“…let us run with patience the race that is set before us”
Hebrews 12:1b
…And the Countdown Begins
With just over 2 months left in this term, and even less than that here
in Dibaya, we have so much to do and so little time. On the ministry side of things, there is
never a shortage of things to do.
However, there is an urgency placed upon everything since we know we
only have so many more days before we leave things to run “on their own”. Please pray for Pastor Emanuel as he prepares
to pastor the church (as the only pastor here), the church leadership as they
transition, and Muna and Excellent as they prepare to take the Bible Institute
classes to the other locations while we’re gone.
On the physical side, there are house projects to be completed, never-ending
maintenance to keep up with, a homeschool year to be finished, packing and
preparing things for the states, and packing up most of our house into plastic
totes (a necessity since we’ll be gone for so long).
While we are always excited for furlough, and we are looking forward to
seeing many of you, it is still so hard to close things up and prepare to say
goodbye here. We should only be in the
States for about 6 months, but with travel time and gathering supplies when we
return, we will be gone from Dibaya for closer to 8 months. That’s a long time to leave a ministry. It’s a long time to be away from home. Thank you for your prayers as we prepare.
Beautiful Feet Baptist Church
Last Sunday, we were able to get another church family photo with 99 in
attendance that day. (Apologies for not being able to see everyone’s
faces. It’s hard to get a group photo
here…especially on a hot, sunny day!)
It has been so encouraging to see our church participate in building
their own building! The walls are done; the front has been recently
painted. Progress. One of our supporting churches sent in
finances to do a 50/50 match with Beautiful Feet to get a tin roof. So far, the church members have given 32
pieces of tin so we have a total of 64 with the matching donation. We estimate needing 160 pieces total, so we
are over a third of the way there!
Bible
Institute
The classes at Nkole-Nkema went
very well and it is looking like the Lord is opening that as a new Mobile Bible
Institute location! There were 7
students that enrolled in the full program and 5 more that were interested,
attended classes, and promised to enroll the next time classes are offered
there.
There was a slight change in
plans and Sparky did not end up traveling to Ilebo. Instead, he taught New
Testament Survey to the students here in Dibaya, wrote the materials and notes
for another class (Bible Study Methods), and has already started teaching it
here in Dibaya to the on-site students and trainers. We prayerfully took this route with the
thought to leave the trainers with as much material as possible to travel and
teach while we are in the States.
Looking Ahead, Lord willing…
The next few months will be busy! Please continue to pray for wisdom
and perseverance as it will be hard to fit it all in.
Please click on the "Calendar" tab to find our
schedule. Please
remember that we try and keep our online calendar up to date as things change
and more meetings are confirmed. This
furlough is our “southern furlough”. At
this point, we plan to head to southern Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and South
Dakota.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Time in Kinshasa