June 2019 Newsletter

It has been a busy month since our last update.  We began the month with a trip to Virginia to attend a homeschool conference with other IMB homeschool families that serve in the Americas.  It was a great week filled with fun, learning, and training.  We had a volunteer team come from Michigan to work with the kids.  In addition to proctoring their achievement tests they did fun-filled activities with them each day.  Our theme was "Oh!  The Places You'll Go!" and focused on geography. While there the students each had to do a presentation.  My boys chose Spain and China.  The parents had some wonderful workshops and times to connect and share.  It was great getting to know the other mothers and hearing about their experiences.  It was encouraging to know we all share the same struggles and can support each other in this journey. We ended the week with a graduation service for the juniors and seniors and a really fun talent show that had us all laughing with tears.  It was a wonderful week and we are thankful for all that the IMB does to support us as homeschool families! When the conference ended we flew home to Mississippi to spend a few weeks visiting with family.  We had a wonderful time there.  A few highlights were getting to be there for Mother's Day (it was only the second time we have been in the States for Mother's Day in the past twelve years) and celebrating Cruz's 9th birthday.  We were in five different churches.  Some of those were sharing opportunities and others were just to visit.  We enjoyed getting to see many of you in person either in your homes, at church, or out and about around town.  Thank you for all the hugs and words of encouragement.

This was one of the hardest trips back home we have had to make so far. It was bittersweet to leave family behind.  It was especially hard to leave David's mother, Linda.  She has failing health and unless something changes she is not expected to live much longer.  Please keep her in your prayers and for his family as they take care of her. We returned to Guatemala on Wednesday afternoon.  We will spend the next few days getting unpacked and settled back in before welcoming a team on Sunday.  A group from FBC Mt. Pleasant, SC will be coming down to work with us next week (June 9-15).  Pray for a safe, productive week with them.  We plan to be working in the Mazatenango area which will be new to all of us.  Pray that we would make some great contacts there and that God would place those in our paths that need to know Him. We will be traveling again later this month to attend a training event.  I will share more about that in our July newsletter. We have a busy summer ahead and ask that you would cover us in prayer over the next several weeks.  Pray for good health, rest, traveling safety, opportunities to be an encouragement, and opportunities to witness to those around us.  Pray that we would be bold in sharing our faith and that we would strive to make each new day count for the glory of God.