May 2020 – The Maness Family

70 Days so far in Mandatory Quarantine

As of the day of writing this report, we have completed 70 days of manditory quarantine. While we have been under quarantine, the kids have continued their homeschooling during the day. I have continued preparing and putting out materials and using technology to connect to individuals. We are allowed to leave the house for groceries and medical supplies. During those times we continue to have discussions with individuals.

We were allowed to go out 1 hour on the weekend 500 meters from the house. The kids were so excited to leave the house!

“Thank You for the Bible!”

Was the response the next day after we had gifted a Bible to one of the people on our daily audio message list. You would be amazed how many homes that go to some type of church that do not own a Bible. Another person this month had requested 5 Bibles to read together with his family. Please pray for them. Before the quarantine I had felt led to buy several Bibles that were on sale downtown. I am so glad that we did, as we have been able to get out a lot of materials this month.

More People Added to the List to Receive a Daily Bible Message

At the beginning of the quarantine we began sending out an audio message each day to 5 individuals and three WhatsApp groups. As of right now we are sending out to the same three groups as well as 36 individuals. Please pray that the Lord will give me the right words to send out each day.

A Sample Text of One Audio Messages that We Send Out Each Day

Video Messages on YouTube

One of the problems that we have had on Wednesday nights is that several of the people that we normally meet with do not have good stable internet. That group is not able to receive the videos because of their internet. What we have been doing for Sunday and Wednesday is to record both video and audio. They have been enjoying the daily audio messages and the ones that can access the videos have been using those resources.

We are study through tbe book of Mark online and through WhatsApp.

Birthday in Quarantine

We had celebrated 2 birthdays in quarantine last month and had another one this month. At the end of the month our daughter Elisabeth turned eight years old. The kids have found many creative ways to make presents for their siblings.

Sharing Jesus with Delivery Drivers

Since we are not allowed to get out we have been bringing people to us. There were two delivery drivers about a week ago that both were given a book of Romans with the plan of Salvation. I mention them because of the positive reaction that they gave when I gave it to them. Not everyone receives the message as openly. Please pray for them!

Gospel of John with the Plan of Salvation

A little over a year ago I began a project to combine a beautiful presentation of the Gospel with the complete text of the Gospel of John with the next steps of discipleship included in the last third of the the book. It is freely available on our website. If you know any Spanish speaking people, please make sure that they get a copy. It is free! After the quarantine is lifted, we want to find a good price on mass printing of this book to be able to pass out. If there are any questions about the book or its contents, please email me.

Bonus Pictures

Our Spanish Website

Http://phttp://profundizandoenlapalabra.org

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Two Years in Argentina

Another Month in Mandatory Quarantine

So how do you write a report for a month that feels like a year. April saw us still in quarantine here in Argentina but we didn’t slow down we just changed our methods. Scott has continued to send out a daily message to our ever growing list of friends and followers here. Whenever he goes out to buy groceries he takes the opportunity to talk to the employees of the stores and let’s them know about the messages he sends out to a list of friends. So far the reception has been very positive.

Family Time on the Roof
Bible Study
A little family time on the Balcony

Open Doors in Spite of Closed Doors

Open Doors in Spite of Closed Doors

One perfect example of an open door was when Scott went to one store that an agnostic friend owns. The daughter of the store owner was working that day when Scott told her about the encouraging messages he sends out daily. He asked her if he could talk to her father to see if he would like to be on the list of recipients. She was adamant that he would not want to listen to anything Christian since he’s agnostic. But Scott got his number anyway and told her he would still like to ask him. We were a little surprised but happy when he agreed whole heartedly that he would certainly like to receive the messages Scott sends out.

We praise the Lord for all those who are willing to hear the Word of God and we pray that each one that hears will come to know the Lord as their personal Savior through the preaching of His word.

Online Bible Meetings

Besides these daily messages we also have been continuing the Wednesday night Bible Study with the group that normally meets at Marcelo’s house. Only now we’ve been having to experiment with ways to meet electronically. So far we’ve tried WhatsApp and Zoom. You can view those recorded meetings on our YouTube channel “Profundizando En La Palabra.”

If you want to see a list of all the Bible Studies audio and video that we’ve been sharing during this time you can view the list on our Spanish Website at profundizandoenlapalabra.org.

The above pictures are of the various online Bible Studies we’ve had and the last picture is of the Pastors’ Monthly Prayer Meeting which we originally planned to host in our home this month. We plan to invite them to our home again at some point when the quarantine has lifted.

Good News from a Friend

Another praise is our friend, Hugo, that Scott had been having Bible studies with before the quarantine, called Scott through his mother’s phone. That truly was a blessing to our hearts as we had no way to communicate with him before his call and no way to know how he and his family were doing. They are well but as with many the quarantine has hurt their business financially.

Other Activities

• Also during the month we continue to work on our language learning with 4 hours of classes through Zoom each week.

• Elisabeth and I continue taking violin lessons through WhatsApp.

• We as a family have also finished reading through the book of John together out loud in Spanish. We are now setting out to finish Matthew by the middle of May.

• Not getting to go outside has been hard but we try to make up for it with activities at home which we would probably not have started on what would have been our schedule this year. You can see pictures of some of those activities included in this report.

• Also this past month Hannah started back offering guitar lessons for her friend. Since they couldn’t meet in person for their lessons Hannah offered to teach her online. Hannah did a video for her which can be seen on her YouTube channel.

• Jonathan has also been working on digital music recording and we’ve been posting his videos on YouTube as well. Here are some links to our various YouTube channels:

Our Spanish YouTube Channel – Profundizando en la Palabra: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1srJ8XWa1QVzKXu9Q5clA

Scott Maness’ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/psalm34vs3

Anastacia Maness’ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/asmile4ever

Hannah Maness’ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNUDyDxWM0mOy4DcGinkNUQ

So during this time of mandatory staying at home we are still keeping busy and reaching out in every way possible. We can only imagine the doors the Lord will open as soon as the quarantine ends. Please pray for those we are in communication with that the doors will continue to open.