Baptism

letter

You might be thinking that the African missionaries are suffering to spend much of the winter in Michigan. We do school every morning around coffee and the Bible—it is very sweet. In the basement is a treadmill for all our exercise needs. The boys have gotten only a tiny bit of exercise shoveling snow, as it has been a very mild winter here. The point of suffering is that it is harder to find people to witness to (1 Corinthians 9:16), although we have taken the opportunities that have come up.

 

Our neighbor is Catholic, and I have become her friend and witnessed to her numerous times. We just had a delicious dinner last week with a Lebanese couple in Dearborn.  Where did this contact come from? Her brother sells us dog food in Abidjan. Now we pray for God to work in their hearts and bring them to Jesus Christ.

           

The BIG news is that over Christmas break, Seth and Paige Scott became engaged.  We are so privileged to welcome this lovely girl into our family. The wedding will be near the Chicago area on June 3 at 2 p.m. I am sure you are invited!!  We would love to see you there. You will, in fact, get to see our whole family (Momma too). So, come and celebrate with us.

 

Seth and Paige are planning to be missionaries in Cote d'Ivoire, starting a prison ministry and church. So much is happening in Ivory Coast. Learn French and come join us.  Pray that the Lord will send forth laborers and that they wouldn't be too lazy to learn the language and get prepared.

 

Dan has made many trips back and forth from North Carolina to work on our house. As we said before, we have bought a house that needs a lot of work. Dan and the boys have been having lots of "fun" doing work together. Living in a "work zone" has called for patience and has increased the roughage of the sandpaper among the occupants. To God be the glory, but I'm glad that I am not there right now (smile).

 

We have been enjoying our meetings and making so many new friends. It is great to have peace that you are where God wants you to be. It frees you up to enjoy today. I have been reading great books and hearing challenging messages.  God is always working on me. If you noticed the Valentine flowers, it's because Dan is still as sweet as ever.

By faith we serve, and by faith we walk.

I almost forgot...we have tickets to return to Cote d'Ivoire on June 8. We are more than ready to return! We have renewed energy and ideas that we are eager to put in place—ideas for outreach, discipleship, classes, seminars and mentoring. The opportunities are endless. This month our national colleagues are hoping to start two more village ministries. Pray for us in these last four months of furlough.

Love in Christ,

 

Dan and Joan (pronounced JoAnn), Ruth, Hannah, Seth, Lydia, Susanna, Isaiah, Stephen, Rebekah, Josiah, Joseph, Esther, and Gideon