June, 2005
Bell Nouvelles in short:
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Praises:
-Good Easter services and activities
-Children's club
-Bible Institute
-Good visit with my parents
Prayer Requests:
-Men's retreat
-Unsaved visitors at church
-Summer camps
-Preparations for a trip to the States
-the salvation of my sister-in-law's husband
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Dear praying friends,
The short, dark days of winter have finally given way once again to the long, bright days of summer. This May has been a very full and important month for us. It started with the celebration of our tenth anniversary. It was back in 1995 that Maribel and I flew back to Spain after our first year of grad school at BJU to get married here in her church. The Lord has done so many things in our lives in the last ten years that we can only stand back and marvel at His grace to us. The month was also special because my parents came for a visit. We had a wonderful time with them doing numerous activities not only as family but also as they participated in various aspects of the ministry here. Finally, it was also a special month because I presented and defended my dissertation on Bible translation at the University of Alicante. I was so happy that my father could be here for that special occasion. The title of my dissertation is "A Comparative Analysis of Formal Shifts in English Bible Translations with a View Towards Defining and Describing Paradigms." The topic of the Bible has opened up numerous opportunities to be a witness here at this secular university.
But going back a little, I would also like to tell about our Easter activities. The Lord gave us a good Easter, with an excellent cantata -- our choir joined together with the choir from our sister church in Elche --, a wonderful time of communion on a church outing, and finally a good sunrise service in a local park. These activities were all a blessing to the people of the church and an opportunity to give a public testimony for Christ. We had several unsaved visitors for the cantata, including one of my coworkers from the English classes. She was very touched by the program and thanked me so much for inviting her. She even spread the word to others about the program. On our outing, we ended up at a rather crowded camp ground, so when we started to sing and then have a challenge, we had many people listening. And our sunrise service, although not very big, also caught the attention of others who were in the park that morning. How good it is for us to give public testimony for the Lord in this way. It encourages my heart, and it is a stimulus for our people as well.
After Easter we started our final trimester of the academic year for Bible Institute. I taught a class on Old Testament Introduction. I had a much smaller class this time than last year when I taught the first half of the class, but I am very happy with the group. They have studied very hard, and they each did a project on one of the minor prophets to present it in class. It is a blessing to see these young people get excited about the Bible as they dig deeper into God's word. In April we were also blessed with a visit from Pastor and Mrs. Yearick and Dr. and Mrs. Shelton. Their short visit was a real blessing and encouragement to us.
Please pray for us and for our ministry. This weekend we are having a special men's retreat, and we will have several unsaved men there, as well as several believers with specific problems. We also covet your prayers for the church in general. We have had several unsaved people attending services. This opportunity is very rare, and we have been witnessing to them, trusting that the Spirit will bring them to the point of salvation.
Here at home, the kids continue to grow. What a blessing it is often to see their sincere faith as it develops. We praise the Lord for what He is doing in their lives.
David and Maribel
En MMV civitatem fundamenta habentem expectans
