Jonathan Willcock’s recent trip to Brazil went well. He was there for a week, meeting with the training staff and students at the missions Peniel Bible Institute. Along with the Latin American Training Coordinating Team, Jonathan spent time talking to students and staff and listening to their experiences and hopes. Over half of the students usually go on to the second phase of training in order to prepare for cross-cultural church planting ministries, mostly in Brazil.
The country of Brazil has many ethnic groups that are still unreached, or who are asking for discipleship and teaching so they can understand God’s Word better.
Currently, Jonathan and Rachel are in Paraguay enjoying being with old friends and meeting some new ones. They are helping to run a workshop on worldview and foundational Bible teaching. There are around 50 people in the workshop from around ten countries and they are using three different languages to communicate! Needless to say, they were ready for a break over the weekend. Some friends who work in Paraguay took them out hiking on Saturday, and that was a great opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery and wildlife in Paraguay. This week the workshop continues and with plenty of times for discussion it sounds like people are very appreciative of all they are learning.
Once Jonathan and Rachel return home to the UK, they will be home for a few days before heading to North Cotes College to help to help teach the safety seminar there. Their son Jack and family are currently serving there as volunteers so they will get to hang out with their grandchild and his parents throughout the week too. They will also be helping Rachel’s mother as she adjusts to living without her husband of over sixty years.
May will find Jonathan and Rachel in Germany for about a week and then Jonathan will head to Mexico to help a couple of the teams there. As you can imagine, all this travel can be tiring so they ask you to pray for strength and endurance for them both. As you pray, also ask God to give them wisdom as they meet and try to help a variety of people over the next couple of months. You would think after being missionaries for almost four decades they would have a better idea of how things work, but the reality is that the world is changing constantly. While the Gospel message stays the same, how it is delivered and how we get close to the people who need to hear it demands creativity and innovation.