Rachel Tarvin Missionary Intern to Cuzco, Peru.

May 2003

Dear Friends,

Many of you have asked, “So what are you doing this summer?” or “What are you going to do now that you’ve graduated?”  I have wanted to know as badly as may of you for a long time but true to form, God has led one step at a time. Praise God, I graduated May 7 from Pensacola Christian College with a Bachelor of Arts in Bible with a Missions Concentration.  My minors are Elementary Education / Teaching English / Spanish.  God has blessed and I know that I have grown in Him immensely while receiving a solid education.  Over Christmas I began making plans for next summer and for next year.  The place where the known and the unknown race to meet each other can be a scary point.  It’s where we have to trust our All-knowing Father the most.  Pastor Bob strongly advised pursuing a master’s degree and so after much prayer, I decided to stay on here for two years to enroll for a masters in English Education (A degree that is better than a passport for getting into some restricted access nations [countries that don’t allow missionaries], should God lead.).

This decision in hand I began to make plans for my last free summer.  After contacting the Tuttle Family, I have made plans to return to Cusco, Peru for about two months this summer to help them in the work.  I will be in Cusco from May 23-July 18.  This has been an especially trying beginning of the year for the Tuttles.  In the midst of a big trip to Lima, Debbi lost her baby (she was about 2 ½ months along).  Though in Lima they were able to get top quality medical care, she was on bed rest upon returning to Cusco and is just now getting up and around.  I see this summer as an opportunity to serve their family and their church.  Sarah and Josiah are both in school now and home schooling makes any schedule busy.  I may be able to help with some of these tasks.

At the beginning of this semester, I applied, and was accepted for the Graduate Assistant Program [A program were working for the school offsets the cost of your education and you pay nothing out of pocket].  Shortly after acceptance, I learned of elementary teaching positions at Pensacola Christian Academy.  God answered my prayer and I was released from my GA contract (That’s like moving the Andes Mountain Range) in order to be considered for a teaching position.  God further answered my prayer and I was offered the last position open at the school.   I now have a contract for teaching K5 (5 year old kindergarten).  I am amazed and praising Him for the way he worked all this out.  I am looking forward to how he will use this job to train me for what He has down the road for me.  I will still be pursuing my master’s in the summers (I will finish in August 2005).

Please pray for me as I set out on the next phase of the adventure of following God's will. Should God lead you to support me financially or with prayer, please contact me.  Anyone interested in getting e-mail reports can e-mail me at rltarvin@att.net and I will put you in my address book for bi-weekly updates from the field.  Thank you for your prayers, many of you are more responsible than you could know for my being made into what God wants me to be.

Teaching and Reaching others for Him,

Rachel Tarvin

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