Thank you!
Many of you have already heard that Dan's dad, Otis Sonnenberg, passed away at age 94 on November 27. Thanks for your many prayers and words of comfort during his final weeks and after his death. We grieve but not as those without the hope and are grateful for the many wonderful years we enjoyed with him. We believe he is rejoicing in God's presence now as never before because he trusted in Christ for salvation. Thanks also for your continued prayers for Dan's mom, Lois, who lives in Bowling Green, Ohio.
In addition, we are sincerely grateful for those who support this ministry with your prayers and financial gifts. You enabled us to complete three teaching trips this fall in Peru, El Salvador and Haiti. And you made it possible for Beth to go along to Haiti and teach the children's ministry leaders workshop.
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Dan's family March 2018, (from left to right) Dan's brother Dave and his wife Nettie, Beth, Dan's mom and dad, Dan, and Dan's sister Meg
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Workshop 3 "Trusting God" Always a Challenge
Dan taught workshop three for pastors and ministry leaders in Peru (September), in El Salvador (October) and in Haiti (November). "Trusting God" is perhaps the most challenging workshop because it deals with some pretty difficult issues. We study and discuss, for example, what the Bible says about divorce, sexual sin, homosexuality, abortion, sickness, grief, suicide and death. Many of the participants thank us for bringing these topics to them since they are rarely discussed in their churches. And as they say, "they should be!" Hopefully, this workshop will give them the information and courage to tackle these topics with their own people.
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(Left) Peru pastors and ministry leaders
(Right) El Salvador pastors and ministry leaders
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(Left) Haiti pastors and ministry leaders
(Right) Haiti children's ministry leaders
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What's New in 2019?
1. "National Missionaries" in Latin America
A "national missionary" is an indigenous pastor who has taken all four Timothy Two workshops and is sent to other towns and cities in his own country to teach our workshops. This extends the ministry of Timothy Two in some very exciting ways. There are at least three benefits to supporting national missionaries: 1) their travel expenses are much lower than ours; 2) there is no need or expense for an interpreter; and, 3) they are already familiar with the culture.
We now have four new national missionaries prepared to begin work in Latin America: Leo Padrino and his wife Esdras Richardson in Cuba; Reynaldo Rubio in Peru; Lucien Joseph in Haiti; and, Helmuth Aguilar will be working in both El Salvador (his current residence) and Chile (his country of origin). We are in the process of developing web pages on our Timothy Two site to raise funds for each country in which these national missionaries serve. If you would like to contribute to our work in a particular country, you can do so through the links above. Helmuth already has three workshops lined up in Chile and one workshop in El Salvador. Leo and Esdras have one workshop ready to go in Cuba. And Reynaldo is ready to teach workshops in the mountain jungles of Peru. They only need the funds to be able to begin.
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(Left) Leo and his wife Esdras in Cuba
(Right) Reynaldo and his wife Nery in Peru
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(Left) Helmuth grew up in Chile and now lives in El Salvador
(Right) Lucien and his wife Roussemie in Haiti
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2. Workshop "Make-up Classes" in Latin America
Have you ever missed a class and wished for a make-up? Some of our participants have missed one or more of the previous workshops because of job conflicts. So the workshop coordinators in Belize (Steve Kohl), El Salvador (Carlos Mejia, Helmuth Aguilar, Herbert Portan) and Haiti (Lucien Joseph) are currently teaching or preparing to teach make-up classes so that when Dan returns to teach Workshop 4 next year, all the participants can receive the Certificate of Completion at the same time!!!! Praise the Lord for these faithful coordinators!
3. Workshops in New Venues and New Countries in Latin America
We have requests for workshops in 7 new venues and 4 new countries that we would like to fulfill in 2019.
1) Haiti. On our recent trip to Haiti, Beth and I met and spent time with Pastor Stanford Ambeau. He is planning to coordinate a new series of workshops in Croix des Bouquets, near Port-au-Prince.
2) Cuba. Coordinators Leo Padrino and Esdras Richardson have already hosted two series of workshops in their house-church in Havana. They are now planning a new series of workshops in Esdras' hometown, Las Tunas. Dan plans to teach the first workshop, then Leo and Esdras will teach the last three workshops.
3) Brazil. One of the participants of our workshops in Haiti, Daniel Matador, recently moved to Brazil, and he has recommended our workshops to a local pastor, Fraisius Ronald Romeus, who has agreed to coordinate a new series of workshops there. Steve Curtis will travel there soon to meet them and set it up.
4) Argentina. We recently received a request from Bishop Marcelo Heili for a series of workshops for a group of Aboriginal pastors of the Toba community in the city of Villa Rio Bermejito in the remote province of Chaco. Steve Curtis will be traveling there also soon to set it up.
5) Dominican Republic. We received a request over six months ago from Pastor Wisly Denis in the Dominican Republic to hold a new series of workshops in La Romana. He learned about us from a friend of his who grew up in Haiti.
6) Ecuador. One of our interpreters in Peru, Adin Rodriguez, recently moved to Ecuador. And he has arranged for a local pastor, Lorenzo Gimenez, to coordinate a new series of workshops in Guayaquil.
7) Colombia. Steve recently received a request for us to hold an evening workshop in the city of Cartagena because all the participants have other jobs and work in the daytime.
The speed at which we can fulfill these new requests is limited primarily by the level of our financial support. What helps us most in budgeting and planning for these trips is regular monthly support. We encourage those who have never made a donation or who are one- or two-time donors to consider becoming a monthly supporter at $5 or $10 or whatever level is comfortable. Every gift helps us more quickly train the hundreds of pastors in Latin America who do not have access to Biblical or theological training.
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With our sons James and Stephen and Beth's mother Helen
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A large part of the annual financial support for our ministry comes at the end of each year. Thank you for considering us in your year end giving! We could not continue to do our work if it weren't for your generosity. Thank you!
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There Are Three Ways to Give
- Give online at Timothy Two a recurring donation or one-time gift
- Mail a check to Timothy Two, PO Box 7889, Wilmington, NC 28406 and write "Sonnenberg" in the memo line
- Mail to or place in the offering plate at Myrtle Grove Presbyterian Church, 800 PIner Rd., Wilmington, NC 28409 a check made out to "Timothy Two Project International" and write "Sonnenberg" in the memo line
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