October 2006 Dear Family and Friends, The countdown continues…today Adriana is 32 weeks pregnant and it is amazing how much the baby moves and kicks. Cora continues to put the new baby's clothes on her stuffed animals and is eagerly awaiting her little sister. Just a couple of days ago I spoke at the church we attend here in Buenos Aires. For me it was a privilege and I took it as another sign of love and trust by the community. Our family continues to be truly blessed by the relationships with these friends. In fact this past Sunday a little boy from church invited Cora over for lunch and to play. So while Cora was having fun at her friend's house, her mom and dad took advantage of the beautiful day and went out to lunch and for a walk through an artisan fair! From September 15-24 we were with the WMF community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our family had a great time as we feel that is was a very positive and productive trip. Thankfully, it was a nice and easy three-hour flight. Jenna Pashley (WMF Brazil field staff) was gracious to house us for the length of our stay. We participated in their scheduled activities and also made time for some fun. Some highlights were visiting church on Sunday just down the block from Jenna's home, spending the day with the Nichols (Field Directors) at the Projecto Vidhina children's home, joining the staff to visit their beautiful friends living on the streets of Rio, and experiencing first-hand life in a favela (slum community). In other news, a few of our friends who live on the street continue to become involved in the life of the faith community we attend. Some youth have attended home bible studies, 3 others participated in a spiritual retreat with the church and some also came to the costume party the church had at the end of September. In October a few of the youth had birthdays, and so we have been able in simple ways to recognize each youth's value and dignity by remembering them and giving small presents. Also, since Mother's Day in Argentina is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of October, this Friday we will be giving a small gift to those young women we know who are mothers. Towards the end of October or the beginning of November we hope to host a video/game night for the youth on the street at the church we attend. Please pray for this activity. Please join us in praying for the following: – Pray that God would send in His timing, other WMF staff to serve and be in community with us among the poor. – The Argentina Ministry account would receive further donations. As the only staff raising funds for this account, the balance is low. If you are interested in making a donation, you can make a check out to Word Made Flesh and attach a note specifying it for the Argentina Ministry account. Please consider this as an additional way of partnering with us. – Continued health and safety for Adriana and baby Forcatto these last 8 weeks of pregnancy. – Clarity, wisdom and vision in our roles as Regional Coordinators for Latin America. And please know that we pray for you. Your friendship and faithful love has blessed and sustained us. We feel so, so grateful. Thank you! I'll leave you with a wonderful quote I recently read from Monsignor Oscar Romero, archbishop of El Salvador who was murdered by an assassin's bullet in 1980. “It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.? No statement says all that could be said.? No prayer fully expresses our faith.? No confession brings perfection.? No pastoral visit brings wholeness.? No program accomplishes the church's mission.? No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference, between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. ?We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.” Peace, Walter