England!

 I am praising the Lord for a safe journey to England. It was a long two days of travel for my friend Gail and I. We were exhausted, but slept very well and woke up ready to begin getting settled for the next two weeks with a little shopping and a drive by the ocean. We came to be a blessing to my Aunt Debra who has served in England, her homeland, for over 40 years. We were able to join in with the new church, South Shore Baptist, and we sang a special. We joined in the ukulele singalong  time after church. Please pray for the church to find someone to come take the pastorate full time. The man who currently preaches is not able to make this a permanent position.

Gail and I were able to join in with several ukulele outreach groups during the two weeks she was in England.  We also joined in with a knitting club outreach. We visited Samlesbury (Psalmsbury) Hall and enjoyed English teacakes which are basically buns with raisins.  We visited Blackpool Tower which was designed by the same man who created the Eiffel Tower. We traveled to Gretna Green Scotland which is the place where English couples would elope to be married without parental consent. In those days, the blacksmith would perform the ceremony. We drove back through the Cumbrian Mountains which had some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in England. We also saw Highland Cows and of course lots of sheep. On another day, we had afternoon tea at Lytham Hall. This was a fun experience and the house and grounds were beautiful. We had an adventure when we decided to travel to the moors not knowing the road through the upper moors was closed. We did have a beautiful drive as we tried to navigate through the area. On a visit to Liverpool, we saw the Adelphi hotel which was the overnight stay for those traveling on the Titanic. We had fish and chips, and then walked to the Royal Albert Docks to buy souvenirs. We rode an old carousel as well. Our last adventure was to Haworth, the hometown of the Brontes who wrote stories like Wuthering Heights. We bought a few souvenirs, had a delicious ploughmans lunch, and took in the beauty of the lakes district. During all of our adventures, we were able to pass out gospel flyers and talk with a few people about Jesus. On Gail's last day, we passed out about 50 church invites in the neighborhood. Please pray that each seed planted will bring forth fruit.

I now have my trips scheduled for the rest of this year. I will be speaking at Bro. Dave Solt's church in Preston England Sunday, June 21 where I will share my testimony, speak to the teen girls, and share my ministry. On Monday, June 22 I fly to Macedonia where I will be met by one of the college girls I worked with in Iowa. I will be in Macedonia for a month. I will return to England at the end of July to help with VBS at the Solt's in Preston, and then I will travel by train on a two day trip to join the Socks in Poland for almost three months. From Poland, I will fly to Tanzania to take the place of Rachel and Jerry Wyatt Teaching English for about a month. I will return to Poland and travel back to England to spend Christmas with my aunt and her family. 

The trips to Macedonia and Tanzania have been a bit more expensive due to accommodation needs and airline costs being high due to the Iran war. Less expensive flights flew through areas and had layovers in nations that might have been closed if the war escalated. Please pray that God will open the hearts of pastors to take me on for support. I am still praying that God will allow my support level to go to $1000 per month in order to travel more frequently and help more families.

My nephew Joel had a second open heart surgery. He is recuperating better than he did with first one. They have already stopped his paralytics, and he has been able to respond to commands of moving his toes and nodding his head. They did find that he had a case of MRSA in his chest. They would not have found this had they not done the second surgery. They are treating him with strong antibiotics. Before his surgery, they finally determined his eating issues, and hopefully, once the lift his sedation, he will be able to eat regular foods. He does have some jaundice due to being on liquid feeding for so long, so pray that his liver function will improve. God has done many miracles, and we are expecting Him to continue to do so because of the prayers of those who have joined in this battle with us.

Please pray that God will give me opportunities to witness to people who speak English. Sometimes it is hard to feel productive with the Gospel when I cannot speak the language. Please pray for safety as I travel, that there are no delays, and that I can truly be a blessing to each family I travel to help.