Monday, May 4, 2009

Meet me in St. Louis...





Dear Brothers,
Greetings from St. Louis MO! (and surrounding areas)
We arrived in St. Louis late Friday night (May Day). We brought with us the blessing given us by Brother Ron Moore, a pop-up camper. Bullet (our truck) had no problem pulling the pop-up. In fact we got much much better gas mileage! We are very thankful to God for this blessing. You would be surprised how much it holds. We were thinking we would have to leave a lot of our things behind in Chicago but were so grateful to find that almost everything fit! We had to leave two things behind...Rhonda's Bike and Ron's bass guitar. However, one other blessing is that Ron's brother Buddy let him borrow his bass guitar which is much smaller and lighter. Therefore Ron does have a bass, just not "his" bass. So we are thankful. Also we were able to bring Ron and Sam's bikes so if Rhonda wants a bike to ride she does have access.

We had a great day on Saturday. We went to Rhonda's brother's praise band practice; Rhonda even got to sing a long. It was a great time of worship and fun. Rich introduced Rhonda to everyone adding that she was going on a "mission trip" to Bolivia. Rhonda had to point out that her dear brother was still in a little bit of denial about the whole thing. Rhonda pointed out that we are MOVING to South America not taking a short term mission trip. Rich grinned and we all had a bit of a laugh at his expense. It is hard for a big brother.

Sunday we were so blessed to minister in two churches in Steelville MO. Steelville is about an hour and a half from St. Louis. We left early Sunday morning for Center Point Baptist Church. The Pastor, Matt Cook, is married to Rhonda's cousin Sharon. The congregation was so welcoming! They treated us just like family. Well I guess we kind of are...Rhonda's aunt and uncle have been members of this church for about 300 years so, we felt right at home. Ron preached an anointed message and we praised and thanked the Lord. We talked afterward with several people. Rhonda shared with some really cool teens who were very interested to hear more about the mission. One girl Hannah Banana is home-schooled and seemed especially interested. We thank God that He is moving in the hearts of our youth and preparing them for their calling.

After church we had a great lunch and visit with Rhonda's family. We all shared stories of times past. Later Uncle Terry took us over to the Meramac Baptist Assoc Camp Grounds and showed us around. We are hoping to take the pop-up down there and park for a week or so to rest and spend sometime together as a family and with the Lord.

Sunday evening we were invited to Straightway Baptist also in Steelville. How awesome to be invited by Christian brothers and sisters we haven’t even met! God is good all the time! Pastor Mike and the whole congregation invited us in with open arms. We had the best time singing some old time favorites and then Pastor Mike turned the pulpit over to Ron. WOW, Ron was on FIRE! He preached from Mark 2 and shared about the Aymara. The Lord really moved. The congregation was so generous in every respect. One brother spoke up and made a motion to for the church to make a donation to the mission to the Aymara and it was quickly seconded and past. Another brother was ready to sign up to come and minister and work on a short time mission trip. This brother (Brad) wanted to plan a trip and bring his 13 year old daughter. We hope to spend more time with Pastor Mike and his wife as well as Rhonda’s family while there camping.

It was such an encouragement to see these two bodies of believers so on fire for the Gospel! We were greatly blessed! We pray that they were blessed by our sharing as well.

Today we wait to hear if the deal will go through on our home sale. There have been a few hic-ups but we know that God is sovereign and faithful and that He will sell our home at the right time to the right people and the He will greatly bless us and the buyers in the process. We are so thankful for our new friend and Real Estate agent Karen Miller. She and Jessica Smith have worked so hard for us. We feel more like they are friends than agents. We are thankful to God for them and for our new friendship.

Please be in prayer for the final steps of selling our home. Also please continue to pray that God will open doors for us to minister. We are overwhelmed by the church’s desire to hear more about the Aymara. It is amazing how the people want to know more and help more to spread the Gospel. We trust God to open doors that no man can shut and to direct our paths.

Thank you, thank you for all your prayers for us. We feel them and God answers them!

Diosampiki!
Ron, Rhonda and Sam

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