May 2014

In the midst of turmoil, we can still say, "Oh magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together." As you know, we lost Ryan's dad, Ron, on Easter very suddenly. Needless to say, all of the family is going through great shock and grief, however, we are very grateful that we will see him again one day in the presence of Jesus.

If you were at our commissioning service last August, you will remember that we asked that you pray for and take care of our parents while we are gone from the states. Again, we ask that you pray specifically for Ryan's mom, Linda. Her life will be very different in the months to come, and we are sorry that we cannot be there to grieve with her and to help her around the house. However, we are so very grateful for so many who have agreed to stop by and help whenever she needs it.

All four of us were able to go back to western New York to attend the services and be with Ryan's family. We want to thank so many for your prayers, meals, transportation, watching our kids, hugs, financial gifts, etc. We have learned so much from so many who gave of their time and resources to help our family. Also, we'd like to send a special note of thanks to Calvary Heights Baptist Church of Elma, NY and Grace Road Church of Rochester. We cannot express enough how very blessed we are by the family of God. Thank you for sharing Jesus' sacrificial love with us!

Language School
Classes start up for us again on Monday. We are in the middle of the B1.1 level. Our exams will take place sometime in late June. Please pray that we will be able to catch up on what little we have missed (we only missed 3 days of classes) and continue on full strength ahead.

Kids
We have seen great improvement in Leslie at school! Thank you for your prayers for her. We started a sticker system at home that when her teacher reports to us a good day, she gets a sticker. Who knew something so simple would make such a difference? We have been so blessed and pleased to see positive changes in her attitude and maturity.

AnnMarie has been doing well also. For both of our kids, please always pray that we would be wise parents and that the message that Jesus died to forgive all of our sins and rose again proving that He alone has victory over the grave and the ability to save us from eternal death would be clearly understood in their lives.

Preparing for Togo
This week, our teammate, Jason, has been in Tacoma, WA packing up our container to Togo. Thank you to Jason and to Temple Baptist Church for your labor. As I understand, our container heads out to Togo early next week. It's hard to believe one more major step to Togo is taking place! It's really official, we no longer live in the United States. Not that we were considering turning back, but there really is no turning back from here.

Togo Aviation
On May 4th the final amount for our engine overhaul came in. We can finally have our engine repaired! Our next project is to gather back-up parts and supplies for the airplane to keep it running in tip-top shape. If you are interested in donating toward oil changes, inspections, and other routine repairs go to www.abwe.org/give and give to account number 0763031 or put Togo Aviation Ministry on the memo line of a check made payable to ABWE and send it to ABWE, PO Box 8585 Harrisburg, PA 17105.

Summer Nanny
In our last letter I mentioned that we could use a nanny to come out and help us with our girls while we take a summer course. We are pleased to introduce Michelle Kress to you. Michelle wrote to us shortly after we sent out our last letter. She is from Ryan's parents' church and we had the privilege of meeting her in person last week in New York. Michelle has had an interest in missions in France for quite some time and already speaks some French. We hope to get her in contact with some missionaries who serve here and are excited to see what the Lord does in and through all of us this summer.


We cannot thank you all enough to those of you who contributed to allowing us to go back to New York for Ron's services. Under the circumstances, it was an unexpected blessing to be with Ryan's family once again. Thank you also for our prayers. God is making us all stronger for His glory and for the furtherance of the gospel.