Thank you for praying for our annual Pie & Praise outreach. We had most of our regular Tuesday night attenders, plus some others who do not usually come to Bible study or church.
In preparation for our Christmas Song & Scripture Service, we have begun a short sermon series looking at some of the promises of the Messiah, but with the perspective of the long wait until they were fulfilled. This idea comes from Galatians 4:4-5 - that at the right time, when it was full - God sent Jesus. This will be the theme for this year's Christmas service and next spring's Easter service. Pray with us as we go through this series, and ultimately finish on the 21st with a strong salvation message from Galatians 4, that the greatest gift - Jesus Christ - will be accepted by those in Cokeville to whom we are ministering.
We were glad to have some good fellowship time over Thankgiving with our friends and fellow missionaries, the Sondergaards, at their home in Shelley, ID. We always enjoy spending time with them and getting to spoil their kids a bit! While we are not often able to visit our families back east because of the time and cost, the Hartmans and Sondergaards are some of the promised family God has supplied us with on this mission field (Mark 10:28-30). We are grateful to God for the blessing of those He has brought into our lives!
Since Thanksgiving, we have finally begun getting more than a passing dusting of snow - and we are thankful for it! The snow gives purpose to our colder temperatures by making the landscape glisten with beauty, and it provides us with our yearly supply of water. However, we do appreciate prayers for safety on our weekly trips to and from Cokeville, plus James' many hours on the road for doctor appointments and chaplain outreach to various companies.
James did finally have another hearing appointment with the VA. The appointment itself was a bit of a disaster, but Lord willing, he will go back to Riverton on the 16th to actually get hearing aids.
Elizabeth has gotten all her doctor appointments done for the year; though she is still fighting an infection, she is stable overall. She has returned to attending and playing for both church services, after having mostly recovered from her last infusion. Thank you for your prayers for her during this time.
As always, we ask you to continue praying for the salvation of those we are preaching the Gospel to in Cokeville - specifically BR, J&C, R&R, B, RG, and the growth of LC, BC, and their kids. BR continues to show signs of God working in them and speaking about spiritual things. Pray that we will soon be able to rejoice in their evidencing and claiming salvation.
Also, please continue to pray for us to be able to buy a house. The continued slow decrease of local prices and of the interest rate is encouraging to us, but most properties that do not need more work than they are worth are still outside our budget. Yet we continue to hope and pray,as we would like a place to call our own and also a place we can use to host missionaries and teams as they come through and minister in the churches here.
We are grateful to you for your faithful support and prayers on our behalf, and praise God for how He is working even when we don’t see it. He is always good!