Update! Update!

Hi all, it’s another update post. There are some great things happening and some items we need you to pray for.

Woman’s Bible study: We are currently doing the Beth Moore series called The Psalms of Ascent. We just did the introductory session and on Thursday we will get into the real meat of the study. Please pray for the ladies as we walk through Psalms 120-134. I also would like to invite you to read these Psalms with us over the next 6 weeks.

Men’s ministry: After much prayer and consideration, the men have decided to revive a sports ministry that once existed on a consistent basis. The men involved in ministry in Gales point will announce that basketball will be played during a certain time on Tuesday. They will have hot dogs and drinks for them at the end of the playing time and share from the Word. the focus of this ministry for John will be to build relationships and trust with the non-believing men in the village. Please pray that John will form lasting relationships.

Workers permits: We continue to hit a brick wall with our permits. The major thing that they are trying to validate is that we have proper training to be missionaries. We included our certificates from the missionary training we received in Colorado for three weeks back in September in the application, but they saw that it was only a 3 week course and said it wasn’t sufficient. John is in the process of getting a transcript from Bob Jones University which will show the Bible training that he has received. We have also contacted Converge (our mission board) to get a letter and certificate of all the training we received through them. Because missionary work permits cost less than one tenth of what a regular work permit costs, there’s a lot of abuse. The government has responded by making it more difficult for missionaries to get visas. We had to go through a vetting appointment with Basil and now we need proof that we’ve got proper training for our position. You know and we know that we are qualified. Please pray that God will grant us favor in the sight of the Belizean government so we can complete this process.

Pregnancy: The pregnancy continues to progress well. I get bigger by the week! I have gained 1 lb. and am hoping to have gained about five by the time I am 26 weeks so my doctor will not have to put me on supplements. We are still moving forward with having a c-section here in Belize the second week of October.

Kidney Stones: Thank you all so much for praying for my stone situation. I have passed everything (It took about five days) and I now feel great. However, after the baby is born we have to get the 8.3mm stone out of my right kidney. We are praying and researching the best options for going about the lithotripsy. Right now, the best option is going across the boarder to a Urologist in Mexico. We will schedule an appointment with him/her in August and go from there.

Evangeline: She is doing so well. If only you all could see how much she is growing! She has quite a vocabulary now and a very feisty yet sweet nature about her. Some things she says that are cute are: “Up, peeze”, “peerple” (for purple), “Do-Do” (for Dora), “Nack” (for snack), and “Horsey” every time she sees a fence.

Care package: This is a little late but, I want to take the time to thank our small group back home in AZ for sending us a WONDERFUL care package. They really hooked us us with diapers and food and toys and clothing. I even got a Slap Chop, and it works just like the commercial says it does. We are very grateful to them and feel very special. A big thank you to Leah Miller who made the care package happen.

I’m hoping to get a picture link here on the website so you all can scroll through recent pics. I will let you know when that happens. It really is needed. We are also working on a little “face lift” for the blog, one day, all will be revealed. In the meantime I just thought you could use something to look forward too :-).

Thank you for praying!