CHANGE IS NEVER EASY…BUT ALWAYS NECESSARY

    As many of you have probably already heard, we are in the middle of our transition period here in Argentina. We are preparing to move back to the USA and return to serving the Lord once again near our family and fellow Americans. It has been a wonderful 5 years spent learning, growing, serving and sharing here. We have established many connections and partnerships that will continue to grow as we move into whatever the Lord has prepared for His work in the future.  

Details and news :  For those of you who did not receive the initial letter describing our decision to return to live in the USA, here is a brief summary: 

“After many months of waiting on the Lord and taking adequate time to seek wise counsel, we would like to share some news with you.  We feel that the Lord is closing this chapter of our lives as missionaries in Argentina. We have considered simply moving locations within Argentina but none of those options brought us peace before the Lord.  So, as our final decision, we will plan to move back to the U.S. in March of 2014. In ministry transition, James will be seeking to return to Youth ministry in a place where he can utilize these years that God has given him in Argentina, to encourage and mobilize the body of Christ in the United States and the world.”

Our confirmed departure date from Argentina is March 3, 2014.  Our kids finished school in December and would be scheduled to return March 1^st.  James finished his year of teaching after the first week of December and his focus is now 100% transition details.  January and February are our summer season here which allows us the time we need to finalize ministry details, say good-bye, pack and get going.  A huge answer to prayer has been the use of a missionary home to live in while on our final furlough this spring/summer.   We share our thanks to First Baptist Church Woodstock, Georgia for such a great blessing. We will be using these coming months as a transition back to life in North America.  From March until August we will travel to visit all our supporting families and churches to give a final ministry report. We will also use it as a time to seek new ministry opportunities.*

 While transition is never an easy thing, we trust that the Lord will provide for all our needs. 

We would like to invite you to be a part of our transition with us. 

*Anyone seeking an experienced bilingual youth/young adult pastor can send an e-mail

 to pj-52@hotmail.com for a resume and references.

Updated Financial Needs:    Our one-time special transition needs consist of:

o   Airfare for 5 individuals -$5,010

o   Moving, Shipping & Relocation Fund - $7,000 - $8,000

o   Restart fund – we will begin with no furniture and minimal other items. The money earned from tag sales will be the base for this fund. ($$$ from special offerings ??)

Contributions:

Gifts may be given using the following methods:

o   Checks may be mailed to the address below with a separate note indicating that the gift is for the “Nolette Family in Argentina.” (Please leave the memo line blank)

  CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228

o   Gifts may also be given online via credit card, debit card or e-check by signing up for the “Click & Give” donate option at our mission agency website:(http://www.cmcmissions.org/donate)

o  


All donations will be tax-deductible and a receipt will be mailed to all donors directly from our Missions Agency.**

Answered Prayers:

As for how things are going recently, we are rejoicing in the faithfulness of the Lord for His many blessings and assurances that our decision is one that honors Him.  Such indications include:

·         Support Network:  We received a very reassuring response from our support team, those who challenge us and give us advice as well as our financial supporters when they received word of our transition decision.  Many thanks to all of you, our very special friends and mentors.

·         Furniture: The sale of every single piece of our furniture except one large wardrobe.

·         Vehicle: The recent sale of our car to Chinese neighbors with whom are just now really beginning to open up to friendship.

·         Home: The home we are renting will be rented out after us by a couple working with Word of Life. They just moved back to the area and were having a very difficult time finding a good space to rent.

·         Flights: Our airline tickets were confirmed.  We found a direct flight and at a great deal. Many thanks to Charlie and Sharon Li with www.FlyChina.com for all their hard work.

·         Evangelism: As most people do when you tell them you are moving, they ask you why. The same has been true for us. The blessing is that in response to this question we are able to share Christ with many people from town who do not understand our decision to follow Christ’s leading no matter where it takes us.

·         Partnerships: Many churches and ministries have already given us open invitations to bring short term missions teams from the states whenever the chance arises in the near future.  James even received the invitation to travel in the next couple of years with an evangelistic skate team to Seville, Spain and Mafra, Portugal .  (Of course we will be happy to oblige as God allows)

 

•    Continued support through August 2014 during our transitional period, or until we are able to transition into a new full time position.
•    A strong finish to our ministries with smooth exchanges of leadership
•   The Lord’s continued guidance into a new area of ministry within the U.S.
•  The decision making process regarding things to leave/sell and things to bring with us.
•  The provision of finances for the move back from Argentina.
•   To find the right freight forwarding company with which to send boxes of household items, keepsakes and James library.
•   Opportunities to Share the Gospel and be a blessing all the way up to the moments we leave the country. That Christ will use us through every step of the way.

November 2013 Update

Many thanks to all those who continually pray for us and support the work of evangelism and discipleship here in Argentina. Below are some highlights from the previous two months:

• Currently I am finishing my year of teaching at the christian school. Things are going great and we look to get the kids in the English graduation ceremony by December 5. 
• The church recently attended the Pic-Nic for the Family at Word of Life this past Saturday. Once again record attendance was recorded as we filled 17 buses with a total of almost 900 children and adults. Many decisions were made and will be followed up on in the coming months. 
• In December or January I will be traveling with 12 other adults and students to a coastal city to the south of Buenos Aires for a skateboarding event. There will be live Christian bands, an exhibition by some pro skaters and our group of christian skaters will host a tournament and share Christ. 

Prayer Requests:

1. That my students at the school would apply themselves and finish their materials on time. That I can make one more strong impact on them for the Gospel and ministry before finishing the school year. 
2. Pray for the local government to approve of all the permits for the event.  Pray for safe travel, wisdom and boldness in sharing the Gospel during the outreach activity. Pray that the Lord would prepare the hearts of all the lost who are to attend to be sensitive to Christ. Also for an injury free event : )   That is always a great risk!
3. Pray for a solid follow up with those who made professions of faith during the Picnic Event. Ask also for a good transition and placement into regular church attendance and into a small group. 

Cordoba Skateboarding Evangelism Training

Above the video of our recent Skate Ministry Trip. 

Where: San Francisco, Cordoba

Who: 5 adults and 4 teens

Why:  Teach how to use skateboarding as an evangelistic tool

What: Teaching 2 workshops and hosting a public skateboarding tournament in the city

Results:  Several salvation decisions, interest in the local church, unity among the Christian Skaters Team and increased exposure for the Christian Skaters Ministry

July 2013 Nolette News

Local Church Ministry: Iglesia Parque Leloir

In the month of July the Lord again blessed our church growth, as we were able to watch 5 wonderful church attenders take a step further in discipleship as they entered the waters of baptism.  Each shared their story of salvation to an audience filled with guests, members of their family and their church body. Although it was the middle of the winter and the water in the pool was quite cool, they braved the conditions to proclaim their joyous faith in Christ. We praise God for their lives and for their commitment decisions.

            This month James was able to preach twice at the regular Wednesday night prayer meeting. The first time encouraging the church to continue seeking their new found identity in Christ and the second time with instruction about the Armor of God we find in Ephesians 6:11-19. 

Christian School Teaching:

            As you know in April James returned to teaching in the Christian High School for Word of Life due to a faculty emergency.  That emergency was unable to be resolved. Therefore, he has recently reached an agreement with Word of Life to continue teaching until the end of the school year in December as the substitute teacher for the seniors.  This is the final class of students who will be graduating to receive a U.S. High School diploma since the school recently changed their English program. Due to difficulty finding an adequate teacher and the petitions of the students and their families for James to continue, he prayerfully considered the option and later agreed.  We believe it will be a huge blessing for these students to have the consistency of a male teacher with whom they trust and they know will not only teach them their curriculum, but with keep the focus centered on Christ.

            Over the Winter Vacation (July 17 – 28), James took 3 of the boys from his class to see the “Lone Ranger” for a social outing. It was a good time to develop a deeper relationship with the kids, discussing personal and family life situations as well as building a deeper trust that will strengthen the classroom environment.  (Photo: James feeling patriotic on the 4th of July)

Audio Recording for Show Infantil:

            During the months of June and July, Tanya has been working hard in the audio studio. NO…she is not going to be releasing a hit Spanish single any time soon. Actually, she has been doing recordings for the new traveling Children’s Stage Show that Word of Life Argentina produces every two years.  She was asked to participate in the recordings two years ago and it resulted in such a beautiful chemistry with the production team that she was asked to return.  This year she will be vocalizing for several characters and songs in an evangelistic presentation of the “Circus.” 

SKATEBOARDING ministry:

            As you may have seen, in the month of June the skate team traveled to two destinations in a neighboring province to host some evangelistic skateboard tournaments and speak at a young adults meeting at a local church.  That local church soon became very excited about this cutting edge evangelistic approach and they have decided to bring the group back in August to explain their ministry in a workshop during an evangelism conference the church is hosting for their region.  Then the day after hosting the workshop they will be combining efforts to offer a tournament again in that same town to give the audience a “hands on” learning opportunity for sharing the GOSPEL though skating.

            Also, at a recent pastors meeting James was also able to create contacts with two pastors in the capital of Buenos Aires that are interested in learning more about what it means to reach out to marginalized teens such as the local skate groups.  James will be following up with those pastors in the coming days in an effort to help better equip local churches to reach these specialized sub-culture groups. 

NEW: Monthly reading recommendation

            For those who love to read or simply enjoy being challenged in their faith, we have decided to add a new section to our updates. These are books that we are either currently reading or have read during the previous 12 months that are related to Christian living, marriage, family or missions. 

            This inaugural month we would like to suggest to you a book that has been out for a couple of years now but that we have just recently had the opportunity to examine personally.  The book is “RADICAL” by David Platt. David Platt is the senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama.  His thesis in this book attempts to relate the necessity for Americans to not sell out their Christianity in exchange for the “American Dream.”  Instead we should radically abandon any philosophy which contradicts Scripture and wholeheartedly embrace God’s RADICAL COMMANDS to receive Christ and preach Him to the NATIONS.  We hope it challenges and blesses you as you take the time to examine it.  Here is the link to Amazon if you are interested in purchasing.   http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Taking-Faith-American-Dream/dp/1601422210