October has easily been our busiest month of deputation, but it was also one of the most rewarding times. The generosity of the churches we have met with has been overwhelming. Within two months, we have jumped from 48% to 78% support! We praise God for how incredible he has been to us. We grow closer and closer to the end of our deputation, and look back at this crazy month with fondness.
In terms of events to report, there’s not too much. Joneia had a wonderful time at the ladies retreat. After her return, it was still over a week before I was able to wear two shoes after my ingrown toenail operation. Fortunately that first Sunday, we did not end up with a meeting. I was grateful I didn’t have to preach and present in a flip flop and bandage. We had some updated photography done, and then began our first missions conference of October in Clyde. We enjoyed spending time again with our friends, Evangelist Monty Martin and his wife Leddie. We enjoyed the wonderful missions conference in Clyde that Wednesday through Friday. Praise the Lord, I had two shoes on by the time we presented on Friday evening!
We left Saturday morning to go to our Sunday Morning meeting in Cottondale. We were blessed and encouraged by the church there, and enjoyed taking part in their missions emphasis Sunday. The following Wednesday we were in Decatur, and enjoyed another excellent meeting. The following Sunday, we were in Grand Prairie, Texas. I think you are starting to see the pattern at this point; October was very busy and we were running around the entire month. Our meeting in Grand Prairie was another blessing and we enjoyed wonderful fellowship with the church.
At last, we had Wednesday off! But that didn’t mean we stopped working. We visited another church nearby, and were able to secure a meeting in January! Then things got even crazier. The day finally came that we had heard about: we double booked ourselves. On Sunday Morning, we started a missions conference in Waco, and on Sunday evening, we had another meeting in Mansfield. This was perhaps one of the most exhausting days of our deputation. We taught Sunday School in the morning, enjoyed the Sunday Morning service, had lunch, jumped in our truck, and drove an hour or so to Mansfield. I presented and preached, had fellowship over dinner, and drove back to the hotel in Waco! Exhausted and dazed, we got up the next day to continue the missions conference in Waco.
During this missions conference, my horse-loving wife found out that the pastor happened to be a Mounted Shooting World Champion! For those who don’t know, that means he is shooting targets while riding horseback at break-neck speed! The pastor was so gracious to let Joneia ride one of his champion horses. She was BEAMING, and it meant so much to her! The missions conference concluded with a wonderful international dinner, and thus we finished our last missions conference of deputation.
We drove back to Fort Worth, and had our last meeting in October in Waxahachie. We had our nose to the grind stone this past month, and finished what I believe was the busiest month of our deputation. Looking ahead at November, we have several meetings to come! December we have only two meetings, and January we have only two meetings. With the churches behind us that we are still waiting for an answer regarding support, and the number of church meetings we have ahead of us, we have absolute faith that we will be leaving for Brazil in the end of January! Pray for us as we look to purchase our tickets SOON! Pray for our many meetings in November, and pray that as we get closer to our goals that everything will continue to run smoothly. We are growing ever more excited as we come down to our last three months of deputation.