Fall 2020 Warren Family Newsletter

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Warren Family Newsletter

October 2020

Welcome to Fall 2020. We hope and pray you are doing well. Here are the latest updates from our family and within the Latin America mission.

Mission Work During a Pandemic

The last several months have been unusual for our family (just like for most of you). But even though much of our life has been different, the mission remains the same. Here are some of the updates from the Dominican Republic and around the region about the work that continues despite quarantine, curfew, and social distancing.

Meetings: Our regional office has been closed since the middle of March and Blake now takes all of his meetings from our guest room upstairs.
FOROS (our meetings between churches, missionaries, and partners in the States) have moved online. We have had more than ten virtual FOROS since the beginning of the Pandemic.
Food relief: Many of our churches (like the church we attend in Licey pictured below) have reached out to their community and provided bags of food for those who have not been able to work during times when countries have shut down.
English classes: Although we have not been able to bring short term teams down to our countries in person, a group of missionaries have found a way to connect with volunteers in the States. They have virtual English classes for members of the communities who are looking to learn English and tutored by different supporters and volunteers from different locations.
New Missionaries: The Lord’s work does not stop even in a pandemic and neither do His provisions. He has even sent new missionaries to our field to be deployed in Belize and the Dominican Republic. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for their service in Latin America.
Church Online: For many months several of our members around Latin America were not able to leave their homes. Our churches were able to move services online and connect with their communities virtually.

Forward

Five Years in the Dominican Republic

We celebrated five years in the Dominican Republic during this Pandemic and right in the middle of a tropical storm. Thankfully the tropical storm was mild and provided us a cool day in late July and a fun photo op in the rain.

Enjoy Lizz’s reflections on the last five years in her three part blog series entitled “The Tea Cups.”

The Tea Cups

We were not able to gather in person as a region this year. Instead we have tried to stay connected to encourage one another through bi-weekly zoom meetings, photo challenges, and trivia. Please continue to keep ALL of our Latin American missionaries in your prayers.

Es la Vida
snapshots of our life (pandemic style)

Lizz led online lettering classes on facebook and to missionaries around the region. At the end of a month long lettering challenge, our group of missionaries put together a verse virtually that they shared on social media.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life.”
Psalm 27:4

In August we were able to celebrate close friend and fellow missionary, Jamielynn and her marriage to seminary student Rafa. Missionaries are our family, and we are thankful they were able to join together as husband and wife. Jamielynn is also our closest missionary who lives one street away from us, and the girls are thankful Rafa is now close by as well.

One of the ways our missionaries across the region stayed connected was through a photo contest. The goal was to recreate a famous piece of art. This was our submission which won first place.

We celebrated Christmas in July with our missionary friends here once we were able to open up our circle to include more people. During the pandemic we decided we needed a bit of extra cheer.

Visit Lizz’s Etsy Store

Facebook

Visit Lizz’s Blog site

Keep Us In Your Prayers
“Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” Psalm 4:1

Healing for those sick and battling corona virus in our churches, around our region, and throughout the world.
Comfort for those who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Thanksgiving for partners who allow us to continue to serve our Lord in the Dominican Republic with their financial and prayer support for our family.
For the health and safety of our family and all missionaries in the field.
For Blake and his work with missionaries, churches, and partners around the Latin America region.
For Lizz and the girls in their school year.
For the missionaries raising funds and preparing to deploy for service.
That God continues to bring partners to support our missionaries and projects throughout the region.
For continued strength and renewal as we face challenges both big and small.

We are humbled by your desire to partner with us and we thank you.

To support the LCMS through the work of Blake Warren, you may send a tax-deductible gift to:

The Lutheran Church –Missouri Synod
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-6861

Make checks payable to The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Include “Warren- Latin America” in the memo line

Gifts can also be given securely online through the LCMS website at www.lcms.org/warren

888-THE-LCMS ~ www.lcms.org ~ infocenter@lcms.org

There are many opportunities to serve a s short-term or GEO missionaries. Check out the current list and download an application at www.lcms.org/service

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*photo credit Seminary graduation: Johanna Heidorn

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Warren Family Serving in Latin America · 1333 S. Kirkwood Road · St. Louis, MO 63122 · USA