Updates
Spring.
The rains have begun in earnest, and we are in mid-Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere. The flowers are all abloom and it is just beautiful! We are so delighted to be home and able to get back to work!
There were a few dry weeks left by the time we returned, and Vann has worked so hard to take advantage of the weather to complete some projects on base. He built a ramp for a car wash station that will serve the families on base. A new-to-us 40’ container has been put on pilings with an access ramp for missionary storage - as tribal working missionaries will be rotating in and out of these houses, they will need a place to store their things. The old 20’ storage container has been moved and put on pilings with a ramp for camp storage (some of the mattresses have already walked out of the cabins). The old wooden floor of the woodshop had rotted out and the machines had haphazardly sunk to the ground making them unusable, so he poured a concrete floor for the woodshop. Vann is also working on trimming out the plumbing and electrical, and finishing drywall in the house that needs to be finished as near to the end of the year as possible. May the Lord bless and multiply the work of his hands!
Thankful for the nationals that are willing to come and help with some of these projects. Pictured above is Alexis and his beautiful, new little family – he has been a faithful friend and help to us!
Ethan suffered a severe concussion while playing an intramural soccer game earlier this month. He was rushed to the ER twice and had a CT scan that thankfully showed no bleeding on his brain. We are so grateful for his attentive roommate whose father is a doctor and he came right away to help, that Corynn was with him through all of it, and for my precious brother and his wife for driving over and scooping Ethan up to take him to recover at their house instead of his dorm-room. Unfortunately, this accident happened just before his mid-terms, and he is now far behind on his class work. Having to catch up with a concussed brain and working 36 hours a week at two jobs to try to pay for school is all a bit much for his first semester. He still has a constant headache, and we have yet to see what his cognitive abilities are and if he can manage. Please pray for our boy.
This is a new test of faith for us. We’ve trusted for so long that God would care for our children while living with us on the mission field and he has proved to be capable and trustworthy every day until now. Why then is it now hard to let go and trust him with our children when they’re not in our presence – as if we were ever in control of anything? Jesus is the good shepherd, and he knows his own. Our children have always been and still are God’s to care for, and he is good.
He has other sheep that are not of this fold, and he must bring them also, so there will be one flock, one shepherd. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!
Clara turned sixteen this month! Sweet sixteen. She is growing up into a beautiful, godly young woman who is so smart and kind, and she is an excellent photographer! Life as an only child at home and going off to school every day by herself has been an adjustment, but she has handled it all so gracefully. We are so thankful for the sunshine she brings to our life!
Thank you for your precious prayers for us – we do so need them! We pray for you as well, that God would bless and keep you; make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
“It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices.” – Charles Spurgeon