This past month I had the privilege of explaining and applying Hebrews 10–12 and I ended by emphasizing just how Jesus’ blood speaks a better word than Abel’s (Heb 12:24). After Cain murdered Abel in the field, God asked him where his brother was, and Cain responded with the famous line, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God said, “Cain, your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” The blood of Abel testified against Cain, pointing him out and saying, “Guilty.” But what does the blood of Jesus say? It also testifies, but instead of being a witness for the prosecution, it comes to our defense, testifying in our behalf that we are “Forgiven.”

Our church continues looking forward to our baptism service July 7, with four believers giving public testimony of their faith in Jesus. We bid a sad farewell to Jordan Flinck, our co-workers’ oldest son, who left for the United States to begin college in the fall. We greeted another healthy baby boy in our church, the third little guy born this year. We have six little boys under age four right now—Sunday school teachers beware in a couple years! We spend almost every day involved in some way with our church family: Bible studies, visits in their homes, babysitting, offering rides, giving counsel via WhatsApp, the list goes on. We thank God for them.

We ask for your prayers as we submit our application for permanent residency on Monday. We have spent the last month and a half gathering the documents, we traveled to Santiago for a day to get fingerprinted, and hopefully we have it all correct. This process has involved quite a bit of time and energy, but it’s a necessary step in continuing to serve here. We are thankful that we serve an all-powerful and all-knowing God and that when we press the “send” button to submit the application we can rest in his sovereign providence.

This is our June 2019 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.