We are in the middle of summer here in Uruguay. In January, we had some extreme weather. We experienced the hottest day in the past 60 years, with temperatures reaching 111ºF! A missionary family in the northern part of the country told us that they saw temperatures of 126ºF! That was followed by over of a week of rain, with the southeastern coast of Uruguay receiving in just 2 hours what they normally receive in a month. Some neighborhoods were very flooded as a result.
VBS!
Our family had the joy of helping with VBS. It was originally scheduled for the third week of January, but because of the heavy rains, it was moved to the last week of the month. It was held at a church in the northern part of the city, which is in a poorer area, because that is where the most kids who come to church live. It was held for 2 days and lasted about 4 hours each day. Kids came from 3 areas of the city to be a part of VBS. There were 36 kids present the first night and 46 kids present the second night, along with a number of visitors! We bought a cotton candy machine to use during VBS. Christa and another lady worked hard to make enough cotton candy for all the kids. Many kids had never had cotton candy before, so it was a big hit! Praise the Lord for the 34 professions of faith during VBS!
Opportunity to Witness in Language School
We now have a babysitter for language school, so Christa and I are now both able to have group language classes. Before that, Christa was taking individual classes in the afternoon with a lady named Mayte, who has a Catholic background. Christa was given free rein to talk about why we believe like we do and to answer other questions she had. At the end, Christa was able to give her a clear presentation of the Gospel. Mayte then looked up the verses in the Bible that Christa had mentioned. She said it made sense, and she now understands the Gospel a lot better. Please pray that she will get saved. We are thankful that she is much more open to the Gospel now.
Survey Trip to Toledo
Since January 20 was the last day I had a rental car, I decided to take a short survey trip Toledo, a little town just north of Montevideo. About 4,400 people live in Toledo, although about 14,000 people live in the surrounding towns, including Toledo. It might be easy to simply think of that as a small rural area that’s difficult to reach with the Gospel, but if you lived there without Christ, wouldn’t you want someone to come and preach the Gospel to you? From what I can tell, there are no Baptist churches in that entire area. Please pray for the Lord’s direction on if and when we should begin a ministry to that area.
We appreciate the emails from some of you letting us know you are praying for us. If you would like to directly contact us, you can do so by getting WhatsApp and messaging us or by calling us on our Uruguay number at +598-94-086-118. Thank you so much for praying for and supporting our family!
Praise
- There were 34 professions of faith at VBS!
- We now have a babysitter to watch our kids during language school.
Prayer
- Pray that we find the right vehicle.
- Pray for our continued growth in our language classes.
Your missionaries to Uruguay,
Tim, Christa, Ethan, Evan, and Emmalynn Simmons
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- Snack time at VBS
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- Passing out cotton candy
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- Flooding in our city
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- Game time at VBS!
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- Visiting Toledo on a survey trip