Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Praise and Prayer Requests

1. PRAISE. It has been great not having to mention our support needs for some time, thanks to your faithfulness. PRAY. How-ever, with new budgets and rising expenses,—particularly health insurance, transportation, mission administration, and the loss of a few older supporters—we will be lacking about $900/month beginning in January 2009. Please pray with us about this need.
2. PRAISE for the smooth transitions for Melinda and particularly Michelle. We have sensed your prayer support for our girls. Now you can pray for the parents as we return to Costa Rica in about 10 days.
3. PRAY for our parents as we leave them behind once again. Pray for Martha’s mother to find the right meds for her blood pres-sure.
4. PRAISE for our successful talks with Mariano Galvez University (UMG). PRAY for our new relationship with UMG, that God will guide us in making wise decisions.
5. PRAY for health and strength for us and the team. Our team is getting older and there is little margin.
6. PRAY that God will raise up a new generation of Latin Americans who will assume the leadership of this ministry within the next five to ten years.
7. PRAY that God will provide the finances LATN/ProMETA needs to accomplish our God-ordained assignments.

Recent Comments From Two Students

I want everyone to know that the staff of ProMETA have a special place in my heart. I feel grateful to God for giving me the opportu-nity to participate in such excel-lent studies with you and be able to count on such committed peo-ple as you all are.
We are praying that God will con-tinue to guide you as he has until now in the selection of the best material, used in the best way for our benefit. I have received much benefit in the first four weeks of this course, I have seen the Lord’s hand in the teaching and have been impacted by the mentor and my fellow classmates during the class discussions. God has used these people to speak to me. I am very content with all I have re-ceived. Communication is a key area and God is speaking to me through this course.

Transitions...

September marks a huge transition for our family. Michelle has now entered college in Ft. Collins, CO at the Dayspring Center for Christian Studies (www.dayspringcenter.org)
She is following in her sister’s footsteps living in the same dorm where Melinda lived with around 30 other Christian students. Michelle has adjusted well and feels “at home”. She has most of her classes there in her building with Christian professors as well as walking across the CSU campus to a class there. She is enjoying her classes and teachers. Michelle has made friends both within her dorm as well as through church and campus ministries like Navigators.
Thank you so much for your prayers for her adjustment. Please pray for God’s direction in how best to invest her time and energies.

Melinda is also enjoying her third year at Rivendell College (www.rivendellcollege.org) in Boulder. She likes her classes and has been working on lining up an internship in youth ministry with a church in the area. Melinda has a good roommate and has lots of friends and activities.
We have been visiting Colorado in order to help both girls make the transition into college and visit our parents. We are also visiting some of our supporting churches each weekend along with continuing our work with LATN via email and internet. We are easing into the empty nest, but with the possibility of an hour drive, we can still see the girls and talk with them in person. When we return to Costa Rica, the full effects will become much more pronounced and we will miss them. Thank the Lord for email and telephones that keep us in touch. Pray that this will be a fruitful season for us and that we will continue to grow and become “all that Christ saved us for.” Pray too, that we will have wisdom as parents of grown children who are also in the process of maturing into adulthood.