Dear Family & Friends,
We have our tickets for departure on January 16th! Praise the LORD! We are now at 96% of our needed funding commitments, and we are so very thankful to be at this point. ReachGlobal requires us to be at 100% of our needs before we leave, but we are confident that God will provide this remainder in His time. We are also grateful for your prayers—we need them so very much.
We’ve had an exciting month, and also a time of growing and stretching—all good, but not always easy or comfortable. God is giving us so many opportunities to learn what it means to follow Him in ministry.
We took a short trip to Chicago with John’s mother to celebrate John’s birthday by attending our first Cubs game! We had a wonderful time together. The next morning we woke up at the hotel, went swimming, and found ourselves in a crowded breakfast area. We ended up squeezing into a long center table with several other families. To be honest, we were tired and ready to just relax and enjoy our biscuits & gravy, but God had other plans.
We ended up in conversation with the family next to us, a cheerful couple from Iran and their two fun-loving college boys. What started out as casual breakfast conversation soon became lively discussion about each other’s spiritual beliefs. As it turns out, they were a devoted Muslim family and eager to share their faith. Caught off guard, both sleepy and hungry, we did our best to show them the love of Christ and explain the beauty of the death and resurrection of Jesus which covers the guilt of our sin.
We have no idea how our visit impacted this family, but we walked away a little dazed and challenged—and also grateful for the experience. We didn’t go looking for the opportunity, but God brought it and we tried to be faithful. Surely He is preparing and sharpening us for whatever lies ahead! Not always comfortable, but He is so good and gentle to work in our hearts and made us ready.
Thank you for your prayers & partnership in the Gospel! It is an exciting mission we have together.
In His Love,
Jo Beth & John