Looking back, looking forward

Fueled by the momentum of an exciting first semester and a busy but refreshing Christmas break, we are ready to dive into our second semester at Rio Grande Bible Institute!

Asa's main classroom

Ezra with one of Asa's Spanish tutors--Amerigo from Peru

Suz joined a (Spanish) Bible-study group for seminary wives

Asa's parents joined us for a couple weeks

No shortage of excellent Mexican food here!

Class presentations

Class presentations

Missionary kid shennanigans!

In case you were wondering what it takes to get a decent family Christmas photo

Making arepas with some students

Suz's parents visiting in October

During the break, we enjoyed another visit with Suz’s parents (likely the last one before they depart for their new ministry role in Spain). Mom shared a simple diagnostic tool they’ve used for years, and I thought I’d use it here to share how things are going, but also to give you all a helpful life resource that can be used in any context!

As you read, pray along with us, praising, petitioning, and thanking God. The acrostic is SWOT:

Strengths	Over his first semester, Asa demonstrated rapid progress, initiative, and ability for the Spanish language. Suz’s Spanish has come back quickly, and together we’ve made lots of new friends, who may form part of our greater ministry network. The kids have also done a great job with their first full semester at a new school!
Weaknesses	Finding the right balance between outside commitments and family time has involved more trial and error than we expected.
Opportunities	God brought a few Peruvian seminary students into our lives right here on campus, and we have had some opportunities already to love and pour into them. They’re in our home frequently, and some of these interactions turn into discipleship conversations. We are very excited to play a small part in God’s greater story for these young people!
Threats	We have observed (and sometimes experienced) particular spiritual attacks on the individuals and families here at RGBI. We know God promises to use trials for our good, but we also know the Prince of Confusion and Darkness wants to steal, kill, and destroy the good things that are happening here. Additionally, one of our sons is quite discouraged about the difficulty of learning another language. Please pray for his encouragement and learning, as well as for God’s hedge of protection over RGBI, its ministries, and its students.

Thank you for following along and praying for us!