The past couple of weeks, as usual, have been full of activity. At the beginning of August, we had about a week and a half in our hometown of Pickens, SC. We had a few meetings in the area, so we were able to stay parked at our church and enjoy some time with family and friends. We also had several appointments and obligations to attend to while home, so the time flew by. One of those appointments was Jason having a root canal, but the Lord blessed, and everything went well. In fact, he preached and presented at a local church the very next evening.

In addition to meetings in SC, we’ve also had a few meetings in GA. The Lord has been gracious in the past few weeks, and we’ve had several churches take us on for support, bringing our total to 83%. We’ve also had a few more indicate they would likely be taking us on soon. We’re so excited!

As I type this update, we’re on day 2 of our 3-day drive from Jackson, GA, to Grand Junction, CO. As you can imagine, we’re a bit road-weary, but so far, things have gone very smoothly. We’ve even received a few handfuls of purpose along the way in the form of love offerings, safe places to park overnight so we could sleep a few hours, and even a supporting church that insisted they fill our RV with diesel before we continued our journey. It’s been fantastic to watch God work, even in the everyday activities of deputation.

Our calendar is almost full through November, so we thank the Lord for that answer to prayer. We hope to have our support complete by then so we can take the month of December to prepare for our departure to Wales in January. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot to do before moving to another country!

We’ve been chatting regularly with the Downeys, and they are eagerly anticipating our arrival. Additionally, they’re keeping their eyes and ears open for housing and a vehicle for us. Currently, the housing market in Wales is crazy, so places are being snatched up practically before they become available. We’re praying the Lord will open up the right house in the right place at the right time, and we would appreciate your help in praying about our housing situation.

Amid all the other preparations, Tennille and I have already begun planning for next year’s ladies’ retreat, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Before I close, I’ll tell you this funny little anecdote. A couple of our supporting churches asked us (and their other missionaries) to film a video update to show to their congregations. Neither of us enjoys being on video. I’m a little more used to it, but, still, I’m not too fond of it. Jason hates talking into a camera! I wish you could have seen us trying to shoot these short videos. We stuttered and stumbled. At one point, I got a severe case of giggles, and it took several minutes before we could start filming again. We finally got our act together, but it looks like we’re going to need some serious heavenly intervention if video updates become a regular occurrence.

I guess that’s all for now. Thank you for your love, prayer, and support! I don’t know where we’d be without them.

Quick note: Before I could send out this update, our journey took another unexpected turn. On Friday night, about four hours from our destination in Grand Junction, CO, we stopped for the night to rest. When we went to take off on Saturday morning, the motorhome decided it was NOT happy. It was the same rear end situation we’ve had fixed twice already. We spent the majority of the day Saturday going back and forth with the insurance company, towing companies, and repair shops and packing up a couple of suitcases. After getting things somewhat settled, we hopped in our tow vehicle and drove the last four hours to Grand Junction. The church was gracious enough to provide us accommodations during our stay. I’ll tell you all about the missions conference in my next update, but for now, we’re getting ready to head back to Denver to hopefully pick up the motorhome and continue our journey. In times like these, all I can think is that God must have great plans for us in Wales because the enemy is certainly trying his hardest to keep us from getting there. But God’s people are praying, and we can certainly feel the effects of those prayers. Thank you!