CELEBRATING 38 YEARS OF MINISTRY |
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| Dick and Ann Dye |
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The Dyes are now celebrating 38 years of missionary service in México. It all started long ago...
Dick grew up in Salisbury, NC and attended Ben Lippen High School where he met Ann. He and Ann graduated from Columbia Bible College in Columbia, SC. Dick then graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Ann (Solomon) was raised in Montreat, NC where her father was a Presbyterian evangelist. Dick and Ann married in 1963. He served as pastor in Asheville, NC for four years. In 1970, the Dyes went to Acapulco, México as church planters. After the Maranatha Presbytery was formed in 1989, they moved to Querétaro where they were able to establish the El Bajío Presbytery comprising the states of Querétaro, Guanajuato and Aguascalientes, where only 1.5% of the population attend evangelical churches.
The Dyes have two children, Roger and Marie. Roger and his wife, Laura, and their four children are church planters in Chile. Marie with husband Gordon Bobbett and four daughters, resides in New Bern, NC where he is an emergency physician.
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Contact information:
Apdo. 3-40, Querétaro, Qro. C.P. 76150, MEXICO, Tel/Fax (442) 214-31-32
MTW: 1600 North Brown Road. Lawrenceville, GA 30043-8141, Tel.(678) 823-0004
Email: richarddye@mtwsa.org |
| This week - June 25, 2008 |
Dear Praying Friends,
Thanks for your prayers for the work of the Lord here in Querétaro and the Bajío area of México.
The Medical outreach this past weekend at the Rose of Sharon Church was truly a success. We prepared the food at our house for the Sat. and Sun. breakfasts at the church. For supper Friday night we served KFC at the church and Sat. night they ate pizza. Takes a lot of food to serve 85 medical personnel + 10 helpers and pastors! We reserved space and pre-ordered food at the El Pata Tacos Restaurant for Sat. noon, and Caporales Restaurant for Sun. noon. The Sunday morning program was well-attended, and very edifying, interesting and informative. The Christian bookstore downtown provided a book table on very interesting topics of a medical nature, and the Gideon organization gave New Testaments to all. The participation in special music was also an added attraction.
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We received an email yesterday about the carpenter whose new eyeglasses accidentally fell out of his shirt pocket into one of the wooden crates he had made for items being sent from his church to an orphanage in China. When he realized what had happened, it was too late to retrieve his expensive eyeglasses he had just bought that day. The crates were already nailed shut and delivered to the ship. A year later the director of the orphanage visited the church, and thanked them profusely for the eyeglasses they had sent in one of the crates, saying that the Communists had invaded the orphanage, and among other things, had ripped off and destroyed his glasses. He had been suffering severe headaches until the crates arrived. The eyeglasses in the crate were his exact prescription. The carpenter learned that day about how God makes PERFECT MISTAKES! Reminds us also of Joseph being sold by his brothers. Another of God’s PERFECT MISTAKES. May we always be sensitive to God's PERFECT MISTAKES.
The Biloxi guys arrived Sunday afternoon, and have been busy daily in construction at Valentin’s mission. They have hearty appetites so we enjoy cooking for them. They are staying in the patio guest room. They will be here till July 4. The Holland MI group of 15 arrives July 5. They are excited about their upcoming participation in construction and children’s clubs at Valentin’s mission. One of their teenage boys preaches on the Sunday they are here, and sent the title of his sermon, “Comfy or Committed,” which is very appropriate for mission work, as well as for all Christians. They leave July 12, and the Music/Language/Arts Institute begins July 13, with the arrival of stateside teachers starting July 11. Today and tomorrow, 6200 invitations for the Institute are being distributed door-to-door by a team of people from the churches here. Ten minutes after they started the distribution, we began to receive calls from interested people. Please pray for wisdom, guidance, and strength for the Institute ministry, and a harvest of new believers as a result.
In Christ for Mexico,
Dick and Ann Dye |
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DYE-A-GRAM FROM MEXICO
June - July 2008
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Dear Praying Friends,
Yes, we are still alive, and God is building His Church here in the Bajio Presbytery (central Mexico- states of Queretaro, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Jalisco). Construction of pastor Valentin’s “Jesus El Buen Pastor” church building continues, as you see in the photo. We had hoped to get the roof on before the rainy season, which officially started June 8 with a downpour. Funds for construction have dwindled, due to dwindling in summer teams. We thank you for continuing your generous giving towards this MTW project #93877. | |
By the time you receive this letter, some of the following will be after the fact, for both praise and continued prayer for the ongoing results:
1. June 22 – Medical Sunday with 85 medical personnel from the U.S. and 85 medical personnel from Queretaro holding a forum on “Caring for the Whole Person,” as an outreach into the medical profession of this city.
2. June 22-July 4 – A team of 5 men from MS to help with church construction.
3. June 28 – Presbytery meeting, with the examination for ordination of church planters Valentin and Daniel.
4. July 5-12 – A team of 15 youth and adults from MI to help with construction and children’s clubs.
5. July 14-25 – Music/Language/Arts Institute at Efrain’s Nuevo Amanecer Church with teachers from OK, NC, SC, MI, TX, GA, Cuba, Japan, and Queretaro, as an outreach to help this church grow.
6. July 26-August 2 – team of 2 from TX, and 2 from AZ to speak in various churches and help some in construction.
7. July 30 – Home-school conference in Queretaro, led by the Texas couple.
The prayer with which we started our missionary career in Acapulco in 1970 was Psalm 90:17, “…establish thou the work of our hands.” We want to conclude our career with 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” Goals for finishing the race entail:
1) Helping establish Valentín’s church and Daniel’s mission.
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| Valentín preaching at Jesús el Buen Pastor |
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| Daniel (center) teaching in a borrowed building. |
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| Maranatha Church |
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2) Finding pastors for La Vid Verdadera Church in on, and Maranatha in Queretaro. (Pastors are very difficult to find. That is why the Seminary by Extension program is so important for the future of the church. The program has recently been put on hold because of the unexpected departure of the couple who had come to teach.)
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3) Finding a career missionary as pastor-coordinator of the English congregation.
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| English Congregation |
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For these goals to be realized, your continued help is needed, not only in prayer and giving, but also in sending or coming. Mt 9:37,38: “The harvest is so great, but the laborers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge, asking Him to send out more workers for His fields”, especially to this city of over 2½ million people. Do you hear the Lord asking: “Whom shall I send? Who will go…?” Will you answer, “Lord, I’ll go! Send me”? (Is. 6:8) If God is calling you to be a missionary pastor for the English congregation, or a 2-year or career missionary, or to teach in the Seminary by Extension, please contact MTW.
We are reminded constantly of the following:
1. Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord build the house, its builders labor in vain.”
2. Deut. 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
3. John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last." The God of the universe has chosen us to be on His team as His fruit‐bearers. Will you join His team in Queretaro?
In Christ for Mexico,
Dick and Ann Dye
P.S. God’s answers to your prayers:
1. Our Leukemia & Parkinson’s remain stable.
2. God is blessing our children’s ministries in medicine and missions where they are planted in NC and Chile.
First grandchild Deanna needs prayer for her huge change in August from Chile to Ben Lippen High School in Columbia, SC.
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| Praises and Petitions January/February 2008 |
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1. Samaritan's Purse Events – Thanks so much
for your prayers. Our daughter Marie and her 4 girls, as well as
the 2 couples from her church in New Bern NC, arrived safely through
customs with the extra suitcases of gifts. Over 1,500 children
received gifts, plus the message of God's gift of salvation!
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2. Miguel Angel
and Adriana, one of the leadership couples with serious marital problems
for whom you have been praying, gave a party at their home recently to
celebrate and rejoice in God's blessing and saving their marriage! (he in
white shirt & she in stripped sweater) |
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3. The Good
Shepherd Church (El Buen Pastor) in a low income area where Valentin is
pastor, now has a foundation and
walls because of your generous giving, and the congregation is growing!
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| Each Sunday the
congregation carries the chairs and tables from several blocks away, and puts
up & removes the overhead tarps. Wind gusts at this high elevation
cause thick dust clouds to rise from the dirt floor, and we all get covered
with dirt from head to toe. A roof and floor are urgently
needed. This will cost about $20,000. Construction will resume
immediately as the funds are received at Mission to the World, project
#93877. Join with us in prayer and praise as God provides!
4. The San
Felipe/San Jose mission where church planter Daniel (standing with white
shirt) leads, still meets in the dirt streets. This is where the largest
Samaritan’s Purse event occurred. The mission needs a permanent meeting place.
Please pray for guidance.
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5. The English congregation needs a
stateside-supported full-time pastor. As in Isaiah 6:8, we are
praying that someone will hear the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I
send? And who will go for us?" and that someone will answer,
"Here am I. Send me!" Please contact Mission to the World
if this someone is you, because another question in Romans 10:15
is, "How can they preach unless they are sent?" For
more details, review the Feb.2007 letter posted on our web site.
6. The Seminary program is struggling to
survive after the decisions mentioned in the December 2007 letter posted on our
web site.
7. Pastors are still needed for the churches
in Leon, Aguascalientes and Maranatha in Querétaro.
In Christ for Mexico,
Dick and Ann Dye |
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Dear Praying Friends,
We thank Christ anew during this special season of the year for all His precious promises and for keeping us focused on Him through thick (blessings) and thin (difficulties). |
———— BLESSINGS ————
1. The fall semester of the seminary program resulted in a packed out church on Nov. 24, celebrating 23 students receiving certificates for courses completed. A 40-voice choir accompanied by an 8-member band, which were an extension of the seminary, enhanced the celebration with a mini-concert. | |
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2. Thanks to generous gifts from you, the foundation and walls of pastor Valent in’s church were completed in December. Our next step is roof, doors, windows, and flooring, as funds are available (MTW project #93877). Third phase will be classrooms,sanctuary, bathrooms, and electricity. All help is greatly appreciated to complet e thi s let MTW know if you can bring a team.
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3. Son Roger with Laura and children in Viña del Mar, Chile, have been spared damage, other than things falling off the walls and shelves, from the 30+ earthquake tremors in their area during the month of December. They are so very busy trying to balance family and ministry.
4. Daughter Marie and Gordon (M.D. in New Bern NC) were able to squeeze in numerous medical appointments for us during our brief visit with them in December. Then Marie and daughters, and several members of their church in New Bern, will visit us in January to help distribute the Samaritans’ Purse gifts.
5. Dick’s Parkinson’s and Ann’s leukemia continue stable
. We are grateful for 44 years of marriage (3 in seminary and teaching, 4 in the pastorate, and 37 as missionaries in Mexico). Here’s a “flashback” photo from about 40 years ago!
6. We appreciate you
as co-laborers through your faithful prayers and giving, even though we are physically unable to visit and share personally all that God is doing in Mexico.
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———— DIFFICULTIES ————
1. Although the seminary semester was successful and classes were to resume on Jan.19, the program has been put on hold. The pastor who is Minister of Education of the presbytery, had gone through the process of affiliating our seminary program with the existing two-fold San Pablo Seminary in Mérida and MINTS in Miami. But two of our pastors who have not been active in the seminary courses vetoed the plan, with the idea of considering other possibilities. We, as well as the teachers (which includes Robert Bristol who arrived in July) and students, are disappointed. Please pray for the seminary program, which is so vital to the future of the presbytery.
2. The San Jose/San Felipe mission, led by church planter Daniel Pinto, still meets in the dirt streets. Please pray that the 18-wheelers full of gifts will arrive on time for the big event in this area on Jan. 12, where over 1,000 children will gather for the Samaritans’ Purse outreach. This mission needs a permanent building as soon as possible.
We are reminded again of God’s promises and focus in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness...That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In Christ for Mexico,
Ann and Dick Dye
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Dear Praying Friends,
Thanks to each of
you for your prayers regarding Hurricane Dean in August, and its effects in
Mexico. We are also dealing with Hurricane Devil and its effects in the
ministry. Pray with us for the pastors and wives, and lay leaders in the
churches of the Bajio Presbytery. The enemy “roams about like a roaring
lion” seeking to destroy the testimonies, and in some cases, the marriages, and
thus the ministries of these key people in the churches. Pray that
emotional infidelity and unfaithfulness to the Lord will be thwarted, and that
each struggling couple will allow God to give them discernment and submissive
hearts to His rule in their marriage and ministry.
In our family devotions recently, Dick and I
read from the book of Job how Satan is more interested in attacking the
Christian and causing his downfall. The non-Christian is not a threat to
him. This is precisely the disastrous hurricane of spiritual warfare we
are experiencing during these days. Please prevail in prayer to the God
of heaven for these couples, that Satan will not prevail, but that God will
bring victory, and receive all the glory. Praise His Holy Name!
Seminary classes resumed Sat., Sept. 8. Pray with us that another
hurricane of the enemy will not deter these students from following
through with their intentions to study and prepare themselves for leadership in
the church and family.
At the presbytery meeting on Sept.21, two churches in
Guadalajara were added to the Presbytery of the Bajio. Reminds us of Jabez' prayer in 1
Chron.4:10, "Oh Lord, enlarge our territory..."
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| The photo of presbytery delegates
was taken at the MOVIPRES conference in Mexico City recently. Notice Papa Dick
in the middle on the right. Valentin, pictured on the right front,
needs prayer for his congregation who is still meeting in a lean-to on dirt
floors, after three years of trying to raise enough funds for a church
building. Daniel, 2nd on right in photo, pastors the area of
SanJose/San Felipe among the underprivileged. We had great attendance at
the street clubs there in August, and at the big event
in September in a borrowed warehouse. Funds are still
needed for a church building in this area. |
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| Click to enlarge |
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The English
congregation continues to grow. New families are constantly arriving
in Queretaro. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are
few." (Matt.9:27)
Praise the Lord with us for the July arrival of MTW short term missionaries
Robert
and Amy Bristol and little Sophia. Robert is pictured behind Dick in
the photo. What a joy and encouragement to work together in all of
the above!
Dick's Parkinson's and Ann's leukemia continue under control.
Son
Roger, with Laura and children arrived back in Viña del Mar, Chile, August
2, after their year of HMA. Daughter Marie, with Gordon and
children, enjoy opportunities for outreach in their community and church in New
Bern NC, and in the hospital ER he directs.
Your co-laborers in
Mexico,
Ann and Dick Dye |
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Dear Prayer Partners,
We have to rely exclusively on letters to
communicate with you, since health-wise we are unable to travel and share personally about the Lord’s
work in Queretaro. The next few
months in the ministry here are crucial – too much to do, and no teams or money
to do it with. We need to win the
lottery, God’s lottery!
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The estimate to build
the church for pastor Valentin’s congregation in a low-income area on the property
pictured here is $100,000 US. It’s
going to take a lot of digging and concrete and steel beams. Building supplies have more than
doubled in the last couple of years.
To date, our church building fund at MTW has
only $404. We know that God can
supply the money through His people.
That’s why we are making the need known again, since we’d like to get
this church built this summer. |
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The second immediate
project is to purchase this warehouse (for sale at $50,000 US) in San
Jose/San Felipe among the underprivileged, where 100 adults and 500 children meet
regularly. If the warehouse is sold to someone else, the mission, led by pastor
Daniel, will be out on the street again.
They need a permanent place as soon as possible to worship and grow
spiritually.
Humanly speaking, these needs are enormous
and impossible. But “with God all things are possible¨ (Matthew 19:26). Therefore, we share
unapologetically, because we strongly believe that 1) time is short to
accomplish these tasks, 2) the best investment in missions is the building of
churches for the continuance of ministry after the “foreign” missionary leaves
the scene, and 3) God wants our participation in His project of “I WILL BUILD
MY CHURCH” (Matthew 16:18). |
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| Click to enlarge |
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| Will you consider coming,
sending a summer team, and/or giving?
You will be investing in God’s building program. Thank you.
Ann’s leukemia and
Dick’s Parkinson’s are presently under control, and the surgery on Dick’s feet in January was successful. Praise the Lord! |
DYE-A-GRAM FROM MEXICO
Apdo. 3-40, Querétaro, Qro. C.P. 76150, MEXICO, Tel/Fax (442) 214-31-32
MTW: 1600 North Brown Road. Lawrenceville, GA 30043-8141, Tel.678 823 0004
Email: richarddye@mtwsa.org website: www.Christ4Mexico.org February 2007
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Dear Prayer Partners,
The "Day of the Kings" (January 6) Samaritans Purse event, held in the heavily populated poor area of San Felipe/San Jose on the outskirts of Queretaro, was well attended with over 1000 children and 350 parents. There were several hundred more lined up outside which we did not know about until after the event. We did not have enough gifts for them anyway, but it makes us realize the great need in this area both physically and spiritually. Our team of 40, made up of folks from both the English and Spanish congregations, worked happily and tirelessly. The Gideons gave out New Testaments to all the parents and teenagers. The Christian clown we hired for the event was a great attraction as well.
The next big event in this area is Saturday, February 3. We plan to give away bags of clothes with gospel tracts to the parents. Besides the Bible classes for all, there will be classes of handcrafts for the children, plus music and English classes for the teenagers. There are some 300 teenagers that need ministering to. They are ripe and ready for the gospel and growth! Is there someone out there who is ripe and ready (prepared and able) to come as a missionary now, not a year from now, to dedicate themselves to this task? Anyone called to help with the parents and the other 700 children?
Next item on our list for prayer is the Seminary by Extension classes, which reconvene January 20, that God will motivate many to study and prepare as leaders, teachers, and pastors. This ministry is vital for the future of the churches of the Bajio Presbytery. There are presently three churches in the presbytery without a pastor (Leon, Aguascalientes, and Maranatha in Queretaro).
Now comes the prayer request closest to my heart, Dick’s health. During our stateside visit in December, doctors and specialists confirmed the fact of his Parkinson’s advancing more rapidly than expected. His medications have increased, and he is now under the care of several doctors and therapists in Queretaro since our return. We had hoped to attend mission conferences in the U.S. in February and March, but travel has become increasingly difficult for him. Please forgive us for not being able to visit and share first hand what God is doing here through your prayers and gifts, and please ask MTW for a copy of the DVD our son Roger made for us, and show it in your church as a visit from us.
Dick longs to finish the task here before retirement. One of his goals is to construct a prefab building for Valentin's church, which has been meeting under trees and lean-tos for two years. Another is to buy an already constructed building for the new church forming in the San Felipe/San Jose area where the big events formerly mentioned have been taking place over the course of two years. If the money were in hand ($120,000 US), these two projects could be accomplished immediately. Please pray with us for God's guidance.
Another goal is to have someone take over the English congregation, a very viable ministry in this metropolitan city of two million people. Do you know of anyone who is available with the following requirements: called to be a career missionary, married, able to preach practical and doctrinally reformed sermons which hold the attention of the congregation, good at visiting, musical, able to lead singing, wife who plays the piano well, able to delegate and involve the congregation in leadership, wife able to teach children in Sunday School and ladies in a Bible study, and train and delegate others to do the same, able to prepare a worship service and weekly printed program, willing to use their time and talent in other local MTW ministries, able to arrive in Queretaro by May 2007 to assume responsibility.
Despite his physical disabilities, Dick continues a ministry in the El Bajio Presbytery of stability, solidarity, spirituality, and sabiduria (wisdom). I can hear him say, as Paul to the Philippians and to Timothy:
"I am being poured out like a drink offering, and the time is coming for my departure.
I am fighting the good fight, I want to finish the course...I am torn between the desire
to depart…, but it is more necessary for you that I remain...so that your progress and joy may overflow."
Then as Paul, he exhorts the leaders:
"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,... stand firm in one spirit, contending for the faith of the gospel...in unity, love, fellowship, tenderness, compassion, being like-minded and one in spirit and purpose, doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain deceit, but in humility...with an attitude the same as that of Christ Jesus, doing everything without complaining or arguing, holding out the word of life...keeping your head in all situations, enduring hardship, doing the work of an evangelist, discharging all the duties of your ministry." |
Annual ‘Thank Christ Anew’ Letter
We’ve been thinking about the word “new” a lot lately, as we long for new bodies. “We grow weary with groans and sighs in our present bodies, longing to slip into our new heavenly bodies” (II Cor.5:1-10). As we begin a new year, the prayer of our hearts is that many in Queretaro will experience the new creation. “With the old gone, the new has come! All this newness is from God, who…is reconciling the world to himself in Christ… making His appeal through us.” (II Cor.5:17-20)
That appeal comes through the following ministries: |
1. Follow-up of Mi Esperanza, the 3-day Billy Graham evangelistic programs which were televised nationwide Nov. 9-11, 2006. | |
| 2. Queretaro pastors (l-r): Valentin in Plazas
del Sol (construction is slated for summer of 2007), Daniel in San Felipe (where a church building is needed for 150 children and 50 adults now attending), Rigo at Rose of Sharon (9th anniversary was celebrated Oct. 2006), Efrain at Nuevo Amanecer (construction was completed Nov. 2006), and Dick (English congregation). |
3. Samaritan’s Purse outreach is planned for January 6 (Day of the Kings) in San Felipe, where a new church is forming with the team pictured below: |
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| Paco, Enrique, Miguel, Jim, Efrain, Dick, Daniel; Vicky, Adriana, Rayito, Rosario, Claudia, Marita, Vanessa, Ann |
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4. Seminary by Extension –New courses and new students are slated for January 13.
Thank you for your faithful prayers for the above, plus the following needs:
1. Renewed health for Dick, despite Parkinson’s symptoms. God’s promise to him – “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar…they will run…they will walk and not faint.” Is.40:31
2. New pastors to fill the vacancies of three churches in the Presbytery. (God’s promise – Jer.23:4)
3. A new place for the Institute. Jim Blomstrand, who has | |
