The End is Just the Beginning

In June we finished language school. But as is true with every graduation, we are reminded that receiving a diploma only signals the beginning of a lifetime of learning. We know there will be many, many hilarious and embarrassing language gaffes awaiting, there will be more misunderstandings (you can't avoid those even in your native tongue), and there will be more "I feel clueless" moments. But we glorify the Lord who has brought us this far, and with faith we look to Him to bring us to our goal of being able to proclaim the Gospel in Portuguese, plant churches, and teach the Word (disciple) in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. We ask for your prayers now as we've finished school and look by God's grace to begin this new phase of ministry. We thank God for each one of you who, through prayer and giving of yourselves, has encouraged us in this calling and enabled us to do what we could not do by ourselves.

Here we are with our teachers on graduation day. Daniel attended every class with us so we thought he ought to be in the picture to celebrate too. After graduation we visited the tallest building in Sao Paulo, The Italian Building, and had our pictures taken with diplomas in hand as we stood on the scenic terrace of the 41st floor.

By God's grace, I preached my first full sermon in Portuguese in our church in Jandira, Sao Paulo on June 22. It was an extra blessing that my parents were here during that time.

The kids had a great time with Grammy and Papa Holmquist. They had the treat of having Grandma and Grandpa Hall here earlier in March too, but we missed the opportunity to get a picture :( Next is a picture of the 20lb. 4 month old Daniel just kicking back and relaxing after a hard day.