Weeks of June 8-28

We were encouraged to spend Sunday morning with a new church plant in LA County, Vision Baptist Church.  Pastor and Mrs. Jupp began the church in March and have seen God do some miracles in their young church already.  We were encouraged that they would agree to support us when they themselves are so young.  God put a burden on our hearts to emulate their faith in our own church when the time comes.  We then were able to visit Lancaster Baptist Church and share in their 29th anniversary.  We were once again encouraged and reminded of the power of soul winning, as we saw the members they have won to the Lord walk the aisle as a testimony to His power.                                                                            

Leadership conference began the next day.  Pastor Edwards, Pastor Tangeman, and Mr. Bischoff attended from our home church in Virginia.  We enjoyed seeing them, and they seemed excited to see us! (or was it Adelyn they wanted to see?!?)  Being on deputation, our main purpose was to try to schedule meetings with pastors that were attending the conference.  We were praying that God would provide ten, and He provided twelve great contacts.  We have been able to see six of those twelve scheduled already!

Last year, BIMI honored Dr. Sisk for being a BIMI missionary for 50 years!  This year, Pastor Chappell and the Lancaster Baptist Church honored Dr. and Mrs. Sisk for 60 years of ministry!  Their humble spirit and faithful lives are incredible influences to us.

Leadership ended Wednesday night and we began our trek to LAX to make our early morning flight on time!  The Lord blessed and we arrived in Arkansas the next morning with only some minor delays.  Lighthouse Baptist Church and the Paul Caldwell family were gracious hosts for their missions conference.  We enjoyed spending time with Brother and Mrs. Larson, the BIMI USA church planter director.  Their conference was centered on reaching our JerUSAlem, and we were honored to share our burden for Oahu.  

We spent the next week traveling from Arkansas to the much cooler state of Michigan!  It was a welcome relief to drive into 60 degree weather that felt almost chilly! Arkansas had been pretty warm!  In Michigan, we were honored to be a part of Faith Baptist Church’s missions month.  Pastor Gaymon and his family were extremely gracious hosts.  We were the recipients of their warm hospitality and really enjoyed spending time in their home with their family.  

We are looking forward to seeing what God will bring us in the next week.  Thank you for your continued prayers!

Week of June 1-7

The month of June marked one year since we began our deputation training.  Last year, we began candidate school somewhat nervous and unsure of what our future would be.  This year, we anticipated another week of training at BIMI with people that have become dear friends to us.  Though it was an extremely busy week, we thoroughly enjoyed the classes and fellowship with both old and new friends.  We were able to celebrate with the largest incoming class BIMI has hosted.  We are thrilled that God is continuing to call people to His work.

We left BIMI Saturday to fly out to California for several meetings on the west coast.  After a few layovers, we finally arrived!  We enjoyed Sunday morning at Pastor Gibbs’s church in Moreno Valley, California.  Rafael was able to connect with a college friend he had not seen in a while.  We spent Sunday evening with the Reed family in Burbank, California at the Victory Baptist Church.  This church is in a transition phase between buildings.  We enjoyed seeing how they worked together to make their services possible, especially as this is what we will be doing in Hawaii ( hopefully soon).  

We praise the Lord for the many new churches that have agreed to partner with us financially, bringing us to 61% of our needed support level.  We are praising God for His provision and direction in our lives.