Finished! - August 2020

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices,

which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time

a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

Hebrews 10:11-12

In the Spanish language, there are several tenses used to describe actions that occurred in the past. Last semester, Lisa learned the Preterite tense, and this semester she is learning the Imperfect tense. The Imperfect is used to describe past actions that are done habitually with no definite ending. The Preterite is used to describe actions completed at a point in the past. Recently, we’ve been correlating the completion aspect of the Preterite tense with Christ’s work on the cross. He fully accomplished the work of salvation and is now seated at the right hand of God. We are so thankful that Christ’s work is finished. This good news is what we have the privilege of taking to the people of Ecuador!

At the beginning of August, we traveled to Illinois for a reunion with Jeff’s family. We are thankful that God allowed us to see a lot of family this summer. We will not have time to see most of our family before we leave for Ecuador, which made this summer important for us. After the family reunion we made a twenty-four-hour trip through the night to arrive at RGBI the day before classes started. Thank you for praying on our behalf for this trip. We are so thankful to God for His help in this.

We started off the semester as planned. Lisa’s classes are in person. This has been a great thing for her because she can see the faces and mouths of the teachers without connection interruptions. 2nd semester Spanish is more intense than 1st semester. All of the classes are in Spanish, whereas at the end of last semester, about 40% of her classes were in Spanish. Lisa is doing fine but it has been far more challenging. Pray that the Lord would give her strength and the ability to learn well.

Jeff’s Bible classes have been online from the start. The school hopes to resume in-person classes in November. Jeff is taking three courses this semester - Acts, Romans, and Systematic Theology - to increase his theological vocabulary. We are thankful for the opportunity Jeff has to further prepare to serve in Ecuador. Simon is doing well in daycare, and we are very thankful that he enjoys it so much.

Please continue to pray for the ministry in Ecuador. Quito has seen an influx of COVID cases in recent weeks. Many things in the country are still closed, and essential shopping can only take place three times a week. Jeff’s parents and Marco Cruz, our national coworker, continue to minister through videos. It will be challenging to rebuild and regroup when things open up again. We know that God has promised to build His church, so we are praying for wisdom and direction for future ministry.

Last semester, we learned that the cost of our insurance had changed. Therefore, our amount for needed support increased. We did not intend to raise that last portion of support, but were trusting that God would provide it, if He wanted us to have it. During our first week here, a church near Easley, SC contacted BMW, looking to support a missionary to South America! BMW connected us with that church, and they have voted to partner with us – praise God! We look forward to meeting them in January.

Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support!

In His service and yours,

Jeff, Lisa, & Simon

Mayfield

Simon Says:

Mom and Dad said that I grew two inches over the summer! I’m learning my colors (“bue,”“geen,” and “yeyow”) and I really like to draw cats ("mows"). I have so much fun in daycare with Miss Mine and my buddy, Owen Woodfin. I will turn two on September 16th!