On the road again...

Since last I posted we have visited 3 churches in Michigan, returned back to Tennessee. Tony flew up to Albany and had the opportunity to share with two of our supporting churches in that area. He returned on Monday, April 7th, and we headed to Texas on Tuesday, April 8th!

We enjoyed the opportunity to be in the Missions Conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Gatesville, TX. We knew Pastor and Mrs. Bogan from our days at Bible College and then they had been on deputation going to the field of Germany when we were working on staff at the church in Michigan. It has been years since we have seen them, and it was just a blessing to have a chance to renew our friendship with them! Another special blessing was that the other missionary in the conference was my cousin, Jeremy Gresham from Iceland and my parents were there, as my Dad was the main speaker! :-)

Yesterday morning after sharing breakfast with everyone, we headed up to Kansas, and last night surprised our youngest daughter, Lexi. That was lots of fun! We stopped on the way, to spend a couple hours with Tony's Aunt and Uncle and to see his Grandmother, arriving here about 7:30, just after Lexi had gotten home from work. We are looking forward to having a few days with her, before heading back toward Tennessee on Thursday. Tony will be traveling up to New England on Saturday. He will be at the Heritage Park Baptist Church in Burlington, MA. on Sunday morning and then at Grace Baptist Church in Portland, Maine on Sunday night. He will be flying back to Tennessee on Monday. Then we head toward Florida on Wednesday where we will be visiting churches for a couple weeks.

Thank you so much for your prayers as we travel. God has been so good to us. We have added 1 new church and had 1 church double our support! Many have made promises for our Building Program in Manta. We heard from the architech there a couple weeks ago, and things are progressing. The plans are finished and he is ready to submit them to the planning board for the proper permits! God has supplied the money necessary for everything we have needed to pay up to this point. It is so wonderful that we have a God who does everything right on time!

We continue to hear good reports from the church in Manta. Everyone continues to fulfill their commitments and remain faithful. The attendance as stayed close to the 90 mark, and we are thankful for that. I would ask you to continue to pray for the men who are leading the church during our absence. Pray too, for Darwin Moreira. He has been sick with throat and ear infections. There is a possibility that he will have to have an operation. Pray too, for Jose Gallegos and his family. Mrs. Gallegos passed away last week. She had a long battle with cancer. Thank the Lord that Roberto and Lupe were able to talk with her before she passed away and she accepted Christ!

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry in Manta. God bless you as you serve him this week!

Joy

I pray that each of you had a wonderful Easter! We enjoyed the week before Easter visiting with our middle daughter, Ashley. Teddy was thrilled to have one of his big sisters around to "play" with him!

The week of course just flew by! Isn't that always the way it is? You anticipate and plan and look forward to something for so long, and then before you know it the time has come and gone. We packed a lot into the time though and had a wonderful visit!

The news we are hearing from Ecuador is very good. We had 11 teens go to youth camp and 2 accepted Christ as their saviour while there. One girl surrendered her life to be a missionary and all of them came back excited and pumped up to serve the Lord! What a blessing!

Tony preached Sunday evening at the Gospel Baptist Tabernacle in Crossville. We are thankful for the opportunity that he had to share about the work in Ecuador there.

Today we have headed up to Michigan, where we will be at our home church, Great Lakes Baptist Temple, in Flint, tomorrow evening, and then in 2 other churches on Sunday and a different church the following Wednesday. Please be praying for safety as we travel and that the Lord would soften hearts to the need in Ecuador for this new building.

God bless you as you follow him this week!
Joy

Hey Ashley... Hey Ashley!

We arrived in Nashville last night from Seattle, and met our daughter Ashley, who flew in from MO. to spend her spring break with us. Teddy was very excited to see his big sister and all the way home he was telling her about all the things he has been able to do since we arrived in the US 3 weeks ago...

"Ashley, I went to the Circus and Chuckee Cheese, all in the same day! I touched a star fish in Seattle and saw Octopus and seals and sea otters! I also rode a ferry and saw canyons! (cannons) In Michigan I drove a mobile all by myself! (snow mobile) Daddy and Mr. Dale ran right beside me, but I drove it! When I grow up up I want to be a pilot and push and pull the knobs and buttons! There are like 32 of them in there, I looked and saw them all when we got off the plane!"

It is fun to listen to him explain all the fun and interesting things we have been able to do since we arrived in the States and started visiting our churches. Everyone has been so great and generous! We have enjoyed renewing old friendships and making new ones!

This past week-end we had the opportunity to visit Westside Baptist Church in Bremerton, WA. This church has been part of our support team for many years, but this was the first time we have had an opportunity to visit them. It was wonderful to be able to meet these wonderful people and see what the Lord is doing there.

Since we arrived in the US, we have been in 2 missions conferences, and 3 other churches. We arrived in Michigan, from there went to Tennessee and this past week-end went to the Seattle, Washington area. It has been exciting to be in these churches and see God working!

We appreciate your prayers for our family as we travel. Please continue to pray for the work in Manta and the people in the church there. We are excited to see how the Lord will provide all the money needed for the construction too!

God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy

Happy Monday!

I pray that this finds each of you starting a great week! We have just finished up a great conference at West Park Baptist church in Knoxville, Tn. We enjoyed a week of fellowship with other missionaries, and making new friends and renewing old friendships.

This morning Tony is flying down to Miami to pick up our car. Please keep him in your prayers as he travels down today and drives back tomorrow. Teddy and I will have a couple days to visit with my Mom and Dad, then on Thursday we are all flying to Seattle to be with on of our churches over the week-end.

Please continue to pray for the work in Manta. Pray that the people in our church will remain faithful and that God will continue to bless the work there.

Have a great week serving the Lord where he has placed you!
God Bless!
Joy