Because of privacy concerns with the personal nature of our ministry, we have decided to stop posting our ministry updates online. If you are interested in receiving them by email, simply email me.
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Hi friends, Happy August! Jordan and I wanted to share a few pictures of what we have been up to this summer. Among other things, we have had a mission team, VBS "English Camp" at our church, church and Aierdi work projects, and personal ministry with individuals and groups. Tomorrow (Tuesday 8th) we begin our annual retreat for church workers from different parts of Spain. Mission Team and "English Camp"In July, we had a mission team from Bluegrass Baptist Church (Georgetown, KY). They were a huge help at the farmhouse, as well as with our summer English Camp. We had over twenty unsaved children come for an English VBS! For privacy reasons we won't post pictures but praise the Lord for the seeds that were sown in many hearts. The majority of the visitors came through mom's English teaching in Zegama. She is doing her best to follow up with the many kids who heard the gospel that week.  Church ClassroomsIt is exciting to see our church grow! We have been needing classrooms for a while now as our children's groups continue to grow. A few weeks ago we began a small building project to address this issue.  Here is a picture of yesterday's church service with the new classrooms on the right. Although there is still some finishing up to do, we have already begun using the new rooms. Miscellaneous pictures  Church Fellowship at Aierdi A few other activities this summer have been: evenings with our young people at our new house, outings with church couples that we are investing in, town activities, language studies, etc.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support. God is working among the Basque people. God bless you!
Danny and Jordan. Hello! Jordan and I have so much to share from over the past months. We believe the Lord is working and blessing His ministry in this needy area. We have been excited to see recent victories and blessings. We would like to share some of them with you. Church growthOur church in Lazkao continues to grow and soon we are preparing to rearrange our auditorium to accommodate the growing numbers! What a wonderful "problem" to have! Here are a few recent church highlights. The first pictures show our service and fellowship with our church's missionaries to Uruguay. In the third picture, Jordan and some of the ladies are preparing the meal for a ladies' luncheon.  Please continue to pray for our Bible studies in Zumarraga. Some weeks we have higher attendance while other weeks (as in this picture from last Friday) we were just us, the Willises, and Wilmer and Nelly. Please pray for faithfulness and growth for the believers in the area. Aierdi work and youth activities. We continue to work at the Aierdi Farmhouse, but meanwhile use it often for youth activities, church fellowship, institutes etc. Here are some recent times spent there. One of our latest projects has been this solar/dog house! Thanks to the generosity of our church Asaville BC, we were able to move forward with a solar installation. With the solar panels, inverter, and batteries, we can power the farmhouse without using the generator. This investment is already paying for itself in diesel savings. Izar and Eder are keeping watch over the farmhouse.  Last week we had a very special time hearing testimonies and stories from three of our young people who had just returned from a mission trip to North Africa. We are sitting on some brand new cushions that were recently made by the Berean Team. Click on the picture above for a 4 minute video summary of the Berean BC mission team. Miscellaneous pictures These months have been full of activities: the wedding of some church members, youth meetings in our house, individual discipleship, fellowship with church couples etc. Please pray for us as we continue our language studies, English classes, etc. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support! God bless you,
Danny and Jordan. Hello! 2017 is already off to a busy start and it seems like now is a good time to share a few pictures of what God has been doing this year. Some of the most exciting developments are the new contacts and witnessing opportunities that we are having in our town. (I won't show personal pictures). Please pray for God's work here and pray for wisdom as we do our best to share the gospel with our friends and neighbors. USA TripJordan and I are very grateful to have been able to take a three week trip to the States over Christmas. We had two great weekends at our church, Asaville BC, and we always enjoy every opportunity we have with them. We also had a wonderful time with our family in Florida and the friends we were able to meet with. More Baptisms! Last year was a growing year for our church and 2017 has started off well. In January, we had four baptisms and we are preparing for several more in the coming months. Praise the Lord! Matt. 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Ministry Opportunities/Gandia Trip Please continue to pray for the Zumarraga Bible Study. We have begun to meet every two weeks and we are excited to see the church plant continue to develop. Below are a few pictures of our Lazkao church. Last weekend, my dad, David, Mark, Rudy, and I went down to Gandia on a short trip to help a church with a move. They are renting a new building and have a lot of preparation work to do before they can have services there.  Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support!
November Picture UpdateHello! November is already halfway over and Christmas is around the corner. These days Jordan and I feel like we are running in a dozen different directions. Jordan has become a popular English teacher and is teaching seven classes a week. We are excited about the many contacts she is making in our town of Segura. Her ultimate goal is to be able to share the light of the gospel with these unsaved children and adults. Bible Studies in ZumarragaOne exciting ministry development these past months has been the Bible study in Zumarraga. I have prayed for many years that this city would have a Gospel-preaching church of its own. The Lord has led us one step closer to that goal! We have started having periodic Bible studies for the believers in that valley. Thank you for praying that the Lord would build His church in His perfect timing. For the time being we are meeting in Wilmer's house. By the second study, as you can see, the living room was quite full! Please pray for wisdom as we move forward. Church ActivitiesJordan has been spending many hours in Spanish studies and her investment is paying off! She can understand quite a bit now and she is talking much more. A few weeks ago she gave her first Bible study, completely in Spanish! Seeking Witnessing OpportunitiesJordan and I are both meeting people and building ministry relationships. I continue having daily Basque classes and am grateful for the progress I am making. I really believe the investment of many hours of study will pay off, as the Lord brings Basque people to the Truth. During Basque class, we went on a tour of a cider press in the town of Ordizia. This fall I have signed up for a carving workshop in our town. My main purpose is to meet people and get involved in town, but I am also enjoying the course! (unfortunately, I did not make that clock. . . I'm still a long way away from that!). Please pray for wisdom and witnessing opportunities with the 6 or 7 other men in class. Young People, Church, and Farmhouse WorkContinue to pray for our young people. Many of them are doing very well and we are thankful for their spiritual growth. Various construction projects at church and Aierdi. We are busily preparing for the Missionary Teen Retreat that starts December 1st.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support! Jordan and I feel privileged to serve the Lord in Spain. Lord willing about a month from now we will be arriving in the States for a three week trip to visit our family and church. We are looking forward to seeing you! Hello! Click on the picture, or here: https://youtu.be/HE96Rfce5X0 to see our 4 minute September video update. I will summarize it below. Summer MinistriesHello! We hope you have had a great summer. Jordan and I have had a full summer with a lot of excited ministry details to share. But first of all, thank you very much to so many of you who have prayed and given towards the ministry here in Gipuzkoa. Our ministry would not be possible without your generosity. God is blessing your investment. I would like to briefly highlight a few different areas of the summer ministry. Preaching and Church ActivitiesIn addition to the regular preaching and teaching ministries, throughout the summer we have had numerous activities for our young people, as well as fellowships with other churches. In August we had our yearly workers' retreat at Aierdi. This is a four day retreat for church workers throughout Spain and is always a time of great spiritual refreshment and teaching. Witnessing OpportunitiesJordan and I have also continued to get involved in our town activities and events. Both of us teach weekly English classes and we are continuing to make friends and contacts. The Lord has given us several opportunities for spiritual conversations and witnessing in these past months. Spanish StudiesThroughout the summer, Jordan has spent countless hours studying spanish with Tete Alvarez. She is making progress! Last Sunday at church, we had a visiting couple from the USA. At one point I was delighted to overhear Jordan translating back and forth between them and one of our local believers. Her diligent study is paying off! Aierdi WorkAnother ministry we have been very involved in throughout the summer is the construction work at the farmhouse. A few of the bigger projects have been remodeling the kitchen and fixing the electrical wiring throughout the farmhouse. I had done electrical work in the States, but the system here in Europe is completely different. Last month Jordan and I went down to Gandia, where my brother David’s inlaws live. David’s father in law, in addition to being a pastor, is a professional electrician. I had the opportunity to preach and help at his church. That afternoon Jose Antonio gave me a three hour crash course on the electrical system here. Kaixo! (hello in Basque) These past months have been very busy and exciting for the ministry here in the Basque region. A few of the highlights have been baptisms from our church, witnessing opportunities, and a mission team from People’s BC in Maryland. Baptisms at the Irun ChurchThis past Saturday two believers from our church were baptized! What a blessing it was to see these two young people obediently follow Christ’s command. One of the believers, David, had a number of unsaved family members attend the special service. They were presented a clear presentation of the gospel. Language Studies and Witnessing Opportunities In addition to learning Basque (for me, Spanish for Jordan), we are both making friends and contacts in our classes. This past week my Basque class had a pintxo contest. During the event, I was able to have good conversations with some of my classmates (which is normally difficult in the class setting). One of the men (standing beside me in the picture) sounded quite interested in my involvement at church and even expressed interest in visiting sometime. I was able to share the gospel with him. Please pray for our follow-up conversations. Also please pray for another young man I was able to share the gospel with recently. Mission Team from MarylandThis past week we had a mission team from Maryland come to work at the farmhouse and help out with evangelism. Euskal Herria (Basque Country) Pablo is an intern from Mexico. He is helping in our ministry a few weeks this summer. Here Pablo and I are working on some finishing touches at the Irun church, just in time for the baptisms.
Click on the picture, or go https://youtu.be/QseDyxauWsA to see our April 2016 Video update.
God's Ways are Higher than Our WaysWhen we found out about six weeks ago that I would not be able to work at the English academy as planned, we were all taken by surprise! We were even confused by God's leading. However, in the past month and a half God has shown us that His way is best. Rather than teaching classes every weekday evening, my schedule is more flexible to take part in the many ministries in the area. Aside from preaching at the Lazkao and Irun churches, here are some of our other activities this past month. Intensive Institute at AierdiLast weekend we had our 37th Intensive Bible Institute at the Aierdi Farmhouse. We had about 90 believers come from different parts of Spain to hear five hours of teaching on the book of Esther.  Language Studies!Jordan and I are spending a lot of time in language studies (me in Basque and Jordan in Spanish). Please pray for wisdom in our classes, as well as a good testimony with our classmates. Last week Jordan and I went to a workshop (all in Basque) learning to make "Talos." Please pray for the many unsaved contacts we are making. Hike with our Young PeopleConstruction Projects at Aierdi and at the Irun ChurchIglesia Bautista Biblica in Irun (the church my grandad started about an hour away from us) is working on a remodeling project to change around their packed out auditorium. At Aierdi I am preparing for a mission team that is coming in April to build a deck below the farmhouse. Euskal Herria (Basque Country)Ministry Update Video, December 2015These past two months have been very interesting, filled with many blessings and several big surprises. God has been so good to us and we can clearly see His hand leading us. First I would like to share a video update, which includes some pictures and clips of where we live, the Lazkoa church where we serve, and a few blessings from these past weeks. After the video I will mention a big change that has taken place in our work situation here. To view the 7 minute video, click on the picture below, or go here: https://youtu.be/1w9gxxpfbb8  "It didn't take the Lord by surprise!"I have found myself repeating that sentence several times these last few days. For the past year the English academy (and their accountants/legal advisers) assured us that we would be able to come over and work. Yesterday, after weeks of meetings with lawyers and government officials, we found out definitively that I will be unable to legally work here for the time being. Because of complicated immigration laws it will not be possible for me to teach at the English academy. Even though we don't understand why, we have to accept this as the Lord’s leading. It will be very hard to say goodbye to the students I met at the academy, but when the Lord closes one door, He always opens another. We are praying that this will give us more opportunities to share the gospel in our town. We will also use this time to focus on our language studies (Jordan with Spanish; me with Basque), as well as get more involved in the ministries at the church and farmhouse. I plan to pick up some private English classes in the future. Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." Prayer Requests and PraisesPraises:
-God's clear leading in our move to Segura, providing our apartment at just the right time. -An excellent Missionary Teen Retreat at Aierdi. If you are interested in a 4 minute video tour of the farmhouse during the retreat, go here. -The Lord's abundant provision these past months. Prayer requests: -Language Studies: Jordan as she studies Spanish (beginning official classes next month), and me with my Basque classes. -For our unsaved neighbors and contacts in Segura. -Financial provision as our work situation has changed. |
