December 2021 Update
Good Day from the Murray Family,
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Our family enjoyed the time and was especially thankful to be stateside to spend the holiday with our extended families, even though ours had colds. We have a lot to be grateful for as God has worked so mightily over the past year.
On November 12th, Ellie had what we hope will be the last surgery on the arm she broke in March. During this surgery, they removed the screws and cleaned away a little scar tissue to help her get it moving again. Thankfully, she does seem to be moving it better. This has been a long, hard journey for her, but she has been a trooper the whole way. We are grateful for God’s guiding hand through it all.
Also in November, Bearing Precious Seed (our 2nd church) had a baptism service. They decided to make a special day of it by renting a van and going to the river where 7 people were to be baptized. There was a couple who we have offered to baptize multiple times, but they have always been hesitant for some reason. On this day, they decided to take that step in obedience, along with their children. A young boy named David was baptized as well. He started coming to church back when we built the new building. He faithfully wakes his two younger siblings, gets them ready and feeds them before bringing them to church every Sunday. I have seen him carry his little sister across the road during rainy season as the water flows through it like a river. What a blessing to see him make a profession of faith and follow through with baptism! Please pray for this church and these new believers that they continue to grow and mature in the Lord.
We would also ask that you help us pray for our scripture containers. It has taken longer to receive our first container due to blockades and political issues within the country. As I write this letter, we are waiting for that first container to go through Bolivian customs. It could be any day now, but we must wait until they are ready. Our second container should have left Miami this past week. It will probably take about 3 weeks to arrive in Chile by boat and then be trucked into Bolivia. Between these 2 containers, we have 32 pallets of scripture portions, tracts, and full Bibles that have all been donated! After the delivery of these two containers, we will have had a part in over 1 million scripture portions reaching South America! Thank you to those who have helped make this possible, especially our home church and HELP Missions.
Before I end this month’s letter, I want to ask that you help us pray about a brand-new opportunity that is before us. As you know, while we are working in one outreach, we start sowing the seeds for the next one. Our goal is to have the next area primed and ready by the time we finish up the work in the current area. We are praying about 2 new areas. The first already has an outreach established but is looking for help. The second area has nothing in place yet but people asking for a church. We are going to help sponsor a Christmas meal in both areas with the expectation that the Lord will help us to know which direction He wants us to take as we return to the field in 2022. I know of a local church that also has a desire to work in these two areas, so we are providing the finances from the states while they do the physical part in Bolivia. Please help us pray as we seek God’s direction about whether either of these will be our 4th church plant.
As we quickly move into the time of celebrations of our Lord Jesus’ birth, we want to Thank you again for your prayers and your help. Isn’t it a blessing that God would allow each of us to have a part in His great plan for reaching Bolivia for Christ?
