What a busy month this has been! To summarize, we made it back from Washington, had a meeting, drove to Florida, had a meeting, drove back from Florida, had a meeting, drove to Oklahoma, and we are now parked in Oklahoma for a meeting. We are thrilled to have our schedule so packed and are blessed with the love and support we’ve seen so far. For me, it really feels like deputation has really taken off with weekly meetings. We are super busy, but feel so extremely blessed.
We flew back from Washington State at the end of January, and stayed with some great friends of ours for our brief time in Texas. It was a blessing to get to visit our home church again and catch up with our friends. Then the meetings began. We were originally supposed to have a conference in Harker Heights, Texas Friday through Sunday, but due to ice, we had to shorten the conference a day. Originally we were supposed to primarily just present our ministry, but due to some other unforeseen circumstances, I was asked to preach for the Sunday service. I was grateful for the opportunity and glad for the lesson in being instant in season and out of season. By God’s grace, the services went wonderfully, and someone even got saved! All of those unforeseen circumstances were worth it even for that one soul!
The following week, we borrowed our friend’s car, and drove to Florida for a meeting. We stopped half-way to our meeting and spent a couple of days with my sister and brother-in-law and our niece and nephew. We were grateful for a good half-way point for our 18+ hour drive. On Saturday, we finished the drive to Indialantic for our meeting. For this meeting I took on a new challenge. The theme for the conference was “Throw out the lifeline.” I felt led to write a message based on the theme, a challenge that I have never done before. I praise the Lord for the outcome, and the confidence he is working on me in His Word. During the meeting, they spent Sunday School interviewing my wife about growing up on the mission field. I loved that they gave her such a big part. Many times it can feel like this is my ministry, but it is so much better when it is OUR ministry. We loved our time in Florida.
On our way back from Florida, we caught some very bad allergies. I lost my voice completely and my right ear plugged up. Joneia was miserable herself. But a couple days later, we had a very unique missions conference. We received an open invitation from Elk Ridge Baptist church, and as a result, about 40 missionaries showed up to present at the conference! I have never heard of a missions conference that big. Most of our time was spent by our table talking with people and answering questions (the best I could with no voice). By God’s grace, we made it through.
Apparently, the ice wasn’t done with us yet. Another week of ice hit us, and we had to change our plans again. Originally, we were planning to take the RV out of storage and drive it to our next meeting in Healdton, Oklahoma, and then continue on to Oklahoma City. Due to the ice, and threat of poor weather conditions, we kept the RV in storage until the ice melted, and went to Healdton anyway. We presented our burden for Brazil, and we loved the connections with Heartland Baptist Bible College that we had in common in Healdton, OK. It was encouraging to see a church plant thriving and growing in a small town. After that meeting, we drove back to Texas, hitched up the RV, and drove to Oklahoma City to continue on our deputation journey in Oklahoma.
Thank you for praying for us. Looking back, February was a very hard month on us physically. With allergies, travel, and meetings it was a very taxing month. We wouldn’t have changed it for anything! We look back at how greatly God blessed us in February. Continue to pray for us to stay encouraged, stay well physically, and that our support will continue to grow.