Dear Friends and Family,

Sylvia and I hope this update reaches you well. There is a lot to update you about since many things have happened in the last 2 months.  It is always excitingto see what our Lord is doing in our lives as well as in the ministry inSpain.  We are so blessed to have so much support from all of you in the ministry as you work along side us to reach many in Spain who do not know the Lord.  Each one that gives his or her life to Jesus is a celebration and it is because of your prayers, support and work teams, both now and 32 years ago when my parents were led to Spain.  Thanks so much.

Let us share with you again how amazing our Lord is.  A couple months ago as many of you know theLord led us to move back down to SC. This was an unexpected thing as we thought we would be finishing our support raising while up in Michigan.  We were a bit concerned about this move since we had already committed to go to Spain for the summer to help, being that this is the busiest season for L’Arcada.  Funds were a problem for amove and an overseas flight at the same time period.  Not only that,  but due to the Icelandic volcano eruptions as well as other events, flights were significantly higher in cost.   Another concern about the move we had was that we would not have a car for SC.  The car we had been using up in Michigan was loaned to us by Trinity Church and  we did not have funds to purchase another vehicle.  You will remember we sent out are quest for prayer on this a month or so ago trusting that if the Lord wantedus down in South Carolina, He would provide for our needs.  Well, He did in various ways.  Before we had made the decision public to move down to SC, we got a call from the mission board of Trinity Church saying that if we did need to move, the church had decided to let us keep the car.  What a blessing!  This was a further confirmation that the Lord wanted us in SC.  Then our tax return turned out to be much more than expected.  Again our jaws dropped as the Lord provided enough money for the move.  Also a couple churches as well as many of you gave gifts above and beyond the monthly support you faithfully give.  This covered the extra costs of the tickets and our move.  We could not believe how the Lord provided through all of you! Not only did gifts come in, but we received many encouraging emailsletting us know how many people were praying for us during this time.  We cannot thank you enough for all you have done.

Our move to SC went amazingly well.  Sylvia and I want to send out our thanks to all the people both from MI and SC that helped us load and unload the moving truck. We were very tired and stressed with all the packing, etc., so that wasa definite blessing.  The “save my back campaign” was a success… hehe. 

Once we got to SC we had 3 weeks before our departure to Spain.  We had some very interesting times while buying our tickets. The Air France website gave us an error and then put 2 holds of $3,000 each on our account. Money we did not have.  Not knowing that the holds had taken place we bought our tickets at US Air ways since Air France was not working, so now we had over $9,000 dollars on hold or coming out of our account.  It took a lot of calling back and forth between our bank and Air France to get that issue resolved.   I have to confess that this was a good test for me from the Lord and one that I probably did not pass with flying colors.  Within a few days time, we had just moved, had a huge deficit in our account, needed food and gas for our car,  but had no money.  I found myself in the position of being the provider for my family but not being able to provide.  I would like to say that I immediately fell to my knees and asked the Lord for guidance and peace, trusting Him fully; however,to be honest, my first reaction was to worry. It took me a couple hours to realize I was not the provider of my family but rather the Lord was our provider, and one I could never even hope to compete with.  It is funny how the Lord some times allows the enemy to exploit the weak spots in us so that He can help us grow and be complete.  As many of you know,after we got this settled we had an issue with our US Airways tickets being cancelled 3 days before we were supposed to go to Spain.  This time I caught myself before the enemy had a chance to pull me down and Sylvia and I prayed.  I cannot say I was not a little worried, but myconfidence in the Lord and His purpose in all of this was greater than the worry.  I am happy to say that we are inSpain now with, I might add, some very happy Grandparents on both sides of the family!  Missionaries are not perfect. We struggle with our old nature daily as does everyone else.   My father would be the first to say that andI agree.  How ever we have a God, a Father,that loves us so much He wants us to grow into better men and women for Him.  I will be able to look back on events like this and remind myself of how our Lord provided over and above what we expected.

For the next month and a half we will be digging in at L’Arcada in Spain as much aspossible and watching the Lord work and bring people into His kingdom.  We are so blessed to be included in the Lord’swork here in Spain as well as having a strong faithful family with us to gointo battle for the eternal lives of the families and kids in Spain.  We will be sending this update out via email linking our blog and by mail since it is a bigger update.   Below is all our new contact info.  Make sure to update your data base with our newcell phones and address.  Thanks so muchfor everything.

Praises:

Praise the Lord with us for the successful move to SC and for all the people that helped in various ways.  We are in Spain ready to serve wherever we can and are so happy to be where the Lord has our hearts.  The trip was difficult with anenergetic 10 month old but it was also very fun.  Shania charmed everyone close to us on theplane…hehe.

We thank the Lord for this chance to see Sylvia’s family for awhile and spend somevery needed time with them.  We got to enjoy Christmas and Thanks giving with my family and will also spend some time with them during this trip, but it has been a while since we have had some quality time with my inlaws.

Prayers:

-Pray for these coming months as L’Arcada goes through its summer camps.  The enemy knows what we are doing here and will try to mess it up in all kinds of ways. Pray that the team sticks together and focused on God and pray for the campers to have soft hearts for the gospel.

-Pray for Sylvia and I as we try to balance camp and family for the first time.  It will be interesting J.

-Also,pray for us as we plan for numerous support-raising trips that we will betaking once we get back to the USA.  The Lord always uses these times in Spain to light the fire in our hearts for the need of Jesus in Spain and to encourage us in our support raising.