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Dear praying friends and family,

Just over four more weeks of pregnancy left. The C-section is set for October 5. We are already rearranging the kids’ bedrooms to make room for another and get them used to sharing a room. Melissa has not been feeling really well lately. She is finally over the ear infection she had for nearly a month and the cold that came with it. She has kept busy canning things from our garden, keeping up with kids, and has even had a unique opportunity to tutor an older adult in algebra.

The busy days of summer are finally winding down. There’s no need to recount the various missions trips that we just told you about in the newsletter, but we can report on one that happened since then. Last weekend (8/27-29) I took three young men to Helena, AR, to continue work on the community market that missionaries with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (a ministry of the SBC) have envisioned to provide entrepreneurial opportunities in that community that is so impoverished. My pastor and another man from our church came down for two of the three days, and we built the roof framing and got half of the roof on the building. It was a great opportunity for all of us to work together and contribute to the work of transforming the Helena area for Christ’s kingdom. One “God thing” that happened was one evening while we were eating supper in the church where we stayed. The building was kept locked the entire time we were there due to the high crime rate of the area. Somehow that evening the door had not been locked, and while we were eating a 16-year-old boy wandered in and managed to find us in the large building. This teen had moved from Chicago, where according to him he actually felt safer. He had seen our vehicles parked outside the church and came because he was seeking the Lord and a safe place. Some of the men were able to share the gospel with him, and the three youth in our group invited him to play games with them. We ended up playing until almost 10 p.m. then I and one of the men drove him home. We pray that Dennis will soon find what he is looking for.

The weekend before that was our annual teen all-nighter. What started out looking like a flop ended up as one of the best rallies ever. The band was able to set up and play outside the Cary-Grove Center, which was a huge improvement over previous years when they have tried to play inside. The youth evangelist was used of God to share the gospel with the crowd (estimated 30 – 40 kids and adults) during the worship time. By 11 p.m. most of the crowd had gone home, which left only six of the core group for the balance of the night. Again, the Lord used the speaker in the now smaller setting to challenge the youth to take time to earnestly seek God’s will for their lives even if it means giving up some of the things they may desire for themselves. We are planning several weekend retreats focusing on various topics starting in December with a prayer retreat and then about once a month targeting the needs of youth. Please pray for God to orchestrate these to impact the lives of many youth, especially in the local area.

In our last prayer letter, we had asked prayer for a miraculous provision of transportation for David and Josh to return from their mission trip to Missouri. A couple from our church volunteered to drive up and get them. God provided! Please continue to pray for these two (and several other of the Cedar Springs teens & young adults) who are seeking the Lord’s will for their lives and are thinking He may be calling them to some sort of mission work. They need to know that they are following God’s plan and not somebody else’s.

Thanks for your prayers and support,