Greetings, brethren! It is hard to believe that this year is almost half over, already. Where does the time go?
I am just at the end of a busy cycle of travel and teaching. On May 19 I was very blessed to attend the graduation ceremony here at the Denver Campus. It was an exciting day for so many! That night I boarded a plane on my way to Asunción, Paraguay. I arrived late Monday evening, May 20. I was there to teach the first short course at the Asunción Bible Academy; the subject was Bible Geography. Because we had only four days that week (because of my travel itinerary) our classes were from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, except for Thursday when we ended at 3:00 so they could finish up one of their long courses. I boarded my return flight in the wee hours of Saturday morning, arriving home around 11:20 p.m. Saturday night, May 25.
I had a few days to prepare for my next trip, which was to Honduras. On Wednesday, May 29 I left for Houston, Texas en route to Honduras. I met up with brethren from Neosho and Seneca, Missouri on Thursday morning and we continued on to Danlí, arriving in time to attend the mid-week Bible study in the home of the one of the sisters of the El Zarzal, congregation. On Friday evening, we attended the graduation of the second class of the Bible Institute of Honduras. Six men graduated. We are very proud of the men and women who are part of our program all over the world, but graduation always brings a special level of emotion. Counting Guatemala in March, Denver on May 19, this was my third graduation of the year. I never get tired of seeing it!
I returned to Denver on Saturday, June 1. On June 2 I was honored to fill in for Wayne Burger in teaching and preaching in Conifer, Colorado while he is in Africa. On Monday, I began a class in Guatemala (Old Testament Introduction) via our video conferencing system. This is a new class that has just begun at ITL and I have not yet met them in person, but they impressed me as good students. This past Sunday (June 9), I again filled in at the Conifer congregation.
On Saturday, June 15, Noma and I will begin a trip to report to some of our supporters. We will begin in Topeka, Kansas. We’re looking forward to being with the good brethren of the Quivira Heights congregation. From there, the plan is to travel to Neosho, Missouri to give a report on the school in Honduras to the brethren there. From there we will travel to Oklahoma, visiting family and over the next few days will be giving reports in both Arkansas and Texas, finishing with a report to the brethren at the Highland congregation in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. Lord willing, we will be moving our daughter Jessica back to Colorado with us.
We are very thankful for your continued interest in and support of this work, and your unceasing prayers on our behalf. We ask you to continue your prayers, especially in our travels over the next couple of weeks.
Thank you and God bless,
Donnie Bates