Adriana and I have been working part-time at our church, All Peoples Fellowship (APF), since we moved to Carol Stream, IL in 2021. Our original task was to serve the younger families. So, we decided to try something new for the church: community group.
The idea of community group was to create a family-like atmosphere where people could get to know each other at a deeper level. Every week, we share a meal, pray for each other, and look at a passage of Scripture. The group has been a blessing in many ways for those that have participated, but we have struggled to bring new people in.
Until recently, that is. In the past few of weeks, a few new families have joined the church and one couple joined our community group. In addition, some of the longtime members have expressed interest in joining.
It has been a big encouragement for us to see the vision begin to catch on!


Family Update
Recently Adriana began a job as a behavioral technician working with children on the autism spectrum. She has enjoyed using her degree in psychology and helping these young kids learn and grow.
The week before Thanksgiving, I travelled to San Antonio for a series of professional conferences. Our mission organization rented a house for 17 missional scholars to stay together. We enjoyed a time of fellowship and iron-sharpens-iron interaction. It was a pleasure to meet for the first time several of my colleagues who serve across the globe.
I also had the opportunity to present a paper at the Evangelical Theological Society titled “Silly and Without Sense: Old Testament Anthropology and Knowledge in Hosea.” This paper jump started me on research for a chapter in my dissertation.

Ph.D. Progress Tracker
In order to complete my Ph.D. program, I need to write a dissertation (approx. 100k words in 7 ch.) and complete comprehensive exam (read and write 36 book reviews, then take exam).
My dissertation looks at the critique of religion in Hosea contextualized for Latin America.
Dissertation
- Submitting ch. 1 (20k words) on December 8.
Comprehensive Exam
- 14 of 36 book reviews complete.