It has been a pleasure being back to some familiar places in Oklahoma. As summer has begun, our scheduling has been lighter than in previous months. A lot of time has been spent networking at our college and other churches around Oklahoma and making lots of phone calls. The Lord has been blessing our time here, and we can’t wait to see how this summer will go.
Our first week in Oklahoma, we spent at the graduation preaching conference at Heartland. While there, we got to see many friends and professors from our years in Oklahoma City. We were also able to meet several pastors and introduce ourselves, letting them know that I would be calling to set up a meeting. We hope for much fruit from that opportunity.
Then it was phone calls; lots and lots of phone calls. This part has required a lot of planning and looking ahead at where we will be and when we will be there. We have plans to go to Houston (so we can get our Brazilian paperwork done), Fort Worth (around our sending church and missions agency), Oklahoma (where we still have meetings for a while), and several other places as well. Making cold calls can become tiring, but it is also rewarding, and we have gained many more meetings.
We then had our first official meeting of May in Tulsa, OK. I taught and preached their Sunday School and Sunday morning services, and Joneia taught their Jr. Church. The friendliness and generosity of that church were very encouraging. The following Wednesday, we had another meeting in Stillwater, OK. I have rarely ever seen a Wednesday evening service so full! The auditorium was packed, and people said they were still missing a few families. Wednesday evening church is essential, and it was good to see so many people with that mentality.
Then it was back to phone calls again. Although it has been nice to be parked in one place for a while, it also can make time drag. Our location is beautiful, and we have been so blessed with the generosity we have been shown by churches and by our college for providing the space to park our 5th wheel. Though the blessings have been great, May has certainly been a time of patience and even a little discouragement. Our hearts are ready to go to Brazil, and we are now past the halfway point, but the weariness of travel has hit us from time to time. Part of our discouragement in May has been a limited increase in our support percentage. Within seven months, we had reached an incredible 42% of our support, and toward the end of May, our 42% went unchanged. We had been told the Summer months were challenging for deputation, but I’ll admit this isn’t entirely what I expected.
We had one more meeting this last Sunday evening of May, and lo and behold, they took us on for support! Our percentage rose once again! Amid our troubles and discouragement, God is always faithful to send us a little encouragement. We know we will make it through deputation, and we are determined to do it with the same excitement, enthusiasm, energy, and joyful spirit that we started with. June is here. Let’s go!