Emily Brumbelow Newsletter (Winter 2022)

Dear Friends, Family & Supporters;

Hello to you all! As always, it’s nice to be sitting down writing this to you. I hope and pray this newsletter finds you all doing well and thriving in this new year of 2022!

What’s Been Going On: 

Since my last update I had the amazing opportunity to go with my church to Bolivia! It was a wonderful trip and I had such a good time. We were there for around 12 days working with a local orphanage in Caranavi, Bolivia called ‘Case de Esperanza’. Our trip to Bolivia was quite a journey, but it went well. We drove four hours to fly out of Miami, FL to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We then had a connecting flight to La Paz, Bolivia. La Paz is a beautiful city with gorgeous snow-capped mountains and lots of people bustling around. However, this meant the elevation in the city was pretty crazy and quite the adjustment. We weren’t there for too long, and then we drove directly to Caranavi. It’s about a six-hour drive with lots of bumps, turns and bruises! It was an experience to say the least. 

Once we arrived at the orphanage and settled in, we had the opportunity to meet the children. Let me say this…the people who live and work there are some of the most kindhearted individuals I’ve ever met. It was a true blessing to get to know them. 

While we were there we worked on tiling one of the buildings and also doing stucco on the outside of the building. It was a lot of fun to learn new skills and work alongside people from my church! 

After about eight days in Caranavi we drove back to La Paz to do a little sightseeing. Unfortunately, some of us got pretty sick from the altitude, but it was still an awesome time seeing the city. They have something called a ‘teleferico’, which are basically sky lifts all across the city. It was so cool! Overall, it was such a fun experience and I’m so glad I could go.

Work: 

As always, work is going well! I’m staying very busy as our fiscal year end was 9/30/21. So, I’ve been working on our annual audit and staying busy with that. We also had our calendar year end stuff in December, so that was a busy time as well. We are thankful for the mortgages which help to keep the ministry running overseas. When I’m not doing mortgage finances, I’ve had the opportunity to help with some of our overseas finances and audits (for our worldwide bases). This has been fun to work with, as I have been able to learn more about our overseas bases, and see all of their work that is going on. I would ask for your prayers as we finish up our annual audit and prepare for tax season!

 & Bible School Stuff:

This fall I taught in the Bible school, and it was a joy for me. I taught them Apologetics and it was definitely a growing time for me. As a teacher I find I’m always learning so much more than I did as a student. But it’s good for me; I always want to keep learning and growing in my walk with Christ. 

This past October I was able to host a fun fall night for the students along with a good friend of mine. We had a pumpkin painting contest, roasted hot dogs and s’mores, and had worship around the campfire. It was so fun!! I love our students.

This winter I’m teaching in the Bible school again! Our classes started up January 4th, and I’m teaching a Cross-Cultural Communications class. Basically, how to be a missionary and communicate well with the people you are working with (stateside or internationally). It’s been an encouraging class and very eye-opening. Please be praying for me as I teach, that I would glorify Jesus through it. Also, pray for our students (we have five!), that they would be encouraged and strengthened in Jesus. 

Another fun tidbit is that I’m actually substitute coordinating the Bible school while the current coordinator is overseas. I’ll be doing this job for around five weeks. Please be praying for me! It’s a lot of responsibility and work for me, so pray that I will manage my time well. 

Holidays & Vacations: 

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! (Belatedly). I pray you all had an awesome holiday season. For Thanksgiving I stayed in Florida. I went to the Kostners’ house and we had a delicious meal together. I also had one of the students stay with me over the break, so it was nice to spend some time with her. For Christmas I was able to go home to Georgia for eight days! It was a wonderful trip home and so nice to have time with my family. For New Years I was back in Florida and spent some time with a family I go to church with. Overall, it was a wonderful holiday season for me, and I was blessed by the time off. It’s been a crazy year! But God has been so, so good through it all. 

Other Tidbits: 

I’ve been doing my best to continue being involved with my local church. I’m a part of a community group on Wednesdays which I love. I’m also a part of a ladies Bible study on Saturday mornings, which has been so beneficial in my walk with the Lord. Finally, I’ve been able to start helping on the tech team at church—helping with slides and stuff, and it’s been fun to learn! I’m so thankful for the church I attend here; they’re a blessing to me. 

What’s Upcoming? 

Right now I’m busy with work and teaching and that’s not changing in the coming months! Something that will be coming up before long is our summer ministry, and I’m so excited. As of now, I’m scheduled to lead a teen team that’s going to Asia. As many of you know, this could change, but I’ll keep you all updated as I know more. Please pray with us and for us as a ministry, that we would be prepared for the summer teams,  that the teams will be able to go and that COVID would not be a hindrance to the ministry! As Staff, this is our favorite time of the year, so we are waiting very expectedly. 

Finances:

My finances and support are still going well, but I have dropped a little lower in support these past few months, so I am looking for additional full-time supporters. If you or someone you know would be interested, please reach out to me! [email protected]

You can also donate online at https://teenmissions.org/missionary/brumbelow or physical checks made out to Teen Missions can be mailed in with the coupon attached to this newsletter. Please be praying for my support!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this update. Thank you for your continued love and support of me. What a blessing it is! 

Lately the Lord has been teaching me more about Him and His loving kindness. I’ve been encouraged these past months by Ephesians 2:4-7 which says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” 

The verses previous to this talk about how we were dead in and to sin, BUT GOD being rich in mercy saved us! Wow, how beautiful that is to know. The words ‘But God’ have been a continual reminder to me these past few months, and I pray they encourage you. 

Lots of love & many blessings, 

Emily