FREY, ESTHER (Puerto Rico; Emmaus Correspondence) PRAISE: A wonderful time in the Dominican Republic, with 60 attending the Emmaus conference and 300 attending the general conference. Almost all countries in South America were represented, Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain. Great facilities at Word of Life camp. Well taken care of. I used a transportation company to go to my eye injection appointment, and I discovered that my chauffeur was a former Emmaus student in the 70 or 80s. Incredible!l Will try to find his record. PRAY: Lord willing I fly to Canada Sept. 13, will stay with Arthur and Dorcas for a week, then head up to Elmira. Looking forward to this change. Will leave Oct. 18 for South Carolina to visit a friend and return to PR Oct. 25. Brian will be very busy, as a teacher and keeping up the Emmaus office. Assembly work in general is very weak, and needs lots of prayer. The new camp committee is working hard but Satan knows that and is trying to discourage.
Phil & Andrea - September 2022
BAUMAN, PHIL & ANDREA (Canada, International roles with SIM) PRAISE: For vacation time this month with time off away from emails, screens and Zoom meetings. That we could go away to a cottage and enjoy the beauty of creation around us. That Liam has a new job in London ON that he starts on September 12. PRAY: For SIM’s International Board of Governors meetings that Phil is involved in this month. For safety and health as we travel to the US. Phil leaves on the 5th, Andrea on the 13th and we return on the 20th. For Andrea as she takes on some extra responsibilities during her boss’ sabbatical. For wisdom for Phil as he shares with the Board the need for an integrated systems and data integration team. For Kieran as he begins part time MDiv studies.
Russ & Meredith Martin
Family Update
Bang. Pause. Bang. Pause. Bang. Gwenyth wondered in and out, the many doors slamming behind her, all day long on our first day at her grandparents' house in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. The cooler air felt amazing on her often itchy skin. Our kids haven't experienced temperatures below 24 degrees C in four years. Being more familiar with trains and escalators than black flies and dirt roads, our first few weeks in Haliburton county brought the rejuvenation only God's beautiful nature and valued family connections can bring - not to mention the joy from an exhilarating tube ride behind a boat.
Our six weeks in North America was filled with family vacations, VBS and summer camp, after dinner baseball, a Blue Jays game, wiener roasts in the back yard as well as connecting with many cherished friends and ministry partners. We saw God's hand woven into timing of Russ getting COVID-19, falling ill at 'home' and not on a work trip overseas. Also, God graciously allowed us to see Russ' 99.5 year old grandma before she passed away. Celebrating her life is now a rich memory for all five of us.
Our kids are third culture kids - they carry a Canadian passport but have grown up in countries they don't fully identify with. The third culture is the space of not quite belonging anywhere. Having memorable connections this summer with cousins, adult church members and kids of family friends is a gift that I trust God will use in their lives to provide a sense of grounding.
We are back in Singapore and our upcoming season will include more hosting and connecting deeply in community as the restrictions for doing so have lifted.
We've moved to a more central to an apartment that can better accommodate having others in our home.
We will be involved in a church plant launching in September.
Meredith will serve as part of the women's leadership while continuing to spend time creating artwork and caring for the home.
Our kids will start some new sports programs and deepen friendships at church and school.
Russ has continued leading his two global teams amongst all the travel. Two weeks ago, just hours after arriving in Singapore (after a 36 hour flight delay) he hosted his core Indigitous team and then colleagues from Lausanne the next week.
WBC Friends, thank you for your continued prayer and support of our family as we lead the next generation of missions from a base in Singapore. I (Meredith) would love to connect with you, so please reply if you have a few minutes to update me on your life.
Our new address:
30 Sturdee Road
05-01 Kerrisdale
Singapore 207852
Photos below:
A. Last visit with GG Frede
B. Tea time at GG Martin's farm house. Gwen stayed outside with the dogs.
C. Beach week with cousins.
Russ & Meredith Martin
Bringing the gospel to the deaf in Nigeria
Here's the most recent finished product by the Nigerian team producing the Four Spiritual Laws in sign language.
WBC Friends, your partnership is enabling the gospel to go to new people and places. Here's a recent example that shows the long-term work we do of championing great commission innovation so that more people can know and follow Jesus.
Back in 2018, a member of our Indigitous Nigeria community began to engage a group of deaf individuals seeking to serve them. The deaf community expressed that they needed help creating digital tools to better share the gospel.
During our hackathon in 2019 the Indigitous community used simple camera phones to make a video version of the traditional Four Spiritual Laws tract, which is still effectively used in many contexts.
Finally in 2022, the local community raised resources to make a studio quality video. It was truly a community effort to produce the video, integrating folks with many talents to make the final product. The team is now working to distribute this gospel resource across Nigeria, West Africa and amongst the global deaf community.
We smile at the four-year journey to "pioneer a missional gap." We praise God for the fruit that is born as new people can experience the gospel in their heart language. This is truly at the heart of our work in leading the Indigitous network globally. Without your partnership, we couldn't do it.
Thank you,
Photos from summer in North America below:
A. Nature-loving Gwen catches a fish with 'the fun uncle'.
B. Russ and Meredith short getaway to Ottawa
C. Dressing like Great-Granddad for his 90th birthday.
P.S. We'll write with a more detailed family update in a few days.
Raul & Jessenia Espinoza
Dear Wallenstein family,
Thank you for your prayers for travel mercies in going back to Ecuador!
August 10th we traveled back to Ecuador safely and without incident, and have been adjusting to the heat and the different rhythm of life in Latin America. Raul is now able to have in-person meetings in his role as president of the school board, and feels he is settling into his position.
Ana, Liss and Patty (3 El Salvadorian women) have now moved here to Guayaquil and are also getting settled in and Raul has been meeting with them often to plan how they can support the ministry at the school. Ana and Lis have had years of experience running a Christian school for the deaf in El Salvador and we are excited to have access to their wisdom and expertise as we make some changes to the school’s organizational structure. Patty has studied psychology and is passionate about working with at-risk children and their families. We are so happy God saw fit to make it all possible for them to join us for a while. Please pray for their adjustment to Ecuador and for God to continue to supply the necessary support for them to continue with us.
We would like to ask for prayer as well for a crisis in security that Ecuador (and specifically Guayaquil) is facing. It appears the drug cartels from Mexico have connected with the gangs here in the city and have been amping up the violence as they struggle for territory. People are scared, as crime has started to extend to the general population. Please pray for the authorities to have wisdom how to handle this situation and that our community would stay safe.
We really value your prayers in all of this.
Blessings,
Raul and Jessenia