September 2017
We hope you have had a great summer. This summer has kept us very busy on our furlough. We have had a lot of traveling in the last few months. We have been anywhere from the Norfolk, Virginia area to Dallas, Texas. We have met a lot of new friends and reacquainted with several past friends. This has also been a time that we have been able to spend with family which has been very special our the children. Last month we celebrated our 4th year as missionaries in Bolivia. We arrived on the 28th of August, 2013. It is fascinating to see what God has done in this amount of time. We thank you for being a part of that and helping make it happen.
We are still working towards the purchase of our church land. In the last month or two, it has really started coming in. We are currently at about 70% of the money needed to purchase the land. That has us needing only $8,000. Would you please continue to help us pray about the land purchase? And if you have not already, would you please consider helping us in this?
In our travels, we have also been able to raise some new support. This is truly a blessing. We try not to be constantly asking for things. So have not focused on this much in our meetings because of the land but it is a need. When we left 4yrs ago, there were only 2 of us (1 on the way) and now our family has double. That does come with its expenses and new support is needed.
Some of you have noticed as we have traveled in the last few weeks that Jessica and the children have not been traveling with me as much. We appreciate the churches and pastors of our scheduled meetings understanding this. The biggest reason for this has been Ellie's health. Since we have been in the states, we have really noticed some developmental issues in her. We first noticed it with her speech but associated this with being in a bilingual environment. However, there were several other things that we had noticed and many other people started asking about. With this, we took her to the doctor and are in the process of getting some evaluations and therapy done to try and help her. One of the big things that was mentioned to help her was having her in a scheduled and familiar environment. With her traveling and in different homes, hotels, churches and around different people multiple times a week this was not possible with her on the road. Nor was her therapy appointments. There is nothing life threatening but some things that need to be addressed and need to be done while we are in the states. We are still working to figure everything out and would appreciate your prayers as we do so.
Lastly, we would like to mention how thankful we are at news of new missionaries coming to Bolivia. For the last few years, it has seemed as if any missionaries in Bolivia were having to leave for different reasons. This was leaving a big hole in the country. However, thankfully, in the last few months, God has called 3 new families to our field. This is great for the sake of the gospel but it is also great for us as a family. This allows us to have a little more fellowship and help. It also allows for our children to have other children that can relate to them and their lifestyle. We know it will be a little time before everything comes together but we are excited to see what God is doing for Bolivia.
There is much more that we could tell but there is not enough space to share all that God is doing. Hopefully, this letter has been an encouragement to you and a reminder that God is still in control. He is still working all things out for His good and His glory. There are things we sometimes don't understand like health issues, and missionaries leaving the field. However, if we just allow Him to work, it will all turn out right. It may or may not be the way we planned or desire but it will always be right. Sometimes we just need to let go and let Him have control.
