequently request their
books to be read in Spanish. They learn SO
fast. This is a great time to learn 2 languages.
Sometimes we wish we could learn the
language as quickly and easily as they have!
Please pray for them as they are away
from us for so munch time during the day and
there are many differences of discipline styles
between Gina and Mom and Dad. Also, pray
that the boys would come to know Jesus as
their Lord and Savior and that they would
grow in the knowledge and understanding of
the Word of God.
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PRAISE
*Praise that we have been able to have several
good discussions with friends about the gospel.
*Praise for the time we had with Suzanne's family
*Praise for the opportunities God has provided us
to serve while we here in Costa Rica
"Being confident of this that He who
began a good work in you will carry it
onto completion until the day of
Christ Jesus"
Philippians 1:6
PRAYER
*For our time here at language school that we can learn to
speak the language well.
*Pray for the work in Peru and the changes in the ministries
and team and our future there
*For Carlos and Zeidy - our neighbors and landlords. They
do not know Christ. Please pray for their salvation.
*Pray for Egidio and his family as they too do not know the
Lord and that God would continue to use us in their lives.
*Pray for us as parents that we would have wisdom raising
our children and that the time they spend with Gina would
continue to be fruitful time.
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