Jason and Dana Rongione

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Dropping In

As we get closer to the holidays, our mission meeting schedule is thinning out (which is typical according to other missionaries). With no other meetings scheduled for the remainder of the year, we’ve been dropping in on some local churches. This gives us the opportunity to introduce ourselves, meet the pastor and congregation, and hopefully book a meeting for a time in the future. So far, so good.

On November 11th, we visited Harmony Baptist in Greenville. This was a first-time experience for me (Dana) because not only was I asked to sing a special, but I was also asked to play the piano for the entire morning service. Though I’ve already gotten a bit rusty on playing, it was a blessing to be able to help out. Jason was also able to book a meeting for January, so it will be nice to fellowship with those precious people again in a couple of months.

That evening, we attended a Southern Baptist church in our neighborhood (literally). We didn’t know it was a Southern Baptist church when we decided to visit, but we found out as soon as we spoke to the pastor. Regardless, the pastor invited Jason to give a brief presentation of our call to Wales and even personally gave us a love offering. We had the opportunity to meet many sweet people and to hand out a number of prayer cards. All in all, it was a successful day!

On November 18th, we dropped in on another church only minutes from our house, Wrenn Memorial Baptist Church. I can honestly say we were blown away by the friendliness of these people. Everyone was smiling and cheerful, and so many took enough interest in us that, by the end of the service, they were calling us by name. We felt so welcomed and at home. The pastor gave Jason a couple of minutes to tell about our burden for Wales and then took up a generous love offering for us. We certainly did not expect this kind of treatment since we didn’t even have a set meeting. But, they weren’t finished. They invited us to join them that evening for their Thanksgiving dinner and service. My goodness, you wouldn’t believe the food! We had such a blessed time and met some truly wonderful people. We are set to schedule a meeting with them sometime in the New Year, and we are excited to go back and be a part of their service once again.

As you can see, the Lord is blessing. Because of Jason’s hectic work schedule, we haven’t been able to book as many meetings as we would like, but God is taking care of us and providing. He has opened doors and burdened hearts on our behalf. We stand amazed at what He’s doing in our lives!

Please continue to help us pray we can get enough support coming in that Jason can at least go down to a part-time schedule at his workplace. Working nearly 50 hours a week and trying to do deputation is very fatiguing!