God bestows on us His Love and Grace constantly - it is His nature and He does so all the time - yet there are moments when we do take notice and our hearts fill with gratitude and worship.  In our worship yesterday we sang one of my favorite hymns, written by Horatious Bonar - "Not what my hands have done..." - all stanzas are profound, yet I´ll write down the 5th one here:  "I praise the God of grace; I trust his truth and might; He calls me his, I call him mine, My God, my joy, my light.

Tis he who saveth me, and freely pardon gives; I love because he loveth me, I live because he lives".

 

The kind of courses that we are preparing and teaching take us deeply into our students´ intimate life.  I constantly repeat to them the words of the late pastor Jack Miller - "cheer up, we are worse than we think".   Our realistic view of ourselves is part of the Gospel, and we are then amazed at the Love and Grace of God calling us His.  As you read Elio´s testimony you will notice here a man who after years of being in the typical legalistic evangelical churches of Latin America has just now discovered the freedom that God´s Grace bestows.

 I met Richard Crane when I decided to take the course "How to Counsel in Crisis Situations".  At that time I was at a crossroads dealing with the worst crisis in my life.  I had just arrived from Venezuela with my wife and two daughters, running away from the communist regime led by the current president, and receiving political asylum in this beautiful country that has received me with open arms.

We lost absolutely everything, 23 years of work in the state-owned oil company PDVSA, a professional career, torn away from our extended family, and arriving here without knowing anyone.  It was not an easy thing.  But perhaps the most difficult thing at that time was to find myself in the midst of an existential dilemma where my faith was shredded, and my perspective on life was fragmented.  I felt frustrated, tired and far from God, even though I had been an active member and leader in the evangelical Christian church in my country for 32 years.   Faith, as I had conceived it since my conversion, had lost meaning for me, and the church didn't attract or inspire me as before.  The only thing that had stability for me was my marriage and family, and that too was starting to waver.

I now understand that God, in his sovereignty, permitted all this because the promise of Romans 8:28 is at work in us, his children, for our good.  And it was precisely at this time that Mr. Crane began to mentor me and give me pastoral attention to help me pick up and put together the leftover pieces produced by the crisis we encountered.  One of the words that had the most impact on me at that time was the word "grace."  I learned with Richard that God's Grace was the only resource that could help me recover my day by day life.

He took time to counsel me, my wife, and my daughters in the midst of our crisis.  God used him as a powerful instrument to bring healing to my life.  He often dried my tears, and taught me that there was still a long road ahead and that it was possible to look at tomorrow again with optimism and faith.  I learned with him to be filled with hope that I could recuperate, and not only that, but he was like a father to me in lending a shoulder on which to lean and keep on going.

            Today, thanks to his inspiration and ministry, I am halfway through my studies in the Masters in Theological Studies program.  We have overcome many obstacles and I now have a new vision of things that will permit me to use my recovery and experience to help others.
            I thank the Lord very deeply for the life of Richard Crane.
Sincerely,
Elio A. Boscan

As we incorporated Latin American love songs heard on the radio,  and answered questions as a couple on worksheets, this class brought back great memories of the marriage encounters Robyn and I coordinated in Chile.  The classroom setting did not produce the intensity that we experienced on those weekends, yet these students worked hard over the course of 10 weeks and the response to the course was very positive.   I am now in the process of completing the online version of this course.   Thank you very much for your prayers - again, that the gospel will come through clearly in our courses.

 

We have enjoyed visiting some of you during the past few months and strengthening our partnership in this ministry.  We still need to schedule other visits, so please let us know when it would be convenient to report in your church. 

 

Please continue to pray for our support need. As of this letter we need $739 per month. God has been faithful to us through your giving. Thank you very much.

 

Please link to the following coupon: http://www.mtwsa.net/people/rcrane2-pl/Coupon.pdf _______________________________________________________________________