April 2011
Dear Family and Friends,

What a delight it is to sit down and write this letter to you! In our last letter we shared about our time in Ohio and our upcoming transition to Tacoma, WA. On our blog we shared the adventures of our journey from Ohio to Tacoma, the wonderful people we met along the way and the stories of God’s glory in their lives and in ours, including the way He provided when our heater quit in Minnesota! Three months later, we are happily settling into our new home and life in Tacoma. It’s been rainy outside since we got here, but inside we are full of hope and expectation as we see God revealing one opportunity after another in the Latino community here in the neighborhood of Tillicum.

The people of Tillicum Baptist Church have welcomed us with open arms from day one! We already feel like part of the family and have truly enjoyed getting to know Scott and Caressa (the pastor and his wife) and their family better, since we all live right here on the church campus. When he’s not working outside the church, Miguel enjoys helping with tasks around the church. He’s already fixed several things on one of the church vans, as well as helping Scott with other odd jobs around the campus. The pastor is the only maintenance man here at TBC, and we think it has also been fun for Scott to have someone else to help with the upkeep of these old buildings. Miguel went to his first men’s prayer breakfast and has gotten to know some of the men of the church – especially the ones who have an interest in motorcycles or music! We were picked on at the church’s Valentine banquet to play “The Newlywed Game” since we were the newest and youngest couple there! I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with the ladies I knew when I was here before and am having fun right now planning a baby shower for another young couple in the church. Miguel and I have also joined with two other couples around our age to co-lead a young couples’ group. We have several families with young children in our church and feel that there is a need for support and fellowship in the body of Christ for these young families. We’ve made one of our Sunday School rooms into a lovely hospitality space and dedicated it to the couples’ group which will be meeting on a regular basis.

The Newlywed Game at the Church Valentine Banquet

Since we arrived, we have been praying for God to give us opportunities to meet and build friendships with the Latinos here in the community. As usual, His timing was perfect and He gave us time to settle in, and then started bringing opportunities to us. We are so blessed to be working with an established ministry and people who already have credibility and relationships here in Tillicum. It is through these people – like Scott and my brother, Nate – that doors were opened for us and we began to meet some of the Latino families. For example, the local college offers an ESL (English as a Second Language) class for Spanish speakers that meets at the elementary school right across the street from our church. However, the class has grown so much that they no longer have enough space in their classroom. The college contacted Scott to see if they could use a room at our church for their class! April 4 was the first day of the new quarter of classes with one of two classes meeting at TBC. I (Shawna) am volunteering as a teacher’s assistant two days a week at this class, while Miguel has enrolled as a student in the other class. In this way, we are building relationships and earning trust among the Latino community. God is so good to open this door for us with very little initiation on our part!

While we are excited to have a presence in the ESL classes, we are seeking to create other opportunities to invite the Mexican families into the church building and into relationship with us, which will lead to relationship with the Father. Many of the families are very distrustful of Christian churches because they are such faithful Catholics, therefore they will not come to regular church events. But the Lord has given us some creative ideas for alternative events that will get them familiar and comfortable with the church building and with the faces of church members. On Good Friday we launched a series of family movie nights here at the church. These are low-income families, most of them with children in grade school or younger, which means they do not have the means to get out much for fun family activities. Not only that, but I bet most of you never thought about the fact that if you do not speak Spanish, you cannot go to the movies here in the States! The movies we show at the church will have subtitles in Spanish and we will offer them free of charge, with the families able to bring snacks and sodas should they so desire.

Miguel fixing our rotted bathroom wall

As we work on building relationships with the Latino families, we also want to focus on the current members of the congregation who are interested in reaching out to these potential members of the family of God. We are offering a Basic Spanish class at the beginning of May in order to help the church members feel more confident in interacting with Spanish speakers and welcoming them into our church.

Our hope and goal is that we will be able to earn the trust of several key people or families in the Latino community and then invite them to be part of the discipleship group that will help them know and grow in the Lord. Only the Father knows what the timing will be on this goal, but as we feel out the needs here in the community, we expect it to be sooner rather than later!

We would be amiss if we didn’t give God all the praise for the faithful and abundant way He’s provided for us since we arrived in Washington. He has been so good and timed His provision so perfectly to meet all our needs from day one. Of course, Miguel started looking for work right away, but still has not found anything steady. In the meantime God has used gifts from church members, odd jobs, anonymous donations, people bringing meals and even our tax refund to provide above and beyond what we could ask or imagine!

Recently, Miguel was given the chance to work full-time hours for several weeks, which was another form of the Father’s provision for us. Not only that, but it also helped us to see that a full-time job is not a good fit for Miguel/us in our ministry goals here in Tillicum. Working full-time hours doesn’t give him the flexibility he needs to build relationships and be available to the Latino community. Neither does it give us very much time to do ministry together as a couple, since many ministry opportunities happen during the work week. So, Miguel is now looking for part-time work that will allow him to spend more time at the church and in the neighborhood. In addition to that, we have prayerfully decided to ask for support in the mission God has given us here. That’s where you come in…

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to be serving the Lord in this mission field of Tillicum. We are confident that God has now led us to give you the opportunity to share in this very ministry. During the time that many of you supported me while I was in Mexico I realized the power of partnership in ministry. As children of God, we are all called to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. Some of us go, some of us make it possible for others to go; we all have a role in carrying out Jesus’ command to spread His love to every nation (see Matthew 28:18-20). Today our question to you is this: is God calling you to be part of this ministry?

At this point in time we are asking you to make a one-year commitment, should you choose to partner with us. By allowing us to live in the missionary apartment, the church already supports us with a sizeable portion of our expenses, including all our utilities. Above and beyond that, we have a minimum of $800 of expenses to cover each month. Our prayer is that the Lord will provide this amount or more through a combination of providing work for Miguel and through your support. If just 15 of you commit to giving $50 a month to us in this ministry, we would have enough to cover our expenses! We all know that the economy is changing, yet we make this plea with confidence, because we know with even more surety that OUR GOD NEVER CHANGES! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! And just as He has faithfully provided for us and for you throughout our entire lives, He will continue to provide and reward our faith and faithfulness.


If you would like to give, please print off and include the reply card at the end of this letter. Then…
Make checks payable to:
“Tillicum Baptist Church”
with “Miguel and Shawna Santiago” on the memo line.

Send checks to: Tillicum Baptist Church
Miguel & Shawna Santiago
8415 Maple St SW
Lakewood, WA 98498

We appreciate your prayerful consideration of our request and joyfully anticipate His answer to our needs and yours for provision!

Before I close, I would like to share with you the exciting news that we are expecting a baby! I am 4 ½ months pregnant and we anticipate meeting our little one sometime around the end of September! We are so thrilled that God has given us this great blessing and we pray every day for our baby to be healthy and for ourselves to be godly parents. We would appreciate your prayers in this area, as well!

Starting in May, we will be sending out monthly updates on ministry and prayer requests through email. You can also check our blog in between for more frequent updates on events in our lives and ministry. God is good and we are so eager to see what He will do in the lives of the Latino community here through our lives and service. To Him be all the glory!

In Him,
Shawna and Miguel ><>

Enjoying a brisk winter day in the Northwest

Shawna and Miguel,

 Yes! I want to support you financially in your ministry in Tillicum.
I choose to give $ __________ per month from May 2011 through May 2012

 Count on me to pray for you and your ministry! Please send me any special prayer updates!
My email is ________________________________________________________________

 I would like to support you and the ministry in Tillicum with a one-time gift in the amount of $ __________


Name __________________________________________________________________________________