Letters from the Swartzbaugh Family
EDINBURG,
TEXAS - Death in the Family:
I believe that I had e-mailed most, if not all of you last week with a
prayer request for Debbie's sister, Karen.
Saturday afternoon we got the call that Karen had passed away. It has
been hard for Debbie. She said yesterday that this was one of the worst
days of her life. The funeral is rather quick, being scheduled for
Tuesday in Illinois. We were able to a get a ticket at a reduced price
for early this morning. God had already provided the money for the
tickets, including a return ticket for Wednesday night.
Thank you for praying, and please keep praying. Karen was a weak
believer. We would have liked to see more fruit before she passed into
eternity.
Many of the people at the funeral are unsaved. Debbie's birth father
will be at funeral. This will be the first time he has seen Debbie's
mother since their divorce in the fifties.
Thanks for praying!
Keith
It is two weeks until school starts again at RGBI!
I got a surprise visit at my office Friday from Peruvian student Eduardo
Palacios. He said that he was leaving school and going to Cuba for an
operation on his left arm! You see God used an auto accident several
years ago to bring Eduardo to salvation. He was crossing a highway with
his buddies at night when he a vehicle hit him and threw him into the
air. Of course he was in bad shape. He regained conscience and prayed to
receive Christ. He had family in Italy and went there for therapy where
he learned to speak again. Now he speaks Spanish with an Italian
accent.! Anyway he been a very dedicated Christian, involved with the
prison ministry especially. But school has been hard for him, both
physically and mentally. It has been hard for him to use his arm, thus
arraignments have been made with the German Red Cross to do an operation
in Cuba. His mother will fly in too. Because his grade point average has
not been where it should be, he will not come back to RGBI. He does not
know where he will go. Sad to say, he said that some of our R.G.B.I.
students have been less than kind. Eduardo related that some people who
said that they would pray for him didn’t really do that, or he would
have improved. I told him that I would really pray for Eduardo. Please
take time to remember him too.
Christian Financial Concepts with Larry Burkett is familiar to many
Christians. RGBI’s video department has had the privilege to help with
the filming and editing of the Spanish version of its video series. We
found that we could also turn it into a correspondence course for Cursos
Rio Grande. I will probably help write the study questions and tests.
Other important projects for Cursos Rio Grande for the upcoming year
include writing study questions and tests for a Christian counseling
course, planning for a spiritual life course and an O.T. survey course.
All these can have impact on people all over the Spanish speaking world.
We have a fellow from Nuevo Laredo who is interested in being Cursos Rio
Grande’s representative in northeast Mexico. He has had sales
experience. We are investigating this possibility in these days. This is
an exciting opportunity, but we do want God’s man.
You may have received a letter from Roy LeTourneau, our new interim
President. His father was the famous LeTourneau of earth moving
equipment fame. Roy has been in business too, with his brother Ben. He
has had impressive missionary experience in South America. Roy brings a
very positive tone to the office of President.
As you may know summer can often be a tough time financially for
missionaries. We of course are no exception. Our most pressing need is
to come up with the money for our $200 monthly van payment in September
and the coming months. There is little over a year left to go before the
‘92 Aerostar belongs to us completely! We are $150 lower in monthly
support than we were a year ago. We would appreciate any love offering
you could make toward the purchase of our van.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
In Jesus,
Keith, for the Swartzbaughs
Keith Swartzbaugh
Greetings from drought stricken south Texas! Pray for rain for here.
We were gone a month this summer, visiting supporters in the Midwest as
well as spending a week in the Rockies, courtesy of a friend in Arizona.
While we were gone a milestone for the correspondence courses (called
Cursos Rio Grande) was reached. We passed the 100 active student
enrollment point for the first time. Praise God for the increase! Of
course we have had several times that number come and go as
correspondence students over the years.
I realize that some of you, (maybe all!) do not know what the Rio Grande
Bible correspondence courses are. You may have seen Bible correspondence
courses that consist of a single pamphlet with blanks to fill in. This
is NOT what we do. Those kind of correspondence courses are good for new
Christians and those with a limited education. What we do is college
level. Our correspondence students have videos to view, books to read,
research papers to write, tests to take etc. It takes some work to do a
Cursos Rio Grande course! They are all evangelical, and in Spanish. We
offer Bible study methods, the book of Romans, the book of James,
Introductions to Missions, Educational Principles, Discipleship and the
Gospel of John. We have some who study at a nonacredited level, but even
they have plenty to do. So you see reaching a 100 student active
enrollment doesn't come easy!
In Jesus,
Keith Swartzbaugh
!Greetings in the name of our Lord!
I have mentioned in the past Eduardo Palacios who has been a student at
RGBI. Because of a serous auto accident several years ago, he has
problems with his left hand. Arrangements have been made for him to
receive an operation from the German Red Cross, working in the country
of Cuba, of all places! At this time he is still waiting for some
details to be worked out.
Meanwhile something else has come up. A group of Rio Grande Bible
Institute students has just returned from a summer ministry, also in
Cuba. One of the students, Maricela came to my office the other day with
a letter from 10 people they had ministered to at a church in Vueltas
Cuba. These people listed their names and ministerial responsibilities.
They requested a correspondence course. As you know, Cubans are
desperately poor and we don't expect them to pay even what is a small
cost for us as Americans. So I decided that they would qualify for a
scholarship, or what is called a "beca" in spanish.
Since Eduardo is going to Cuba he agreed to personally carry to the
Cuban church the video course on discipleship, by Wilson Campoverde of
our faculty.
Even though our "beca" fund is empty, I am sending the course
by faith, trusting that we can replenish it and pay the costs. For a
series of 5 videos and 10 workbooks the cost is $120.00. Any gift for
this gift can be sent to Rio Grande Bible Institute with a note
indicating that it is
for the scholarship and of the correspondence department.
I am thanking you in advance for your help. Please pray for Eduardo and
his ministry in Cuba.
In Jesus,
Keith Swartzbaugh
Cursos Rio Grande
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