On Sunday, October 12, 2008, University Baptist Church commissioned Michael & Rebekah Constante as they surrendered to God's call as missionaries. The Constantes are working in Lima, Peru, through the International Mission Board. They are involved in translator ministry and working with churches (like UBC) who have partnered to start church planting movements. Their assignment - discipling and evangelizing translators - places them on the same missionary team who has been helping UBC start churches in the villages of the Huarochiri people group.
We give thanks for Michael's service as our Minister of Childhood Education and rejoice with the family in the new odyssey God has for them. Pray for the Constantes as they serve on to the mission field. Check below for updates and additional prayer requests.
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"With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
Dearest Prayer Warriors,
We find ourselves at the end of April and wonder again where the month has gone. But, with two active boys and a full schedule of Bible studies, the time has indeed flown past.
Thank you for your prayers for the Bible studies. God has blessed Michael with good discussions coming from his study of the scriptures. The attendees are interested in more than just English. They desire to study the word of life and to understand how it can change their lives. Please continue to pray. We have gone down to only having Bible studies on Sundays and Tuesdays. Thursdays will become another work day as we have more teams coming with the approach of the American summer. Pray for Michael as he plans and prepares for these studies. Pray for people to arrive, to be involved, to understand, and to grow.
Pray for the assigning of translators to teams. Please ask the Lord of the harvest to bring up translating-harvesters to help our English speaking teams communicate God's truths to the Spanish speaking villagers in the Highlands of Peru.
Pray for us as we still have many struggles with health.
Joshua is growing and learning every day. He livens our household with smiles and playing. Pray for him as he grows.
Gabriel is so much fun and a joy to be around. His mind seeks out new truths and he finds creative ways to live out his day. He is making strides in his spanish. Pray for him as he processes the truth of God's love.
Please pray for our Peruvian friends. The recent presidential elections became a run-off, which will happen June 5th. Most of our friends are concerned with the results. Whoever of the two becomes president will change the stability of Peru and could affect life in major ways, as well as affect evangelism in Peru.
Also, please pray for us as we look toward the future. We must finish well here and then we must begin again...somewhere. Pray with us as we seek God's will for us.
Praise God and thank you for praying for something that you did not even know about. We were able to get Joshua's Peruvian i.d. card. There were some difficulties that God resolved! He is an official Peruvian/American citizen. Please pray now as we get his Peruvian passport.
Thank you for your love and support. As always, we love hearing from you and knowing how to lift you up to Our Father.
in Him, Los Constante: Michael, Rebekah, Gabriel, and Joshua
2.19.11
Hello, dear Prayer warriors, As I write these words I am all the more aware of the truth of what we call you, prayer warriors, and what you actually do for us. You go to God the Father on our behalf and plead for us. This is the only way we can make it through the spiritual warfare the likes of which we find ourselves deeply entrenched.
Gabriel is sitting beside me with an icepack on his eye. Yesterday he got a typical kid injury, a black eye due to tripping and hitting his head on a chair. Please pray for him! He has started back to his little 2 day a week school (nido) and is learning so much.
Joshua is doing well, growing, sleeping, and is almost ready for solid foods. Heremains to be one of our biggest connectors in speaking to people.Please pray for hishealth and for us as we attempt to teach him the basics of living and eating. Please pray for our boys that they will be open to the Father and will one day give their lives to Him.
Michael has been battling another health issue since yesterday. It seems to be a combination of yet another kidney stone and possibly a virus. Please pray that he will be restored to full health so that he can continue leading the Bible studies. Also, please pray specifically for Thursday night Bible studies, beginning at 6pm eastern time. Michael has been teaching intense evangelism these nights and has been having technical difficulties every time. These difficulties are different every time, but have consistently been disruptive. Please pray that these difficulties will stop.
Pray for me as I continue to support Michael in these Bible Studies in whatever way I can. Pray also as I teach the boys each day. Pray for patience and wisdom.
Pray specifically as I begin to choose and purchase prekindergarten homeschool material for Gabriel. Also, it is a bit far away, but please pray for us as we look toward the end of our term in October. We need direction from the LORD as to what is next.
Thank you for your continuous support of us as we obey Him. Please keep us posted on your lives and how we can pray for y´all.
in Christ´s love,
Michael, Rebekah, Gabriel, and Joshua Constante
10.25.10
Hello, dear prayer partners! Since we last wrote, much has happened in our lives. I'm sure the same can be said of you and we would love to hear of that. Since we last wrote, our family of three has become four! Joshua Raphael Constante arrived September 2, 2010 at 5:50 pm by emergency c-section. God's hand was amazingly evident in every part of this and it's wonderful to recount details. Gabriel was able to go about a somewhat normal day and then stayed with some dear friends. We were in good hands with the doctor we chose and the hospital we were at. Two of the nurses that "happened" to be on duty at the time we came in (there are no coincidences, but only the sovereign love of God) were Christian friends of some of our translators. They took excellent care of Rebekah and Michael (and Joshua!) and when the time came for the unexpected surgery, one was able to be in the operating room, offering up her prayers.
Friends surrounded us from the moment he arrived until we left the hospital and then more. Sweet missionary friends provided food and diapers and much more. He is growing and thriving here. He is a happy baby. Please pray that he continues to be healthy and grow as he needs to.
Gabriel loves his new little brother, his only complaint being that Joshua is still not big enough to play with him. Gabriel loves to help mommy and daddy and to sing to Joshua. Pray for him, though, as adjustment is hard. Pray that we will have wisdom and strength to train him and hold him through the changes.
Mommy and Daddy are doing much better, but there is soooo much to do with life and the work. Pray for the ability to do it all and to trust in God through it all!
Grandmommy was able to come for a visit for two weeks and offered much needed help with Rebekah recovering and Gabriel needing to play:) Praise God that she was able to come.
In the realm of translator ministry, please pray for these folks who sacrifice their time and abilities to the Lord. Pray for them as they go out with teams to teach the truth of the Lord. Pray for us as we match up translators with teams. Also, pray for our Bible studies that are held weekly. Last night, "M" came with a friend. He was searching spiritually and asked for prayer.
Our home church in San Antonio has adopted an area of villages here and has begun to partner with our church here in Lima in order to reach these villages in order to begin a church planting movement. God worked in amazing ways in these villages in June and July. Our church here is about to go up on Wednesday to get to know the area and to see what needs to happen next. Michael, as a representative of both churches, has been asked by the pastor here in Lima to go with them. What an exciting time for him to return to these villages he visited almost 2 years ago! Pray for this trip: for safety (especially up the mountain:)), for health, that folks will be home and will be willing to accept the team. Pray that those who accepted the truth a few months ago will be growing and flourishing in the word and will be encouraged by this visit. Pray for Rebekah and the boys as they remain in Lima.
Please let us know what is happening in your lives and how we can pray for you!
Thank you for supporting us with your prayer. We could not be here apart from the sustaining grace of the Lord!
in Him,
Michael, Rebekah, Gabriel, and Joshua Constante
5.15.09
We have not written in way too long and we do apologize for this. We intend to get into a better schedule. Here's what's been happening with us. We have begun the second trimester of school. Michael continues with classes and learning Spanish. Please pray for him as this is tiring and difficult. Rebekah has only one class now and that is a translation class. We are praising God that she is able to have more time with Gabriel. Gabriel continues in his daycare and at home and is growing like crazy. His new fascinations are aviones (airplanes) and the rain cover on his stroller. Yes, the rainy season is off to a slow, but sure start. Often we walk home after school, barely making it in time before the rain begins.
We are attending First Baptist Desamparados weekly and have begun singing in the choir. It is a short term choir, preparing for a cantata in June. Rebekah's Bible study with Ruth dissolved unexpectedly. Ruth has disappeared. Please pray for her. Please pray for us as we seek out opportunities to minister as a family. God has given us the ability to help a new IMB family who recently arrived and knows no spanish.
Michael has pneumonia currently and is on medication, but continues with classes.
We have a short three months until we get to Peru and look forward to hitting the ground running.
We do miss y'all and think of you often. Pass on our love to all.
1.22.09
There is a praise song that says, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord...You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Blessed be the Name." It comes from the verses in Job when He chooses to bless the Lord in spite of and because of all that has happened to him. Well, we have not been through even a minor portion of the bad that happened to Job, but in the abundance God has given us we are learning this lesson. Blessed be the name of the Lord in all that He does to us, through us, and even in spite of us. In fact I would say that our heart will learn to say, even more, blessed be His name!!
Here we are in Costa Rica and once again we find ourselves in the middle of what God has planned for us. We sometimes glimpse more details of that which He has done, but we always know that He is in control and has us here for His purpose.
We have completed one week of orientation and two weeks of school and are beginning to settle into the city. We are in a great location--right next to a beautiful ciy park where Gabriel likes to play soccer and on the playground. We have a wonderful house that has much light and air.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Our current requests are these:
-for rest and health
-for ability to learn Spanish well
-for family time
-for opportunities to share the truth of Christ -for the victims of the recent earthquake: that God will use people's fear to turn them to Himself.
Thank you for your faithful friendships!
Michael, Rebekah, and Gabriel
1.12.09
Hey y`all! Just a quick note letting you know that we are here in Costa Rica; we´re okay. We started school this morning, and we survived the earthquake. Our internet use is limited for the moment, so I´m making this short and please be patient with delays in replies. We should get internet in the house soon. Thank you for your continued prayers. We are praying for you also.
