Grace for the Journey

Hola amigos!

We hope our update finds you well! Our life continues to be an adventure as we write this email during another blackout, one of countless others. I am so grateful that while the lights were flickering earlier, they didn’t completely turn off until the second I turned off the stove. Dinner was cooked and we could eat!! Even though it’s been almost a year since moving here, I don’t remember having as many blackouts, neither them being as long as these have been. While there are days where literally we’ll have at least ten, they only tend to last for seconds to a minute. But other days, they go on for hours. A couple of them lasted through the night (the electricity came back on during the day). By the second night, Ryan woke us up early and drove us into Guasave, the nearest city, for breakfast and air-conditioning. We ended up having to wait until mid afternoon for the electricity to come back on. We’ve also been short on water. We thought it was only Easter Week that they hold back the water to give to the “richer” neighboring town of Las Glorias, but we’ve discovered that’s not the case. Nonetheless, God is giving us grace to persevere.

There have been emotional roller coasters as well. One was when we got back and realized the staff had the students sack our personal belongings in our home to house the visiting pastors without communicating at all with us about it. Our personal belongings were left sacked and put away in various places unknown to us. While my brain became a battlefield of reeling emotions when we finally realized what happened, I was grateful for the prayers that helped me get through those moments. The Lord showed me how the enemy was magnifying the details to make me susceptible to all the variables of negative emotions to weaken our motivation in persevering through the challenges. And praise God, that the enemy did not succeed.

The school year for the school of ministry has formally ended. We celebrated the graduation last week, and now begin summer projects and planning for what God has in store for next year.

One of our highlights this past month was starting a bible study in Palos Verdes. We only had a total of six besides our family with our children running around with water guns and RC cars and dogs and a kitten, and because it was held outside, only three actually sat thru the entire study. But by the second bible study, our hairdresser Lucy, and her best friend, Elodia were eager to make the personal decision to become a born-again believer. We were blessed immensely, especially as we witnessed Elodia’s face streaming with tears and both of them explaining the tremendous peace they felt inside. What an amazing Savior we serve, to be given the privilege not just to share the gospel but see the joy on the faces of those who accept it!

Lucy also shared with us the sad news of the youth in her town. We were able to attend her daughter’s graduation from “la escuela secundaria” (middle school) as the daughter of one of the School of Ministry student’s and a church member’s son had all graduated together there in Palos Verdes this past month. Unfortunately, we were told that 20% of the graduating class had suicidal desires and many practiced cutting as a way to relieve the emotional conflict of their personal lives. Please pray the Lord guides us in how to reach them, and helps our children overcome the language barrier so that they can become more involved as they have a magnetic draw to the kids and people here who are eager to communicate with them.

We included a video this time around of where we’ve been living for the past 11 months. Though we’ve done video calls with several family and friends, we realized there’s many who haven’t really seen much of where we live. And though the house under construction has been on hold for several months, we sense his peace to continue with it. A big desire we finally let go of was putting in “American standard plumbing and electrical.” As we all know, sometimes what we “want” isn’t really what we “need” and for us, these things fit the bill of that description. We do appreciate your prayers as we hope to get those projects going soon, so it won’t be long into the girls’ school year that we can move in and give each of them the necessary space they’ll need for online schooling.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We feel your love and prayers and deeply appreciate them!! We will be attending the Calvary Chapel Rancho Santa Margarita’s Missions Conference August 19 and hope to get some medical procedures taken care of while we are in town. We also hope to see those of you who will be in the area!

Until next time, God’s peace be upon you and with you.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Colossians 1:9-12

Your fellow brother and sister in Christ,

Ryan and Esther Van Deusen