Duggins e-Update July 2020

Greetings in Christ Jesus.

We pray that you and your family are healthy and blessed.   

Everyone talks about "these challenging times" even to the point the phrase has become a cliche that some have expressed they are tired of hearing.  It has been however, somewhat of a "culture shock" coming back to the United States with churches closed, mask on faces and rioting in major cities.  Even the Indianapolis downtown, we are told, is still boarded up after two nights of looting and burning.  We went on a field visit to Santiago, Chile in January of this year, just after major unrest and rioting in that Latin American city.  Santiago was a beautiful city, however, the downtown area was, well, basically trashed.  I can remember thinking, how thin the veneer of stability and civilization actually is in many countries around the world.  I don't think my mind really included my own country, but that is no longer.  

​The situation of the Church in all these situations has also been disturbing.  Forced to do "virtual church" our impression is that there has been a growing sense of isolation and disconnection.   Some have said to us since our return from Mexico, "the church is frozen in place" waiting for "the thaw".    Not a good place to be for God's mighty army.    I once read a book with the title, They Smell like Sheep, which talked about Christian leadership and the need to disciple effectively, loving and knowing their people to the point, they even smell like them.  Intimate and constant connection!  Difficult at best through "virtual Church".   

​Fortunately, it looks like at this point, in July 2020, that churches are beginning to move toward in-person connections and whether this month or at the first of August it seems that most churches will be trying to return to in-person worship and restart small groups.   However, it seems that it is going to take many congregations several months to build up the momentum they once had moving into 2020.   With only a few exceptions, we have seen that our partnering congregations have been able to remain financially stable.  That is a blessing!   We are grateful for both churches and individuals that have continued to faithfully support our ministry and projects.   However, we are getting clear signals that the development of new contacts for partnerships will be very slow, with many indicating that there might be openings to talk in 2021. 

This situation is moving our team and family to rethink projects and make some significant changes in ministry plans.  One major change was that we moved out of a major portion of the office area we were renting in Queretaro and the team returned to home offices.  Fortunately, we were able to keep the classroom / conference area where the multi-media also is located.  This was necessary as we reacted to a loss of support for the La Viña Church of about $1000 a month from one congregation.     The launch of the second congregation, the Anchor Church (El Ancla) was moved to September and its ministry plan is adjusting significantly, since we have not been able to develop support partners to the degree needed to sustain the original ministry plan.   

Our own plans are also in process of adjusting.   You may remember that we had planned to remain here in the States until the middle or end of October.   However, we actually arrived in Indiana a month early as travel restrictions began to be a major concern.  We have accomplished part of our plan, that of setting up our living situation here in Indianapolis.  With most churches expressing their reluctance to talk this year about new projects, we are considering returning to Mexico by the middle of August.  

We will return to Mexico about August 15 and Dee will begin school for grandson, Eric.  Dee will not be teaching Abby and Emmy this next school year since they will be studying through an on-line school program from a Christian School in California.  Eric will continue with the Home Schooling material and will begin about the middle of August.    

Upon return there will be several projects to work on.  One will be to reorganize our rented home.  Since the office was rearranged and partly vacated, Eric's office (books, desk, bookshelves, computer, etc) were all put into one of our bedrooms.  We will have to get rid of several pieces of furniture to set up one of the bedrooms into a home office. 

​The IMPACTO team is also reorganizing responsibilities a bit in the second part of this year.  Eric will be taking on the supervision of the Administrative Teams for each church plant.  He will be working with each of those teams and their leaders who function as a counselors and decision makers until an Eldership is appointed in each congregation.   Sergio Alvarado, the director of IMPACTOLatino, will be dedicating more time to the Residency Program and will also be helping with fundraising projects in the United States in a close partnership with us during the next months and into the new year.

Regional Directors of the Americas.

We continue in our responsibilities with New International as the Regional Directors of the Americas Region.  Our region has gown a bit with the addition of two families.   We now have 12 families that we minister to through being the Regional Directors.   In August we hope to do a field visit with a family working with Muslims in a major U.S. city, however with quarantine requirements by New York we have had to cancel that visit. 

​We just finished looking at Field Visits and budgets for the next year (August 2020 to July 2021).  We are hopeful that the situation with the Corona virus will stabilize permitting us do those visits which will mostly be done in 2021. 

We recently received some sad news.   Rafa Gomez, son of Rosa Garcia notified us that Rosa had gone home to be with the Lord Jesus.  Rosa and her sister, Emma, were the first two people we had the privilege to study with in Mexico City and were the first to respond and be baptized.  Rosa, remained faithful these 38 years and must have been in her 80s when she went home.  We were blessed in many ways by Rosa during the years we were in Mexico City. 

Coming events:

Aug. 1-3        -Visit in Painesville, OH.
Aug. 3-7       - Field Visit in New York State. (Canceled)
            ?       - We are waiting to make an appoint with a church in Cincinnati, OH.
Aug.15         - Traveling back to Mexico.
            ?       - La Viña Church is hopeful to begin in-person worship about the middle of August.
Sept. 20       - The newest church plant, the Anchor Church is to launch.
​Nov.16-24   - Eric will be returning to Indianapolis for the iCOM (International Conference on Missions) in INDY.  

PRAYER REQUESTS:
​
1. We are grateful for so many that pray for us often and give sacrificially making it possible for us to minister with the Church Planting projects.   Thanks You!  Be praying that income remains stable!
2. We continue with our "life Change" and are excited that we continue to improve our health.  Eric hit a 100 pounds weight loss, and though returning to the U.S. that has gone up and down a bit, we both continue to walk and count the carbs.  Thanks for praying as we move to the next goal.
3. Be praying for the Anchor Church and its leadership as they plan for the launch of the church on September 20.  They are presently working on finding a meeting place in the area of Queretaro where they will be planting.
4. Be praying for Abby and Emmy as they transitions to a new education system.  Keep Dee in your prayers as she will need to be very creative to keep Grandson Eric engaged.
5. Keep Andrew in your prayers.   He continues to live in Minneapolis and fortunately, continues to work, though not with the number of hours he would need.  The church he is helping with has done virtur

A NEED! Can you HELP?

​IMPACTOLatino has its next apprentice family.  Tony and Jackie Moreno have joined IMPACTO this month in Queretaro and will be with us for over a year as they learn and prepare to plant a church.  They are interested in planting a new church in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.  They have collected promises of support for about half of their support.   We are in need to find support for the other half they will need during this year, which is about $600 monthly.  Can you consider a gift to them?  A one-time gift would be very helpful as would anyone wanting to take them on monthly support for the year they will be with us in Queretaro.  Please click on the link to make a donation or send a donation to New International with a note or in a the memo line of a check stating it is for "IMPACTOnetwork Moreno Family".

DONATE: Church Planting Residency