It has been an interesting few months since our last update. December ended with a bang, and January has shown no signs of slowing - not so much with activity (though we did have Christmas programs in Kemmerer and Cokeville), but with snow. In the few weeks since Christmas, the roads have been shut down and a travel ban has been in place twice, with the latest one lasting for three days. Living in the beauty of Wyoming is not for the faint of heart in winter, and we have come to enjoy and embrace the snow! Through what look like terrible storms, God is providing our water for the year; and we are actually praying for more, as we are still below what we need for the coming dry summer.
Much like the snow, God is working through storms of life... through James' medical issues, Elizabeth's Wegener's recurrence, and the pain in the lives of many who we meet and have relationships with here. We ask you to continue to pray for them—specifically for J&C, B, R&R, the A's, and the R's—that through the storms they are experiencing, they will be saved and we will see fruit from our labor here. Also, pray with us as we are in great need of several core families either to be saved or to move into Cokeville. We need the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ in Cokeville, as well as help to launch a children's Sunday school and consistently reach the children who come to VBS.
On the personal front, continue to pray for the retirement process for James. We are waiting for an answer on another benefit, before we renew our house hunt and mortgage process. Also, pray for Elizabeth as she is slowly returning to a state of remission from her recent Wegener's flare-up, and will be facing some reconstructive procedures later this year, after she has been in remission for a while. We both also recently went through our first bout with Covid. We are exceedingly thankful that God protected us from getting it for almost three years—and when we did, He allowed us to be diagnosed almost immediately, and provided medication that lessened its severity. The fatigue lingered a bit, especially for Elizabeth since she was also recovering from another infusion for the Wegener's, but we are both pretty much recovered from its effects now. It did prohibit our travel plans for Christmas (although the snow might have done that too!), but we enjoyed a nice quiet and restful time at home together.
Coming up, James will be traveling in mid-January to the Arch ministry fellowship in Florida. Please pray for a fruitful and encouraging trip. Additionally, with the turn of the new year, we are already beginning to plan for VBS this summer. We are also praying for an opportunity to do a horsemanship-type outreach this year as well. We'd love your help, if you'd like to come out for a short ministry trip to see the mission field and serve God alongside us. But more than that, we covet your faithful prayers for us as we continue to obey God's call to minister and preach the gospel here in Wyoming!