I pray this letter finds you reveling in joyful anticipation of summer and the delights of our Father's love that will come in these (hopefully) sunny months!
The month of May marked one year since Miguel entered the U.S. for the first time and since I moved back after 5 years of living in Tijuana. It has a been a big adjustment for Miguel and I to experience (or re-experience in my case) four very distinct seasons after living in the two seasons of Tijuana: sunshine for 9 months + 3 months of rain! In the past year we have also experienced different seasons in our personal lives. A sunny summer of reveling in relationship and new experiences was followed by an autumn of difficulty and discouragement. Our winter felt bleak as we mourned the loss of unfulfilled hopes, but the Lord's leading into a springtime of change gave us renewed vision and encouragement. As we stand on the brink of another summer, we find ourselves in yet another season, vacillating between anticipation and anxiousness.
Before I update you on the events of our lives and ministry, I would like to remind you that we are currently seeking to raise support for the ministry we are beginning here in Washington. I say "seeking" because it is still a quest. After our April request for support we were surprised and disappointed to receive a positive response from only one family.
I struggle to find the words to express our need to you, our friends and family. I do not wish to complain because there is no reason to do so. Our Father truly supplies all our needs - we always have gas in the car and food to eat, no matter how little money we may earn in a week. However, I want to impress upon you the urgency of our situation, knowing that we, the body of Christ, are the instruments God so often uses to provide for the needs of others. Nor is it my desire in any way to make anyone feel guilty or obligated to give. "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." For those of you who responded that you are not able to give at this time, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering our request and letting us know that you are thinking of us! Your gesture alone is an encouragement to us.
Having said all that, this is for those of you who have not yet responded or may not be aware of our need. I share our situation with you because I don't know a better way to explain our need: Miguel has not had full-time work since the end of March. We were blessed to be offered the janitorial position at our church, which is about 5 hours per week. In addition to that, Miguel has one lawn-mowing job once a week that will last throughout the summer. Other than that, we have no regular income. Miguel works on people's cars as the opportunity arises, but the jobs are sporadic and it is not income we can count on. We feel that it is the Lord's desire for Miguel to only work part-time in order for both of us to be present in the community for the purpose of building relationships and being salt and light to the people. And we have truly seen how our availability as a couple - and his as a individual - have been key to the relationships that have been built in the past couple of months. Therefore, we are committed to being available to this community, even though it means sacrifice on our part. There are days that we would rather Miguel got a full-time job so life could be "easy"; so we wouldn't have to wonder how God will provide the money to pay our bills this month. Complete trust requires extreme effort! We are thankful for the opportunity to grow in trusting our Father. This is the best spiritual growth class we could take! Yet at the same time we are soul-weary of being in this season of scarcity. It is not our desire to be rich or to take advantage of anyone, simply to serve this Latino community without worrying whether we will have gas in our car to be able to attend an event or whether we will have enough food to share with a guest.
Again, we are seeking to raise $800 a month to pay for our expenses. That means we only need 10 people to give $80 per month; or 20 people to give $40 per month. We are asking for a one-year commitment from you at this time, because we don't know how far the Lord will lead us down this road of ministry or what turns it may take.
Checks can be made 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
Thank you! Your response lets us know that we are not alone out here in the Northwest corner of the country and that you believe that God has called us to this ministry, just as we do. We appreciate your affirmation!
Enough talk about money! Let me tell you what's happened in the past month!
You may recall that Miguel and I are participating in the ESL classes offered by the local college, Miguel as a student, I as a teacher's assistant. These classes have been key in allowing us to make acquaintances in the Latino community here in Tillicum. We were thrilled to receive an invitation from one of the students to attend the Catholic baptism of her children a few weeks ago. This was a great honor for us, because it meant that she was inviting us to transition from acquaintance to friend in her life. Not only that, but it took courage for her to invite us - a couple of Christians - to a Catholic ceremony, knowing that we might reject her based on religious beliefs. We were happy to surprise her by accepting her invitation and attending the baptism and the party later that day. Not only that, but we received another invitation a few days later to a First Communion from a lady who saw us at the baptism and decided to invite us because she saw that we weren't "religious, snobby Christians." Although English class will be over next week, we are happy to have established some tentative friendships and look forward to spending more time with these people during the warmer summer months. We covet your prayers that strong, trusting relationships would be formed during this stage of ministry.
Out of the ESL class, Miguel has also been able to work on the vehicles of a couple of the students, helping them by charging them less then a professional mechanic would charge and helping us by bringing in a little bit of income. This has also helped to establish our identity in the community.
We have had two family movie nights since our last prayer letter. We had three families attend the first movie night, two of which returned for the second. We have realized that many of the families do, in fact, go to the movies here in the States and were not quite as excited about the movie nights as we thought they might be. However, the two families who have come both times are moms bringing their children and they seem to thoroughly enjoy the activity. We, together with these moms, have decided to continue the movie nights, but on a lower scale. Rather than passing out flyers to the whole community we will make it a night for friends to hang out and watch a movie together. Newcomers will always be welcome, but these moms and their kids will get to have a say in the movies we watch and when we get together. We look forward to getting to know Agustina and Angelica better at our movie nights!
We also mentioned in our last letter that we would be offering a Spanish class to the members of the church. We did, but there was not enough interest to have the class, so we have decided to wait and try again later.
All of this serves to remind us that filling our schedules with classes and programs does not necessarily accomplish the work of the Kingdom. Our focus is relationship building and we believe the Lord is keeping us flexible for needs and opportunities that arise in order to continue building those relationships. Again, we ask for your prayers for opportunities and for friendships to be formed and trust to be built.
I have reached the half-way mark in my pregnancy and the baby continues to be healthy and strong. This month's exciting news: It's a boy! I can feel him moving and kicking every day now, although he's not big enough yet for anyone else to feel his kicks. We are so happy that baby is well and that the Lord has considered us worthy of being parents!
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your prayers. In this past month that we have felt somewhat alone in the wilderness of ministry, I have realized once again what a HUGE role you play in our ministry. Your financial support, your communication with us, your prayers and your presence in our lives all serve to remind us that we are part of a body. We are not in ministry alone, nor can we be effective by ourselves. We need you to balance us out and remind us that we are all working toward the same goal: Christ's kingdom furthered on this earth. Thank you again!
In Him,
Miguel and Shawna ><>
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