The steadfast love of the Lord never fails, these words have been echoing repeatedly in my mind and heart these last couple of weeks.
Throughout the last few months, we have seen His faithfulness and are so grateful for all He has provided and for all that He has done. We have truly felt his tender, loving, care upholding us in this season and we will look back upon these times with thankfulness.
Ministry Updates…
We were invited to attend a wedding of one of the men Dave brought to faith and has been discipling. It was absolutely incredible! We were thrilled to participate in his big day, and to witness him not only marry the love of his life but testify about his newfound faith in front of his friends and family. It was a memory we will treasure forever and we are so grateful for what the Lord has done in His life.
Our follow-ups with those that have received Scripture and have questions are back in full force again post-earthquake. We now have a long list of new people who are interested and have questions and are excited to see what God will do in this next season. We are praying for ample grace and favor for these follow-ups, and for the discipleship work ahead of us.
Erin was able to lead a week-long intensive mobilization course at the end of March in the southern part of the country. It was absolutely amazing to have those from several Middle Eastern countries participate, and for the growth that was experienced by all of the participants and facilitators.
One of Erin’s personal highlights was to use the newly translated material for the first time! It’s been a couple of years preparing to get to this point, so to have finally realized this goal was pretty special.
With warmer weather upon us, we have found ourselves once again spending more and more time outside. These times have been sweet, and we are connecting with our neighbors more frequently than ever. We are thankful for the conversations and questions and are looking forward to seeing what God will do. Dave particularly has been spending lots of one and one with different men in our neighborhood, meeting for tea or coffee, playing pick-up games of soccer or basketball in the complex, or bringing neighbors to English club.
We were able to help host a Canadian team in May and were thrilled to show them around not only our city but a few other parts of our country. It was a joy to join together in prayer, to facilitate ministry, and to share together what God is doing here. One of the personal highlights for our family was Erin’s aunt joining the team and spending some quality time with us.
In June our ‘hockey family’ spoiled us with a surprise baby shower. It was an incredible afternoon, with the vast majority of the club coming out—60 plus adults, plus kids and youth. There was more food than you could imagine, a beautiful cake, a balloon arch, a dance party complete with ululating and celebration, and the amount of photos rivaled a wedding! It was a pretty special day for us, especially as so many of them we have walked with since the beginning of our time here and have seen the valleys we’ve walked through.
Family Updates…
J has had a very busy last couple of months, but his personal highlight was leading his hockey team to 3rd place in the national championships this past June! It was great to watch his hard work pay off and to learn the importance of perseverance.
Erin’s friends and prayer group threw her a baby shower at the end of May. Since late last fall they have been holding her and baby up in prayer and it was an absolute joy to celebrate with them. She is so grateful for these lovely ladies in her life, and thankful that the Lord answered her prayer for deep and meaningful community when we first moved here.
J is ever so grateful to be finished school for the year and to be fully embracing summer. He did well on the national exams at the end of the school year and we were pleased that he could see the reward of his hard work. He told us it was his best year of school yet! He’s had such a great time with friends and classmates at school this year, and the kids have really had a great time together.
Our new baby J was born on his due date perfectly healthy, weighing 8 pounds even and measuring 20.5 inches. Both Mom and baby are doing well and recovering, we could not be more grateful for a healthy delivery and the wonderful blessing of being a family of four.
One of the meanings of the name we chose is ‘the Lord is my healer’, and we felt it suited both him and our journey to get him here perfectly.
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer throughout these last couple of months.
Praise Reports…
- All the new open doors for ministry and the growth that is happening with our follow-ups. The work of handing out scripture has proven to be very fruitful!
- God’s tender care and protection in this season. This was highlighted to us pretty clearly this spring—J had a pretty traumatic incident during a hockey tournament at the end of April and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital—and then to another one with a Pediatric Intensive Care and Pediatric surgeon. We are so thankful that he was not seriously injured and made both a full and quick recovery.
- The ongoing relationships and faith conversations we’ve been able to have with our friends and neighbours.
Our Prayer Requests…
- The anointing of the Holy Spirit as we share our testimonies and the Gospel. Please pray for hearts to be softened and eyes opened to the good news of Jesus Christ.
- The new believers that are growing in the Lord—and us too, as we try to faithfully love and disciple them.
- Erin and J have to renew their residency permits this summer, and these have been increasingly difficult to come by. The baby will also need to obtain citizenship documents, a passport, and a residency permit fairly quickly after he is born. Please pray for heaps and heaps of favor for the three of them.
Many blessings to you and yours!
Lots of love,
