…Welcome Home!

After a year of home assignment in the U.S. we were excited to be getting back to our home on the Amazon and the ministry God has allowed us to be a part for nearly 30 years.

Our trip back to the field began by attending NTM’s Refresher Course in Mo. Refreshed was exactly how we felt after a week with over 300 NTMers with a common goal…Expanding the Reach of the Gospel. Every one attending had a strong desire to see that people in every nation hear the Good News of the Gospel. Teaching was given both from God’s Word and on new ideas and technology.

A quick trip back to Wisconsin gave us a chance to see two of our daughters and leave our car and cell phone with them before heading to Florida to catch our flight!

To arrive in Manaus, Brazil within an hour of our scheduled time and with all of our luggage in good shape, was indeed an item to thank the Lord for. He is faithful in every detail of our lives.

The next afternoon we shared a ride with a friend to the place on the river where we could catch a speed boat to take us down river to our home. The school for missionaries’ children where we work and live was a welcomed sight after a year’s absence. Our co-workers and there kids and dogs :-), were all there to welcome us back and help carry our baggage.

Unpacking began the next morning. Everything that had been stored in our attic had to be dusted or run through the washing machine. Les kept busy with a rag and bucket and I (Debbie) kept taking load after load to the clothes line. Things seemed to be going pretty good until we discovered that black ants had made our attic headquarters during our year away. Given such a head start they had a huge village, complete with a nursery full of thousands of larva. I’m sure a biologist would have been impressed but I was saddened to see the mess and the destruction they had caused.

Now that we are settled and the ants are under control, we’ve been thinking a lot about the lost and the need for them to hear the Gospel. Proverbs reminds us to”Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise.” Those ants did a great job of claiming a new territory for themselves and reproducing. Pray with us that as we care for the children of missionaries this year the parents will be able to see new territories claimed for Christ and many new Believers in existing works.