We are so thankful for your prayers and continued support! In July, we had a one-day Vacation Bible School in Cokeville. We had to move it to July 14th, since the Pioneer Day Junior Rodeo was taking place on our original date. Pioneer Day is an important regional holiday out here in the Mountain West, especially in the heavily Mormon areas, that celebrates the LDS "pioneers" who came west. It is an especially big holiday in Cokeville with Rodeo and Junior Rodeo, plus many family reunions and other town celebrations. In fact, with all the visitors and extended family coming for Pioneer Day, the town of Cokeville often swells to twice its normal population! Even with moving our VBS date, attendance was much lower, since quite a few of the children who come each year were involved in Junior Rodeo preparations for the following week. However, we had a great day of Bible School, and one of the little girls who came even raised her hand to know more about receiving salvation. Pray for this little girl and all the children who heard the gospel in Cokeville.
In Kemmerer, August brought a whole week of VBS at Grace Baptist. Our theme was "Keepers of the Kingdom," and the entire church building was decorated as a medieval castle. The ladies, under the direction and vision of Mrs. Hartman, really went all out with the decorations, even more than normal. We were also privileged to have help from Mrs. Hartman's sisters in the making and provision of decorations, and the special help of her sister Mindy during the actual week of VBS. We had good attendance every day, and all of the children who came were taught about the absolute truth of the Bible and the difference between God's Kingdom and the bad kingdom of the devil. We even had one boy return, who has come the last few years but is now too old for VBS, to be a helper and participate with the older kids.
Although the VBS day in Cokeville and the week in Kemmerer were different times this year due to life circumstances, God still worked in each of them! VBS is certainly tiring, but we were encouraged by the attention and enthusiasm of the children for the Bible lessons.
In addition to the excitment of VBS, we've been grateful to have a new 'regular' attending services in Cokeville recently - a man who has a good testimony of salvation and also has seminary-level training. RG has been a great encouragement to us, and has been another welcome voice for truth on Sundays and Tuesdays. Please pray for him, as he has some ongoing medical issues. Also, continue to pray with us for the salvation of R&R, J&C, B, and the A's.
As we recuperate and get ready for the fall, we are preparing for Elizabeth to have another surgery in late September. This surgery will be a combined airway dilation and reconstructive surgery to fix some of the structural damage from her recent flare-up. We would appreciate your prayers for both the surgery and her recovery from it (expected to take several months), and that she will continue to stay in remission long-term.
Lastly, we finally received pre-approval for a mortgage in early July and have restarted our house hunt in the Kemmerer area. We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for provision in this matter. First, that we will find something affordable, as the costs of houses have jumped and stayed elevated with the announcement of the nuclear plant project. Second, that the interest rate will decrease by the time we finalize the mortgage. Third, that we can find a house before the snow starts this fall or in early spring. Currently, most of what's on the market is either outside our price range or too small to meet our needs for ministry and work - but we are eager to see how God works in His perfect ways and timing!