¨Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”  Lam.3:32 

      Nine years and seven days ago I left secular work to begin a march toward missionary life and pursue a calling that would not let me go.  By the grace of our great nation loving God, we left desiring to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of us.  Our journey has been flesh withering and joy-filled, but never could it be characterized as easy or “fun” like a kind of Christian camp experience. Most of you know by now of the violent break in of our home on November 8th and the terror that three wicked men brought to Gail and Ian.  I especially want to thank you all for your encouraging letters and the constant prayers you have offered to God on our behalf.  We have felt the unfailing love of God in the midst of a circumstance designed by Him for our sanctifying and the building up of his church in Argentina.

         I am writing you today to formally express what many of you already know by now, that the Lord has changed our battlefront and we will be coming back to the US for the near future.  The reasons for this decision reached by the counsel of our elders will be outlined more clearly in another article by Pastor Bob Selph who has, by kind providence, literally walked with me in this journey since the first day.   I want to now simply tell you about what great things the Lord has done in Argentina in recent months which have so greatly encouraged our broken hearts through these past few weeks.

          Many of you may remember after constituting the church on May 11th, the next month we lost the building we had been meeting in for the previous three years.  We moved to a rented space in town and the church went on with plans for the annual pastor’s conference and outreach.    We arranged the second leg of visits by Pastor Jim Adams to coincide with the conference and with the needs of William Carey Seminary in Cordoba. The theme of the conference was “Salvation is of the Lord” and the topics would cover the order of salvation in its doctrinal and experiential detail.  So beginning with our redemption rooted in the Trinity itself to the restoration of all things by the power of the gospel Pastor Jim, Pastor Omar Ramos of Chile, Pastor Freddie Burk of Argentina and I, tried to lay out each glorious phase of God’s redemption in Christ.  In addition we gave as a gift to each pastor attendee several books, “Redemption, Accomplished and Applied” by J. Murray; “The introduction to the death of deaths…” by Packer; and for the first time in Spanish, “Spurgeon and Hyper Calvinism” by I. Murray.   Generally speaking, we sold more books this year at this conference than any previous conference we have held or been apart.

           The conference this year was split between locations in Carlos Paz and the seminary in Cordoba.  The attendance however, was very strong in each place. More than 35 attended the meetings during the day sessions in Carlos Paz and the evening services in Cordoba were attended by nearly ninety each night. Despite many obstacles, pastoral attendance was very strong with more than 20 pastors or church leaders.  We had the unique pleasure of having with us this year three young men who having had contact with the conference in earlier years, wanted to come to assist and to be an encouragement to us, David Adams from Medellin Colombia, Zac Coventry from Quito, Ecuador, (along with two pastors who came with him) and Nathan Sinclar of Christ Church, New Zealand.  All three were a tremendous blessing to us and greatly enriched our fellowship together by the grace ministered to us through their acts of humble service.  Such examples of single-hearted, Epaphroditus-like devotion are too rare among young men. Many young men long to teach, but few long to serve in hard duties at their own expense. 

             Following the conference in Argentina, Jim, Omar, David and I left for Chile to continue preaching the themes of God’s redemption in Santiago. We were joined there by Pastor Cesar Guzman of Santiago who until recently was the dean of the Anglican Seminary in Santiago. Now he is seeking to plant a new congregation in Santiago.  Dr. Guzman is a very fine expositor and teacher of the scriptures and we immediately found sweet fellowship with him.  The conference in Santiago was held each evening for three nights with a steady group of 30-40 who attended.  

             After closing the conference in Santiago we immediately left for the southern part of Chile following the only major highway through that narrow country, eight hours, to the city of Temuco.  Pastors Adams and Guzman had preached there the previous year with a wonderful welcome by about 70 pastors who enthusiastically invited us back.   Unfortunately, after participating in only the first evening with the men, it was the next morning that I received the chilling phone call that Gail had been held hostage and Ian’s life threatened.  With the help of many brethren and much prayer I was able to return back home to Carlos Paz in twelve hours.  I cannot here describe to you those next few days of terror, anger, grief and pain as we considered what had happened and what to do next. Our bedroom had become a crime scene of unforgettable proportions to my wife. One imprecatory psalm after another ran through my head as I tried to comfort my wife and calm our home and lives.  After several days and counsel from several pastors and friends I decided that the best solution, for the moment was for us to return to a secure place where Gail could heal and seek counsel about our future.  I cannot go into all the detail here but over the next few weeks it became clear that the Lord himself was extracting us from Argentina and by means we would not have chosen for ourselves, we had not merely been made the target of evil men but of God himself, for the sake of his purposes in Argentina.  I am convinced that Christ loves his church and we are merely expendable instruments of what He is doing in building his church.  This truth would become clearer to me in practice as the next weeks unfolded. 

               Following the heartache of the decision to leave, the pain and regret of what appeared to be a vision lost, I came back to Argentina accompanied by Pastor Bob to pack up, sell, sort, give away and otherwise dispose of all our belongings that could not be put in an army bag or trunk.  The last few weeks have been very emotionally and tearing to my soul.  I have been made to live on the promise, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”   The Lord of unfailing love has ministered to my grieving heart by my dearest brother and Pastor Bob Selph through hours of conversation and reflection upon the work of the missionary-pastor, but even more through his gracious acts in his church in Carlos Paz.  We came here with the hope of seeing a truly indigenous confessional, reformed Baptist church planted, resting upon the sure foundation of the Scriptures and working by the leadership of the Spirit of Christ among them. In these weeks of our grief and separation from them, we have seen them locate a new place of worship in a evangelistically strategic place in Carlos Paz; secure the building with their own offerings and committed giving; remodel the building for worship with their own funds and working together with David Adams as project manager, they completed the work and began worship on the 11th of January 2009.  Pastor Jorge Molina and the deacons Claudio Molina and Alejandro Catalano have been greatly used of the Lord to shepherd and challenge the congregation to independence and stability in a way that only the Spirit of God could do.  They are very young and few, but I believe that God has set his seal of blessing upon his church and it will find great success without the missionary presence.

              If that were not enough to witness, I was still troubled to think of the brothers in San Nicolas.  The four families who have longed for us to move there and complete the work of founding a reformed Baptist church there for the past year were deeply upon my heart.  What would happen to them?  How would they stand?  After Bob returned home, Claudio, Amy and I went to visit them and to talk to the face to face about the future of their fellowship.  What I expected to find was discouragement and despair.  What I discovered was a small but now newly determined group who met for the first time on the previous Sunday morning and laid plans for meeting each week to the end of constituting a church according to the will of God.  Nico Griboff and Juan Lugo along with their families and friends number about sixteen. Ideally they need a church planter-evangelist to come along side them.  But believing that Christ will lead them, they long to see a clear testimony of truth and righteousness raised up on San Nicolas.  I have come to believe that such self-determination in a body is the first step toward establishing an identity as a church of Jesus Christ. Along with the full support of Misión de la Graica in Carlos Paz, Centro Crecer church in Cordoba and our counsel from a distance they would go forward by God´s grace supplied to them through his sure word. 

             What more could I ask of the Lord to comfort my soul as we leave?  By mere human sight, these are fragile works, but spiritually speaking they are as fragile as the power of the Triune God that upholds them and the grace of the cross that will sustain them.   Our future is uncertain but the past proves to me that Christ has lead us and he has not erred but rather done all this for the good of his church and renown of his glory in Argentina.  Wasn’t that the whole reason we came and for which we were sent?  We have deposited our treasure and while we will continue in contact with Argentina in an auxiliary way, I can say I have nothing left to give. For the first time in my life we have no physical address, no furniture, a borrowed car, even all the books I came with I will leave to Argentines to use, yet we feel abundantly supplied and rich for having done the will of God. There are many things that I would now do differently, but by the grace of God, I can say that I could have done nothing with more zeal or sincerity as a gospel missionary or evangelist. 

                I want to thank you again for your faithful support of me as an association of churches and gospel loving individuals. We continue to need your prayers as the events of recent months have left us very weak.  Pray that we will accept no substitute but that we may find our rest in Christ alone.  We are hopeful that this is but a pause in our formal missionary labors, however whether it is or not, we have placed our trust in the wisdom of the All Wise, “so great is his unfailing love.”  

                                                        In gospel bonds,

                                                                              Don       

           As a first installment of that commitment let me share with you a portion of the testimony of my great-great-great- grandfather which was presented to our first Donell family reunion in more than 20 years.   We were all so impacted by the testimony of Samuel Donell.  Samuel Donell was a godly father and grandfather, staunchly opposed to slavery, a Scottish Presbyterian in the line of John Knox, and a ruling elder in his local presbyterian church.   I hope it will encourage you to pray for your children and to remember those who have contributed to your faith.  No person stands alone!  We all are held up by another who came before us.  I hope you will take the time to read this brief testimony of a dying saint whose longing was for the souls of his children…. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!  His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”  Psalm 112:1,2 

“To my children, and those connected with them, I need hardly say, I feel and have felt a great desire for your happiness, here and hereafter.  God has been pleased to bestow o on you neither poverty nor riches, but has fed you y with food convenient.  You are drawing near old age.  The evil days will come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say: “I have no pleasure in them.”  Realize that if you hop for heaven, you must work out your salvation with fear and trembling.  The precious promise of the Savior to his people is: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”  Never forget the responsibility that rests o on you to bring up your children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  Use all your influence and means to promote the glory of God, in the extension of Christ’s kingdom to the whole world.

To my grandchildren both old and young: Dear children.  I greatly desire that you may be happy, here and hereafter; but that this may be your happy lot, you must love and serve God.  I want you to consider what God has said of your state by nature.  “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,.”  And again, “The wages of sin is death.”  If this is true, then you need a Savior.  The Bible tells us “That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,” and the “He bore our sins in his own body on the Cross.”  But this will not avail you unless you give your hearts to Christ, to love, serve and obey him.  God will only pardon those that sincerely repent of their sins, and forsake them, and seek forgiveness for Christ’s sake alone.  I have no fear that any of you will be openly vicious or profligate; but have great fear that you may neglect religion and lose your souls.  I expect you will be moral, decent, and respectable, that you will regularly attend the means of grace, give decent attention at the house of God, but nothing short of true sorrow for sin, faith in Christ an obedience to His will, will ever save a sinner.  I ask you read seriously Matt. 25:31 (the last judgment).  May God in mercy touch all your hearts, and bring you to Christ.

I have written these lines in a state of great suffering, being greatly desirous to impress your minds with the value of your souls.  However little you may think of me or my advice, I entreat you for the last time to give these lines that I have written expressly for you a serious, solemn consideration.  They were written by one who loves your souls.  May the blessing of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob rest upon each of you in life, in death, and through eternity, is my humble prayer to God.  If it is thought work while, a plain stone may be placed at my grave with this inscription:

HERE LIES

ALL THAT WAS MORTAL OF

SAMUEL DONELL, SR.

BORN NOV. 23, 1769

DIED? (SEPT. 29, 1850)

IN HOPE OF A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION

in gospelbonds,

                        Don

Misión de la Graica Constituting Service, May 11,2008 Part II

I know there were many of you who expressed you desire to be with us on this wonderful occasion of the Constituting service of this new church.  So I am posting here the links to the video in two parts of the entire service.   “Part I” takes you through the actual constituting which include the signing of the articles of faith and the verbal covenant made to each other as members.   “Part II” includes the preaching of Pastor Omar Ramos of Chile who delivered the charge to the church, followed by Pastor Bob Selph who brought an affirmation of greetings from the “mother Church”, GBC of Taylors, SC.   The service was entirely in Spanish of course, with the exception of Bob’s message. 

          I want to again thank each of you for your prayers for us and for this congregation.  As a group they are facing challenging days since we have lost our building location, about two weeks ago.  Please pray for the Lord to meet this very important need in the  life of the saints of Mision de la Graica

Click on the banner for information about a great missions conference… I will be in the states preaching at a missions conference held in Norman, Oklahoma the same week.  Please pray for these times of encouragment and challenge to our hearts about the worthiness of God to be known and the need of man to hear of His greatness and worship Christ.  

                               in gospelbonds,

                                                  Don

It has been without a doubt one of the greatest experiences of my life over the past six years to see the the grace of God at work through His word to call out a people from among the many to whom we have witnessed and worked since we arrived in Villa Carlos Paz.   In that period of time we have seen approximately 96 people come in contact with our preaching for extended periods of time.  Some endured for a month others for years, but all 96 eventually left.  Some left because of the doctrine, others because of the practice that the doctrine demanded; others left because of the worship style, “too much preaching” or too many hymns;  others said there were not enough marriage prospects; others went away because we would not be a financial or social support system for them; others feared living with the biblical expectations of practical holiness and personal commitment to one another in a local church.  It has been sad to see these go away.  We cannot say that they were all unbelievers, although some undoubtedly were.  Others were merely those who have bought into  the lie that the church is merely an institution that exists to meet the needs of a “spiritual consumer”.    

             Paul has clearly said that the church is so much more.  In Ephesians 3 he refers to the chruch as, “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things,” .  The church has always been upon the mind of God in all his gracious purposes for mankind and for that matter even “heaven-kind”.  Paul leaves no doubt about the purpose God has for the church, ”so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Ef.3:10,11).    God did not make all these plans merely to occupy a small place in the mind and life of mortals who have needs.  But so that He might display through this new creation, the church, the rainbow colors of his wisdom and glory to the very top of the created order.   

It seemed that on this past Sunday when we looked upon the 13 new members of this, the first reformed baptist church to be planted in Argentina by an American missionary, we were viewing something that the world would take little notice of but that, according to the Bible, the event had incredible eternal and spiritual importance.  Those 13 committed souls represented, “the manifold wisdom of God”.   There were husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, a north american daughter-in-law and her Argentine in-laws, there was a policeman, and a casino employee, an artist and a tennis teacher, an english teacher and a hotel employee.  However, in all their differences it was only  one characteristic that they all shared which qualified them to take the covenant vows that they pledged to eachother before God and witnesses… they were all sinners, called out from the world to be a singular,  “spiritual house” and a “holy priesthood”.    It was as though before  our very eyes and to our very ears we saw the Lord form these “living stones” into a ”people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”  . 

The witnesses present for this act were; the good brethren who came from the Grace Baptist Church of Taylors, Pastor Bob Selph his wife Cathi, Pastor Chad Clint and Aaron Selph, as well as my dear brothers from Chile, Pastor Omar Ramos and brother Javier Valenzuela; also several brothers from the church in Cordoba, “Centro Crecer” whose pastor is Sam Masters a dear friend an fellow missionary.  We were so thankful that these could join with us as each one has had some role in the progress toward this day as insturments by the grace of God. But furthermore they represent three countries and cultures brought together to bear witness and marvel with us at the grace and work of the Triune God.  

It was a particularly blessed day for my wife and I as we tasted the sweet fruit of our labors for the past 7 years hear in Argentina.   As sower of the seed we did not make it to grow, nor did we sustain it by our power or will, we were not the author of its goodness, neither could we make the soil to receive it.  We merely were the farmers. We sowed. We watered. We cultivated. We waited.   And we did none of this alone. We had many helpers who worked with us and the power of a mysterious and wonderful providence ordained by God who brought us into contact with each soul now present.  But most of all it was the person of the Holy Spirit sent before us who prepared and prospered the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He “over-shadowed” the Word that was sown so that it supernaturally grew in the hearts of those who heard it, making much of Jesus and his work for sinners.    We have known much frustration, yet I do not believe that it was in vain, but God sanctified us through each of the 96 who turned away.   So that on the 11th of May 2008, in these 13 “living stones”, He has glorified Himself by so much more grace than we could have imagened, that all our grief has been turned to joy.  To Him be glory in the Church, now and forevermore!!!

                                in blessed bonds,

                                                         Don 

larry norman memorial service montage

I think to really “GET” a person you need to know what they listen to.  I know that some of you think I fit pretty squarely into a “reformed baptist-missionary-50´s guy”.  But that can be a pretty “flat screen” image of my life.  So let me tell help you to know where I get some of my more “undefined edges”.   I would trace them back to my first year as a christian when I knew what “religion” was, having grown up in the church.. but I did not know how to follow Jesus as a disciple.  Then the man who God used to lead me to Christ gave me some albums of Larry Norman, (that have turned out to be collectors edition copies).  In his music I found out for the first time what authentic christianity ought to be… ”outside the lines” of church, religion and “safe speech” about God.   

             So if you care to listen, hit the button (larry norman memorial service montage) , and go see and hear one of the most profound influences of my early christian life…  I am convinced he was the most relavant christian singer/songwriter of the past 40 years.  But be warned: what Larry sings about is not “safe”.   Jesus said, “I have cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled… I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (Luke12:49-51)  and continuing another said to him, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Jesus said to him, ”"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.”"  Luke 9:61-62    

                       in bonds,

                                              Don

            Even Paul had some words to say about how the body of Christ reacts to itself and its “weaker parts”, saying, “And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.”  There is just something proper about how much or how little we let people see of our lives.  The application to the church is one of giving equal honor to all the members of the body of Christ.  But I fear some have used this to forego a “transparency” that the gospel requires and that humbles us to seek grace for one another. 

             Frankly, I have found that even the “blogosphere” makes some people feel very uncomfortable.  The fear of “electronic exposure” can be pretty frightening to some.  It can give them something of the feeling of waking around your downtown in bad spandex or a bikini to see your name in someone’s blog.  Maybe those of us who blog are some of the more daring, but clearly, we should also be the most sensitive to the power of this medium.   

             Call me crazy, or maybe an “electronic exhibitionist” but I  have recentely joined my name to the millions who are now using “Facebook” as their tool of electronic exposure.  It is a great tool for keeping in touch with people close to our life and gaining an insight into the lives of others as well.    For me it helps me separte family from ministry. For those who are more intrested in family and the people who I hang out with the most… go to my facebook ;  but for you who, “just want the facts” about ministry and missions and occasionally the men who are most effecting the work we do, you are in the right place…  

          Honestly, for all that is written about the “ills” of this “post-modern” age, when it is all said and done, we may find that our society and this generation owes a great debt to postmodernism, because it may be that through their willingness to be transparent and risk over-exposure that they may lead us to face some realities about who we really are.  That is it is really not “over exposure” that we are afraid of, but being seen and known at all beyond a very select group of people.  See you soon!!!!

in gospel bonds,

                 Don

Not only are we moving around on the web differently, but thanks to the generosity of the people of God, the Lord has provided for us a new way to move around Argentina as well.   Some of you know the struggles we have had over the past few years with car problems that restricted our ability to go where we needed to go for the sake of the gospel…  We rejoice that God has provided for us the Hyundai Tucson to carry us from place to place as He opens doors for us.   However, new car, old car or no car, our confidence and hope is that the Lord will extend his mercy and grace in the gospel throughou this entire country.  We often remember the words of Ps.147:10-11,  

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
   nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,   (or the wheels of a car)
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
   in those who hope in his steadfast love.

                                in gospelbonds,

                                                    Don