September 2024 Prayer Letter
Deputation
Last month Lisa wanted to write our prayer letter and so I feel that it has been a while since I have written. In our year out on deputation (with 3 weeks off last November when I had my surgery) we have visited 114 churches, raised 43% of our support, and put about 50,000 miles on the truck/trailer. When I started deputation, I was still doing remote work and was going to West Coast online for my masters. It was a very busy time, but now I no longer have a job and I have my Masters in Biblical Studies. We feel very blessed with our time on the road. While we have broken down twice, only once did we miss a church because of it, and even then God provided us a church in the town we broke down in. Many missionaries have horror stories on deputation and we have avoided any of those to this point. Additionally, the only time that we have needed to pay for a place to stay was when we broke down in NM and we had to get a spot to put the camper for a couple of nights. I was very blessed this month to be able to go with Faith Baptist Church in Brownsboro, TX on a fishing trip. In total, there were 187 fish caught with one 56 lbs whopper. Being on the road is hard, but God has been good.
Ordination
My pastor wanted to wait until my school was finished to do my ordination. The next time that I would be back in TX after graduation was in September and so we scheduled the ordination for September 15th. It was good to be back with our church family and see friends. Additionally, my son and in-laws came down for the ordination. The pastor of the church in Colorado where we spent 15 years (Jeremy Wynn) and our friend and church planter (Justin Garber) came down to be a part of the counsel. It was a good time to reconnect, and the service was good.
House
Possibly the hardest part of deputation has been the stress that has come from not being able to sell the house. We had two contracts fall through and in September we decided to give up on selling and instead put it on the rental market. We found out that the AC in the house had failed and needed to be replaced, but God provided the money through Worth Baptist Church at their missions conference and we were able to get the AC fixed and renters have signed a contract and should be moving in as I write this. We did not want to hold onto the house and have the potential problems that renters can pose, but we are trusting that God is doing what is best.
Prayer Requests
* Steele’s medical treatment
* Supporting churches
* Safety/reliability on the road
* Souls saved
