Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for your continued love, prayer, and support of our family and ministry as we continue down the deputation trail. We trust that you had a wonderful Christmas. We were able to be with family for Christmas and while we enjoyed a little time off the road, it has been good to get back at it. The next few weeks will find us in Indiana, Wisconsin, and suffering in sunny Florida. We’re excited about the year ahead. So many things to look forward to in anticipation of what God’s going to do next. Our desire is to complete deputation in 2019 and head to the field in early 2020. Would you please pray that this would be a reality? We already have a good number of meetings scheduled for this year and I’m working to continue to schedule more.
If deputation has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected and enjoy life as we go. Jamie and I had the opportunity to go to our last few meetings while Grandma kept Lainey. Headed home, we stopped late on a Sunday night to grab a quick bite to eat. As we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a middle-aged man standing on the corner by a bus stop. Jamie went in and the man approached our car. As I rolled down my window, he explained to me that he was trying to get to the homeless shelter and all the buses had stopped running for the day. I started to talk with him and when Jamie got back, we gave him a ride to the shelter. As we were driving I gave him the Gospel. He had grown up Catholic but had made several bad decisions and now lived a life that was empty and broken. He had offered me money to drive him to the shelter and when I refused and rather gave him a Gospel tract, he couldn’t believe it. I didn’t pull any punches as I witnessed to him, and though he did not get saved he certainly listened. Pray for Jay to be saved. As we continued down the road after, Jamie and I were talking and thanking God for His goodness to us. Where would I be without the grace of God?! You just never know who you might meet and have an opportunity to witness to.
During our time at home, I had the opportunity to be a part of my friend Caleb’s radio show. This is a weekly live broadcast for a radio station in Honduras. Caleb has been a huge blessing to me through the years and it’s exciting to see how God is using him. As radio is very popular in Central and South America, the Lord has opened the door for Caleb to host a 2 hour live segment every Saturday morning. I was able to be on it and I shared our testimony, the Gospel, and our plans for the future. It was a wonderful experience and we heard from several even while we were broadcasting how God was working in their heart. Again, at our first meeting this year, I had another opportunity to be on the radio – WYTJ 89.3 Linton, IN. It was a wonderful opportunity to share our testimony and the Gospel.
The Saturday before Christmas we learned of another church that had voted to take us on for support. We praise the Lord for this and are thankful to be at 50% of our needed support coming in. Also, our first missions conference of the year, Bethel Baptist Church in Linton, IN voted to add us to their mission’s family. We praise the Lord for His goodness! Another 7% has been promised. Our prayer is that our support will continue to grow even in the next few weeks. We have time and time again seen how big our God is. He has proven Himself day-in and day-out. He has been faithful. And we couldn’t be more excited about the future. Our year is already packed with so many incredible and exciting things. Please pray that the Lord would make us fruitful and productive for him.
In 2018 we were in 110 different meetings, drove nearly 37,000 miles, and took our month long survey trip. I was able to preach over 150 times, Jamie and I were able to sing, go soulwinning and serve at our church’s summer camp. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us in 2018. We are hopeful and energized for 2019! We pray for you all often. May this year be one that you let God do something that only He can do through you!