Dear friends,

We are getting ready for our trip to the Midwest where I will be speaking at churches in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Before we hit the road today (Saturday), I wanted to give you a brief update on a few projects I mentioned in the last update.

On the Guyana project, the barrels of materials were safely delivered to the port company in early June and are on their way to Guyana! It was a bit of an adventure locating clean open-top barrels for the shipment. At times I felt like I had entered the strange underworld of the barrel trade especially when the trail led me to a warehouse with cash in hand for the “goods”.

Our trip to the NJ shipping company had a providential convergence with another adventure in our family life . . .

At the end of June we learned through social media connections that a Pakistani woman and her two young children needed a ride from Morgantown, West Virginia to Lancaster so they could connect with a private plane flight to NYC where they were seeking asylum status in the US. They had fled Pakistan several months ago because of religious persecution as Christians. Betsy and I were able to provide them the ride and were blessed to host this family in our home for the night. Before they flew out the next day we gave them a brief tour of the Lancaster County countryside. However, when it came time to load the plane one bag wouldn’t fit! We kept it with us and told our Pakistani friend we’d find a way to get it to NYC. That “way” came with the trip to deliver the barrels. Pastor Tim Richmond from Queens was gracious to meet us near the shipping company and to get the bag to where it needed to go.

Please pray for this Pakistani family as they navigate life in NYC. Pastor Tim has connected them with a church close to where they are staying in the city.
Connecting with Tim Richmond
Our friends from Pakistan
Samuel & David and our friend Carson played for our church’s community picnic.
Lake Wallenpaupack
When it’s Canada Day during camp you wear the colors
Elijah & Samuel and our teen group at the Wilds
Elijah and I attended a WWII event and met several veterans including Guy Whidden (502nd 101st Airborne)
On the Mongolia project, all of the funds needed for the printing have been provided! Many individuals, churches and organization gave towards the $45,000 goal and we are so thankful. Mickey and Trina are overwhelmed by the response too. We’ve been able to pass the funds on to them so the physical printing can take place in time for distribution in September. As mentioned in our last update, Betsy and I plan to travel to Mongolia at that time to connect with the Cofers, aid in the distribution and to see some of the city and village churches where these Bible lessons will be used. Our friends Trent and Tracy Gravley will be accompanying us. They are members at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mechanicsburg which has been a partner to BVI on several projects and which supports the Cofers in Mongolia. Pray for us as we make preparations for this trip.

Throughout the summer our family is helping with three daycamps hosted by Child Evangelism Fellowship of Eastern Pennsylvania. The first one was in June up in northeast Pennsylvania in the town of Milford. That same week Elijah and Samuel were at the Wilds in North Carolina with our church’s teen group, so we enjoyed swapping camp stories at the end of the week when we reunited. For our part, I shared the John Newton story with the campers and gave an overview of BVI. David ended up being my right hand man by operating Rodot, the Robot from Mission Command. Together we shared about the Great Commission. David also helped provide banjo backup to several of our camp songs. Jesse and Ginger enjoyed being campers and making new friends. Betsy helped wherever needed and put together a slide show for the camp.

Please pray for me as I teach at the other camps. I will be sharing our new mission story, Beautiful Feet Upon the Mountains.

Also pray as we continue through a busy summer. Here’s our itinerary:

  • July 10
  • AM Waterman Baptist Church (Kingman, Indiana)
  • PM First Baptist Church (Rochelle, IL)
  • July 16–Living Hope Bible Church (Roselle, IL)
  • July 17–Holman Baptist Church (Holman, WI)
  • July 24–Calvary Homes Vespers (Lancaster, PA)
  • July 25-29–CEF York Daycamp at Grace Baptist Church (York, PA)
  • Aug 7–Lewisburg Bible Church (Lewisburg, PA)
  • Aug 8-12–CEF Snyder-Union Daycamp (White Deer, PA)
  • Sept 6-20–Mongolia