Back in Swing, Seminary Next Week

We returned from our brief trip to the States on November 16th.  Since then Nancy has been catching up on her work with the financial side of the ministry here, updating accounts, creating needed reports, etc.  Dan has been focusing more on his dissertation, and actually got 6 pages of a new chapter written this week, which is very exciting.  Today we picked up a used car, so we finally have our own transportation, which is a huge answer to prayer.  We have another week of Seminary classes next week.  David Cosby will be teaching on The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, and Wilmer Perez will be teaching Inductive Bible Study.  Please pray for God to move powerfully in their classes.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  If you want to keep up with us more frequently, you can befriend Dan on Facebook.  He posts things on there fairly regularly.  Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Heading Home

 

We have had a whirlwind trip in the States, visiting family and friends (pictured above left is Nancy with her brother Harvey and niece Anna, and pictured above right is our oldest son Chris).  We head back to Venezuela tomorrow, where Dan will begin final preparations for hosting the December week of Seminary classes, and Nancy will try to catch up on financial accounting/reporting, plus get more work done on curtains for the Seminary dorm rooms.  Additionally, Dan is reaching the must-buckle-down-hard stage of dissertation writing, so please pray for the ability to focus and the ability to analyze, read, and write well, and FAST!  Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement.  Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Visiting Family and Friends Before Heading Home Again

 

We safely arrived in the States yesterday for a 3-week period of visiting with family and friends before we head back home down south.  Please pray for continued safe travel.  The Seminary week ended very well, and then Dan got re-focused on dissertation research, developing more complete student records for the Seminary, and future course scheduling for the Seminary.  He also preached at Ondas de Paz last Sunday, and 3 persons made first-time decisions to follow Jesus (a party was celebrated in heaven!).  Nancy continues to oversee the financial aspects of the Seminary, develop her Spanish understanding, and many other tasks to help keep the overall ministry functioning smoothly.  When we return, we'll begin making final preparation for the December week of Seminary classes.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Seminary Week Going Well

We are thankful for a blessed Seminary week to this point.  Three intensive courses are being taught: Global Outreach (Dan), Inductive Bible Study (Wilmer Perez), and Prayer/Devotional Life of the Pastor (Carey Akin).  There are 45 students in all, which is very encouraging, because we had been averaging 42-44 students, and then we graduated 11 students in August, so God has sent new students to start their training process.  Yesterday (Tuesday) in Dan's course on Global Outreach, the students were asked to name the various countries where they know of Venezuelan missionaries serving (small discussion groups are pictured above).  We were thrilled to hear that there are VZ missionaries in Egypt, Pakistan, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Peru, Congo, Cuba, USA, Spain, Germany, St. Lucia, Colombia, India, Curazao, Aruba, Haiti, Panama, Ecuador, Portugal, China, and among indigenous peoples in VZ.  God has been stirring some missionary fires here!  Thank you for yous continued prayers.

Visited Pastor Jesus Rivero and His Congregation

 

Yesterday (Sunday) we had the joy of visiting with Pastor Jesus Rivero and his congregation. We got to visit the children's Sunday school area, and later they invited us to share prayer time with the congregation. We sensed the Holy Spirit asking us to pray for one-by-one for everyone who wanted prayer. This took about an hour and a half, and it was a special time for us, as we had the privilege of sharing prayer with these precious brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for your continued prayers and your financial support, both of which enable us to be down here doing this type of ministry. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Mango Trunk/Stump Removal

 

We were finally able to get rid of the mango tree debris, including the large/heavy trunk-stump, thanks to the ingenuity of our friend Samuel.  Next week we'll be able to pick out another mango tree to plant in the same spot.  This tree will be a strain that doesn't grow so large, so it won't do damage to the house's foundation.  Next week we will also be working hard on preparations for the upcoming week of Seminary classes October 11-15.  Nancy will be working on registration/accounting processes for tuition, room and board, etc., and Dan will continue preparations for the class he will be teaching on Global Outreach.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  Many Blessings, Dan and Nancy

Water Tank Project

Last week our focus was on resolving the water shortage problem at the Seminary. Volunteers from two UMC churches (Ondas de Paz and Restauracion) came and worked with us to clean and refurbish one round water tank that sits on top of a concrete column/platform, and another rectangular tank that sits on the ground (perhaps we would call this a cistern). The rectangular tank will be used as the back-up tank for our primary tank, so 200 meters of water pipe had to be laid between the two tanks. This involved trenching, laying, covering back up, and also concrete work where the line had to cross two driveways. They worked extremely hard, and we are thankful. We think both tanks will be up and functional sometime this week or the following week. Nancy finished sewing curtains for the men's dorm room, and has now started working on the curtains for the ladies' dorm. Thank you for your continued prayers. Much Love, Dan and Nancy