Trust God
The past two months since our last update have been so full, and God has proved himself loving and faithful over and over. At our commissioning service, we were given an important piece of advice that was shared to another missionary before us. It may seem disappointingly simple, we were told, but it couldn’t be more important and true. “Trust God.” There have been many ups and downs and unexpected turns over last few years, but God has proved himself trustworthy over and over.
In February, we began the month with an opportunity to minister to around 40 college students from Faith Baptist Bible College over two days. It was an awesome opportunity to speak to them not only about our call into and passion for ministry, but also how God may be working in their own lives and to discuss what God may be calling them to. A few seemed genuinely interested in full time missions. Pray with us that God will continue working in their hearts, and that He will draw some of these young people into full time missions.
“Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
The following weekend we visited a supporting church of ours in Waverly, IA and had a good time of refreshment and fellowship. We then were able to present at Grace Church in Emmetsburg, IA on the 26th. That day was Lincoln’s birthday, and one of the pastors took us out for ice cream after the service to celebrate!
March kicked off one of the busiest periods of time in our pre-field ministry, yet. We left Iowa on March 4th to be a part of a missions conference in Ohio at First Baptist in Elyria that ran through the 8th. This conference was a great blend of opportunities to speak as well as opportunities to get to know the church family better. We spent time in homes around dinner tables, and we were so encouraged by the people there.
We drove from there to Winston Salem, NC, where we had the pleasure of participating in our sending church’s missions conference that ran from March 10th through the 12th. This is the first missions conference our church has done in some time, and it was an honor to be able to be a part of it.
The following weekend was Tim’s ordination and our commissioning service. This was such a rollercoaster of emotions, as we went from studying and preparing to answer questions, to the joy of completing this and having our church lay hands on Tim and show their support of his call to ministry, to the bittersweet service that followed where we said goodbye to our sending church. As they laid hands on our family and prayed for all of us, it was so clear that God’s hand was at work over all these years. God brought us to this church, and used them in mighty ways in our family’s life, and we are so grateful to God for them. Autumn’s parents and sister were able to join us from Iowa and Autumn’s dad spoke in the morning service for Tim’s ordination. Tim’s parents were also able to come all the way from England, and Tim’s dad shared inthe evening for our commissioning service.
We snuck in a visit to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter!
The next week we had another five day conference at Grace Baptist Church in Winston Salem. It was good seeing a few familiar faces there and making new friends at a sister church of ours in the area. They really made an effort to encourage our family, and it is very appreciated.
Immediately following this conference we drove back to Iowa, where we will be for just a few days before heading back to the East coast again this Saturday.
Please join us in thanking God for all He’s done these past 2 months - from the meetings we have had, conferences we’ve been a part of, new supporters we have gained, safety traveling, Tim’s ordination and our family’s commissioning service, and so much more. God is good. Also, please join us in asking a few things from God. We are currently at 95% of our support! We are praying that God will bring in the remaining 5% by May. We are in the thick of all the paperwork for citizenship, passports, and visas we need to leave for the UK. Pray that God will guide us as we go through this process, and please pray with us that we will get quick responses from the UK government so that we are not delayed in leaving for the field. We still have several big trips planned for the next few weeks. We will probably be driving 6,000-7,000 miles next month. Please pray for safety for our family. Thank you all for all your prayers and support. We thank God for you.
