The consistent message of the New Testament is that the followers of Jesus should expect to encounter opposition and persecution. Peter reminds his readers that even though they rejoice in their salvation guaranteed by God himself, it is necessary that they pass through many kinds of trials—but only for a time (1 Pet 1:5–6). The second part of this message is the encouragement: our trials are temporary, not eternal. So we live confidently, even though we know as long as we are here on this earth, we’re never really “home.” We know this because we live by faith in God’s Word, not by just what we can see and humanly verify. So we are encouraged, and even though we would just as soon be with our Lord and Savior, we want to wring every chance to please God out of this life. Even if we are never recognized or rewarded here, by faith we’re looking forward to receiving our rewards from Jesus himself (2 Cor 5:6–10).

This past month was packed full of blessings and challenges. We celebrated the Chilean independence day with our teammates by grilling, flying kites, and watching a military parade (a big hit with the little boys). Our church hosted a one-day marriage workshop, during which we taught God’s purpose for marriage, how to be a Christlike husband, how to be a Christlike wife, and biblical principles for communication. It was well-attended and will give us a lot of opportunities to continue discipling. Bekah celebrated a birthday and we explored a little port town about an hour north of us, where we watched birds, sea lions, schools of anchovies, and even a penguin from the pier. We’ve been reading through the New Testament with a new believer, and she reads ahead and marks verses with two different colored highlighters. One color is for the parts she doesn’t understand so she can ask us later. The other color marks verses to share with her family members and other people who don’t know Jesus. We appreciate your prayers for us—for physical strength and health, for wisdom to speak boldly and clearly, and for grace to know how and where we can serve Jesus Christ and his church in the future.

This is our October 2024 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.