quick trip, but good

Last Friday/Saturday we had a quick turn-around trip to Atlanta and back. Friday night we participated in a support-raising dinner for the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela. We are thankful for the many people who attended and for those who made 2-year pledges to support the ongoing work there. It was great to catch up with our Venezuelan friends, Efrain and Bethsaida Morales, plus Hur and Luci Morales and their children. They are serving as missionaries here in the USA. Efrain/Bethsaida serve with the Snellville UMC to reach Latinos there, and Hur/Luci serve with McEachern UMC in Powder Springs to reach Latinos in that community. All of them have participated in the Venezuela Seminary and were there to attest to its significance in their ministries and in the evangelistic outreach of Venezuelan churches. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our work through the Seminary. We are deeply grateful. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Great Week plus headed to Atlanta

We've had a great week. Nancy has been catching up on administrative tasks, plus making jewelry for friends. We had a fun gathering with our monthly fellowship group Saturday night and were enriched by the laughter and sharing. Sunday evening John and Tara came over to have a belated birthday celebration (pictures above) and we had a blast. Dan's schoolwork this week has been very helpful. This morning, for example, in his Gospel of Mark class he learned a lot about how to appropriately interpret Chapter 13 of Mark, and gained a lot of insight not only about that chapter but also about how to more deeply engage the Biblical text. Tomorrow we head down to Atlanta for the support-raising dinner for the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela. It will be a quick turn-around trip. We have to come back on Saturday after attending a wedding, because Dan is preaching in the Nicholasville UMC Sunday morning (Global Jesus). Nancy continues working on her Spiritual Warfare project. She is completing her reading and sketching out a tentative outline for a course that we will teach together in Venezuela at some point in the future. We are grateful for God's grace in our lives during this time of ministry and learning. Thank you for your love and friendship and support. Many Blessings, Dan and Nancy

Faith-Sharing in Venezuela

The March session of the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela met this week. Our friend David Cosby taught Part II of the Church Planting course. 56 students were in attendance, including four new students. We praise God for the continued vitality of the Seminary. David asked the students to give him some statistical information regarding their ministries. We found it particularly encouraging that 529 persons were baptized in 2008 in the churches which those students serve. Additionally, 12 new churches were planted, and 1,114 new conversions were reported. Among 56 students! This passion for leading others to Christ is one of the reasons we so appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the ministry in Venezuela, and why teaching in the Seminary there is one of Dan's all-time favorite things to do. Thank you for your continued love and support. Many Blessings, Dan and Nancy

Living in Grace is Such Fun!

We have been having a great week in God's grace. We returned from our trip on Sunday night, and then on Monday had a day of catching up on studies, laundry, and chainsaw work (for firewood). Yesterday (Tuesday) Dan had a good class session in the Gospel of Mark, followed by reading and writing assignments for his Theology of Evangelism class. He is learning a lot in the class that he will be able to use in future teaching in Venezuela. Nancy worked on catching up the checking account, the bills, and emails. Our whirlwind trip last week caught up with both of us late afternoon yesterday. We just simply ran out of gas physically and mentally, so we watched Good Will Hunting and ate popcorn for supper. Sort of an at-home, inexpensive date :) It was a very relaxing evening and we are back to normal energy now. Today in a morning Seminar Dan heard his dissertation mentor, Dr. George Hunter, share some of the insights from his new book on the church growth movement. This was a very helpful session, because Dan's dissertation will relate to some of the perspectives from that movement. More ministry administrative work for Nancy today, plus she cleaned out the fireplace so we can build another fire tomorrow (it turned cold again here today), bought farm fresh eggs, and did some more reading. We are so thankful for God's grace continuing to nurture us and support us, and we are grateful for those who make our ministry possible. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Back from North Carolina and Georgia

We returned last night from a 6-day trip to North Carolina and Georgia. We attended an evangelism event in Black Mountain, North Carolina and had a great time. God moved powerfully to teach and inspire us, and we are exceedingly grateful. Pictured here are friends praying for our ministries to be freshly empowered by the Holy Spirit. From there we went to Alpharetta, Georgia to staff sign-up tables at Mount Pisgah UMC Sunday morning for the March 20th support raising dinner for the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela. It was great to see so many of our MP friends and catch up with them. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We appreciate partnering with you in God's ministry around the world.