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| September 2009 |
Phone: 616-755-3289 |
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Dear Praying Friends,
As summer draws to a close and fall looms ahead I realize it is time for our third quarter 2009 prayer letter. As always I am not sure where the time has gone and I have much to update you on so I hope you will take a few minutes and read this letter in its entirety.
Family Update
I know I often update you on other things before I report on the status of the family but since we have some pretty major things going on at the present time I thought I would update you on the family before anything else.
Since our last writing we have all been busy but the kids more so than normal. While we were staying at the prophet’s chamber at Bethel Baptist in Linton, IN the church had their Vacation Bible School. The kids dove in and helped them out during the week, participating in many things that needed doing. The next week I drove them up to Michigan and dropped them off for our church’s annual summer camp, where Lena worked as a counselor and the younger two enjoyed camp. After camp was over they stayed with our pastor and his family for several days until we got up to Michigan for several meetings and a week of work in our storage unit and 5th wheel trailer.
Perhaps the biggest change our family has had to deal with occurred the weekend of August 23rd. We traveled from Linton, IN to Elgin, IL and dropped Lena off at Providence Baptist College. Without a doubt this has been the hardest thing we have had to endure to date.
Don’t get me wrong: we, as parents are proud. We know she is in a good school that is part of a good church with a good pastor. She started with three other people that she knows pretty well (our pastor’s daughter, another girl from our home church and our pastor’s nephew) and after a few days has made friends already. She is already participating in their 6 plus hours of soul winning on Saturdays and she was also chosen to work a Bus Route. She has signed up for classes and found out she will be able to take piano from the college’s top piano teacher. But mom can tell you exactly how many days till we see her again. This is part of the normal growth process. Children grow up, finish High School and go off to college.
In spite of all of that we are having a hard time. I feel almost like we have lost a limb, and it definitely feels as if the family is now incomplete. Please pray for Lena as she digs into her studies and pray for all of us as we learn to deal with this separation.
Carmen is still not feeling well. We have started her on some different things to see about some improvement and/or relief but as of this writing it has not been long enough to know if it is working or not.
Ministry Update Since the beginning of July we have been working with Grace Baptist Church in French Lick, IN. This is a small church in an area where the closest Ind. Baptist Church is at least 25 miles in any direction. We know the church from back when we lived in mission housing in that area (1997-1998) and they know us so this made for an easy transition. The pastor that started the church left several years ago and the church (that was never big) began to dwindle.
Unlike some of our other projects, Their only problems are that they are small and without a pastor. The building is new, the debt is small and current and the people are grounded in what they believe and why they believe it.
We are filling the pulpit and guiding them in the pastor search process. The response has been good, we have been overrun with resumes and we anticipate that this will be a quick project.
Please pray for the people of Grace Baptist Church and for the man God has selected to be their pastor.
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News From the Road
In our last letter we were in Maine. Since then we headed south and stopped to preach in New Hampshire (on our last trip to Maine we broke down coming out and Pastor Scearbo and the folks of Olivet Baptist in W. Lebanon where a huge help to us. It was good to see them and their new building, they were certainly very gracious to us.)
We then preached Father’s day in Kearny NJ and updated a supporting church in PA on our way to Michigan. In Michigan we updated our home church and then headed to Elgin, IL to tour the college where Lena is now.
From there we turned toward Southern Indiana to update a supporter and investigate the situation at Grace Baptist Church.
Since that time we have made another trip to Michigan to get into our storage unit and try to get our 5th wheel trailer in shape. While we were there (a week) I also preached in four different churches.
We are again grateful for safe travel and God’s provision for the expenses of the road.
Transportation Update
Somewhere between Maine and Pennsylvania we developed a leaking radiator as well as an oil leak on the van. We had to nurse it along for a while because our schedule was such that we were not in any one place long enough to get it fixed. Finally we got to Linton Indiana and were able to get it fixed. Bethel Baptist Church (a long time supporter) covered the repair and the pastor loaned us a vehicle while ours was down. We are certainly grateful for their help.
Our van is now at 248,000 miles and just begging to be replaced. Carmen’s dad is convinced that it is tired but it is still moving along for the time being.
While we were in Michigan we emptied out our 5th wheel and cleaned it top to bottom. We then quit using it for storage and set it up to live in, there are a few minor issues that need to be tended to but other than that it is pretty well ready to be hooked up and taken somewhere.
Please pray with us for guidance and provision as we weigh our options and make a decision about our future transportation needs.
Support Update
We have been able to add several supporters this year, which we certainly praise the Lord for His provision. We are now part of the missions program at:
Trinity Baptist Temple-Fort Worth, TX Parker Memorial Baptist-Lansing, MI Bible Baptist Church-Central Lake, MI
We also had a situation come up that we have never had happen before. In June we had an extra $255.00 in support come through our home church for us and due to an accounting glitch we have no idea where it came from. At this point we don’t know if it is one or more new supporters that are sending Bi-monthly or quarterly, or if it was a one time gift from a supporter somewhere or what the situation is. The glitch has been corrected so we will not be in this situation again and God knows who this came from, but should our donor or donors be reading this, please know that we are very thankful and grateful for your generosity.
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Prayer Request Update
As you pray for us, and we are so grateful that you do. Please remember some specific needs in the following areas:
Our Transportation needs. God knows what we need, please pray that God will meet our needs and provide us with safe reliable transportation.
Also pray that until that time the van will continue to safely get us where we need to go.
Our Children’s Education: Lena: Protection while she is away, the financial need and that everyone adjusts to the separation. Also pray that she does well in her classes.
David II and Emilee: They have recently started back with David in 11th grade and Emilee in 9th. David II has also started some College level correspondence classes in addition to his high school work. Praise the Lord for the financial provision and please pray that they do well.
Carmen's health issues. Being on the road is not easy for a healthy person, please keep her in your prayers and pray that God will show us what to do about several specific issues.
Grace Baptist in French Lick. Pray for these folks as they search for a pastor & pray for us as we help them.
Future Ministry: Pray that God will reveal the next move in His time and in an unmistakable way, so that we might continue to be where He wants us.
Support. We are grateful for the new support but we are still in desperate need for a lot more support than we are currently receiving. Please pray God continues to provide daily and also long term with the support we need.
Special Thanks
Are certainly in order for Pastor Doug Cassel and Bethel Baptist Church in Linton, IN. Not only have they supported us faithfully for upwards of 12 years. They have made their very comfortable Prophet’s Chamber available to us and also paid a repair bill on our van and done several other little things to be a help an encouragement to us while we are in the area.
Thanks again for praying and holding the ropes for us as we press forward for the Lord. We look forward to updating you again soon with all that God has done.
Because of Calvary, |
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