Last "Leg" of the Journey

Today, we're leaving Bedford, IN for the last 2 1/2 weeks of our travels. 10 missions services, a ministerial to sing for and a weekend meeting to hold during that time...but when we come back to Bedford, our traveling here in the States will basically be done.

Here we go!

Seeing Kent

Kent and Jordan playing a video game

It has been so much fun to get to see our nephew and fellow missionary in Saltillo, Kent Stetler, for the past few days. He was able to come to Youth Challenge and spend a few extra days here in Indiana with family and is flying back to Mexico today. We love you, Kent and can't wait to get back to Mexico and be altogether again!

I'll go ahead and extend the invitation for you to come to our house (wherever that may be) for my Sloppy Joe's!
See ya then!

Sisters' Coffee Time

Last night when our kids were in bed, Marci and I went to Starbucks for coffee. It was fun to sit and catch up a little, and to enjoy our coffee....Love you, Marci

I'll say more about this in a later post, but Marci has been a tremendous help to me during this Share Support Tour. Helping with everything from our display design to newsletters to taking family photos for promotional items to mailing things that we've needed to us and much more!

Working with Uncle

Uncle Anthony will always just be "Uncle" to my kids since Marci taught Jordan to call him that when he was learning to talk. Uncle is a contractor and Logan got to spend some time working with him the other day...you talk about serious business..Logan was watching every move and asking a million questions. He ran to the house and got his set of junior size tools from Home Depot and got to work! He was thrilled when he even got paid!

Recent Missions Services and Stops Along the Way

Last Wednesday night we were privileged to share our ministry with Pastor and Mrs. Glenn Dotson and the people of the Community Bible Methodist Church. We so much enjoyed being there and appreciate the generous love offering and share support. A special treat was to stay in the Dotsons' home - our friendship goes a long way back. We have always loved and appreciated the them. Thank you for everything!

Here I am pictured with 2 precious little girls at the Community Church. The girl on the left, Allyson Gardner, prays for me and our family every day. Thank you, sweetheart!

The boys enjoying the fireplace and cozy family room at the Dotsons' home.

Bro. and Sis. Dotson in front of their beautiful home

On Thursday, we stopped in Alexandria, IN at the Gaither Family Resource Center/Gift Shop. The boys had fun rocking in the chairs and watching a video.

We also took a drive through tour of Indiana Wesleyan University.

Then on Thursday night we presented our Share Support Service in Tocsin, IN with Pastor Andrew Street and congregation. Again, our friendship with Andrew goes back a few years, with him having served as our assistant pastor in Franklin. So good to see you again, Andrew - thanks for the delicious meal! And thank you to Pastor and people for the wonderful love offering and share support response.

Can you see the dates on the cornerstone? Beautiful old church....

Our boys always love being with Andrew Street. He prayed a special prayer of blessing over them at the end of our service, and one of the ladies of the church prayed a prayer for me, and one of the men prayed for Marc. It was such a meaningful time!

Marc returned from Mexico last Wednesday trying to fight off a cold/sinus infection, so we tried to rest on Friday and Saturday (while helping his parents continue to move into their new home). Sad to say, he almost completely lost his voice and so yesterday's services were interesting to say the least. He "plowed ahead" and did his best anyway, but today he's paying for it - he's not feeling well at all. I would appreciate your prayers for him. Again, a Share Support Tour is no time to be sick.

Sickness notwithstanding, we did have 2 good services yesterday in Greenfield and Westfield, IN. It was a pleasure to be with Pastor Mike Mater and his wife Michelle and the wonderful people in Greenfield...to visit with good friends...to share a fabulous Sunday dinner at the Mater home...Thank you, Pastor Mike and people for your share support and love offering!

Enjoying lunch in the Maters' beautiful home

Then last night in Westfield...thank you to Pastor Monte Stetler and wife Mary (my 3rd and 4th grade teacher, by the way) and people for your share support and love offering and for the food and fellowship after the service. We enjoyed being with all of you!

Marc enjoyed visiting with his friend, Tom Eckert, from GBS Quartet days. It was good to be with his wife, Bethany and son Braden, too.

Re: our housing - we are currently pursuing a couple options for our family's housing in Saltillo, Mexico. Nothing is definite yet. Please help us continue to pray about this matter.

Thanks for traveling with us again!

One Year Ago Today

A year ago today - the last Saturday in October - we left Mexico to bring our youngest son, Logan, to the States to be treated for his medical emergency. Had we known what this year would bring, I think we would have been completely overwhelmed.

Although this year has been one of the hardest in our ministry, being unable to be in the country to which God has called us and yet still endeavoring to fulfill our missionary responsibilites....watching our youngest son suffer....being without a home, etc....still we have felt God's presence with us and have watched Him take the difficult circumstances we've faced and turn them into good for us and not only us, but for the mission field we are serving as well. Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

Here's a picture of Logan when we brought him out and here's how he looks now. God is good - all the time. We praise Him for healing our son. And we thank so many of you who prayed for him. Your prayer support was what held us up so many times. Thank you.

House Hunting in Saltillo

Marc, Steve, Beth, and Kent left Rio Bravo this morning after a fantastic close out to the week of Institute classes (see Beth's blog for more pics and updates) and are heading for Saltillo. Marc will be spending the rest of today and part of tomorrow looking for us a house to rent. Please help us pray that he finds a house that is in a safe location and is within our budget. Thanks!

Sunday at Faith Mission Church

The boys and I enjoyed attending Faith Mission Church where Marc's parents pastor. The guest speaker yesterday morning was Rev. Edsel Trouten, a great "old" friend of Marc's dad from back in the day at GBS. He preached a wonderful sermon - just what we needed. We enjoyed lunch with him at Marc's parents' home - thank you, Mom, for another one of your "classics", as we call them.

Bro. Trouten called Jordan "Marc II" when he saw him - and mentioned that he would have liked to see Marc but of course that wasn't possible with him being in Mexico.


I remember - and he mentioned it yesterday - that Bro. Trouten was a part of one of the most genuine revivals we ever had while we were pastoring at Franklin Bible Methodist Church. Any Franklin people reading this would probably remember it as well - that time of God's moving among us was one of the true highlights of our ministry there.

Knowing my father in law's love for chocolate, I made a chocolate cake for the occasion. Here are Dad and Bro. Trouten about to "dig in".

We enjoyed having David and Tamarah Crosley, Dwight and Melissa for lunch, too.

Mom's mums and pumpkin on her front porch

Logan at SCCA

My boys are all attending school at SCCA here in Bedford today - they're loving it. Logan didn't have the chance to attend earlier this year as did Jordan and Cameron, because of having to go to Texas for his medical checkups.

But today - he's there in 4th grade. Here he is with his teacher, Tamarah Crosley.

Institute Photos

Here are a few of those photos I was telling you about.

Students studying between class sessions

Professor Snider teaching, Professor Rundell translating into Spanish

A Class session

Enjoying tacos de bistec after evening class

Marc reports that the Institute classes are being especially blessed with God's presence and that the pastors and students are just "drinking it in". Both Prof. Snider and Prof. Rundell's presentations are so relevant and annointed and are ministering to all who are present!

Pastor Luna and President Balderas' sessions have also been wonderful and Marc says that the Lord helped him present his class last night on the topic "Cultivating a Spirit of Worship in our Services". Steve Stetler will be presenting his class tonight on the topic "How to Study the Bible".

Please continue to pray for the day tomorrow and the class sessions that will be presented by Bros. Rundell and Snider. Thank you!

Institute Update - Friday

I don't have a lot of pictures to share with you yet, but just wanted to write a quick update. I am sharing with you what Marc shared with me late last night on the phone.

The sessions of the Mexico Bible Methodist General Assembly were blessed with the presence of the Lord yesterday and Wednesday. We are so thankful for answers to prayer in some very important decisions that needed to be made - God prepared the way, and we are so grateful. We are so blessed to be working with our National President Dolores Hernandez (newly elected for 4 years), National Board and dedicated group of pastors in Mexico! We link arms with them for the furthering of God's Kingdom in Mexico.

The answers to prayer that we have experienced over the past 2 days are further validation of God's leadership in Mexico Bible Methodist Missions. May God continue to help us walk in step with Him and let Him lead as we look forward to the future He has planned for us!

Yesterday afternoon, Professors Rusty Rundell and William Snider arrived and both gave class introductions and presentations last evening. An almost instant connection was made with our pastors and students and now today, they are teaching a full day of classes and sessions. The weekend is very full with a tight schedule, packing in every bit of instruction and interaction possible, but the Institute is underway!

Thank you - a special thank you - to each of you who are praying for this event. Your prayers are being heard and answered.

Here's a picture "borrowed" from Missions Director John Parker who is present in Mexico for the General Assembly and the Reopening of the Bible Institute.

Marc is talking to our Bible Institute President, Eli Balderas.

Sunday Missions Services

This past Sunday we were invited to share our ministry with Pastor and Mrs. Powell and the people at the Greenbriar Holiness Church. Thank you, Pastor and people for the share support, love offering and the delicious lunch.

Then on Sunday evening we presented our Share Support Service at the Bible Methodist Church in Burlington, KY where my Uncle and Aunt Darrell and Regina Stetler pastor. It was so wonderful to be with this part of our family again - the boys had fun with Kenny and we enjoyed getting to see our niece, Maria (our missionary co-workers' daughter) and her boyfriend, Joe.

A wonderful crowd was present for the service - the church was full! Thank you so much to Pastor and people for the wonderful share support response, the generous love offering, and for the meals and accommodations. We enjoyed being with you all so much!

We also enjoyed being with "Grandpa and Grandma" Stetler - not really our grandparents, but pretty close! They have been an amazing prayer support to Logan and our family as he has gone through this difficult time, praying for him daily. Bro. and Sis. Stetler, you do not know how much your friendship and wise counsel (for many years) and your prayer support during this time means to us - we love you both!

A Day in our Favorite US City, Cincinnati

We had a very special family day last Friday. We spent it in our favorite city in the US, Cincinnati, Ohio. I have lived in this city at 2 different times in my life, I met and fell in love with my husband here, practiced my first attempts at homemaking in a little attic apartment in this city, explored it and walked its paths....we love this city!

We visited 2 of our favorite places in the city: the Union Terminal and the Riverfront. We enjoyed the OmniMax presentation and then walked down the Riverfront/the Serpentine Wall to the very River overlook where Marc asked me to be his wife. I'll never forget that cloudy cool May evening. I said Yes! and have never regretted it! He has made me the happiest girl alive!

We showed our boys the exact place where we became engaged to be married on May 14, 1991 - they seemed duly impressed...smiles...

We arrived on the God's Bible School Campus, our alma mater from which we both graduated in May of 1994, for the evening Homecoming Celebration. It was awesome to see lots of old friends, former professors, be with some of our family, and to walk the campus of GBS. So many happy memories were brought back to mind, days of spiritual formation and personal happiness. We were blessed indeed to be able to attend Homecoming!

We enjoyed singing in the Alumni Choir

The Mass Choir was outstanding!

Papaw and Grandma Sankey enjoying HomeFest with the boys

Spending time with their cousin, Maria

Jordan's already planning his arrival in a few years! Now that's hard to believe.

1st Day Report

I talked to Marc late last night and he was giving me a report of the first day of the Bible Institute. The Lord had really helped him in his session with the pastors, from 4:30 - 7 pm. He addressed several important topics with them, gained their up to date contact information, event information about their churches to put together a Conference calendar, and more. He said that it was a very successful time together and that the Lord had helped him communicate in Spanish.

Here is one of the pictures he quickly sent to me last night so I could get an idea of the setup. When I saw these pictures I almost cried - I miss our dear people there so badly and wish I could be there for this important event.



Thank you for praying for the reopening of the Bible Institute. Your prayer support is so valuable as we take this first big step in taking the Bible training to the people!

For more photos, see Stetlers' blog at http://www.stetlers.blogspot.com/

The Institute begins today!

The Rio Bravo church where the Institute Reopening and the General Assembly will be held

Today is the day for the Reopening of the Bible Institute in Mexico! Marc left yesterday to fly down for this event. The boys and I are here in Bedford for the next 9 days while he's gone. He will be addressing the Mexican National Church General Assembly, meeting with each pastor, and teaching a class in the Institute - all of this in Spanish, a language God is helping him learn, but that he's been "out of" for many months now. I know he would appreciate your prayers that he minister effectively this week.

The boys are attending SCCA this week and a couple days next week - they're so excited.

Another request: Next Monday and Tuesday, Marc will be traveling to Saltillo, the city in Mexico where we will be living when we go back on December 1. He will be going there for the express purpose of finding housing for our family. We would appreciate your prayers that God would guide him to just the right place that would be adequate for our family and within our budget. Thank you!!


I will be reporting on Sunday's services soon!

Services this week

To my blog readers: are you getting tired of this travel journal yet?....smiles...take courage - we have only 15 missions services left! This is not to say that we are not looking forward to these last 15 and are only considering them obstacles in the way of "being done"! Not at all. Some of our very favorite places and people are yet to be visited, and we can't wait!


On Tuesday we shared our service with Pastor Bailey and the Danville Bible Methodist Church. On Wednesday we shared our service with Pastor Daryl Muir and family and the Warren Bible Methodist Church. Then on Thursday night, we presented our service in New Lexington, OH with Pastor and Mrs. Kenneth Teter and the Community Holiness Church.


Thank you to each pastor and church for allowing us to come and share our ministry, for the share support and love offerings, accomodations and delicious meals! Thank you for each kindness to us.

Visiting with Pastor and Mrs. Muir

Cameron is always making new friends - always! Here are 3 other 11 year olds he met in Warren.

Marc and Jordan setting up the equipment in New Lexington

Cousins

Our kids are loving getting to be with cousins. Here's Jordan reading a book to Jada and Logan playing with Jackson and Treyton on the trampoline - love Jackson's face.

The only one we're missing here is Cameron....I'm sure he was having fun, too.

The boys also enjoyed getting to play with Braxton and Caden recently, too but I didn't catch any pictures of their fun. :(