Traveling at last!!!

Well, our traveling always seems to include a healthy amount of Drama.  We enjoyed a quiet Christmas morning, headed over to the Camp to finish cleaning up... that lasted until Midnight.
Of course we weren't quite finished so I had a great plan on getting up early and finishing while Amy got the boys ready.
5:00am came early, but I was running on adrenaline, and had a mission to complete.  I worked steady until I realized it was almost 9:00.  We had to leave no later than 10:00am in order to make it to the train.
Jonathan and I left with the baggage, and Amy had the boys, Reagan (a friend who we met at camp over the summer as a counselor), with the Van.  Jonathan and I made it too the train in the nick of time, but it became apparent that Amy was not going to make it.  With the help of the ticket agent we redirected her to the Saratoga train station so she could still make the same train.
Praise the Lord all worked out and we made it to Montreal with all our baggage... and 4 kids

Here are some pictures that we managed to get...

 

Amy catching some shut-eye

Boys watched a movie on the train after it got too dark to enjoy the scenery

Visa part 2

The second trip for visa's was today, and it was not necessary for the entire family to make the trip to NYC.  I arrived with the additional documents in hand and hour before my appointment, and of course had no trouble with the traffic.  Everything went very well, and I am headed back with Visa's in hand.  Good thing too, we have tickets for the 27th.

Visa's

We are getting ready for our Visa interview's tomorrow, it should prove interesting.  We have only one FBI background check on Joseph, and a local background check on Amy.  Lord willing all will go well, and we will have only to return to pick up the visa's after our Indiana trip.

Thursday we plan to leave for Indiana.  It will be our Commissioning in our home church, Bible Baptist.  In addition to the Commissioning service, we want to take the time to visit with friends that we may not see again for the next four years.  We should be in Tipton Indiana, as well as Russiaville to say bye to friends.

We are beginning to Pack, and the job is a little overwhelming.  In Gods Strength we should be on our way Soon!!!

Mission Conferences

We are back on the road with more Missions Conferences.  We have just finished up some meetings here in New York, and will be heading south in November.

Please pray for safety on the road, the ability to articulate the burden that God has given us, and the right people and churches to present this ministry to.  We are excited to see what God will do.

We are preparing to leave the United States in December, and we are very close to meeting our Financial requirements.  Please pray the the remaining funds will come in quickly.

Progress in Benin

We just received word that the foundation for the home that we will occupy for the first couple years, has been started.

The soil is moist, so it makes the work with a shovel a little easier.

Since everything is done by hand, it takes quite a while to get a building up.






Though the foundation is being laid, not all the funds are in for the houses.  We have been asked to help raise some of those funds.  Please pray that the needed funds are raised.  This house will be used for medical teams once we have moved to a permanent location in the years to come.

Fall in NY

The days are turning colder, and it is one of my favorite times of the year.  What is not to love, pumpkin pie, apple pie, cider, cider donuts, I could go on, but i would need a snack.  Suffice it to say that I will be happy to take advantage of the season while we are in the US.

Some friends invited us to make cider with my Grandmother's apples.  We had a blast, and it was educational as well...

Will and Josiah washed the apples we had collected.

They were then instructed on how the process worked.

Then they started crankin' out the cider.








Did I mention I love this time of year?

The Medical Clinic

We are excited with the progress made on the Clinic.  For some of you who don't know, Global Dental Medical, a partnering mission organization, has helped to build a clinic to aid the people of our area.  Incidentally, the nearest hospital is 4 hours away.

Why does this excite us?  Well, we are burdened for the Fulani people, a nomadic people group who are starting to settle in the area.  This clinic draws them to the village to seek medical help.  This allows us the opportunity of meeting and developing a relationship with them.

Our temporary home will be located near the clinic, and we will be in close proximity to a Fulani village.

The clinic should be open and operating soon.

VBS

During our time at camp we have been able to get to several of our churches in the New York area.

 A huge thank you to the Baptist Church of Northville as well as Broadalbin Baptist for inviting us to participate in their VBS this year.  The boys had a blast, and Amy and I were honored to be included in the program.

The money that was raised will go to help the Benin nationals. 

Back in the Adirondacks

We are back in the Adirondacks and planning on spending the summer here at Sacandaga Bible Conference.  The boys will be participating in some of the camp exercises, and Amy and I will be helping in the Chapel services.

Pray for the many young hearts that will hear the gospel.

 UPDATE!!!

This was the staff for the summer, can you find our four in the mix?

The staff was such a blessing.  They really loved on our kids and made them feel special.  I have a feeling that the boys will have fond memories of this summer for a long time.

Living it up

While we are in churches on the weekends, we have had a chance to get out and enjoy Gods creation for a couple days this summer. 

Here are some pictures...

 

 We were joined by friends from Perth Bible Church

Boys love the outdoors!

Just a snap shot

We left South Carolina with the 40 foot container all packed up and ready to go.  When we arrived back in Indiana, we had packing to do.  Amy with some help from friends was able to get all of the household things packed, or given away.  It was a little emotional as we said Good Bye to our Bible Baptist Family, and friends.  It was also a little hard to get back on the road.  We were loaded.

Once again we were able to use the Suburban, small trailer, and our Minivan.  Our arrival in NY was a welcome opportunity to relax for a day or two, and unwind.  Currently we are getting back into Churches and helping out at  Sacandaga Bible Conference.  We still have a little more to raise before we will have 100% of our support, and be cleared to leave.

Container on its way!!!

The Container is safely on its way to West Africa.  We will have a letter out soon documenting the last month and all that has transpired.  Suffice it to say God is Amazing and His finger prints were once again evident in our lives.  We were able to get all of our "needed" things, as well as some of our "wants" safely loaded into the 40 foot container.

It took some doing (because of the tight schedule) with lots of stress and very little sleep.  God is faithful however, and we praise Him for His abundant blessings.  Thank you to all of you who had a hand in helping us and for those of you who were praying by our side.

The container started out empty but was filled very quickly.  For those of you who have been following the process

Everyone helped

PACKING UP???

No... we aren't leaving quite yet, but God has offered us the amazing opportunity to send our belongings to West Africa on a container scheduled to ship from the US in mid-March. Normally missionaries pack up as they are leaving the states but God is opening this door a bit sooner for our family. Though the planning and preparation has been a bit fast paced we are grateful for this blessing! We have spent hours consulting with fellow missionaries as we have carefully considered what is needed to live in West Africa. We will NOT be shipping appliances or furniture as all of these things can be either bought or made in country. We do however have a growing list of kitchen items, linens, and tools. Some of our friends and supporters have watched this process and have urged us to publish our list of needs so that they might have a part in helping us to gather these items. After careful consideration we have used an online registry website to complete our list. If you or your church would like to help us we would be grateful. The time is short. We will be helping to pack the container in SC between March 23-25. Right now the registry website will direct all items to be shipped to Indiana where we will pack our home and transport everything to South Carolina in early March.
If you would like to help us we have provided a link to the registry on the right.  We will need the items in the next couple weeks so that they are ready for packing.  

Events on the Field

It is with heavy hearts that we post this, and yet with hope that you will join us in prayer. Thank you in advance for sharing this burden with us and for praying by our sides!

This week we received news that rioting broke out in various West African countries. Our understanding is that the riots were a response to happenings in France.  As a result Friday and Saturday 8-9 churches were burned in Niger, West Africa. This is the country where Amy’s parents work and where we have fellow missionaries and national friends. We are praising God that, as far as we know, none of the believers were harmed. Stories are being told of God’s evident Hand of protection upon His children and we are awed by His goodness in this way. Yet we were saddened Sunday morning to know that our brothers and sisters in Christ met to worship in the midst of such loss.

In Mali, West Africa there were demonstrations but things were kept under control and free from riots. We have heard from Joseph’s parents that all are safe and things are calm.

Finally in Benin, we received news that a large delegation from the larger towns descended upon the village of Boifo where Pastor Isaac resides. Many of you have heard us share of Pastor Isaac in your churches. The intent of the delegation was to urge the people to purge their village of Christians and their worthless influence. No one was harmed and the church in Boifo was not burned. Pastor Isaac later met with the village chief who condemned the intrusion but it left the believers deeply impacted.  Pastor Isaac later shared with our colleague Colin the following words, “They can burn our churches but they will not destroy the Church!”

Our hearts our humbled to serve with these men and women.

Our missionary colleagues in the various countries are safe though they remain on alert. These are troubled times that we live in and yet we know that God is active and at work.

Will you join us as we fervently pray that God would be glorified in these days; that our brothers and sisters in Christ would stand firm and be filled with His strength; that God’s mighty Hand of protection would be upon them; and that these events would lead men and women to know Jesus Christ.

As we said before, we are so thankful to know that you are praying with us!

Back to the Adirondacks?

When we first left Indiana in October, it was our understanding that we would be back in January to continue working at Piazza as well as contact churches.  However, God does what only He can do.  We continue to book meetings here in the East, and as a result, we have decided to come back to this area of New York. 

Sooo, we left Florida, stopped briefly in North Carolina, and headed back to Indiana to spend Sunday at our sending Church.  It was so good to be back, though a little frustrating that we couldn't see all the ones we would have loved to.  We were able to spend the next couple of days tying up some loose ends.  The time was way too short to accomplish all that we wanted to.  However, by Friday we were back on the road in order to spend Sunday with Calvary Baptist in Pennsylvania. 
We enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and worship there, and by Sunday evening were back on our way "Home" to Sacandaga Bible Conference in the Adirondacks of New York.  We arrived at Midnight, warmed up the cabin, and fell into bed exhausted.

We will be here in New York for the foreseeable future, as long as we have meetings in surrounding Churches.  Amy and the boys have settled back into our little A-Frame cottage, and Joe is helping do some maintenance when not setting up meetings, studying, and keeping up with office work. 

We are excited to see Gods plan unfold, we never thought we would be spending the winter in New York, but God's ways are not always ours.  We are relying on Him and asking for wisdom and open doors to present what He is doing in Benin.