Starting in May to the present time we traveled many miles, watched God work in the lives of people in various places, enjoyed the wonders of His creation, both in nature and in our precious grandchildren, and faced some weeks of hard work because of water damage to the floor in Jim’s office. The water came not from storms but from leaving the dehumidifier on accidentally while we were out of town. What an unpleasant mess to face after a relaxing week in the mountains!
The May trip to Venezuela remains a highlight for us, and Jim continues to hear from the professors there who want to be effective witnesses in their various universities. He uses email, now that we know each other, to answer questions and encourage them in their initiatives. There are three locations in Venezuela where the vision cast by our team can be implemented. PRAY for Christian and Julieta as they launch a new ministry to students and professors in Valencia, for Alvaro, a professor in Merida, and for Aleive, one of the professors in Maracaibo. Christian, a Venezuelan Campus Crusade for Christ staff member, ably translated for the lectures about the damage that pornography does to those who view it. Along with lectures on other topics, that one was received well by the students in two venues. Please continue to pray for believing professors there and throughout Latin America where the doors are open for their influence by life and by word.
After working many Saturdays to remove wallpaper from an upstairs bedroom, Anne was glad to have Jim take over to repaint those walls in early June. The incentive to get that job done was to welcome visitors from Finland, whom we met in the 1980’s when the father, Antti, was a student at the Univ. of South Carolina. Now, with two of their three children, they came to America to celebrate a special birthday for Antti. They were able to join us for the final night of VBS at our church where Debbie, Mark’s wife, was the Bible teacher along with her father. We helped too since it was family oriented with teams made up of all ages who moved through a schedule of crafts, games, and Bible time each evening. It was fun interacting with four of our grandchildren there along with others on our team.
Both Jim and Anne taught Sunday School throughout the summer. Anne’s class was for those who have completed second grade. Jim’s was the choir class - ages not disclosed!
By late June it was time to travel to Arlington, VA for the National Faculty Leadership Conference sponsored by Faculty Commons. Culminating much prayer, long hours of preparation, and hundreds of e-mails and phone calls, the conference unfolded in blessing and challenge for some 300 people who attended from this country and eight others. Half of those were professors and another twenty-five were graduate students. Relationships deepened for some and hearts were touched by what was heard. Some comments made about the conference follow.
--I have been challenged to incorporate my Christian beliefs in my research.
--Clearly, I have been challenged to be more intentional in my witness ... and I have already started to follow-through with this.
--It’s inspiring to meet with hundreds of Christian professors from all over the country and the world!
Jim was able to hear personally the story of an African professor who has suffered for the faith and interact with him. We continue in contact and pray for him. Morning prayer times around tables, after coffee and muffins, were encouraging as we poured out our hearts for the lost in the universities today.
Following the conference we had time to relax in the Shenandoah Valley and found again that mountains lift our spirits and refresh us immensely. Time to read, take some walks among the trees, and be away from phones, computers, and the routine duties was welcomed.
But then, as mentioned before, we arrived home and found a mess. Our very large personal library meant tons of books, bookcases, and all furniture had to be transferred to other places while the floor was replaced. While we were at it, we decided to replace the carpet upstairs at the same time. Fortunately we have two bathrooms upstairs as well as the living and dining rooms where we could put everything. You can imagine our delight to learn that a team from the youth group at our church was willing to help us do some of the moving. They also took on outside work that needed to be done, since it was being neglected while we tackled the inside jobs. On that particular day we had 21 people working in and around the house, since the carpet laying team was there at the same time. We have nothing but praise for those wonderful young people, ages 12 to 18 who worked hard, with great attitudes, and even listened to us share a bit of our testimony and ministry. What a blessing!
We were able to spend some time with our grandchildren in between the various ministries and projects of this summer.
We read in a report by Ravi Zacharias, well known apologist, an assessment we know to be true. “The attacks upon the Gospel are stronger than ever and a new breed of anti-theists wants to evict all ‘religious belief’ from the academy and the public square. Their own dogmatic materialism is held with such ‘religious fervor’ and is seen by themselves as intellectually sophisticated while any belief in the transcendent is seen as nonsense.” He went on to say that his ministry is committed to prayer, rigorous study, and to proclaim the power of God to bring men and women to Himself.
We also are committed to that effort through Faculty Commons, faithfully holding forth Truth by our life and our words as God gives us opportunity. Your support for us and your prayers for the universities are essential to our being able to do that. We will write more about the specific tasks ahead for the fall at a later date. Please pray for us as you are reminded.
Gratefully,
Jim and Anne Wenger
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