Forgiveness and Reconciliation

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive" (Colossians 3:12-13)
We had a great worship experience yesterday. Our pastor preached a very helpful sermon about forgiveness, and invited us to respond in a specific way to address relationships that the Spirit brought to mind. We are grateful for God's forgiveness for us as well as the Spirit's power to help us forgive others. Forgiveness in and through Christ is one of the most important messages we can share with our families, friends, and acquaintances, both here and abroad. As we partner with the Spirit to share this message in Venezuela, Costa Rica, and the States, we thank you for your partnership with us through prayer support and financial giving. God is a good and forgiving God, and it is a joy and privilege to be partners and friends with good and forgiving brothers and sisters in Christ. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

St. Louis and Other Things

We had a great visit with Chris and Eleanor last weekend in St. Louis. They love the new apartment they've moved into, and it is located in a very nice section of town. There is a large park right across the street with a lot of shade trees and about 3 miles of walking/biking trails, plus a lot of open spaces for soccer and softball, etc. They are about a mile from a very nice Botanical Garden, and also very close to an Italian section of town featuring some wonderful little delis and restaurants. They are both doing well. Chris has begun his 3rd year of teaching 8th grade math, and Eleanor continues with her post-doctoral research position at Washington University.
This semester Dan is auditing a Spanish class at Asbury College (as distinct from Asbury Seminary), and that class began on Tuesday. He is also buckling down hard on studies for his upcoming qualifying exams. Nancy continues with her reading projects and with trying to keep Dan moderately straight :)
The Seminary semester begins in a couple weeks, during which Dan will be taking a course on Christian Healing, plus studying for and taking his qualifying exams, plus trying to write and defend the proposal chapter for his dissertation. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Chris and Eleanor !!!

We are really looking forward to the opportunity this weekend to visit our oldest son, Chris, and his wife Eleanor (pictured on the left, with John and Tara on the right). We will drive to St. Louis tomorrow (Friday) and return to Wilmore on Monday.

This has been a bit of an active yet strange week for Dan. Monday he made some progress on his dissertation research and his qualifying exam review studies, but he didn't have 100% energy. Tuesday morning he had even less energy, both physically and mentally, so he took a mental-health day. What a blessing that was. In the afternoon, however, he was working on a firewood project, and while using the chainsaw his glasses slipped off his face and fell right into the chainsaw blade, putting a big nick in one of the lenses. We are thankful he wasn't hurt. Wednesday morning he cut the grass, but the dewpoint and humidity were much higher than he realized, so this wiped him out physically. He had to rest up before he could function at all, and then after lunch he had to take a nap. That afternoon a trip to the chiropractor brought great relief from a back issue that had been worsening. On the way home we stopped at the optometrist's office and discovered that his glasses are still under warranty (hurray!), which was a wondeful serendipitous surprise. With his back feeling better, he slept much better last night and seems to be back to normal strength today. He is going to work on finishing up the grading for the Theology of Evangelism course which he taught in Venezuela this summer, plus do some work on our next printed newsletter.

Nancy has had a great week doing some reading, tending to some of our household affairs, and enjoying good health. She was a little tired yesterday (Wednesday) but has bounced back quickly. We are both wondering if the heat/humidity just snuck up on us and zapped us. Anyway, we went for a pleasant but muggy walk this morning, and both had sufficient energy to do that, for which we are thankful. Today she will also be working on our next printed newsletter, plus bake some homemade bread to take to Chris and Eleanor.

As always, we thank you for your prayers and your giving, which support us in our ministry of serving Christ's Kingdom in the Americas. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

More Saving Grace

The young woman pictured here on the left chose to begin her journey with Christ on July 12th at McEachern UMC, as we worshipped and preached there with the Latino congregation. What a joy to see the Spirit at work! Thank you for your prayers for us and our ministry. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Grateful for Approved Dissertation Topic

We are very very very grateful that God has finally led us to a dissertation topic for Dan that both he and his professors are excited about. This has been a frustrating 15-month process of thinking, praying, researching, experiencing much non-response from research queries, etc. Dan can now focus his energies on actually researching his topic instead of trying to simply select a topic. He is going to research the evangelistic implications of a Biblical theology that focuses on God as the source of full/vital life. Thanks for your continue love and prayers. Much Love, Dan and Nancy