October 17, 2008

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is a joy for Gloria and me to greet you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Through Him, we lift our prayer before the everlasting God, wishing deep in our hearts that the blessings and caring love of God be with you every day.

For our part, we can’t be mute about our deep gratitude to God for His overflowing love for us, which we have felt throughout the year. Gloria and I continue to minister here in Equatorial Guinea, a small country at the geographic heart of west central Africa in a tropical zone infected by malaria. Many people die every day from this disease, and we have been very fortunate to enjoy healthy lives despite having had malaria three times this year. Many times during my children’s sermon I have taught a song that goes: “Oh, God is good! Oh, God is good! Oh, God is good! God is good to all of us!” The time I’ve spent teaching that little song have been moments of thanksgiving, as is this letter as well, because Gloria and I have seen the powerful grace of God answering our daily prayers for healing—not only in our bodies but in the life of the Guinean Presbyterian Church, which has been immersed lately in a crisis of identity and in many ways it had lost its sense of its spiritual life.

In one of our previous newsletters, we mentioned dangerous and powerful forces of evil working to strangle the efforts of Presbyterian brothers and sisters here to witness for Christ. Without going into specific details, the church seems now to be at the end of a stage of institutional instability. Of course we don’t know what will happen in the coming months, but we are confident that we are now partnering with loyal people who show love and integrity for the image and destiny of the church. Gloria and I have felt as if we were in the middle of a delicate situation that demanded of us careful discernment and required of us an unbreakable will to confront evil at every flank where it attacked. There were nights when Andres had to spend hours watching over the security of our house when we were threatened by a gang of individuals who had made clear aggressive actions against our physical integrity. Only God knows how scared we were passing those nights in prayer and trusting in His Grace, which at the end of the day shines upon us with unmistakable light.

Gloria and I have continued to minister within the church, taking care of our duties on evangelism and education, and advising the leadership regarding stewardship of the resources of the national church. The job can be frustrating when the people in charge are not used to being held accountable for their duties. It requires patience, and we must take into consideration the difference in our cultures. With the help of God, we continue doing this job and can see some progress. It almost seems to be a paradox that many new members are joining the local congregations, that new pastors are called to ministry, and that the seven Presbyterian schools are packed with pupils for this school year. We do not have the figures yet, but about 2,500 boys and girls will be attending those education centers this year.

Gloria and I will spend our vacation this December in the United States and Costa Rica. We will spend the first portion of the month visiting with our son Ofir, our grandson Ilan Andres, and our daughter-in-law Karina in College Station, Texas. From there, we will travel to Costa Rica to prepare and celebrate the wedding of our Daughter Vary and her fiancé Fred on December 20. We will return to Africa in the second week of January.

In closing, we would like to wish you a merry Christmas, and to ask for your prayers on behalf of our partners in Equatorial Guinea.

Peace and grace,

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 21