Tag: Prayer

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Big News and Transitions

Summer to Fall

Wow, We feel like we have been running at 100 MPH since the Spring. This spring we gave ourselves a deadline for Seth’s training and that meant that we have used our extra focus on that since then. That doesn’t mean we have slowed down in other areas it just means pulling up our bootstraps and doing our regular jobs along with allowing for time for training. It’s been hard but well worth the effort. 

EAA Airventure 2022 was a success. We met with lots of other organizations, shared what SOAR is doing with a local group, served in our booth, and got to see some pretty cool things. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve SOAR in this way.

During the summer we participated in Oshkosh EAA Airventure. This was our second year attending and it proved to be a great week of engagement with other organizations. This is always one of our priorities when we go. 

In the fall we started another year of school. This marks our 9th year of homeschooling. Bella began 8th grade and Jordis began Pre-K. We also added volleyball to our school schedule, it’s been such a joy to watch Bell learn and grow in something she enjoys

In October we spent an evening at the Ethnos360 training center in Camdenton, Mo. It was such a great night of fun and fellowship. We were thankful for the opportunity to see their facility and to get to know these missionary pilots who are being trained to be sent. The partnership between SOAR and Ethnos360 will help us to be able to send more missionaries to the field.

Cookout time at the Ethnos360 training center in Camdenton, MO

Lastly, we have been serving with the youth and production teams at LifePoint. We have been doing this for several years and we love serving in this way. Students always challenge us to grow in our faith. Worship production gives us an opportunity to use our talents and skills in unique ways.

This summer and fall have been extra busy with events. We have loved this season of serving with the youth.

Big news and Transitions

It’s official! Seth has completed his CFI certification. We will fully admit we were not sure if we would make this deadline. The instructor we were using pushed hard and we are so thankful for that. We are also grateful for each instructor who poured into Seth. Without them, this could not have happened. We genuinely believe that each of them was brought to us at just the right time. Each one contributed to his training in a way that we believe will benefit SOAR in the long run. All of it for God’s glory and mission.

Greg and Micki Shetterly have been such a huge blessing to us and to SOAR this year. Micki is an experienced flight instructor and Greg is a flight examiner. Both have been pushing Seth to not only complete his training but to also go above and beyond so that SOAR can be a good steward of the candidates that God brings to us.

This month Seth will begin training his first missionary candidate, Bailey! We feel such a sigh of relief and excitement and we begin serving in a different capacity at SOAR. Seth’s roles that will continue are safety, some airport/city management, and now adding flight instruction. Right now he is tasked with the big job of organizing the fight curriculum. Thankfully he won’t be doing this alone. The group of instructors that have been so vital in getting him to his goal are also going to be involved in getting the curriculum organized. We are ready for this new challenge and ready to see how God uses us in this new season.  The last transition will be one more rating. The next goal is CFII. This will be during the same time he begins training Bailey. This one is not as time sensitive so we are hoping to have a bit of reprieve while we focus on other goals personally.

Bailey George has been with SOAR since the spring. He will be Seth’s first student as we work toward training Missionary Aviators.

Partnership Focus

As we wrap up this last goal of getting Seth’s ratings done we are now shifting our focus to getting new partners. This will be a lifelong journey as we continue to work at SOAR. We need YOUR help. If you know of someone who might be interested in our story or what we are doing at SOAR please let us know. You are also welcome to share this newsletter with them! If you are not currently a partner with us through prayer or financial support we would love to share our story with you. Please contact us for more information. Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us on this journey. You have been such a support and blessing to us in ways we could never repay. Thank you!

Contact Us!
Ways to Give!

Ways you can be praying for us & SOAR in 2022

• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team.
• That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that he feels God has called him into.
• That God grows and shapes our candidates to be used on the field and that he opens doors for them to be able to serve.

Ways you can be praying for us in November:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That we can find rest in this busy season.
• That God shows us direction for the next season here at SOAR.

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Sending to Serve

SOAR to the mission field

The goal at SOAR is always to send our candidates to the field to serve. While we agree and fully push toward that goal it’s hard to see them go. This week we will be sending our next candidate AJ and his sweet family out from SOAR to begin transitioning to Ethnos360. He still has a few steps between us and being on the field but his time at SOAR is coming to an end. Please pray for them that God will protect and guide them and for God to bless the work they are doing.

AJ, Stephanie & Truitt Hollaway

Pray for Osh Kosh Airventure

This week, SOAR will be sending a team to Osh Kosh, WI for AirVenture. The goal of this trip is simple: connect, connect, connect! We will be there with several different organizations under the IAMA tent. If SOAR’s goal is to send as many Aviation Missionaries to the field then we have to make connections and partnerships with many different organizations. Sometimes we also meet new potential candidates from all over the country that are looking for other options outside of traditional school setting. Please pray that we are able to connect and build new relationships that will ultimately send more Missionaries to the field.

Ways you can be praying for us in July:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating.
• That our team is able to make connections at AirVenture.

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Traction and Momentum

Transitioning to what is Next.

This month has been motivating here at SOAR. We welcomed our next candidate, Bailey George. He arrived having already completed his A&P License. He will spend his time at SOAR gaining maintenance experience and working toward his flight certifications. Bailey was born and raised in South Carolina and always wanted to learn to fly. While in college, Bailey was challenged by friends and family to pursue missions and aviation together. We are excited to see how God will use Bailey and where he chooses to send him. You can read more about Bailey here.

Bailey George

While we are transitioning Bailey in, two of our current candidates are completing their certifications and will slowly be transitioning to their sending organizations. Phillip Sneed became a licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic. Thirty months of practical experience is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to take the 9 required written, oral and practical tests to earn an A&P license. Please pray for Phillip and his wife Brooke as the visit SAMAIR (South American Mission) to see if this is a good fit for them. You can read more of their story here.

Phillip Sneed

Commercial Training is Finally moving forward!

Admittedly, fight training hasn’t been at the pace that we would have liked, however we have been making amazing process this last month. Seth is well on his way to his commercial rating. This is the last hurdle before he can begin his flight instructor training. This week he earned his High Performance endorsement, this allows him to fly a more powerful aircraft. This is a major accomplishment because the aircraft that he has been doing his commercial training is high performance. The current pace and goal is to have commercial completed by early August and CFI done by early fall. Pray that we are able to keep this timeline. We are appreciative of everyones support in this calling that God has for us. We know we say this every month but the door is open to come up and check out SOAR anytime and go on a flight if that works out.

Seth gets his High Performance Rating

Ways you can be praying for us in July:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating.
• That we find ways to connect and rest as a family.

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You are going where?

SOAR Partnership

These past few months have been extra busy at SOAR. We are so energized by what God is doing around us. Recently we were visited by JAARS and ABWE. The visits were for very different reasons, however, both are potential sending organizations that will launch our candidates to the field that God has called them into. SOAR also attended Sun n’ Fun in Lakeland, FL. This was also another chance to connect with MAF, JAARS and Ethnos360 some of the leaders in Mission Aviation. Each time we connect and interact allows us opportunities to help our missionary candidates find the right place for them to serve. We are so grateful for these opportunities.

We thought highlighting these two organizations that came to visit so you can see where some potential places are where our missionary candidates might serve, helps you understand the global impact you have while supporting us in our calling

JAARS – JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Service) is a multidisciplinary team of problem-solvers committed to the belief—and the vision—that people’s lives and communities are transformed as they experience God’s Word in their own language. You can read more about their organization here. JAARS has been working in Mission Aviation for 70 years and has a high standard for their pilots and mechanics. For this reason many smaller organizations utilize them to evaluate the training that pilots have received. Partnership with them means that our candidates will be able to be better equipped to serve on the field. We always want to be learning and growing and a partnership allows us to be able to grow and serve the mission community better.

ABWE – ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) is a global family of ministries that exists to fulfill the Great Commission by multiplying leaders, churches, and missions movements among every people. You can read more about their organization here. ABWE is a more recent organization that we have begun to partner with. Our hope is that we can give our candidates another avenue for serving in a different way. We also want to be able to share resources between the two organizations.

Living Sent

SOAR is prepping to send two more candidates this year. While this is sad for us, it’s also amazing to see how God is using SOAR to accomplish his work. You can read about the missionaries we have currently sent here. They are currently serving at Ethnos360, UIM, MARC, and Tanalian Bible Camp. They all serve in various capacities of aviation and utilize aviation to bring the gospel to the nations. Some more directly than others but all valuable in their own ways. These missionaries are physically being sent but I love how God has given them the heart to live sent long before they were on the mission field. Many of them began the work of partnering with God in their daily lives long before they knew they were called to missions. We see this in the candidates before they arrive and during their training. Many of our candidates along with their flight, maintenance, PD, and bible training also serve in their local church and other organizations. They bring a servants heart and a willingness to give. I am always amazed how God has knit them in that way. If you would like to read about our current candidates you can here. The two candidates we are sending out are hoping to serve at Ethnos360 and SAM air. We are praying for them as they finish up the last of their training and work toward the work God is calling them into. Please click the links and share what God is doing with people you know. They need prayer and financial support to get to the mission field. Please be praying for wisdom for Seth and me as we try to help them in any way possible to finish their training.

Personal Partnership and other challenges

We have now been serving at SOAR for over a year and we are excited about the work God is doing here. Some of our funding has run out and we are again looking for partners who are willing to join us in helping send candidates to the field. We love sharing our story both in person or at a church. If you know of someone who might be interested in hearing our story we would love to share. Please contact us or share our story with someone you know so we can get connected. If you are not currently giving or would like to give more you can do that here.

We are again blessed to see how God has provided. A few months ago we were presented with the challenge of finding another flight instructor. It is a challenge we continue to deal with. The flight instructor that had gotten Seth his IFR training was no longer able to continue Seth’s training. We are so grateful for him and the time he poured into Seth and SOAR. So we were on the hunt again. We connected these last few weeks with another flight instructor who is passionate about training well-equipped instructors. This is exactly the type of instructor we are looking for. This has been such an answer to prayer. Seth’s goal of getting CFI by the end of summer may still be a possibility. Pray that there are no more hiccups in his training and we can continue to work toward the goal that God has set before us.

Ways you can be praying for us in 2022

• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team.
• That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that God has called him into.
• That God grows and shapes our candidates to be used on the field and that he opens doors for them to be able to serve.

Ways you can be praying for us in May:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating.
• That we find ways to connect and rest as a family.

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Hitting a Milestone

IFR Rating Complete!!

Seth and Josh (one of his flight instructors)

For a year now Seth has been working towards getting his IFR rating. We have continually hit delays and schedule conflicts over and over it seemed. We have felt like we fell into the same hole that SOAR has been struggling to fill which is a consistent flight instructor. Finally, in the fall we got some consistency. This was a huge blessing. We have been so blessed by the people that have made the effort to make it a priority and helped push Seth to this first milestone. There is still a long way to go. The next rating is his commercial rating. We are praying that it doesn’t take as long to get this but we are on God’s timing aren’t we. Pray for us as we continue to push forward and push toward this next milestone.

Seth and Terry (one of his flight instructors).

Continuing to Share

Seth sharing with the EAA members.

This year has a lot in store for SOAR. We ended January speaking at an EAA dinner in Jeff City. We had a great opportunity to share what SOAR does and how the program works. Not everyone there was a Christian so we hopefully were able to open the door for gospel conversations also. Lastly, we hope that events like this open doors for God to bring the right volunteers to serve at SOAR. The event was supposed to have Kerrick speak but due to sickness Seth had to fill in the gap. We are grateful for opportunities like these to be able to connect with other organizations and people about SOAR and the mission. We have several more events throughout the year where we hope to share SOAR’s story. Please pray that God guides our words and steps to open doors and create relationships.

Kevin and Madeline connecting with some EAA members.

Small Moments

One of the goals this year is to get to Instructor rating. This means doing a lot of flying to get hours in. The bulk of time has been with instructors so our family hasn’t really had a chance to sit in the plane together. This month we have had the opportunity to take Jo up on her first flight and we got to fly around Springfield at night to see the lights as a family. With our crazy schedule sometimes we don’t get many moments to enjoy things like this. So we are grateful for these small moments. Hopefully, we will have more opportunities to do more flights with the girls this year.

Ways you can be praying for us in 2022

• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team.
• That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that he feels God has called him into.
• That God grows and shapes our candidates to be used on the field and that he opens doors for them to be able to serve.

Ways you can be praying for us in February:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That God continues to provide the time and flight instructor for his next rating.
• That we find ways to spend time as a family and

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Happy New Year!

Recapping 2021 for SOAR

Growth is something that is hard. No matter how big or small it can be painful and difficult. This year SOAR has experienced a lot of growth. We were added as staff in January, and with that comes extra roles and jobs that need oversight and consistency. These changes have come with growing pains for SOAR but God has been faithful to lead. We are constantly reminded that this is his mission and we are partnering with him.

This year SOAR adjusted their tagline to better align with what we believe God has called us into. Mission Aviation Readiness is a statement about our commitment to not just give our candidates the technical skills, but also the life skills needed for a missionary in the field.

This year our doors received a much needed facelift with our new tagline.

It was a productive year for our current candidates and alumni during this year! Here is a recap of what has happened with them.
Candidates
Abi McWhorter: became licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, became rated as Certified Instrument Flight Instructor, attended a summer internship with Send in Alaska.
Matt McWhorter: passed his commercial checkride, became licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, attended a summer internship with Send in Alaska.
AJ Hollaway: received his high-performance endorsement, passed his commercial checkride.
Phillip Sneed: received his high-performance endorsement, earned his instrument rating,
Josh Hamilton: joined SOAR.
Madeline Hooks: joined SOAR, received her high-performance endorsement, reached 1000 hours of flight time.
Alumni
Jeremy & Blinda Dunn: moved to Papua New Guinea to serve with Ethnos360.
Nathan & Kayla White: began training to serve in Mexico for UIM.
Lance and Caitlin Rensberger: Lance gained R66 helicopter training and continues to serve with Ethnos360 at McNeal, Arizona.
Fred and Lydia Holcomb: Fred is continuing to serve at MARC in Alaska through flight instruction and aircraft maintenance.

We are so glad to be a part of their lives and we have loved getting to cheer them on as they work towards their goals.

This year SOAR has grieved the loss of one of our volunteer instructors.

We along with other SOAR staff attended Oshkosh in July. We were able to create relationships with other Mission organizations and connect future missionaries.

Our candidates continued their maintenance training throughout the year through working on SOAR and customer aircraft. SOAR’s aircraft received much needed upgrades and our customers were able to receive quality work.

During 2021 Seth was able continue his IFR training. He has currently passed his written portion and is scheduled to complete the oral and flight portion in the next few weeks. Seth has also been able to utilize his background in construction to help with much needed facilities maintenance and upgrades. Deb was able to utilize her Design and Marketing to help create videos, graphics and update our website.

Ways you can be praying for us in 2022

• That God cultivates relationships and we are able to find direction as a leadership team.
• That Seth and I are able to support our candidates as best as we are capable.
• That Seth is able to finish his ratings and begin the work that he feels God has called him into.

Ways you can be praying for us in January:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That we are able to balance all of our commitments.
• That Seth is able to pass his IFR oral and flight exam.

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Trusting God and Launch Day


Christmas Wishes

As this year comes to a close we know that many of you have gone through major transitions of your own. 2020 has been the year to remember for sure. We however can’t begin to express our gratitude for each of you that have chosen to come alongside us this year. We would not have been able to get through this season without your prayers and support. Your love and encouraging words have been a huge comfort and a place of stability for us this year. From our Family to yours. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Training the Trainer

Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine your spouse is sitting in the car beside you trying to teach you how to drive without you being able to look out the window. Now for some of you, this picture is enough, there is no way in the world you would ever entertain this idea, especially from a spouse because you already know the outcome, but alas I will continue. It doesn’t take long for you to build up confidence that you’ve mastered this as you are driving straight down the wide 2 lane road keeping your speed perfect and the car right between the lines. About this time your spouse gets the genius idea to drive through this random neighborhood. Oh, look honey it’s our dream house, BABE, your driving in the ditch, ouch that was one of those brick mailboxes. Nevermind that this whole time you were never supposed to see outside and they were supposed to be coaching and cross-checking you not searching for dream homes. Now you are flustered and the equilibrium in your inner ear is all messed up and you can’t quite get back on track again even though you are out of that neighborhood and back on that wide 2 lane road. If we take away something that we take for granted, like sight reference, it makes the task that we could probably actually complete without seeing it very difficult to recover from something unexpended without that reference. Learning to fly an airplane on instruments is much like this, I took for granted the sight reference that was always able to reacclimate me to straight and level. While flying an airplane on instruments your equilibrium can get messed up but you have to fight the urge to listen to what your body tells you and trust the instruments. Thanks to Josh my patient flight instructor for bearing with me while I take us all over the sky. Climbing, descending, left turning, right turning, and rarely straight and level. At least he gets to smile in pics while I am struggling to keep the airplane headed in the correct direction. (Photo included for all your viewing pleasure)

Funny looking hood to block my view of outside and let me see the instruments.
Yep turning left again.

Do We Really Trust God to Follow Through

From the beginning, we set a launch date goal of January 2021. We knew that this would be a lofty goal just on its own. We prayed and felt like this was the goal we wanted to accomplish, surely it wasn’t something a little hard work could overcome. Then a pandemic hit. Nothing could have prepared us and anyone around us for the year that 2020 became. Any and all resources we had access to, just didn’t have the info or experience we needed to develop partnerships in a pandemic. There was no other path but to trust God. So we set out this year trusting that if we were going to hit the goal of being able to launch in 2021, God would provide. And provide he did. We have seen some amazing things happen this year. God has provided and we have reached 60%! This is amazing considering the circumstances and could have only been the work of God. Now I know what you are thinking. Um guys 60% is not 100% and you would be correct. In October after we had worked so hard to try to get the remaining 40% we were beginning to think that we would not be able to make our January goal. We had been praying and asked everyone we knew to be praying that God would provide but we just didn’t see how we could make 60% of our budget work. We were disappointed but hopeful that God’s timing was best. At the end of November, we were surprised again by God’s provision. The remaining 40% for the year 2021 was covered by a one time gift. Now we are not at 100% of our monthly giving budget but this means that we will be launching and beginning our work at SOAR in January of 2021. We were shocked. I laugh as I write that sentence because if you notice at the beginning of the story I said we prayed for God to make this happen. He did. Why are we so shocked when God gives us what we ask from him? Is it because we don’t actually believe he is God or that we don’t trust that he actually will provide what we need. I don’t know, but we are overflowing with gratitude for the goodness of God. Now notice I said that we still have 40% of our monthly giving. So that means we still have work to do but now Seth is able to finish his training beginning in January and we have time to finish building the remaining partnerships with a little more breathing room in our schedule. Pray for us in this season of change for our family. We are nervous and excited to see what God is going to do with 2021.

Praising God:

• Jordis’ surgery was successful and she has made a full recovery.

Felling pretty in her gown
Snuggles after surgery

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will continue to provide the remaining partners needed.
• That our family stays strong as we continue to transition into our new schedule.
• That the transition into our new jobs goes smoothly and we are able to clearly see the direction that SOAR needs to be heading.

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September changes and challenges.

Changes, Challenges and Prayer Requests

Labor Day. Boats lined up to see the fireworks.

September was mostly quiet. We have been spending the month getting into a rhythm with school and we are continuing to meet with people building partnerships. We are trying to squeeze those last few drops of summer out with a few more camping trips. October however, will bring some new challenges for many reasons. First, we have a few churches that we are beginning to build relationships with so that we can create partnerships. This process of meeting with churches has come late in our journey due to COVID. Please be praying for us as we share our hearts and God’s will for our lives to these churches. Second, many of you know that our youngest daughter deals with an eye condition called Exotropia. We have monitored her eyes for a couple of years now and it has come to a point where surgery is needed. The surgery is very common and is considered outpatient surgery. We are trusting in God’s hand to protect our sweet girl. Please pray for peace for us and God to guide the hands of the surgeon.

Praying for everything to go smoothly. Pray that healing is quick.

Pushing Through The Stall

In August families including us began the transition back into school season. This made partnership meetings inconsistent and difficult. We felt the pressure of the partnership goal increase more than it had been prior. God has proved Himself faithful through this season and has given us the strength to push through the stall. September was a month of gaining momentum, learning how to adjust to a new season for everyone, and finding our new rhythm. We are sharing our story with our home church, LifePoint Church this weekend. This weekend is our church’s 16th anniversary and we are honored to have this privilege on such a milestone day. Sharing with our home church will kick off a season of sharing with other churches that God has been providing opportunities to speak with. If you don’t have a home church or yours isn’t currently meeting we would love for you to join us at our home church. We would love to share what God is doing at your home church as well. Contact us to set up a meeting. God is getting ready to do some amazing things we couldn’t be more excited to partner with him.

We are so grateful for the support that LifePoint is providing for us. Thank you for being our church home.

God is our Cornerstone

During the month of August, I (Seth) found myself relying on my own strength to push through. Days were long and I thought if I just do more we can get this to work. Just one month of relying on my own strength in partnership development was too much of a burden for me to carry without depending on the one who strengthens me. God reminded me that he is the one who is doing the work and I am coming alongside him. This meant that I am to look to his word for direction, encouragement, and depend on the firm foundation that he has already established. Friends, what season are you in? Is God the one leading, or are you carrying a burden you shouldn’t? Are you going the other direction alone instead of walking beside him? Rest in these words from 2 Timothy 2:19 (But God’s firm foundation stands bearing his seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity”).

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will protect our sweet girl and that she will have complete healing.
• That God will continue to build partnerships.
• That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules.
• That God would give us wisdom for these upcoming months.

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Birthdays and Summer Fun

July for us finally felt like summer. With June being filled with weddings, graduations, and many other things it was nice to hit July and a hint of normalcy. Camping, birthday, flying, partnership meetings, and community time brought some busyness but also some much-needed relief from the never-ending bad news that is 2020. We were thankful for the rest and community time in July.

SUMMER CAMPING

Typically from spring through fall, we camp several times as a family. Camping allows us to unplug from media and reset our family compass and bond. Being in God’s creation and nature is restful for our bodies and souls. We come back from these trips refreshed, recharged, and ready to focus on what God had called us to do. We also love to share these experiences with others, so if this is something you guys like to do as well hit us up and we will plan a trip together.

  • Cousins are the best.
  • Jordis and her flowers
  • Bella loves the hammock

Happy Birthday Seth

This year has been different for a lot of reasons. COVID has changed how we spend our downtime. For the past few years during Seth’s birthday, we have joined our church on mission with our students as we serve our partner churches in other areas. On the years we have not served on mission trips, we have typically gone to the lake or camped at a state park. With COVID we are being cautious with our family. This year Seth’s birthday was spent at home. We had partnership meetings and other things on the schedule, so we played it safe. Quiet but still good. This guy spent his birthday without complaint loving his family and others well. We are so grateful for the love that he shows us. Happy Birthday, Love.
– Deb

DOING LIFE IN COMMUNITY

If you have known us for very long you know that this month we typically go with the students at our church on a mission trip. This year like many churches, our church, has had to adjust to a very different schedule. For us, that means combining a couple of events into one and staying local. We along with our students served and spent some time together in community. While we are sad to not be able to help serve other churches this year we loved spending some time with our students. Please be praying for our church and church partners in this season.

Ways you can be praying for us:

• That God will continue to build partnerships.
• That our marriage stays strong in this season of full schedules.
• That God would give us the wisdom for these upcoming months.

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