The apostle Paul reminds us to be like Jesus: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:5, 8). The incarnation of Jesus Christ has taken on new meaning for us as we work through some of the frustrations of living as foreigners. There is a good deal of daily “humbling oneself” as we are misunderstood, confused, and trying to understand what people are doing and why. We’re thankful for many kind and patient people around us who have helped, but sometimes it gets old always doing the wrong thing and constantly being corrected (even if it’s in a kind way). Living with people requires humility to put up with the daily hardships, whether with a spouse, our teammates, our church, or our neighbors, but following Jesus means we are willing to do this. Our gospel hinges on Jesus’ humility and obedience…even to the point of dying on a cross. We praise our Savior for his humility and pray for grace to do the same.

This past month has been busy, exciting, difficult, and challenging, many times all in the same day! We thank God for providing a car for us, and safety as we drove it back from Santiago. Our church moved into a new rented location that gives us a lot more space, a new neighborhood, and all kinds of discipleship opportunities. We got to visit with fellow missionaries over the Fourth of July, spend time visiting with our church families in our home and theirs, host our summer missions intern, Jansen Lorch, in our apartment for a week, and teach a session on deputation for GMSA’s candidate school via Skype. Mark celebrated a birthday (41) and had the privilege of teaching the first two lessons in a series on biblical eldership on Sundays and also began a series on music in the church on Wednesdays. Bekah continues to spend time with the church ladies, learning Spanish, Chilean cooking, and the unique ways of Antofagasta from them while encouraging and sharing with them. Please continue to pray with us regarding the approval of our residency applications.

We got to teach a session on deputation for the GMSA candidate school via Skype.

We got to enjoy our first winter July 4th,
celebrating with several other missionaries and friends.

 Thank God with us:

• For his grace in allowing our church to rent a new property, giving us much more space and a new neighborhood into which to shine the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• For his grace in providing many good gifts. We thank God for a wonderful used car to serve others around us and allow us to be a little more mobile.
• For his grace in the relationships we have been able to build with our brothers and sisters here in Antofagasta.

Pray to God with us:

• For his grace to humble ourselves as we learn and grow in our understanding of God’s Word, the people around us, and our Spanish capabilities.
• For his grace to await patiently the approval of our applications for temporary residency. We are coming up on six months since we sent in the application.
• For his grace to love God supremely and others selflessly.

This is our July 2018 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.