It has been another month in the states and life has been very rich and full. We are so grateful. We are going to tell you two stories that we hope capture a bit of what life was like last month.
"When one enters the mission field life becomes a small world."---We were told that so many times upon entering the mission field. Here is a story that proves that point...
Ten years ago while we were attending language school in Costa Rica we attended a church in San Jose, Costa Rica. We chose the church because many of the language school students said the pastor was very good AND his Spanish was very clear and easy to understand. We found this to be true. He reached out to Dave and I right away, asking to meet with us to see how the church could be a help to us while we were living there. Pastor Benjamin and Dave quickly developed a relationship and we spent time together with him and his wife as couples and as families. It was a valuable gift to us during that time. We also were able to help reconnect him with fellow DR missionary, Paul Thompson, whom Benjamin had met during one of Paul's training sessions in Columbia. That resulted in Pastor Benjamin coming to the DR for almost a year to train under Paul Thompson. He then returned to Columbia to work in discipleship training and house churches.
Fast forward ten years to 2016...We have other missionary friends who are ministering in leadership training in the DR and using material from a ministry in Columbia. They have continued to work with our Pastor Jose Miguel and other local leaders in our community. As part of their training, they decided to bring in a pastor from the program in Columbia to continue the training. That pastor was Pastor Benjamin Labrador---our friend from Columbia!!!
So Pastor Jose Miguel got to meet him and sit in on his training. Our hearts were so full as we received these pictures last month!! God is good and He is faithful to His children.
Pastor Benjamin leading the training session with Pastor Jose Miguel attending.
The two pastors connecting privately.
It is a small world!!!
The second story involves my (Cherry) mom, Josephine. Shortly after we returned to the states, we found out that she would need to undergo a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. At 94, that was a scary proposition. She was in Florida visiting my sister. My other sister was there as well. Fortunately, mom made it through the surgery and she is recovering now in Florida. I spent the past week there helping to care for her and I will return next week for another week. As you can imagine, it has been such a blessing to be able to be there for my mom. It is an honor to serve her. She is such a brave woman, a beautiful witness to a strong faith in Christ. Her acceptance and surrender to His will has been very inspirational to many!!
She was able to go to church last Sunday, only using a cane. It was a glorious day!!!
It has also been a sweet blessing to spend time with my two sisters and to care for our mother together. We are each different but we bring different gifts to the table. Recently I read that as Christ followers we are "gift bearers". It is a special privilege to use one's gifts to serve your family.
Mom and my two sisters.
Dave is getting back into the work world and would really appreciate your prayers in this adjustment. Fortunately, he also has time to do what he is so gifted at doing---ministering to men. He is involved in several small groups, one of which meets in our home early Tuesday mornings and he is starting to help with a Spanish speaking Bible study at the McLean County jail. We have also been able to be there for our two youngest daughters at Taylor University---attended a soccer tournament to watch Beka play and watched Rachael sing and dance at a Taylor function. Such blessings!! Please pray for us as we continue to discern God's plan for us in this next season.
For our financial supporters, we remind you that after June, you no longer need to send us support. For those with automatic withdrawal, you will need to send a letter to Kingdom Seeker Ministries, address on right-hand side, authorizing them to stop the withdrawals. Please do that as soon as possible as it takes two to three weeks to process these.
Rachael and Beka will be coming home to Bloomington this summer. We are all looking forward to that. They both are looking for summer jobs. Would you please pray for them and if you have any ideas of where they could work, please contact us with those ideas!!
We thank you again for walking alongside us on this journey. Check out the right hand panel for prayer requests. We love you all and keep you in our prayers as well.
By God's grace and for His glory,
Dave and Cherry Schwulst