October 2025 Update

Happy Reformation Day! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cool autumn weather. Thank you for your prayers and support. Prayer is a critical part of the missionary task. Thank you for praying for the displaced indigenous work in Bogota. Please continue to pray that the Word of Christ would speed ahead and be honored and that the gospel would advance throughout the world unhindered. Missionary work is hard. And our Lord has promised to be with us as we go to the nations. We trust that God will use His Word to change lives as we proclaim the gospel to the nations.

My work in Colombia focuses on displaced indigenous peoples. There are thousands of indigenous people living in Bogota who have been displaced from their territory due to the cartels. My team visits the displaced in shelters, parks, and neighborhoods throughout the city. During our visits, we pray with them, share Bible stories, and point them to hope in Jesus. We also do some relief aid providing food, diapers, blankets, and other items to help meet some of their material needs. A few months ago many of the displaced were returned to their territory. But they will likely be coming back to Bogota next month. Some are of those we’ve been visiting are beginning to open up to hearing more about the gospel.

Pray that more will be open to the gospel and come to trust in Christ. The need is great. They all have

had difficult lives. Pray that we can clearly communication the hope we have in our Lord. Pray for my

team as we strategize how to best reach the displaced. My team is growing a little. A few new people

have recently arrived in Bogota and another will soon be here. We will like have different team

members focus on certain locations so that we can have a presence three to four times a week at each

location. Pray that God will give us the wisdom we need.

I visit with a few other families too. I visit with Mike once a week. We have begun looking at the gospel of Mark together. Pray that he will come to know the Lord. Once or twice a month, I visit with Silas and his family. Silas is a Wounaan believer. There is a small Wounaan church, but many Wounaan in Bogota and other parts of Colombia remain unreached. Pray that the Wounaan church would grow and become a healthy church that reaches out to the lost around them.

One of the things my team and another team in Bogota is wanting to see is local churches and national believers getting more involved in the indigenous work. So pray that we can help mobilize them to consistently visiting the indigenous with us and see the great need that is right here in their city. Some have already begun to work with us and on their own. Pray that we can train them to better help them in reaching the indigenous. There are two training events going right now in and near Bogota. Pray that the national workers at the trainings will be better equipped to do the missionary task.

Pray for me as I continue to learn Katío, and indigenous language. I’ve already seen some of the benefits as I interact with Katíos. Pray that I can learn the language well enough to clearly communicate the gospel in their heart language. I also recently obtained my Colombian driver’s license. This will help me get to a few of the places where the indigenous live, especially those who live just outside the city. Again, thank you for your prayers and support. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

 

Paul preached justification by faith. Justification by faith was the at the heart of the Reformation 500 years ago. And it continues to be what we proclaim to the nations today. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We have been justified by faith. Therefore, we have peace with God. What a beautiful truth! We have been justified. God treats us just as if we've never sinned and just as if we perfectly obeyed His law. And that justification is ours simply by trusting in Christ. So we now have peace with God. We were all born sinners who were at enmity with God. But God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Rom 5:10). We have been justified by His blood and saved from the just wrath of God (Rom 5:9). We now have peace with God and a real hope that is a sure and steady anchor for our soul (Heb 6:19) and strengthens us throughout our life and enables us to persevere even amidst suffering and tribulation (Rom 5:2-5). Since we now have been reconciled to God, we have a ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:11-21). As such, we go to the nations and implore everyone to be reconciled to God. That reconciliation is only found in Jesus who died for our sins, and it is received by grace through faith. The result for those who believe includes genuine peace with God and a living hope that will never fade away.