Jesus told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). This is a great reminder that Jesus’ followers need to open their lives and their mouths to proclaim Jesus Christ to everyone around them. Sometimes we think that evangelism is a “mode” that we switch on when we are targeting an unbeliever. But following Jesus is the way we live, not something we do at a specific time or only with specific people. We are submitting every area of our lives to Jesus’ lordship, and that will be communicated to everyone around us.

This verse was the theme of a missionary conference we had the privilege of participating in this past weekend at the Church of the Open Bible in Burlington, Massachusetts. We only missed one day of classes flying from Texas to Boston and God gave us strength and endurance to minister (and be ministered to) during those days. We have enjoyed a few days away this week during our Spring Break. Now we are ready to buckle down and finish the last three weeks of the semester strong!

A few Sundays ago, we had the privilege of sharing our burden for northern Chile with our Spanish-speaking church here in Texas. Mark gave our Chile presentation and preached from Mark 8 in Spanish, and Bekah gave a testimony in Spanish. It was a great opportunity to put into practice some of the Spanish we’ve been trying to learn these past three months!

We are working on plans for the summer, but we can’t even guess all that God will do. We plan to move back to Ohio around May 11. We are looking forward to ministering at Peniel Bible Camp in Ohio and also at Mountain Home Bible Church in Arkansas. We’ll be on the lookout for ways to practice Spanish and for people to whom we can speak. We are also paring down our possessions and preparing for Chile. Please pray with us and for us!

We are thankful for the privilege of sharing
the burden of world missions with children wherever we go.

We had the opportunity to participate in a car wash
with some of the students raising money for their mission trip.

 Thank God with us:

• For his grace in helping us to continue to learn Spanish here in language school.
• For his grace and care for every one of our needs.
• For his grace as we ministered in Spanish here in Texas and in Massachusetts this past month.

Pray to God with us:

• For his spiritual strength and encouragement as we finish our semester of language school.
• For his Holy Spirit to produce in us the Christlike fruit of peaceableness as we work hard and trust God.
• For his grace and wisdom in planning for the rest of this year of preparation for Chile.

This is our April 2017 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.