In our church’s reading of the New Testament, we just completed the gospels (we read Luke last so we could go straight into Acts) and we finished with Jesus’ conversation with the couple on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Sometimes verse 27 is taken to say that Jesus taught them that, interpreted correctly, everything in Moses and the Prophets has to do with Him (it doesn’t say that, it says there were things about himself in all the Scriptures). So what texts would Jesus have used from the Old Testament to teach these disciples about himself? Maybe it went something like this:

Do you remember when I said, “Before Abraham existed, I am”? It’s true, I was there. I walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. I watched over Hagar in the wilderness and stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. I helped Eleazar find a wife for Isaac, I wrestled with Jacob, I called to Moses out of the burning bush, I watched over Israel in the wilderness, I gave the plans for Jerico’s defeat to Joshua, I called Gideon to rally the Israelites to defeat Midian, and I told Manoah’s wife about Samson’s birth. I was there the whole time, walking alongside you, and you didn’t even recognize me.

Our fourth complete lockdown has finally ended, so we are allowed out during the week, still with a 9:00 pm curfew and lockdown on the weekends. It’s been good to visit with our teammates and church families in person and get reacquainted. We are only allowed five visitors in our home, so we have continued with our online meetings. This past week the National Office of Religious Affairs made available the possibility of a weekend religious service of up to five people, as long as their names, addresses, and ID numbers were submitted at least 24 hours in advance. We have decided to share the Lord’s Table as a church at the beach on Monday evening at 6:30 pm, since many families are milling about there. Although it will be getting dark, most people don’t get off work any earlier. Several are taking time off so that we can celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, our first time since March of last year. We’re excited about it, but praying that we can maintain a low profile and “be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful…” (2 Thess 3:2–3).

We are thankful for good health, although we are quite fatigued with all the isolation (of the past 12 months, seven have been total lockdown and four weekend lockdowns. Please pray for us and for the resolution of our permanent residency documents.

This is our May 2021 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.