Dear Friends and Family,

This winter has seen us face several major challenges, and we covet your prayers for the decisions we are facing.

Figgins Family

First of all, our health continues to be a struggle, and mine in particular has been very poor for the past several weeks. I did recover most of the use of my ankle, and started karate again, but then came down with bronchitis and have been fighting that for almost 2 months. Both Vane and Zoe came down with a throat infection, but we caught theirs earlier and they are both well on the road to recovery.

The biggest challenge, though, has been a small tumor on one of Vanesa's ovaries that the doctor says needs to be removed surgically. The blood tests and such necessary for final approval from the insurance and a date for the surgery from the doctor have been on hold because of the antibiotics she needs to treat the bronchitis. We will see the specialist again soon and see if she can move forward with all of that. On the plus side, her long time ob-gyn will be performing the surgery, so we are thankful for that.

Obviously, all of this medical work has also put the visa process on hold, so we do not yet know when we might travel to visit with all of you again, much less when we might start up with the plans for her citizenship interview. Once Vanesa's post-op recovery is underway, we can PROBABLY go ahead and schedule the initial interviews with the doctor recommended by the embassy, but we are still looking at late October early November before we can get back on track there. Please be in prayer that the Lord will smooth this process, and that we can do everything we need to do for our health and the visa process as soon as possible. This is especially urgentin because USCIS has administratively closed Vanesa's citizenship application file because we have not been able to set a date for the interview. While we can have them re-open it with a minimum of communication, the process does mean that, once we ARE back in the States we will probably have to stay longer in order to make sure the interview can happen.

On the positive side, both ladies are back working on their university degrees and going well. Zoe's progress in particular has been amazing, working through a class over winter break while at the same time winning honors as best in her high school class for the semester. That led to her being selected to carry the national flag in the latest all school assembly, where she also either danced or choreographed over half the presentations, from 7th grade to 12th. It was pretty amazing to see, and wonderful to watch how much she enjoyed it all (she also got a personal thank you from the Director/Principal of the school for all of her volunteer work with the dance teams).

Eyes on Jesus Congregation

The owner of the building we were meeting in did, in fact, ask us to move out of the building by Aug 1 in order to accommodate a project his son was launching, so we are currently searching for a new place to meet. Right now all of our meetings are virtual. We have talked about the idea of offering our home, but the Argentine pastor said no to that idea, at least for now, for a number of reasons that I should not share. He is open to the idea of forming additional small groups/discipleship groups and hosting those in our homes, however, so please join us in prayer for the start of additional discipleship groups and a location for the congregation to worship.

Discipleship Ministry

The original members of the Discipleship group have established themselves in different places throughout the metro area, and most of them are working on producing second and third generation groups. It has been one of the highlights of my year to see how many of these young men are striving to live more like Christ AND teach and serve others in the process. The hardest part of this ministry, to be honest, is letting go and letting people develop their groups in accordance with their gifts and talents, rather than trying to tweak things from "the sidelines" so to speak. This is especially true since the culture fosters a kind of dependence in the relationship between pastor and congregation, or leader and group, that tends to produce copies of former leaders rather than grow disciples in the Lord. Please be in prayer with us as we form the next discipleship groups and decide how involved to continue to be in the second generation groups that have begun to multiply. Praise the Lord for His work here in Argentina!

Radio Ministry

We continue to use the radio ministry to explore what it means, specifically, to be a Christian in this time and place. The programs have been heard by people from all different places in their walk with the Lord, and I am continually encouraged by the response I get to the material we present. I continue to develop studies and applications for living the Christian life in the light of Jesus' example, and the latest series, "What does it mean that Jesus is the Way," has been particularly helpful for a number of pastors here. The station does continue to have trouble with the transmission of the program via the internet, but the regular transmission seems to be bearing fruit in ways I had not expected, so we praise the Lord for the opportunity to continue this ministry.

In addition to the above requests, please continue to pray for Argentina as a nation. This is an election year for us, and the violence and inflation have both been incredibly rampant, even for this kind of event. Inflation will top 100 percent for the year, and killings during common robberies have become a regular news item. Finally, the rainy season has been really heavy in the cities to the south of us, especially the city of La Plata, and people there could use your prayers for their recovery, rebuilding of homes and the like.

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers, and a special thanks to those of you who reached out while I was at my worst during this bout with bronchitis. We do appreciate everything all of you do to partner with us in the ministry, and to support us personally even when we are not writing as often. God bless all of you.

in peace,

Tim Figgins
Envoy Christian Mission