On the Road Again……

Greetings Family and Friends, 

Here it is the middle of winter in New England and we just had our first “real” cold spell.  It was -12º with a windchill factor that got down to at least -30º.  That is very cold but we really can’t complain.  It has been a very mild winter so far but I would not be surprised if March gives us at least one last hurrah, and by that I mean some real winter weather. 

Meanwhile, in Viña del Mar, summer is coming to a close as this week will be the International Song Festival, a yearly tradition that brings in top musicians from around the world. Most Chileans take this festival as the sign that summer is ending, the tourists are leaving and school will soon be back in session. I think about this because just yesterday we had a talk with Jessica, our MTW representative in the office in Atlanta. We were discussing, among other things, how we will handle schooling for both Jacob and Elijah when we make our return to Chile.  We have decided with much good counsel and prayer that it would be best for Jacob to be in a small, private Christian school and probably the Montessori preschool for Elijah (this Montessori school is actually just across the street from CEMIPRE!).  We will do this for probably one year and see how they do and if we are satisfied with the results. We are still most likely going to do homeschooling with them, but at first, we would like them to settle in, pick up Spanish quickly and get the necessary socialization with other children their ages. We believe this will greatly reduce their stress levels when we do settle into our home in Chile. We will be adding a few thousand dollars to our budget for their education but this was going to be added no matter what schooling option we chose for them. 

 This past December 27th was Elijah's 2nd birthday. We had friends and family over for pizza, cake, and ice cream to help celebrate. We all had a good time. It is so amazing to watch Elijah comtinue to hit milestones in developement. We pray we never lose our awe of this process of developement. God has blessed us greatly with both Jacob and Elijah. They have both brought much joy to our lives. It is our priviledge to raise these boys to love God and pursue a life with Jesus. Please enjoy the pictures we have included. 

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We will be traveling to Western Pennsylvania on the 8th of March for a five day long missions conference. This was an unexpected opportunity and we are grateful for it. This conference is unique (at least for us) because it is four churches participating and we will be presenting our ministry to each church in their place of worship; rather than the five days being in one church building. We are very excited for this opportunity to be presenting to four churches in five days plus on Saturday, March 12th, Danielle will be with the WIC (Women in the Church) ministry while I will be in a “debriefing” session with the whole presbytery. For those who may not yet know, a presbytery is a local group of churches that meet regularly to govern the local PCA churches, ordain new pastors and elders, and basically run the business of the local group of PCA churches. So in short, this is an amazing opportunity for many churches to hear about our ministry to the differently enabled in Viña del Mar, Chile. Please pray that this will become a time for us to begin real relationships with these churches and people. 

After our time at this conference, we will be headed south to Birmingham, Alabama. We are hoping to meet with as many churches and individuals as we can in two days. This trip to Birmingham will be pretty intense and busy. Please pray for patience and stamina, especially for the boys. Also, for good contacts and meetings while in Birmingham. We do ask a lot of Jacob and Elijah on these trips but thus far they both have shown they are very good travelers. We think Jacob really enjoys these “very long” car rides. 

We are also praying that this trip will be a big encouragement for our own hearts and that we will see many new financial partners as a result of these new relationships.  Specifically, we are praying that this trip will produce an additional 15% in our monthly pledges.  Would you commit to praying with us? 

Since we will be traveling for such long distances, we thought we could spend lots of time praying for each of you too!  Do you have something or someone we could be praying for?  We consider it a privilege to pray with and for you, so please shoot us an email or text message.


Thank you friends and partners for your support and encouragement.


With gratitude,
David & Danielle Grotton