Hey glory! Dear Prayer-Partners,
In my devotions this morning I was reading in Nehemiah, chapter 12, about the dedication of the wall they had finished building. Four times it mentions them being thankful and three times it mentions them rejoicing. Then I noticed in chapter 13 that they still had a long way to go to get things where the Lord wanted them to be. Well...we are at a place like that as well.
We are in Jonesboro, TN, where we will have our last church meeting and mission report tomorrow morning. We are so thankful for His protection and guidance in our travels around the U.S this summer. We are also rejoicing for the blessings He has given in the church meetings and mission reports. One elderly man said the message will help him walk with the Lord and be a better witness the rest of his life...and added he wished he would have heard that message when he was 20 years old. Another person came to us with tears in his eyes after seeing the pictures of what the Lord was doing in Haiti. We are thankful and rejoicing for this...but we now turn our attention to getting back home...and we have a long way to go in the work there.
We have learned about some problems in a couple of the churches in our ministry. I will be meeting with the church boards and helping them work through some difficult leadership situations. Like Nehemiah, I will be using the Word of God, and some tough decisions will have to be made. Please pray!
We are going back with no assurance that we can get the brakes on the Tacoma fixed. We have learned more on what to do in trying to bleed the brakes manually, because we know of no tool in Haiti that is designed for that. We have had the transmission rebuilt on our 2002 Xterra while we were here in the states. We also got tie rods and ball joints for it while here and will have them put on immediately on our arrival. We are praying it will hold up and be able to take us to the mou
ntain areas where we are working. Please pray!
We are also going back to a house that was dam1aged in the earthquake, and will be occupied getting repairs done while we get back at the other work. Please pray
We are thankful...and we are rejoicing...and we are preparing to move forward for His glory! Please pray!
We fly on Friday, August 4.
God bless you all,
Pastor Dave and Ceres
P.S. Two things: One, if you do not have whatsapp on your telephone, and you can put it on your phone, it is a wonderful way to keep in touch! Two, just a reminder to go to our website, haitipastortrainingmission.org, to find information about mailing, support etc.