Greetings one and all! We are home in St. Louis, and have enjoyed the past few days of being in our own house and our own church, however cold it might be in the Midwest. We had a great meeting with Pastor Larry Obero and National City Baptist Church. We then drove back up to San Leandro for a few more days. While there, we got to go see the Chinese New Year's Parade in San Francisco. It was very cool. I particularly enjoyed the firecrackers – not the pansy American kind, but the hardcore, handmade, nearly-ruptures-your-eardrums Chinese kind. They had a 100 ft. dragon, which was quite a sight to see, weaving back and forth up the road. Another favorite was the delegation from one of the local kung-fu schools. They had all these 8, 9 year old kids, whipping nun-chucks around and doing all these jumping, spin-kicks and what not. I'm happy to report that there was no blunt-force trauma. It was great fun, and the kids enjoyed it tremendously.

We had our Sunday meeting in Merced Baptist Church in Merced, CA, with Pastor Andy Doss. They're a young church plant, but they're doing very well. We had great services, and God blessed.

Then, on Monday, began the journey home. We were doing pretty well until we reached Flagstaff, AZ. If you're taking I40, you cross the mountains in Flagstaff. You gain several thousand feet in elevation, which can lead to some pretty nasty weather. A snowstorm had rolled in and dumped a couple feet of snow in the region. This would not be a problem, except for the obligatory jackknifed semi that always results from this kind of weather. We finally worked our way around the massive traffic jam and were on our way to Holbrook again, when a semi I was passing decided he did not wish to be passed, and proceeded to run us off the road. Having succeeded in sending our van plowing into a snowdrift, he kept right on trucking, leaving us stuck on the top of a mountain in 23 degree weather without so much as slowing down.

Three hours later, we finally managed to get towed. We had to be winched out because we were well and truly stuck. The next day, we were further delayed while the shop put a new radiator fan assembly in to replace the one we burned up sitting there, trying to stay warm. Not how I'd really prefer to spend my birthday.

So, thanks to Mr. Trucker, we arrived in St. Louis around midnight, instead of much earlier in the day as planned, and less 800 dollars in repair bills. It goes without saying that my already strained opinion of interstate trucking has been edged into the regions of outright dislike. Perhaps it's time to trade in the luggage carrier for a roof-mounted missile launcher.

At any rate, we're home, and getting back into the swing of things after being gone since January 1. We had a great time in California, and I think will get some good support out of this trip. Keep praying that new churches will continue to support us, and that churches we've already visited will do the same, so we can remain on track for our hopeful departure in the Fall. We cannot leave under-supported, and would very much like to get to the field before the LORD returns, if possible. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!

Greetings all! Hope you're staying warm – we are! I could get used to the daily 70-80 degree weather in Southern California in January. We had a great meeting in 29 Palms, CA with Pastor Todd Anderson and Freedom Baptist Church. We had a great time of fellowship with the people, and are doing well. Today was a catch-up day, spent mostly getting our taxes ready to turn in to BIMI (groan). I hate paperwork, but it beats going to jail. We shove off next to Yucca Valley, CA for a missions conference with Pastor Rob Watkins and Calvary Baptist Church. Pray for our continued journeys in California, and our eventual trip home in February. Pray for our support. Basically, we need around 15 churches at $100 a month to pick us up and we'll be done with deputation. God is good!