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| Holiday meal hosted by newlyweds Paul and Aimée. My sister Mary Ellen and her husband are on the left, my mother on the right and Paul's dad, Tim, in the center. |
Hello
Friends!
Greetings
from wet and wonderful Washington! I wrapped up the mission in Puerto Rico in
mid-December and returned to my Colorado home base for the holidays. It was
great to celebrate with family and with my sending church, Boulder Seventh Day
Baptist. One highlight was doing the downtown Boulder table ministry one
afternoon with Dave Hawkins and Tracy Haines, fellow evangelists from previous
years. I also got to volunteer one night with the homeless shelter my church
hosts on Saturday nights during the colder months.
The
family I lived with during my Colorado stays (thank you to the Bates!) was selling their house in
early 2016 so I needed to move right after Christmas. Prayers were answered
when a Christian couple in Boulder offered me a room for the three weeks before
I left for Washington. Thank you, Fromholzers! They are connected to the Navigators ministry at the
University of Colorado where my son, Paul, serves with Navigators. They were
very gracious and I felt right at home. The view of the mountains
from their living room was spectacular. Another blessing was the offer of
long-term storage for my belongings in the home of friends of Ana, my daughter. Thank you to the Seatons!
On
January 17th I set out for Washington driving through Wyoming and Montana
where the west winds blow with gale force (so it seemed to me). I stopped in
Hungry Horse, MT, where my friend Vivian Allen lives with her children and leads
a small SDB fellowship. I enjoyed staying with her and her children two days
and got to see a very snowy Glacier National Park as well as the Hungry Horse
Dam. It was encouraging to hear how God is at work in both our lives.
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| Vivian's home. The fellowship meets in the large front room. |
They are
praying for someone to join them to pastor the group. Just like the Church of
Corinth did for the Apostle Paul, they “sent me on my way” with a gift of
financial support (1 Cor. 16:6, 2 Cor. 1:16). That was a wonderful and
unexpected blessing. December gifts for me were much lower than normal but in the
first two months of this year the gifts have been way ABOVE normal. Praise the
Lord for His provision!
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| My current home, blessed by a rainbow! |
I
arrived in Auburn (20 miles south of Seattle) late in the evening on January 21st.
I’m renting a room from a friend of Pastor Ben and Marcela Figueroa, Karen
Coon, which is not only very affordable but she and I have become good friends and that
has eased my adjustment to this new location.
My office is set up in my room
and not far away is a large park with walking paths through the woods, so I’m thrilled to
explore the flora and fauna of a new climate. When it’s raining I just put on
my waterproof poncho and keep going. The trees are very tall and many are
covered in a coat of green moss. In the light of the setting sun they seem to
glow!
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| The youngest singer in this picture is part of a home Bible study with her brother and sister. |
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| Leading worship in song. |
The third is with a mother of 4, Claudia, who wants to learn how to study the Bible and then teach her children to do the same (disciples making disciples)! Her teen daughters are already reading the Bible of their own accord. Claudia has a friend who is going to be joining us for the Friday morning study, and another friend who can’t make that time but would like to meet on another day. Definitely a hunger for Jesus here! What a privilege to teach these new believers
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| This is one of the families doing a home Bible study. |
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| Singing with Pastora Marcela |
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| Celebrating a birthday. Pastor Ben and Marcela top right. |
As a new
resident I had to get a Washington driver’s license, as well as register the car
and get local plates. Thanks to a new SDB program to partially fund church
planters, I was reimbursed for my moving and relocation expenses, and will have
the monthly donations matched up to $1,000/month. In
addition to living and transportation expenses, I buy gospel tracts, Bibles,
and materials for the home Bible studies from the donations I receive. Thank
you so much for your gifts to God that He directs to this ministry!
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| Mount Rainier, 14,400 feet elevation (Auburn is about 600 ft elevation) |
I'm
busy for sure but happy to help fill the urgent need for teaching these new disciples.
If anyone else feels led to come, give me a call! We could use more workers. I'll
need new housing in June when Karen’s kids return from college so I'm thinking
to get an apartment. They are very expensive in this area, so please keep me in
your prayers for the right housing.
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| View from in town. |
Because of you, I am able do this
work full-time. The Apostle John wrote in his third letter, “For they went out
for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we
ought to support (show hospitality to) such men, so that we may be fellow
workers with the truth.”
If you’d
like to become a partner in this work, donations can be sent to the church I’m
serving. Please write
my name on the memo line of the check and they will pass along 100% of the
funds to me. You can mail (or use your bank's automatic bill-pay service) to
send checks payable to:
PO Box 217
Auburn WA 98071
God
bless you, my friends, and please keep up the prayers for Pastor Ben, Marcela, me, and the new church here. “You also joining in helping us
through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf
for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:11
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| Signs of spring! |
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