MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-12-2005

Greetings, all! I've got some good news about the van, which you're all no doubt sick of hearing about by now. Anyway, I just found out that someone sent us another $1000 for the van, for a total of $2000 so far. The van we're going to get is a 2000 Pontiac Montana with 82,000 miles. We're buying it from Mission Auto Connection, a dealer in Ohio, that helps missionaries obtain vehicles for deputation and furlough. It has dual air (great for those summer months), front wheel drive (great for those winter months), and the extended wheelbase on this particular model gives us an additional foot-and-a-half of cargo space in the back, great for those longer voyages where more luggage is needed, in addition to the display and assorted paraphernalia required by the on-the-go missionary. We've sent them the $1000 we had to put a deposit down, and they're holding it for thirty days, so pray that the rest we need will come in this month. The total cost will be $7400, so we only have $5400 to go. It's great to see our prayers being answered, and to know that we'll be in a more spacious and comfortable vehicle soon, especially with the really hot weather coming up, and the extensive travelling we'll be doing this summer.

As far as meetings go, with the exception of a brief hiatus in September for the delivery of our 5th child, Gaelin Joseph, I have booked up 2005 solid, and am already working on 2006. What a blessing! We have a varied and interesting array of locations to get to this year, and we're all looking forward to it. This weekend, we'll be in Victory Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO (Pastor John Kuykendal) in the AM, and Faith Baptist Church in Columbia, MO (Pastor Joe Kline) in the PM. Pray for the meetings, that we'll be able to minister to the churches and pastors, and that God's will will be done in folks' lives.