(Grrrrr. OK. Resisting the temptation to make this update all about our daughter...).

Summer Ministry
It's February, and we are in the middle of summer right now (crazy, isn't it?), so things have been pretty slow. Half or more of our church's congregation is out of town--many are college students who've gone home for the summer, but many are also families who are on vacation. As usual, we have been taking these slower months (i.e., Dec. 25 - Mar. 1) to evaluate past ministry and to plan for the future.

The last Sunday of January George got an opportunity to preach at the evening service (usually he preaches in the morning, which is a smaller more intimate gathering) and was encouraged by the feedback he received. He will be preaching again the last week of February and possibly several times in March.

BTCP
Starting in March, George will be traveling once a week to a city called Carapachay (just north of Buenos Aires) in order to teach Church History to a BTCP class there. He's excited about teaching, but not super hyped about the drive (it's an hour and a half one way).

Bible Institute
In March the La Plata Bible Institute will be starting its Fall semester, and like last semester, George will be teaching two classes again. The subjects are Theology Survey I and Christian Ethics. Both are subjects that George deeply enjoys, so he's looking forward to an exciting, yet challenging, semester.

Small Groups
This Fall we are planning on hosting another fellowship group in our home. The themes of the last two semesters were "A Christian Perspective of the Arts" and "Selected Works of C.S. Lewis". This semester the theme will be "A Christian Perspective of Culture," in which we will explore various interpretations and applications of God's will for us to be in, but not of, the world. It should be interesting.

Emily is also thinking about starting another small group just for women. Her desire is to reach out to some of the college girls who are kind of on the fringe, not really involved with the church.

Grupo de Vida (Small group "Bible Study")
Since August, every Tuesday night we've hosted about 10 people in our home in order to fellowship and study several works of perhaps the most influential Christian writer of the twentieth century, C.S. Lewis. We managed to read three of his books, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Four Loves and thoroughly enjoyed the rich and edifying conversations that they provoked. Tomorrow night we will have our final official meeting, followed by a celebratory Argentine barbecue next week.

Teaching & Preaching
George taught two subjects at the La Plata Bible Institute, Church History and Praise and Worship Ministry, which was, to say the least, a very stretching experience. But rewarding. He is now convinced more than ever that this type of training is one of the greatest needs in Argentina (and the rest of Latin America). In the last month and a half, George was also called to preach several times at La Union (the church we attend in La Plata) and once at a church in Buenos Aires. Next Sunday he will be traveling with Greg to a town on the other side of Buenos Aires in order to lead worship and share his testimony.

Other News
About a year ago we asked you to pray for a 19/20 year old cancer patient named Germán. His cancer went into remission for a few months and then reappeared, having spread significantly and leaving little hope for recovery. Well, good news--the cancer seems to have completely disappeared! The doctors are mystified and are planning on submitting his story to be published in a medical journal.

George finally received his grade for his first seminary class (which he took online). It was a missions class, and we had said jokingly (mostly) that if he failed the class we'd have to pack up and go home. Thankfully, he passed. We get to stay!

OK. We'll try not to make this whole post about our daughter... :)

Visits
At the end of July, we hosted Emily's mom, and a few weeks ago we hosted George's parents. It was a blessing to see them meet their granddaughter, as well as to receive their help around the house as we adjust to our new life. Currently there is a short term mission team here from Denton Bible serving in various ways, and on that team is one of Emily's close friends from Denton Community Church. She will be staying with us for five days after the rest of the team leaves, and needless to say, Emily is excited to be able to spend some quality time with her friend.

Ministry
In mid-August our reading group started meeting in our house again. This semester we will be discussing three classic works by C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Four Loves. This meeting is one of the highlights of our weekly schedule. Not only do we enjoy the rousing conversation, but the folks who participate are sweet people that we enjoy being with, too.

Also in mid-August, the La Plata Bible Institute began its Spring semester, which has become George's main ministry focus this semester. He is teaching two different subjects--Church History and Worship Ministry (with emphasis on music)--at three different times during the week (one of the subjects has two meeting times). Both are areas that George is interested in and really enjoys studying and preparing for.

Finally, as the Bible Institute began, George finished his first seminary class! He hasn't gotten his grade back, yet, but he's pretty sure he passed (if he doesn't, we have jokingly said that we would resign as missionaries, since this first class was an introduction to world missions). So far he's really enjoyed it and has already started his second class.