In God's Time

We were in Iowa two Sundays ago and had a sweet time with the folks there. Also, Jim was invited to share a short devotional with the international students (Campus Bible Fellowship in South Bend, Indiana) for their Thanksgiving dinner. We met some new friends and enjoyed catching up with some old friends.

We have some meetings scheduled following Christmas and we need to schedule more. We are going to apply for visas in January and would appreciate you praying for the papers to be approved and the visas to be granted. We understand this process usually takes a few months. Once the visas are given we will have to enter Brazil within 90 days. We expect to try to get to Brazil sometime in the summer of 2009. We are asking for God to time this for us as He times all of His creation.

"The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter." Psalm 74:16-17

Thank you for praying.

Increasing support

We were informed that one of our supporting churches is increasing its regular support amount. Also a friend from our home church has told us of starting to give us support beginning in December. This puts us at 63%

In the middle of all this voting and economic messiness we are reminded by the Lord of His care for us, and we continue to move forward with our missions calling.

Jim recently spoke to a man at a Best Buy store about his need for the Lord in the light of a recent terrible cancer diagnosis. The man was ready to take the tracts given to him. Please pray for that man's salvation and encouragement.

We go to Ohio this weekend and to Iowa the following weekend. Thanks for remembering to pray for us.

Sustained and encouraged

We returned home last night following the closing service of our annual Baptist World Mission meeting. We left the Milwaukee area and drove through Chicago at about 1 am. It's a pretty good time to get through without fighting so much traffic! We got home and received some good news on the phone answering machine. A pastor from Iowa had called to tell us they wanted to begin supporting us.

So...drum roll please...we have broken the 60% level!

Tomorrow we leave to go to Virginia and will be there all day Sunday. Then back home to Michigan.

Please pray for that Virginia church and another in Michigan (where we recently presented) to take on supporting us.

I also wanted to praise the Lord for several key people we got to talk with at the Milwaukee meeting. We have a new field director and were specifically helped and encouraged by some other veteran missionaries. Their insight is exactly what the Lord needed for us to hear. We also spent time with the team leadership couple we will be most directly working with in Porto Alegre. The Lord has given us so much this week...the cup overflows. We are grateful to have gone.

"May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ." 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Fall blessings

The fall is pretty in Michigan. We were in Sturgis, MI for a missions emphasis Sunday at Fish Lake Bible church yesterday. The folks are so friendly and we enjoyed a great meal with them Saturday evening. Time was spent praying with small groups and we were blessed.

We will be in Wisconsin and Virginia for the last two weeks of October. God hes kept us going safely on the roads and we are at 58-59% support. We continue on and thank you for praying.

For who in the heaven is like the Lord?

"And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.... The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them." Psalm 89:5-11

Recently a missionary spoke with me in order to encourage me and he said, "God can shake the clouds in the sky to meet the needs of your ministry and the needs of your hearts." It is a simple and profound reminder of God's limitless resources. He does not leave us hopeless or helpless because He is not limited to my personal resources.

We travel to Maryland this weekend and will follow that meeting with a quick trip to see our family in Chesapeake, Va. Our daughter and granddaughter will come with us.

Pray for the clouds to be shaken! Thanks.

Waiting, rejoicing, and trusting

Psalm 33:20-21 reminds me, "Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name."

We are so grateful for many flowers, cards, and prayers on our behalf for my dad's homecoming to Heaven. The Lord is all we need.

Our son-in-law and daughter also suffered a miscarriage within hours of the time my dad died, and maybe there was a very sweet fellowship of great grandparents and great grandchildren that day in the tender arms of Jesus.

I trust it was certainly to God's glory and for His highest purpose.

We have received more support and are now at 58%. We thank you for faithfully remembering to pray for our needs. None of us can do well in the absence of prayer.

Daily faithfulness

The pink daylilies outside have begun to bloom. Each new bloom opens for just a one day. God reminds me He provides for each day as needed.

We are traveling to the Saginaw, Michigan area tomorrow. The following day, Jim will be speaking in Sunday school, briefly in the morning service, and then present our mission work in the evening service. Next week we will be in Iowa.

We truly need prayers for more support to be added. God is faithful and we believe He wants us to be in Brazil soon. Thank you for remembering us.