Merry Christmas! We
close 2018 in just a few days, and marvel at what God has done this past year
in our family and ministry. We traveled
widely throughout the United States, holding meetings in Alabama, North
Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, New Mexico, West Virginia, Ohio, South
Dakota, Wyoming, Indiana, South Carolina, Texas, and Colorado. We praise the Lord for salvation decisions
made in those meetings, as well as other important decisions. We also praise
the Lord for His protection over the thousands of miles that we traveled.
A highlight of our year was our family mission trip to the
Philippines during the month of May. We
spent a month ministering in different churches and teaching music in two camps
while there. Sarah and the girls stayed
busy making a lot of handmade items to sell to help support our mission trip
expenses. A lot of yarn went into that
trip! We are not sure where our next mission trip will take us, but we are
exploring our options for 2019.
This has been a bittersweet year in that it is the last that
we will all travel together as a family.
Josiah is a senior in high school this year, and will graduate next
spring. His plan is to attend Ambassador
Baptist College where he will study for the ministry. We are so excited, and yet, it means a lot of
changes for our family. He is an
integral part of our music ministry as well as the first to leave the nest. We
know the Lord has great things in store for him, but we are going to have to
adjust when he is away at college.
Our trailer has been in what seems a constant state of
repair this fall. We traveled without it
for our last two meetings of the year, due to breaking a leaf spring while
driving on Thanksgiving Day, which was a real adventure. We rigged it with a block of wood and a few
bungee cords and drove it another 500 miles to Mississippi where we left
it. Since we had to get to our next
meetings, we only had a day to gather all our necessary belongings, pack them
into suitcases, throw them in the bed of the truck, and get to our next
meeting, which happened to be in Texas.
It was a little more excitement than we had anticipated, but the Lord
saw us through. The trailer is currently
in the repair shop awaiting parts.
Please pray that the issues we are having would be corrected for
good. It is very difficult to maintain
an itinerant ministry schedule when your “ox is in the ditch” more often than
not. We are praying for direction and
provision for the trailer issues, since it is a big part of keeping our family
together on the road.
We are so grateful for what God has done in our lives this
year, as well as what He has allowed us to be a part of in our ministry. We could not accomplish this without the
prayers and support of God’s people.
Your prayers on our behalf are important, and we thank God for the churches and individuals He has
placed along our way. Please continue to
pray that God would open doors of ministry for us, guide us in our daily
decisions, provide for our needs, and protect us as we travel.
Prayer requests:
Meetings for 2019
Souls
saved
Lives
surrendered to God
Trailer repairs (that the current ones would be fixed, and
that there wouldn’t be any more problems for a looooong time!)
College preparation for Josiah
Summer job for Josiah (due to our constantly being on the
road, he has not been able to have a job, and he will need to earn money for
college)
Continued health for our family
Esther
is scheduled to have a peanut challenge allergy test on January 7, 2019, to conclusively determine whether or not she is allergic to peanuts
Direction and provision for our 2019 family mission trip
May the Lord give you all a fruitful and prosperous new year.
