| Dear Praying friends,
A lot has happened since the baptismal service at the end of May. The first several attempts to write a prayer update were far too long and were little more than justifications of why we haven’t been more faithful in correspondence and feeling so tired.
The phrase that I am thinking through today is, “Make friends. Take them to heaven.” We wanted to tell you several months ago that we are getting ready for a support raising trip to the USA and we leave in 6 hours. It has been so long since we last wrote and so much has happened that I decided to write this update as a kind of blog.
I have several major administrative tasks to do today before we leave. Those things are not interesting to write about but if left undone long enough, they become urgent issues! So why didn’t we do them sooner?
Glad you asked!
The pace that we have sustained throughout the first half of 2019 has been exhausting. When people are at a critical point of calling into question everything they have believed to turn to Jesus Christ, we need to be ready to help them. This requires us to be on call 24/7, all the time.
As one might expect, we were exhausted by the middle of June. We were so thankful for our families who came together to allow us to attend family events in America. It was refreshing to spend time with our children and extended family. July too, was expected to be a different pace with Lydia and Joella here for their music camp, and we were going to redo the shutter on our house before we had to replace them.
But we are here to make friends and take them to heaven. When those friends have crises, we need to be ready to let go of what seems important, fully given ourselves to meet their need.
We realized one Sunday that unless we gave our very best last effort, the young married couple in our church would probably not be staying together. We devoted a lot of time to them over a 72-hour period. Unless God intervenes, their marriage will not last. Please pray for them. Unfortunately, their situation has disturbed the faith of some in our church. Please pray that God gives each one discernment to see what is going on that they might make decisions that would glorify God.
Soon after that crisis calmed, our neighbor across the street died during the night. His passing was absolutely unexpected and was a shock to everyone. While being a good neighbor and friend, he never wanted to talk about spiritual things. But because of the friendship that we have built over the past 15 years, his two children asked us to do his funeral service. It was an opportunity to share the gospel with those who do not have the assurance of their salvation. The contact continues with the children and their families. Please commit the children, B. and L. to the Lord. Their grief is very deep. Bitterness is a very real possibility which could harden their hearts and their openness.
One maintenance project that we have not had the time to share with you is that Sonya and I are coming to the States for a 4 week stay in order to raise support. We have not had to raise support since 2016. We are so very thankful for your continued faithful support that allows us to give all our energy to the friend making process. We understand that a lot of trust is required for you to support such a ministry with your finances and we are so thankful that you do trust us. We trust God to bless you for your sacrifices to Him on our behalf.
Thank you for praying for us as we are in America.
Please pray for each one in the church in Le Pian. Everyone has a burden that they have to bear. These are used by our loving heavenly Father to shape us into the image of Christ, we know, but that is not always understood during the trial. Each one has asked us to say thank you for your participation with us in this ministry, as they understand that without you partnering with us, we would not be able to be here.
Below is our schedule. We want to make every effort to see you if you are in the area. We ask you please, give us a call at one of these phone numbers:
605-461-6742 or 970-243-9596.
Here is our schedule:
August 10-22 Grand Junction, CO.
August 11 Wayside Chapel in Gateway CO for the morning service
August 13 at 3pm Open house at 2208 Dakota Drive Grand Junction CO
August 16 at 7pm Open house at 2208 Dakota Drive Grand Junction CO
August 18 Paonia CO Bible Center Church for the morning service
August 23-26 Sedona AZ
August 25 Wayside Chapel in Sedona AZ for the morning service
August 27-30 Ojai CA
Sept 1 A House for His Name, Whitewater CO, morning service
Sept 3 leave from Denver to come back to France on Sept 4.
May God bless you richly,
Kent and Sonya |
