"…But a Faithful Man Who Can Find?" Proverbs 20:6b

We have been a part of three Missions Conferences in the past couple of weeks. One thing that stuck out to me and each church was those who have been Faithful. Over the 23 years we have been in Missions those who have stayed the course through all the bumps and bruises. One lady remembered when we first came to her church, she said, we were such an encouragement to her. I said, seeing you here today 20 years later THAT is an encouragement to me. I remember our kids looking up to some of the Pastor's kids and them taking our kids under their wings for the week. I saw my son do that this past week to the Pastor's sons children. To watch people's families grow and blossom in the church over the years is so rewarding. Most people don't get to visit the many different churches we are in. The relationships we have acquired. Sometimes I don't like traveling, it gets weary, but THEN, encouragement comes. I think back to the time we met those families, the dinners in homes, the friendship acquired and then the traveling doesn't seem so inconvenient. How soon we forget. Like the children of Israel. They forgot all what the Lord has done for them. You just crossed the Red Sea, Hello? We are just like that, we forget the blessing of God in our lives. I wish I had a picture for everyone whose crossed our path over the years. My photo album who be busting at the seams. 

On another note: I am super excited. It took us over 13 weeks, but we finished Discipleship.  We had Christmas/New Year and a day of not feeling so good, but we made it. I have enjoyed going over the book "Continue" by Paul Chapel. I have seen her grow as she learns more about Christ and her faith. Her and her husband were invited to "Friend Day" by someone in our church, maybe two years ago, they came, got saved and baptized. We were in Africa at this time but soon came home on a short furlough and met them, and we became friends. We then went back to Africa and now a year later they are still in church and growing. She asked me if I would do a Bible Study with her and we got together once a week and went through discipleship.

My husband was invited to be the speaker at a Winter Banquet. It was a nice time with one of our supporting churches. Thank You for having us. 

We Were On the Front Lines, Now We Feel We Are On the Sidelines

It's been a little over a year ago that I updated my blog. A lot has happened in the past year. Let me start with we finished the building in Ghana, W. Africa. The church is established and has their national pastor. We felt it was time to come back to the states and seek what the Lord has for us next. We completed our missionary work in Ghana. We worked ourselves out of a job. When we first went to Ghana, we faced a lot of unknowns, but we knew God was leading us. We spent 19 years on the field, 23 total in missions. That's a long time. That's practically my kids lifetime. The Lord has allowed us to come home and we are facing a lot of unknowns, but the Lord is guiding us once again. We are taking one step at a time and He shows us a little more. 

I was excited to come back home. Get settled, set up house, do ministry. We are home, I have set up house and we are doing ministry, but settled? Not yet! It was VERY hard when we first came back home. Very hard. Where do we fit? What are we going to do? Where will we go? We were on the front lines in ministry, now we feel like we are on the sidelines. God continued to guide us. As we went to some of our supporting churches we were encouraged. People were behind us, praying for us. I learned we weren't the only ones who has faced this transition in ministry. Over and over again, I heard Pastor's tell their story. Fellow missionaries tell their story. I was encouraged they have gone through the same things and the Lord guided them. 

September 24, 2022, my dad died. He had heart surgery a year ago and since then suffered mini strokes. Also the beginning of dementia due to the strokes. I talked with him before his heart surgery a year ago. I asked him if he trusted Christ as his Savior. He said, "I did that as a little child, but I didn't believe it much then and I don't believe it much now." He kept putting off his heart surgery and we had to go back to Africa. He finally had his heart surgery a month later, I believe it was November 2021. Fast forward to September 2022. My dad was in kidney failure and I went to see him. I asked him again about his salvation. He again, told me what he told me before. I got to talk to him for a few hours. He drank an Ensure, some coke, ate a few Cheerio's. Then he got tired and was quietly laying there. I said my goodbyes and left. The next day he was unresponsive. The following day he went into eternity. According to his testimony, I believe he died and went to Hell. I hope I am mistaken. I hope I will be pleasantly surprised when I get to heaven.

On October 31, 2022, my mother-in-law also went out into eternity. It was sudden. She was out cutting her grass and we believe her heart stopped. We know for sure she is in heaven. We are saddened she is no longer with us. We know for sure we will see her again. Her testimony continues through her children and many many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Pray for Mack's dad, they were married for 65 years, 2 months shy of 66 years. She was a testimony to me over the years as a mother, wife and in her faith.

Macks mom and dad and our children

It was during her funeral the Lord showed us our next step. God used this circumstance to get people where they needed to be and things were confirmed that week. (I will share more on this later)

Just wanted to give an update. I could give more but I think that is all for now. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.