3 John 1:14

Being on the road is usually an exciting adventure...always looking forward to what's around the next corner! But today it is bittersweet. The practical side of me realized it would save three hours of driving to stay here in New Jersey a few more days rather than driving home before our next meeting. The heartfelt side of me is missing my family and friends...especially today on my birthday.

 

I talk with my mom and dad almost every day and honestly, I miss them. I also talk or email my friends as much as I possibly can get time to, and I miss them too. On Monday night a group of my faithful friends met to pray for my family and ministry as they do every month. But this week they had a birthday party for me...and I could not be there. I am so blessed to have so many, many sweet, thoughtful friends! I never imagined God would bless me in this way so abundantly! They emailed me pictures from the party of the birthday cake with sprinkles, chocolate covered strawberries and lovely gifts. 

Ladies, you mean so much to me. Thank you for being so thoughtful! I miss you and wish I could have been there with you. Thank you for being there for me and my family. I love you and appreciate you! 

Proverbs 22:28

In a quiet suburb of New Jersey is Leonardo Baptist Church, which was established in the late 1800's. It has a magnificent cathedral ceiling and woodwork rich in character. Inside this historic sanctuary is a friendly group of believers with a wonderful pastor. From the moment we got there the pastor put us at ease by telling us to relax, be ourselves and that our children's chattering and giggles were welcome.

The church has always supported missions using the general fund. In two weeks the church is going to take part for the first time in Faith Promise. The church is introducing this change by hosting a guest speaker to talk about Faith Promise.

The pastor told us that depending on the response from that meeting, will determine if they are able to take us on for support. We are excited to see how God will work in people's hearts to further support missions by taking another step of faith.

Acts 8:8

On the corner of a busy New Jersey street, with a back-yard view of the Empire State Building, is New Durham Baptist Church. I was reminded of Italy as we parked bumper-to-bumper about a block away from the church. Houses were piled one on top of another, traffic noisily buzzed by and Natalia's sandals quietly skuffed the sidewalk so strangely close to metropolitan NYC.

This morning kicked off another great missions conference, with an emphasis on Jewish Evangelism. The main preacher is a converted Jew who is using his heritage to reach other Jews with the truth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.



We especially enjoyed meeting Pastor Cuozzo, who if you cannot tell, is Italian. He has the Jersey accent pleasantly mixed with an Italian one! Being so close to the city, the church is largely diverse including Phillippinos, Hispanics, and Chinese.

On Tuesday evening Michael will have the opportunity to share our burden for Italy with NDBC. Please pray that this may spark an interest and passion in the hearts of these New Jersey friends for reaching Italy with the Gospel!

Acts 16:5

7 Valleys Baptist Church is where we found ourselves last night.



7VBC is a relatively new church plant in Cortland, NY. The church is led by two church planting missionaries that are graduates of Trinity Baptist College. Currently, they have a small group of believers meeting, but are still having a missions emphasis month. I always love that type of focus by leadership!

It was one of those churches you did not want to leave. I think we stayed almost two hours after the service ended just talking with the church family (and eating homemade chocolate chip cookies too!).

Another neat thing that God worked out was Erika was able to connect with a college friend named Clara currently living in Cortland.



After we left Erika and I were thinking the same thing...Hey that is going to be us someday! Gathering with a small group of believers as we plant a church! It was neat to be part of a church that doing the very thing that God has called us to.

Now...off to NJ for a bit.

John 20:10

Ahhhhhhh.....

As much as we love meeting new people and visiting other churches, it just felt great to be home for our church's Missions Conference.

Reconnecting with friends.
Gleaning wisdom from the other missionary wives.
Being refreshed.

Michael presented our work in the Sunday AM service. If I had the camera with me I would have taken a picture and inserted it...

(Here)

Well...to give you an idea of what it would like it...it would look like this...only the guy in the picture would be a foot smaller and the screen would have a different picture.



We also had an opportunity to present our work to the children's church on Tuesday night! What a blast! The kids were so much fun! If I had the camera with me that night I would have taken some pictures and inserted them...

(Here)

A great week. Here are a few of the sights that were captured during the ladies luncheon...

Jeremiah 33:3

The following is a true story:

We were recently at a church where a strong message had just concluded. After the message the pastor got up and said we were going to pray. So...I grabbed Natalia and told her to fold her hands because we were going to start praying. As the pastor prayed, Natalia was a cutie and just stood still with head bowed. Such a good little prayer warrior.

It was a very sober prayer and you could hear a pin drop in the place. Well, at one point during the prayer the pastor paused...and Natalia thought he was done. So during the pause...as loud as her little voice could go in the silent room...Natalia blurted out a hearty - "AAA-MEN! PAPA CRAYONS?!? PAPA CRAYONS!?!!"

You could hear the giggles all around the room.

I just smiled and shook my head.

I Corinthians 3:9

When you walk into Antioch Bible Baptist Church something grabs your attention immediately. Every wall is covered with missionary boards for all the missionaries they support.

Every wall...

This small church is making an eternal impact by being so aggressively obedient to the Great Commission.

This was not the easiest Missions Conference we have been at. The services were longer than usual and no nurseries added to the challenge. Regardless of the challenges - God really was in each service and we were honored to be a part of this week.

This week we also experienced another "first" on deputation. We were able to be a part of this conference for the first time with missionary-friends, the Putney's who are just beginning deputation. It was great seeing our tables next to each other, the fellowship we shared and hearing their presentation.

We are excited to see how God is going to use these fellow laborers. Lord willing, God will allow our paths to cross again!