Tim and Christa Simmons Prayer Letter: Reflecting on 2022

Reflecting on 2022

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations and are having a great start to the new year. I try to pause around this time of year to look back at the previous year and then look ahead to the coming year. It can be very encouraging to look back at how the Lord worked and answered prayer. Praise the Lord for His answered prayer and for how He worked through our family! We could not have made it without your faithful prayers and support. Thank you so much!

Christmas Program Praises

I want to express our gratitude to those of you who took the time to pray for the Christmas program that the church we are helping in holds every year. Even though this is only our family’s second program to help in, we were told by a number of people that this year’s program was the best one they’ve had! Praise God! There were four presentations that took place at four churches. The first was held on Saturday, November 26. The church is outside of our city in a town along a main route. Several visitors came, and after Pastor Silveira preached a Gospel message, 7 people received Christ! The second program took place on Saturday, December 3, in the northern part of the city in a neighborhood called Bella Italia. The next day, the program was held in the central church on Sunday evening. There were several adult visitors who came, including a deaf man named Ruben who received an invitation and contacted me. The central church had a deaf interpreter during the program, so I offered to bring him. Praise God that there were 4 professions of faith! That last presentation took place on December 10 on the northside of the city in the church we normally help in on Sunday mornings. Many new children came for the first time or the first time in a long time. A few of the parents even came as well! After the message, they were witnessed to separately, and 17 people accepted Christ as their personal Saviour! Praise the Lord for 28 salvations in total! A lot of work went into the program, but even if only one person had accepted Christ, it would still have been worth it!

Conference on Church Planting

I was invited to a conference in a church in Argentina, which borders Uruguay. The main emphasis of the conference was on church planting and training national pastors. Since that is a subject I am constantly trying to learn about as we prepare to plant our own church, I decided to go. It cost a fraction of the price to travel there versus to the U.S. It was such a blessing to see some pastors and missionaries I hadn’t seen in a while. I learned a lot about ministry from others during my time there and came back with a renewed passion and vision for Uruguay. Missionary Larry Owens also asked me to teach in their Bible institute. Please pray for us as we make plans for planting a church.

Praise

Praise God for a great 2022!
Praise the Lord that our Spanish has greatly improved!
Praise the Lord for 28 professions of faith as a result of the Christmas program