Christmas

 Our Christmas play went very well, and my neighbor came to see it. I have been trying for a year to get her to come to church. Please pray that God will continue to soften her heart. We had many visitors including families of some of our kids. Please pray these parents will understand their need for a Saviour and church.

We had a good crowd on Christmas day with over 50 in attendance. After church, my parents and I headed to Corning, NY to visit with dad's family. We were able to see many of his siblings and some other relatives. We spent the day playing games, eating, and catching up with everyone.

On the 26th, we headed to Seneca Falls. On the way we stopped by our old neighbors, the Nolts. They were Mennonite farmers who had a little store. We kids would walk over and pick up necessities and candy bars. It was a sweet few moments of reminiscing with them.

Seneca Falls is the town which Frank Capra replicated Bedford Falls after in It's a Wonderful Life. The town has a museum with many letters, pictures, and memorabilia pieces from the movie. We missed seeing the actors, and reenactments that they have the second weekend of December, but we hope to go another year for that. They are working on a museum with scene replications from the movie.

From Seneca Falls, we headed to Fort Drum to see my cousin. Her husband is in the military. We had fun playing games, and she stayed at the hotel with us, so we were able to chat a bit. Please pray for her family as they had a death of a close friend and relative. Pray that God will use this time to see people trust Him as Saviour.

On the 27th, we headed to Johnstown, NY. On the way we visited the Oriskany Battlefield, the Herkimer House, and Johnson Hall. The battles in the Mohawk Valley were turning points in the War for Independence. It was interesting to learn some things you don't find in history books.

We are back home, and we are preparing for a New Year's party on Sunday with our church family. Please pray that our church will get a vision for reaching the lost, building our kids program, and reaching the parents of these kids.

Please continue to pray for my mom's health. Please continue to pray for the unspoken situation I hve asked pray for many times. Please pray for the upcoming missions trip. Pray that the girls who are supposed to go will have the faith to believe God will provide.

Another Late Update

 Somehow, an update didn't get posted here. November was a busy month with continuing to care for mom. Her cancer surgery went well, and all the biopsies came back negative for cancer. She will have a checkup in 6 months. We are so relieved to know that now her body can heal her torn hips without having to fight cancer too. Please pray as she has been having issues with her insurance being changed. She is trying to go see doctors in Boston but keeps getting a runaround.

Thanksgiving was a nice day. We invited a neighbor whose husband passed away last year and two of our older ladies from church. We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner. I don't remember why, but I was in and out a lot the day before, and mom ended up doing a lot of the prepping. She was definitely tired when it was all over. It was a nice day all around.

I can't believe we are already into December. Time rushed by this year even with all the ups and downs. Tomorrow is our last Christmas play practice, followed by caroling and passing out gingerbreads with tracts. Please pray that people will be saved because of this endeavor. After caroling, we will have a Christmas party. Please pray that all our kids show up, and pray especially for one family who is really struggling. Pray also that we will have visitors on Sunday and see people saved.

I am continuing to work on the missions trip with the young ladies. I sold about $100 in shell crafts at a preacher's meeting last week. I met another young lady who is interested in the trip. Please pray that she will contact me soon. Please pray that God will help the girls to have faith that He will provide for the trip and their school bills. Some are struggling with this. The trip cost is $2000-$2500 depending on ticket costs. The girls school bills are about $1000/month. If you would like to give towards this trip, please contact me and I will tell you how to send the money. I have set up a bank account specifically for the trip.

Busy October

 Goodness! I had no idea I had not updated for more than a month. I guess I've been updating on FB for mom's surgery... Mom had a total hysterectomy on October 18 for cancer. So far as the doctor could tell, there was no cancer anywhere else. Her trip to the natural clinic in Georgia went very well. She lost a good amount of weight, her hip repaired itself a bit which allowed her to have the cancer surgery, and she got a jump start on flushing the cancer. The first week after surgery was rough. This week has been better, but mom has been having more trouble with her hip. Pray that her pain level will drop and that there is no new hip damage. She will have an appointment Friday with the hip doctor, and a surgery follow up appt. on Nov. 6. Pray no cancer cells were found in any other tissue that they biopsy.

Just before mom's surgery, we went to a preachers meeting. I was able to take some shell projects and sell them to raise money for the missions trip I'm doing with several young ladies next year. Please pray that God will provide the funds for the trip and for the girls' college bills next year. 

On Halloween, we set up a table at our town's trick or treat activity. We passed out over 200 bags with John &Romans, tracts, invites for our kids ministry and candy. We had over 20 people sign up for our kids Christmas Play and Caroling activity. Please pray God uses all these things to see people saved and families added to our church.

Miracles for Mom/Missions Trip

 So mom went to a natural hospital in Wildwood, GA. She spent 11 days with a totally vegan diet, herbal teas, and herbal supplements seeing what God might do to help with healing her cancer, her overall health, and her hip. She came out having dropped 11 pounds which may seem insignificant, but for her it was a big deal since she has not been able to exercise... the last three years.

On the last Sunday of the program, mom was in her room, and took a step which moved her leg to the side. She was surprised because she hasn't been able to move her injured leg more than a few centimeters in any direction except forward for walking. She then tested other movements, and she can move her leg sideways, cross it, lift it... This means she can have the cancer surgery she needs, and she may not have to have any hip surgery. She has two appointments at the end of the month, one with an oncologist and one with a hip surgeon. Please pray all goes well with these appointments.

For myself, God is moving in the hearts of young people to allow me to show them what I do when I travel to help missionary families. Next summer, I am working on a trip to Guatemala, Chile, and Guyana with 4-6 young ladies. We will help with two VBS weeks and help the missionaries' wives and in the church ministries. Please pray that God will provide the funds for each young lady. The cost is going to be $2000-2500 per person for flights. 

Please continue to pray for a major unspoken request. Three years is a long time to wait for an answer, but it not only takes God to do the miracle, but it takes the people involved to want the miracle. Pray for my parents as this situation is a great heartache to them.

Mom's health and Missions Trip

 I posted about mom's health back in July after she got the confirmation that she has stage 1 cancer. This week, she will go to Georgia for an 11 day treatment program to jumpstart the healing of her cancer. When she comes back, she will have an appointment with a hip surgeon to find out if she can have her muscles reattached. Please pray that all goes well.

I have begun planning a missions trip with several young ladies who want to see what I do when I help missionary families. We are planning a trip to Central and South America. We have one missionary scheduled in Chile for a VBS and helping in the home, and I have been in touch with a missionary in Brazil. Please pray that God will provide the funds for all these girls. If you are interested in giving towards this trip, let me know. I am still in early stage planning, so I haven't set up a place for monetary giving yet.

Prayer is still needed for the unspoken I have mentioned for the last few years. Satan is definitely a destroyer. 

Please continue to pray for our craft group. We have two ladies who are interested in coming, but they have not come yet. Pray that this group can be a tool to win people to Christ.

Vacation!

 My parents and began our vacation on July 18. We traveled to my youngest brother's to visit for a few days and have some natural health testing and consultation. At church, we met some friends who were in charge of our camp when we were kids. My dad was able to get in some good fishing.

My oldest brother came through and picked me up to travel to my sister's in Iowa. We then all traveled to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the huge air show. I met several missions aviations groups. We had my sister's 7 kids, and my brother's twins. I met a 100 year old Tuskegee airman which was the highlight of the trip for me  We had a great time.

While in Oshkosh, I was able to give a brief testimony about my ministry. There a number of missionaries there, and more will be there throughout the week, so I was able to leave prayer cards for them.

My parents had traveled to Indiana to visit with my other sister while I was in Oshkosh. They had a great time visiting with the grandkids there as well as my dad's sister's family. They then traveled with another of my dad's sister's to meet me in Iowa.We will be here together for a few days, and plan to spend an enjoyable time playing games and catching up.

Please pray for my mom as she got some bad news while on the trip. I will give a more detailed report after she makes some decisions.

Please continue to pray for an unspoken situation. Satan is fighting hard to hold onto a family and especially the kids. Only God can prick the hearts to remedy this situation.

Baby Joel has a non-heart  related surgery on Monday, so please pray that all goes well. Due to taking aspirin everyday and having the heart condition, they will keep him overnight.

Time is always slipping away.

 The older I get, the more amazed I am at how fast time seems to go. I try to keep up with blogging at least every two weeks, but I'm late again. there hasn't been too much going on lately, so this post will be more prayer requests.

We did have 8 visitors in church Sunday. One is from a nearby town, and he plans to return. Others were vacationing. We had a good spirit in the church. Please pray for our kids program. Many of our kids have been away a lot this summer. Some have family problems they are dealing with. Please pray that we can encourage them back to faithfulness.

Please continue to pray for an ongoing situation. It is one only God can correct.

Please pray as my parents and I travel to Missouri. We will all be getting a special test to see what needs fixing in our bodies. Hopefully, this will give us some better answers and direction for helping my mom get her health back.

Please pray as I continue to work towards heading out for more missions trips. God has revealed several needs and opportunities.

Reaching and Teaching

 Since returning home about three weeks ago, I have been very busy. The kids ministry was given back to me by those left in charge while I was away. We are again in a rebuilding process for this ministry. I am learning that the people involved must have a heart for the ministry, or we will continually see the same process being repeated. Please pray for the kids and their families.

Our ladies craft group, Crafternoons, has been going well. This week, I was able to take the leader of the group to visit a lady who lives nearby. Please pray that she will join the group next week, and that God can use this to bring her to Him. She has had much heartache, and has basically rejected anything to do with God or church.

Last week, I was able to give a very brief Gospel presentation to three guys working at the Verizon store. I also invited them to church. Please pray that I can have another opportunity to speak with them, and that God will cause them to decide to come to church. I believe one is already a Christian.

Please pray for our young people. Satan is using others to hinder the spiritual growth of this age group.  I believe God could do something great with the 20-30s people in our area if others in our church would get on board with the outreach. As in any church, there is always a handful who do not see a need for the church to grow.

I still have an unspoken need that only God can fix. Please pray as I continue to take steps to bring light to this situation so that those involved can be helped.

Please pray as God is continuing to open new doors of opportunity for the future of my ministry to missionaries around the world.

Farewell PR

 Goodness, how quickly a month goes by! May was packed with busyness for me. We finished up the last two weeks of school with finals and Parent Appreciation Day. I was able to share the Gospel with about 30 adults.The kids did an awesome job with recitations, Bible Verses, and some fun skits. The parents really enjoyed seeing their kids perform. 

We had two high school graduates, and several of my first and second graders from my second trip to PR graduated from 8th grade. Many of the students from that class were still in school. Awards ceremony also took place that week, and most of my students received honor roll trophies. One of my students from my previous trip to PR was named Miss Lighthouse for high school.

Last week, I was able to take a couple days to visit some places I had not seen, and to spend time with my friend. I saw some amazing scenery including the dry forest which is sort of like a desert climate, Cabo Rojo where I took pictures of some cacti, and several lighthouses. I also took pictures of several birds I had not seen before. Yesterday, I was near San Juan, and I was able to get some pictures of a sea turtle.

Today, I flew home to Maine. I will be catching up on my mom's health to see what care she may need in the future. Please pray that she can find a good doctor who will listen to her and run the requested tests... If her health doesn't worsen and continues to get better, I will begin planning my trips to England and Europe. 

Please pray for the church and school in PR. They are in need of teachers, kitchen staff, and a financial secretary. Please pray for Mrs. Lula who was the financial secretary. She is traveling to Chicago to get some help for her health.

Please continue to pray for an ongoing situation. I am praying God will break down the strongholds which have been put in place.

Please pray for the young people who are attending our church here in Maine. Satan is trying to keep them from church and hearing the truths necessary for growth.

Ressurection Day, 38th Anniversary, and More

 What a busy month April has been. I can't believe it is almost over. I celebrated the Resurrection with my kids by having an Easter egg hunt, decorating cross cookies, and creating stained glass cross sun  catchers. It was a fun day. We had a good crowd in church on Resurrection Day. 

Last week, we prepared for the church's 38th Anniversary by passing out flyers in three towns. A group from City Baptist (bus kids) School in Hammond, IN came down for the senior missions trip. Between the three groups, we saw 12 people saved. I was able to lead a 13 year old girl to Christ.

On Sunday, we celebrated the anniversary. I had 10 of my 15 students sing "God and God Alone" in Spanish. Along with them, they brought 24 family members. I didn't realize how many visitors I actually had until the pastor asked me to count them. It was very exciting! I won a beautiful bouquet of flowers, so I gave each child a flower for bringing their parents. We had a few people saved in the service, and we had two people baptized.

I was able to chat with some of the City Baptist students, and some of the girls expressed interest in missions. Fast forward to today. I received a message from a girl I met in Guatemala on one of my first trips. She was asking me about doing missions work as a single lady, raising support... I could not answer her right away because I was teaching. Tonight, I received a video call from my Friend  who was in the children's home I went to in Nepal. She too was talking about missions and how she was doing outreach to the poor around her by providing them with groceries. the pastor's daughter here in PR has also expressed interest in perhaps joining me on a trip. I believe God may be finally opening a door for me to help other ladies be used on the mission field. Please pray as I seek out what God would have me do in the future. If I were to plan a trip with a group, I would ask that you pray for people willing to sponsor some of these ladies who cannot afford plane tickets on their own.

Please pray for my mom. She has had some news about some recent tests, and her doctor has moved her appointment up. Her health is one reason I have not made any permanent travel plans yet. I am the only one who is free to be able to care for her if she needs it. 

My family is still dealing with some important unspoken needs, and prayers are greatly needed. These needs have ben present for three years, and there still seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

Please pray that God continues to provide for my missions ministry. I still have to supporting churches, and I am praying God will allow those who supported me before to begin doing so again, and that more will join them. As I talked with the young lady from Guatemala tonight, I told her the hardest part about traveling as a single missionary lady is having faith that God will provide.

Please pray for my students as we finish the school year. Pray that God will get a hold on their hearts. I shared their former teacher's wedding with them, and I explained the meanings behind the various elements and aspects of it. I carefully explained that the vows made are supposed to be promises that are kept. Many students come from broken homes. My prayer is that they will learn to marry the right person and stay married.

Better Late Than Never

 Goodness how time flies! I can't believe it is already April, and I haven't posted on here since March 7. I thought I had, but I must have sent out an update to my supporters instead. Life has been busy. My friend Marriah had an absolutely beautiful wedding. Ladies, waiting for the one God has for you is much better than taking somebody when  you want them. 

Teaching 3rd-4th grade has been fun and challenging. I have 15 students, but for one week, I brought the 5th graders in too, and I had 25 students. All in all, the classes did well. A teacher doesn't just teach basic subjects. Sometimes we end up teaching life principles, political principles, and of course in a Christian school, Biblical principles.  I am excited to see what God does with these kids.

I was so happy to find many former students are still in school and doing well. On Thursdays, we have quite a few who attend our church service in another town. Although they might be coming because we go to Chik-Fil-A afterwards, they are getting good sound Bible preaching. I enjoy watching them as they sing the hymns, and I especially enjoy watching the young men imitate the song leader. 

This week is Easter Spring Break, so I had the week off. I came to Vieques with the pastor's daughter, and we spent two days learning how not to plan a trip to Vieques. First, don't go on a holiday week. Second, book everything way ahead, especially a rental car. Third, check the future forecast. Fourth, make sure all equipment on the car is in good working order. Flat tires in the middle of a nature preserve are a bit unnerving. Thankfully a good Samaritan came along and helped our driver get the tire changed. Although our first day was covered up in rain, today, god answered our prayer, and we had a beautiful sunshiny day to sit at a beach on a small reef with tropical fish swimming around us. yes, missionaries need min vacations too.

We are down to about four weeks of school, and some of those are short weeks due to holidays or special days. Life is about to get even more hectic, but I love being busy again. Sitting still in one place for too long is very hard for me.

Please keep my mom in prayer. Her pain management doctor is trying to find a surgeon to look at the tears in her hip muscle to see if they can be repaired surgically. While she is waiting for this to happen, she has been given some natural oils to try to see if they will help heal the tears. Please pray the oils work as the surgery may not be an option, or it may cause her to be worse off than she is now.

Please pray that God will open the doors for me to find some online work to help supplement my personal income when  I am traveling. I try not to use missions support when I am home, so any work I do puts money into my personal account which then allows me to care for my needs, and to be able to take mini vacations when I need or have opportunity to do so. I do know how to create Powerpoints, turn them into videos, create programs, bulletins, and other documents for special events..., proofread, and edit. I have also designed yearbooks and similar creations, written plays for our kids programs, puppet skits, and silly skits. if you or someone you know needs anything like this done, I would love to be a help to them, and it would be a help to me.

Please pray for an unspoken request which has been ongoing for two years now. It will take a miracle of God for the situation to be cared for.

Please pray for the ministry here in PR. The inflation has been extremely hard on the parents of students here which in turn makes it hard on the school. 

Please continue to pray for our kids program to grow. Pray also for our craft group to be used to reach people in our community. Pray for our 20-30 year olds as they continue to grow in Christ.

Puerto Rico!

 Sorry for the long delay in blogging. Life got busy the last couple weeks of February as I prepared to come to Puerto Rico. I am thankful God opened the door for me to come and teach for a friend who is getting married. I am teaching 3rd-4th grade. Some of the students I had in after school when they were in k4-k5. Many of my former students are still here.

I came down a week early thinking I would get a chance to rest up before beginning classes, but God had other ideas. Due to a teacher being sick, I ended up teaching 6-12th grades in various subjects. It was fun having some of my 1st and 2nd graders in the classes I was teaching.

The ministry here is very busy. The pastor is caring for two churches, so we have church on Sundays at 9 am in Humcao, 10:30 am -1pm in Ceiba, and then we have Wednesday night church in Ceiba and Thursday night church in Humacao. Saturday, we visit for the church in Ceiba. I was able to visit three boys who were some of my first students. I am very proud of how they have grown up. 

I am happy that although I still cannot speak a lot of English, I can understand enough to listen in church without needing a translator. I will be playing piano for the Wednesday and Sunday afternoon services in Ceiba. We had a good crowd at the Ceiba church on Sunday. Please pray that the Humacao church will begin growing, and that a pastor can be found to take over the work.

Please pray for the online Bible study I am trying to have for the young people from my church in Maine. I am hoping it will be an encouragement and help as they grow in Christ. I truly believe God is moving among the young people. Many of the great old preachers, teachers, and soul winners are dying off, and sadly the middle generation is failing in many churches today. We have seen young people across our nation and around the world who are interested in revival. I truly believe Christs return is very near.

Please continue to pray for healing for my mom. Pray for our church, Anchor Baptist that it will continue to grow through the outreach ministries we are starting.

Please pray that God will open doors for me to travel to England and Europe to complete trips that were cancelled in 2020.

Praise Report

 When I flew to Alabama three weeks ago, I was able to witness to several people on my flights. While witnessing to a young man named Cody, Jamie overheard our conversation, and turned around asking about Christianity and church. She said she had begun questioning if Christianity might be true because people hate it, but they do not hate other religions. Jamie said she had been praying that God would reveal Himself to her. We exchanged phone numbers, and I messaged her when I got back to Maine two weeks later. 

Jamie came to church last week and trusted Christ. She said that it had only been four days from the time she started asking God to reveal Himself to when she heard me giving the Gospel on the train. Today, Jamie brought her fiance, his parents, her sister and father to church to see her get baptized. Besides Jamie's family, we had eight other visitors. Another young man trusted Christ at the end of the service.

Tomorrow, we are kicking off our Crafternoons which will be a community craft time for ladies to gather and have fellowship. We are starting with four ladies from our church, and our prayer is that we can reach out to the community and gather in people who might not come to church but may still have an opportunity to hear the Gospel during these times. 

This coming Friday, I am hosting an activity for our young adults. I am expecting 6-8. I am hoping this will allow them to begin gathering for fellowship, and eventually they will learn to reach other people their age and bring them into the group. Winning souls is the ultimate goal of this endeavor.

In one week, I will fly to Puerto Rico to teach school for the last nine weeks of the school year. Please pray that there will be no weather delays for my flights, and please pray that God will bless my time in Puerto Rico. Please keep my mom in prayer during this time as she will need to have another care giver come in to help.

I have several special unspoken requests that need God's miraculous touch.

Alabama

 I decided to take a much needed break before I get ready to go teach in Puerto Rico. I came to Alabama to spend time with my youngest sister and get to know my nephew Colton better. It has been so much fun! He is turning one next month, and already he is running around, learned to jump this last week, and learned to do somersaults from daddy this week. He is a ham. We can already tell he will be sarcastic like the rest of our family as he does fake falls, fake coughs, fake laughs, and fake cries. He is a good baby overall and smile all the time.

I was able to share my missions ministry with Grace Baptist in Scottsboro, AL. I really miss the spirit of southern churches. I love the people in other churches I have been in, but there is just something about a good, old fashioned, southern church. 

Please continue to pray for my mom's health. She has several appointments coming up to talk about her hip muscle tears and some natural health things. 

Please keep our church in prayer as my dad continues to try to grow it to reach the community. Please pray as we try to restart our kids program. Pray for faithful workers and faithful kids, and pray that we can reach many more kids for Christ. Housing and cost of living is a big issue as well.

Please pray that everything continues the go well as I prep for Puerto Rico.

A New Year with New Opportunities!

Yay! I am heading out again on missions trips. I have booked my flight to Puerto Rico for the first part of March. I will be teaching for the last nine weeks of the school year. I love the people, the ministry, the food, and the weather in PR, so I am very excited to be returning.

We are gearing up for a reboot to our kids program at our church. Last year we had a pirate theme, and this year, we will begin with a cowboy theme. I have ordered backdrops, cowboy hats... Please pray that we can get this ministry to grow again. We have lost several children over the last few months due to some moving.  

Please continue to pray for my mom's health. She has tried several different medicines over the last few months, but they have not helped. She now has several oils which we hope will improve her heart rate issues and blood pressure. So far we have seen some smallchanges.

Please pray that God keeps flight issues down so that I don't have to worry about getting stranded somewhere. Please also pray that countries remain open in Europe as my hope is to be there by the end of the year.

Please pray for Uriel, a Jewish man I am communicating with. I have asked him quite a few questions about the Jewish culture and beliefs, and I have shared the truth of the Gospel several times. I believe he is a Rabbi, so I am sure it will take awhile for him to receive Christ if he ever comes to that decision. Pray that God can send someone by who knows how to witness in a way that will help him to to think about Christ. 

Another person who needs prayer for salvation is Veronica. My mom and I have picked her up a few times, and so far she has been very responsive to us. We have not yet witnessed to her, but we have invited her to church several times.

Please pray for a lady in our neighborhood who lost her husband in October. I have visited her a couple times, and I plan to do so again. I am hoping to invite her to church and that she will come.