Webster's says a friend is "someone whom one knows and likes." That seems to fall so short of the description I would give to Tim and Debbie Gunter, friends from Bible College. After getting married just a month a part, having each of our children within a few months of each other (except for the last couple!) both working on staffs at churches in the same city early in our ministries, and then God called Tony and I to Ecuador, and Tim and Debbie to Florida to start a church. From that time, Tim as been one of our "supporting pastors".
We have enjoyed a few days of just "hanging out" and fellowshiping with them. They also made it possible for us to take Teddy to Disney World's Magic Kingdom. What a "magical" day that was! We had so much fun seeing it all through Teddy's eyes!
This morning we participated in the service here at "Crown Point Baptist Church". God is blessing and we had a great time getting to know some of the people that God has allowed Tim and Debbie to minister to here.
This evening we are heading back over to Altamonte Springs, where we will have the opportunity to present our work to the "Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church". We have so many friends there! That is where Tony and I worked right out of Bible College. They took us in, and became our "family!" Loving us and ministering to us. We have many special memories from those days.
Tomorrow morning we will be packing up our car and heading back north. Our plans at this point are to stop in Tennessee at my parents for a few days... unpack, do laundry, re-pack... then we suppose to be heading to Springfield, MO. There we will be spending Mother's Day with our daughter, Ashley, and have the opportunity to be present for her graduation from Baptist Bible College.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family as we travel around the US, and also for the work in Manta. We continue to hear great updates from the church there. God is blessing! The young people are becoming more involved. The ladies are enjoying fellowship time together, and we have 5 men who made the trip to Santo Domingo last week to attend a Men's Retreat.
Have a wonderful week, as you serve the Lord where he has placed you!
God Bless!
Joy
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Hello from sunny Florida!
We have covered many miles since last I posted. The Lord has been so good to us and blessed us with safety and provided everything we have needed. We arrived in central Florida last Friday. We enjoyed spending a day with Tony's Dad and his family, complete with watching Tony's little brother's little league game!
This week we have been in Altamonte Springs enjoying the Missions House at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. It has been such a blessing to just rest for a few days, and enjoy getting together with many of our friends here. Sunday morning we were at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. Sunday evening, Tony made the drive over to Melbourn and was at Calvary Baptist Church. Tomorrow we will be driving over to Port Charlotte, and then Thursday - Sunday we will be visiting our good friends, Tim and Debbie Gunter and will be in their church on Sunday morning, and back at Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church on Sunday evening.
From here we head back north, with a quick stop in Tennessee to wash clothes, re-pack and then we will be heading to Springfield, MO to attend Fellowship Week there and Ashley's graduation on Thursday morning, May 15. From there we will be in Fort Worth, TX, Dodge City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, before we head back east.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry. God is blessing. The news from Manta is very good. The church is doing well, and everyone is remaining faithful and fulfilling their responsibilities. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would provide the money necessasry to get the building program started this summer.
God bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
This week we have been in Altamonte Springs enjoying the Missions House at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. It has been such a blessing to just rest for a few days, and enjoy getting together with many of our friends here. Sunday morning we were at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. Sunday evening, Tony made the drive over to Melbourn and was at Calvary Baptist Church. Tomorrow we will be driving over to Port Charlotte, and then Thursday - Sunday we will be visiting our good friends, Tim and Debbie Gunter and will be in their church on Sunday morning, and back at Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church on Sunday evening.
From here we head back north, with a quick stop in Tennessee to wash clothes, re-pack and then we will be heading to Springfield, MO to attend Fellowship Week there and Ashley's graduation on Thursday morning, May 15. From there we will be in Fort Worth, TX, Dodge City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, before we head back east.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry. God is blessing. The news from Manta is very good. The church is doing well, and everyone is remaining faithful and fulfilling their responsibilities. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would provide the money necessasry to get the building program started this summer.
God bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
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
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
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