Thank You, Liberty Baptist Church!
I'm just going to accept that I post blogs, write emails, and complete timely tasks about three months behind an ideal and sensible schedule. The problem with this one is that I wanted to include photos. I give up, for the sake of posting more frequently. I do post photos on Facebook quite regularly.
We had such a wonderful time on our trip to Indiana to attend a missions conference at Liberty Baptist in Sweetser in September.
God ordained this trip in so many ways. In spite of travel expenses, we still came out ahead financially, thanks to airline miles and the very generous love offering. That's not what it's all about, and the encouragement and relationships we gain at missions conferences is invaluable, but it was a way that God showed us that we did the right thing by packing our family across the country for the conference.
We stayed with the most amazing, generous, funny and inspiring family. We feel we have made lifetime friends and our kids especially were so blessed by the care and attention they received. Our accommodations were in their basement, more than comfortable and totally dark, so we got great sleep all week from our tired, jet-lagged kids. What a gift!
We shared the spotlight with missionaries to Peru, Jamaica, Togo, Norway, and ABWE representatives who serve teams all over Europe and the Middle East. The reps were familiar faces to us from all our trips to ABWE for trainings, so that was another gift. We won't see home office folks until next summer at Missionary Enrichment.
The Lord will direct this church about their support, but we are hopeful that He leads them to partner with us. We experienced passion for seeing the Gospel spread around the world - not just by "other missionaries" but by anyone whom God might call to the field at that moment - unlike anything we've experienced in the Pacific Northwest. In spite of our diverse culture, passion for the nations is not as fervent here. Don't misunderstand - churches love and honor Jesus here, and they care about missionaries. But they are often more aware of short-term opportunities, social justice, and local issues than they are of the great need for the Good News around the world. It was bolstering to be around people committed to seeing the nations reached.
It is our pleasure to pray for our partners and partnering churches regularly, especially around holidays where outreach and service events might be happening. So we pray for a blessed Thanksgiving for Liberty Baptist Church in Sweetser, Indiana.