Praise the Lord for His abundant provisions! A tidal wave of lockdowns followed right behind us as we passed through state borders, just in the nick of time, from Louisiana to Texas. Borders became closed not long after we passed through them. We braced ourselves for the crushing blow of lockdowns in Texas and watched the destructive wave wipe out all our meetings for the next couple of months. The prophet’s chamber that we booked for our family in Texas was only supposed to be reserved for a week, but the pastor kindly allowed us to stay as long as we needed. Our first night there went normally until the kids came screaming up the stairs. I went to investigate and found our first encounter with a scorpion. I became immediately concerned by how difficult it was to see on a dark green carpet. Since our room was farthest from the outside doors, I wasn’t as concerned with everyone staying in the room. As we settled into our room, right next to our bed, I noticed another scorpion! Now the anxiety of not knowing if there was an infestation or how poisonous these scorpions were kept everyone from sleeping that night. The next day, our nerves were calmed by learning that these scorpions were common and not as dangerous or abundant as we had imagined. A storm brought a weather change that caused some scorpions to seek warmer areas. One week turned into three, as more meetings were canceled, but the church was so kind to us and made sure that we were well taken care of during our three-week stay.
We still had a couple of meetings in Florida at the end of May, so we found some places to stay en route to those meetings. We traveled from Texas to Louisiana and stayed there for a week. Then as we left Louisiana, we were stopped at the Florida border and had to sign a form that we would quarantine ourselves for two weeks at the address that we provided. Thankfully, the address of the prophet’s chamber was also the same address of the church. We are amazed how God has provided prophet’s chambers days before needing a place to stay and moving the hearts of churches to give above and beyond to sustain us! Thank you for your prayers!! Although we are very thankful for the technologies that have enabled us to be a part of many church services, we are more thankful now that churches are opening up so we can be there physically to drop in. I’m sure this has had an effect on missionaries all over, but God is faithful to provide for those who work for Him!
Since we have not been able to visit directly with people as much as I would like, we have been sowing seeds everywhere we go by either holding up Scripture-verse signs, street preaching, handing out more tracts, or sharing the Gospel with anyone willing to listen. Pray for God’s servants currently working in the country where God has called us. Pray that their work would recover from the effects of the virus and that God will give them favor in the eyes of the people in such a time as this. With all the extra time, I have been able to write and publish a Gospel tract that is designed with the explanations and illustrations I would normally share while witnessing to people. I also made an audio version to share online for unsaved family and friends. If you are interested, you can contact me to find out where to see or hear the tract.
The last prayer letter I sent out two months ago has a revision about the expenses that are needed. I have learned that we do not need to raise $5,000 for FBMI’s Emergency Fund. The amount that we need to invest is only $400, which is far less than I was expecting! Words cannot express our gratitude for the time you have spent before the throne of grace on our behalf. Your prayers have brought us through these difficult times with great victory! Thank you!
Missionary #6506 and Family
