Spring is Here!

Spring is always a wonderful time of year! Everything has been cold and quiet and suddenly, the world defrosts, the sun perks everything and everyone right up! It’s no different here on the Navajo Nation.
The outlook on Covid has improved slightly, despite reopenings and reclosures around spikes and variants. Things are steadily improving and with it, restrictions are easing.

Church

We were able to have church for the first time in over a year on Easter Sunday. Because of the lockdowns and curfews on the Reservation, we have been barred from Sundays until now. (We have been able to meet in homes and hold Bible Studies somewhat, but this has not been an effective way to gather in the health climate and with those restrictions).

Our first Sunday back we were “packed” at about 40 people. We were able to distance, keeping family groups together, sing, offer nursery services AND share communion through the very convenient individual communion packets (like they serve at revivals, camps and festivals with the wafer on top of the little cup!) It was wonderful to connect with the community again in this way after a full year. Steve has taken on much of the sanitizing and logistics of holding services according to both Navajo and New Mexico regulations. This is nothing he hasn’t already been doing for Celebrate Recovery, so it’s something we are able to accomplish with extra time given to it. In addition to this, Sharon is maintaining strict cleaning and sanitizing protocols in the nursery for any infants and toddlers to be able to play safely. We are hoping children’s church will be able to start up soon as well. Pray for these endeavors as we help-as members- to get out local church back to our available pre-pandemic services and resources.

Sharathon

It has been a year and a half since we have been able to hold our Radio Sharathon fundraiser. Annually and sometimes more, it has always lifted a huge part of our financial burden as far as radio services and staying on the air goes. With four functioning stations (currently broadcasting identically across the reservation on AM and FM) it takes work and money to keep our signal live. We’ve had to cancel Sharathon repeatedly since Covid began and on Saturday we pulled off a big, drive-thru/outdoor event! Most of the staff was able to help as well as retired and former staff and local community friends. It was a great time and a sorely missed staple event of the Mission. Sharon organized food for the staff throughout the day (this year, regulations prevent us from feeding the local public except for water and sealed chip bags, which were well enjoyed by all. Staff was well-fed from 8am through 6:30pm!!!). Steve processed donations throughout the day (as is a normal part of his job) and we raised over 8,000 with additional money pledged. Much of these donations come in from immediately local community members who have long-loved our station and are able to give back and help us keep it on the air – not unlike supporting your local Christian radio such as is done with K-Love.
We had 150 or more cars drive thru and many stayed parked, listening to the radio from their vehicles, watching the live music and cheering, honking and praising together. As a high risk community, we have taken special care to continue to be present for those needing it most without bringing undue risk and impact to their health. It was an encouragement to see so many familiar and new faces come through, honk and wave. Praise that we’ve brought in close to this year’s goal, which will offset a huge chunk of operating costs and help toward equipping the new station building which is ever closer to being completed. As a side note: Sharathon takes a lot out of us, it is a big undertaking, even for a single day event…. we might take a day or two off 😉
Bunch-a photos follow… cause, ya know, it was exciting

Library Plans

 Sharon is getting the opportunity to help through the summer at the Hilltop Christian School Library - as most of the teachers are off for the summer updating supporters, seeing family and otherwise taking a break from school and mission life. The work involves getting a handle on a year of low staff, no steady library staff, donations of books and supplies that haven't been sorted or shelved and other maintenance tasks. The kids will often be with her through this project and they can watch movies, have snacks, do crafts and even help out with odd jobs around her work. She's excited to be able to have an impact with the school through this flexible and quiet summer opportunity. And of course, we absolutely love our school, and so the participation in making the library a great resource again for the next school year is something we love. Pray as she works through this that things are smooth, interruptions are minimal, and the rather large job can be completed before staff is back on campus to prep for the school year (from the last week of May through the first of August). 

Visitors

We had special visitors today: Joel Miller, the missions pastor at LifeHouse Church in DE came up with his friend Jeremy from the Phoenix area (the Miller family is visiting them in AZ from DE). Steve gave them a tour of the campus, some general life updates and we enjoyed lunch together. Pray for the Miller family as they spend time in the Valley and when they and their sweet kids travel home and for Jeremy and his family.

Thank you for all of the prayers and support! Happy spring, Blessings and love in Christ
Steve and Sharon

2021

January is already over, taking with it the last remnants of red, green and tinsel.

Good afternoon, friends!
I’m writing this from a very touchy wordpress app – looks like it underwent some changes, so this may not even post!

Health Update:
Our immediate family has been well, no one has fallen ill despite repeat exposure to positive cases in the last year – can you believe we are at a year now?
The families on campus and affiliated with Across Nations that had contracted Covid are doing well, and those who had been very sick and hospitalized are all cleared, clean bill of health, off-oxygen and all!! So praise God for that!
Many families have lost loved ones here, many pastors have lost the fight with this new illness and passed on, their families are coping, but your prayers would be very welcome as they navigate life in the aftermath of sudden illness and loss.

Weather
We have found ourselves under several different snowstorms in the last few weeks – it makes for dicey driving as many of you know. It also makes for some quiet days on campus. Some couldn’t make it to the office from around town, school was closed for only one storm, so Sharon and Adam took the opportunity to help clear out sidewalks, steps, ramps, and paths around and between the school buildings. The sun was shining and the wind was minimal, so it was a good time and made for some quick work. And, of course, we played in it!

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Regularly Scheduled Programming
January – I think in all our worlds- proves to be relatively quiet.
Last year at this time, Sharon and Adam were tagging along with the radio team to high school basketball games (basketball=life around here…. basketball and rodeo) , making connections, visiting the concession stands 😉 Youth Group was in full swing, community events were unfolding-remember the Valentine’s Weekend radio fundraiser? \/

THAT was a full year ago!!!
Steve’s regular work continues in the office to which he is a great asset in the financial department. He and his direct supervisor -respectively – take care of everything from incoming missionary support to staff pay to outgoing radio construction progress! Often, we (the generic we) do not like discussing money and we don’t make a very heavy point of this regular weekly work in our newsletters, but it’s a fact of life 😉 and a big part of why Steve was brought on. Stewardship of mission finances, progressive work toward future goals, school resources, and individual support are in the hands of these two. Steve and Sue work very well together, and we’re happy to be in this role.
Celebrate Recovery continues, and continues to average between 10-20 participants and leaders depending on the week. Our gathering limits under safe social distancing for the state of New Mexico is at roughly 80 people in the church building, so we have more than enough room to grow into.
We have said before, due to the nature of anonymity that comes with sobriety and recovery programs, there isn’t much by way of update – or photos- that can be made public. Give Steve a call and he would be happy to talk more about CR, the work here, the volunteers, donations and help that come in regularly, and the slow, but steady impact this growing ministry has in the community.
Sharon continues on in volunteering wherever she can in the absence of youth group. Several radio volunteers have been through the mission in the last two months, and she has prepped housing and minor comforts for them. This is a passion of hers, pray it can be grown some with the resources we have on hand.
We were also able to host a dinner evening for Tim and Renee Zook, a couple from Indiana. Tim is, missionally, a radio consultant and engineer and he spent a great deal of time working on our radio with another gentleman, not only getting some bugs worked out, but constructing a new FM tower on the other side of the Reservation where we have an AM station and getting that on the air. Currently our four radio stations run the same programming. They have in the past and will again in the future, run several different programs, styles and languages respectively, with FM focusing more on the younger generation and AM featuring more talk, sermons and Navajo language programs. We enjoyed the company of Tim and Renee and learned more about their ministry as they work with other groups around the country. They’ve been here three times since we have moved to the mission.
Steve’s grandpa from just north of us, surprised us with a wood delivery donated personally and dropped off! The outreach has been steadily growing, with families able to call in and request assistance via wood for heat. (this is also an area of ministry Adam can be involved in. Wood hauling is a lot of work, but what seven year old boy doesn’t want to throw logs around??)

Over Christmas week (it’s been a bit??) we had some “events” to write cards out, pack boxes and spend time pouring into pastors and other church leaders on the Reservation and in the area. This was a great mini outreach in the absence of anything else we could do in the community over the holidays (considering lockdowns and stay at home orders that persist to varying degrees).

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Family Update
Not a whole ton going on personally. We’re still catching up, cleaning up, and winding down from holidays and travel. We spent a good deal of the late fall and early winter visiting and updating family and friends after being on mission for a year and a half – fast coming on two years since we left home. It’s been a ride and we love taking you along for it! We are grateful for all of the love, support, prayers and encouragement from all of you.

Sharon uses every real and imagined opportunity to crochet something. Sometimes they are straight gifts – this year she made 55 hats for Hilltop kids -cause we so love our school!! For the last two years, friends and family wanted things they saw and she used the chance to fundraise for our cousin and his wife who are adopting. They’ve close raised all of the money and are in waiting now – matched and ready. This year, any crochet requests will go to fundraising for Hilltop Christian School. She does some volunteering, has gotten to know a few of the kids, is close with most of the teachers and we just love to love on them all. This will be a great outlet for the yarn (and if you feel so inclined to send some, she never turns yarn donations down 😉 ). We’re not fond of “selling and making money” off her hobby, but fundraising for our wonderful school – absolutely!!

Check out Sharon’s experimental Instagram page…. we are hoping to use it for steadier mission photos…. take you along in real time…. in addition to the monthly and/or bi-monthly updates here on the blog.
http://www.instagram.com/mausmission

Prayer Requests:
Praise: all those who have been ill are recovered!!! And those most at risk are already receiving vaccines to mitigate further impact to their health.
Praise: Safety for all over the last few snow storms and sub zero nights. Everyone has done well, with minimal problems. At some point, we slid off the road, but our principal: Bill Naas, was able to save Steve 😉 – on campus, no huge risk to anyone
Please pray for continued health for our school kids and teachers. We have a few high risk individuals working in the school. Sanitizing is in high gear, masks are worn throughout – lots of breaks for the kiddos outside to get some fresh air.
Pray for continued finances as God wills for the radio station. Some of our supporters have blessed the radio with new constructions funds – this is exciting to see others take further interest beyond what we do directly. How cool? PRay the physical help comes in this spring as we get teams to help us finish off. So far – cargo containers are on, build out inside is complete, roof structure is in place and everything is tarped off pending the next leg of construction. As our existing building deteriorates at an alarming pace, we are all very excited to be moving forward on our site plan.
Pray for Jasper (vehicle), Juan (unspoken), Nanette (healing after a dog-related injury), High Life teens K, K, T, J, and N – the only one we have heard from is N. Pray they are all safe and well and we are able to connect in some way with them.
High Life leaders Seth and Sarah as they plan future events that fit within the regulations, and for Tawny who is planning to leave and pursue her future in the next year.
Leaders Wade and Amanda, new-ish parents! as they figure out what their future with the youth group looks like.
Finally, Millie Anne – who has some struggles, she’s speaker much clearer and is trying hard to focus on her school lessons. We feel confident even with the special educational needs she may have, that we can continue to homeschool her, but please pray for patience and understanding all around and that we can continue to learn about her needs to be able to raise and teach her in the best ways possible.

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Year in Pictures

Enjoy a bunch of highlights from before the lockdowns, and some of our favorite moments from during the worst of Covid 2020 (These may not load well on the phones… )

Basketball

In a wild finish, Window Rock got a pair of free throws from junior Cauy Silversmith with 7.2 seconds to net the two-point win.

– Quentin Jodie . Navajo Times . 2/1/2020

High Life

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  Leader Buddy and two of our teens – Game Night! Jan/Feb 2020

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  Kicking the hacky sack around

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  Photography with leader Wade

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  Our top youth leader Seth in a heated battle with one of our young men

Encounter Work Teams

Of the 16 scheduled work teams, three of ours were able to make it. Plus two unofficial groups to help with special projects. Still, it was wonderful to have Oak Grove Classical Academy, Youth Works mission group, men from Three Springs in PA for the roof work, ladies from Mosaic in Arkansas to help refit and outfit our 5th/6th grade classroom, and a team from Desert Springs ABQ bringing huge trunkful-s of wood.

Ambassador’s Choir Radio Fundraiser

The Ambassador’s Choir was commissioned by KHAC – our primary radio station- some amount of years ago. In February, they put on a two day fundraising dinner and concert event. Sharon spent time helping the Choir out, running errands, prepping meals, and handling tickets. What a blast that was! We had planned for the Choir to hold at least one more event, but the lockdowns initiated in March made it impossible. We are looking forward to future events with them.

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  Principal and 7th Gr. Teacher Bill & Laura Naas

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  Nearly all the ladies jumped in to get as much Fry Bread made as possible

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  Georgia, turning out Fry Bread

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  2nd Gr. Teacher Liliya Rubanenko

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  Choir Director and KHAC dj JR Redhouse

What Else..?

Oh yeah, we (us along with the other mission staff) built a swingset, recorded on endless radio, packed thousands of boxes of food, participated in more chaplaincy training classes, made up a bunch of gifts for our school kids and whatever else we could dream up during closures and pandemic-related chaos.

Family Stuff

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  We got a puppy!

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  “That is NOT a baby!” – Third grader to his teacher

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  We turned SEVEN

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  Broken bones

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  Roof Repair! Thank you Roy

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  Bon Fires

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  Adam Evan

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  Millie Anne

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  She turned FIVE

Thanks for coming
along this year!
Love in Christ,
Steve and Sharon

Focus

Good Evening, Friends!

We are well here in Window Rock! The weather has been ridiculous, from snow in early October, to picnicking in the backyard and back again (over and over and over…) Living at such a high altitude definitely has it’s weather disadvantages, but it sure is pretty! The photo here shows from our deck looking over the campus toward the left down the road and Window Rock and St. Michaels off to the right beyond the haze of falling snow.

We have continued on much the same as the rest of you, finding out new normal in the craziness of the world we live in. For the most part we have been able to continue our ministry work-although abbreviated and under the stay at home orders in effect both in New Mexico and on the Reservation. Very little has changed in our restrictions since May, but a few notable changes has brought some semblance of life back to the local community- with restaurants now able to operate if they pass special classes and participate in a steady contact tracing information gathering. Tribal residents have been given the go ahead to function on the weekends so long as they stay local to their communities and restrict activities to those essential to life (gathering wood, grocery purchases, laundry and such). School is still restricted to online only throughout the Reservation and New Mexico. Our school, Hilltop Christian, is opened and functioning! Pray no illness interferes with our students and teachers as they progress through the year! Sharon is still hoping to be able to work with the students as a school volunteer with special events and activities-but so far none are permitted. The students appreciated the gifts we gave and that will have to suffice for the time being.

Celebrate Recovery attendance has fluctuated with the weather and restrictions, but they are steadily expanding in reach. Steve is meeting with one attendee regularly outside of the meeting times to study Bible, recovery issues and general encouragement. Radio recordings continue with live Saturday CR sessions every few weeks, Celebrate Recovery guests from elsewhere in the region have been present on air and Steve involves whoever is available in this arm of the CR ministry. Pray that gathering and occupancy restrictions ease as the ministry grows.

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  ABQ Wood Delivery!

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  ABQ Navajo Tacos

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  MK Night

We don’t have a ton of recent pictures in the absence of proper events and youth group, but here are a few highlights from this last month.
Across Nations has a supporting ministry in Albuquerque who provides firewood regularly to a local church here. We have recently taken over that ministry (Steve and another missionary on site are tasked with organizing and delivering wood to those in the community unable to do so themselves). In early October, 8 truck-fulls were delivered and Sharon along with other staff on campus helped to unload the truck and host the guys from Albuquerque with a round of Navajo Tacos. Some of the ladies here make the absolute best fry bread and beans. In a regular year easily 20 of these events take place to help our visiting teams connect with the community and culture, but this is only the third this calendar year due to restrictions and safety considerations. Millie Anne also got involved and was sure to eat her fair share of tomatoes!
The immediate neighbor to us on campus (Brent and Dawn Moyer) hosted a Mission Kid night to help encourage and connect with the kids on campus, especially in these times. They had an ice cream social, played games and built a timeline of their lives bringing them to Western Indian/Across Nations. Brent spent time explaining to the kids on their different levels what it means to be a third culture kid living neither in their native culture nor quite in the one they’ve moved to. The kids had a good time, and though ours are young, the focus, encouragement and spiritual connections to those around them was enriching for our whole family. The Moyer’s hope to have a feature mini event for the mission kids each month for the foreseeable future. We are blessed to know this great family who work so hard in the community and still pour into the kids right here.
We have had a high rotation of contractors and volunteers through early and mid October. So, Sharon was able to work extensively on the guest house in a form of hospitality ministry. Everyone was comfortable, warm and caffeinated, her minimum goals!
We also took a quick break in October and visited with cousins in California, took an impromptu jump into the Pacific and ate out (like for real!)

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March was the last time we were in church (with the exception of a July weekend at Mesa Baptist Church). It’s been frustrating at best to be so disconnected from the community and when we are with any of them, there is a decided lack of fellowship and worship with the pandemic threat still ahead, and precious little room for real solid fellowship. Our state mandates say even if we do gather there isn’t to be congregational singing etc. and so we are reaching a worn out point that not as much of the country is seeing.
We press on. We have held Bible Study gatherings on some Sundays, but generally, no one wants to risk gathering, and no one wants to risk church services. There are some churches holding a variety of drive in services, but these tend to be at a time we cannot attend (Thursdays due to Celebrate Recovery is one example).

Many churches in the area also fall away from doctrine (like any area) so it makes visiting one just for the sake of being in the building difficult or interesting. So, we continue on, but are pushing (yes) our church leadership to allow Wednesday services assuming we are able to follow state mandates for distancing, masks and sanitizing. We are ready and prepared to do this (along with another couple on campus willing to help kick services back off), please pray God softens the hearts and gives peace to the elders and church leadership regarding decisions with services.

Road Trip

We are headed out on Wednesday in a thought through and prayed over trip east. We have no real idea how Covid restrictions will impact our travels, but after a year and a half on the field, and in some cases 3 years of support from churches and individuals, we thought this might be worth an attempt. We would love to connect with some of you as we come through. We will be in Delaware on November 21 & 22, and in Pennsylvania through the 30th. We expect many of you have concerns about where we are coming from and our exposure level.
First, we spend much of our time in the same circle on campus here and within Celebrate Recovery. The news describes our region as absolutely terrible per capita, but we aren’t any worse off for cases than most of the country. Our local health advisors have declared the build of our cases to certain areas and events that we are nowhere near. We carry on as normal as far as shopping, gas, errands, etc. Our state is strict, we wear masks, use sanitizer at all the stores and so on. There has been no illness among any of our staff in recent weeks, and nothing substantial since spring.
Second, we are traveling via Oklahoma City and Indianapolis through to Delaware and finally to Pennsylvania. We will be staying in hotels and stopping at gas stations and assorted McDonald’s drive thrus.
Finally, only you can decide if you want to see us and catch up/visit. We can’t decide your risk factor and cannot allay those concerns. We are more than happy to wear masks and meet you somewhere if you just want to say hi. Please reach out and let us know. (As a personal note, Millie Anne, though five, cannot be expected to wear a mask. we have difficulties getting her to understand why, behavioral problems when we try, and we won’t force it on her. If this makes anyone uncomfortable-specifically in the churches we visit, please let us know before we see you).

Officially we will be connecting with Pastor Joel Miller from LifeHouse on November 21st, attending Summit Bridge EFC on the 22nd, and Blooming Grove Baptist Church on the 29th. We are looking forward to seeing some family, connecting with old friends and seeing everyone we can.

Blessings and Love in Christ
Steve and Sharon

Autumn Has Arrived!

Happy Fall Everyone!

As the world still reels from shutdowns due to the pandemic, we are seeing small things have a big impact (and, too, the small things we will never know the results of).

Celebrate Recovery….
The last two weeks have shown the largest number of attendees to Celebrate Recovery in the now full year since Steve started holding meetings on campus. Throughout Covid-19, CR has operated averaging between 5 and 10 attendees besides the leaders and extra hands from on Campus. This past week there were 14 in attendance plus four from leadership. Celebrate Recovery is intended for anyone dealing with STUFF. Most who attend recovery meetings in general have struggled with living free of alcohol or drug dependence, but CR is designed with arms of the ministry tailored to everything from overeating and sex addiction to drug and alcoholism. Those seeking for all dependence to be on Christ and not on substances and fleshly pleasures can find a place at CR meetings where they will be encouraged, discipled and trained on ways to fix their eyes on God alone.

Hospitality
A small part of Sharon’s involvement early on at Across Nations was with hospitality and guest residences. All guest facilities had been occupied semi-permanently by staff in need of housing for the last year. Recently, one of our well-loved preschool teachers retired and housing shuffled some freeing up one of the guest houses just in time for visitors. Usually these visitors are people who come to help on site with a variety of things from personal staff help to school volunteers and radio technicians (not to mention our contracting engineer for radio station construction!) She spruced the trailer up a little bit, got some fresh linens, wonderful coffee and it’s open and usable again!

/\ A shot from last fall! /\

A Local Pandemic
The Navajo Nation had been hard hit early on by the coronavirus and hard and strict lockdowns helped to slow the spread drastically. Across the reservation exists a ridiculous amount of hurdles as far as staying healthy goes. Pre-existing conditions that put the people here at higher risk for Covid exist among the majority of the Navajo, many areas have no electric or running water-basics for staving off severe illness, and access to medical resources can be limited. Combined with extended families often living together with elders in the family also at very high risk made the Reservation rates very high. Things slowed in the summer and restrictions relaxed to allow families to gather wood and prepare for winter. In the last two weeks, cases have risen sharply in the surrounding areas and isolated clusters of cases have cropped back up, including a spike in hospitalizations in the Ganado area (40 people were actively hospitalized in that small town as I write this). Now… with the rise in cases, lockdowns have been reinstated. 57-hour weekend curfews have been put back into effect, nightly curfews and a stay-at-home order requiring everyone to stay in their homes with the exception of grocery shopping and essential job commute. Several of our school students are now unable to return to school and everyone in the community is scrambling to try to compensate as winter approaches. Threats from the government on “confiscating wood loads and chainsaws” if people are caught gathering wood during weekend curfews (the only time most people are off work and able) have been issued and there is an overall sense of panic and fear. Many locally are wondering if this is the spoken-of “second wave” and if they will be able to work enough and sell enough to make it through the winter. It’s been a very difficult seven months and promises to only get harder in the coming weeks and months. Winter looks to be bleak – at best – for the majority.

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A Look At What We’ve Been Up To…
We’ve been keeping busy with as much “little things” as possible.
Sharon has fought with some tech-related things for the mission for most of the summer, attempting to update the website (which has had numerous bugs and incompatibility issues), revising applications and keeping up on Tribal news for the Facebook page have kept her engaged. Just before Hilltop school reconvened, she assembled gifts for all of the teachers and students. This year especially, with all the difficulties associated with it, she wanted to be able to encourage the teachers and welcome back the students in a special way. She is also on week four of the 2020/21 Homeschool year!! We have a second grader and an early preschooler who are enjoying having a school room to study in!
Steve, in addition to Celebrate Recovery, has been focusing on work in the office. General accounts work, involvement with our ever-postponed fall Sharathon, recording radio programs for CR and working directly with some of our local friends with Recovery work and general encouragement and relationship. He also participated in training with ICISF (a certified instructor from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association administered the course) on Grief Following Trauma. Pending on Reservation lockdowns, he plans to pursue at least one more training on this front to give him more flexibility as a chaplain to work with those in need of services and help.
Adam had a unique opportunity to put his crafting skills to work at the neighbors’ house. He painted a bird house. Our neighbors have a side ministry of bird house birthday gifts that they build and paint. Adam prayed over the birdhouse he made for the man who would be receiving it.

On A Personal Note…
We have finished the bulk of repairs on the house we’re in, our friend Roy came up and reshingled and repaired our roof!
As the fire dangers in our area have died down we have held a few fire nights, marshmallows and coffee, getting to better know the community (on campus only due to the travel restrictions and curfews). We had some dear friends and their grandchildren swing in for an hour of the first night, right before curfew for some socially distant laughs (we haven’t seen them since our church closed in March).
Some wonder how we are doing financially. We don’t like to make much of it if anything in our updates, however, God is good and we would like you all to know that despite the year, the chaos and the world we are in, we have been fully supported through it. Where we have lost some, we gained financial support elsewhere and have had no struggle for our personal needs nor for our ministry needs. We are grateful to all of you are are praying for us, thinking of us and supporting us, thank you.

Please Pray…
Pray… High Life teens… Sharon hasn’t heard anything on how they all are doing, but one of our teens – Nehemiah- was spotted briefly! He looks good and waved. PRay for Nehemiah, Keeka, Kulboi, Janna, and Tatem (and a few kids who were JUST gaining interest when youth group was shut down).
Pray… for our local churches. Those on Reservation are banned from weekend services due to curfews and those who have drive up services mid week struggle to work around schedules and daily curfews. Our church on campus, though not on Reservation, has not opened for several reasons. While most the rest of the country is moving forward with some gatherings, nearly eight months have passed now with little to no fellowship/worship gatherings. This is no small amount of time.
Pray… Adam is still healing from his broken collarbone. He is out of the sling and does not need follow up x-rays, but the healing has been slower than the orthopedic doctor thought it would be. Pray it is not reinjured as it takes it’s time healing.
Pray… We have that wild puppy…. pray for patience while we train Buck… he loves his new family 🙂
Praise! We received donations to give away from a friend at Mesa Baptist (and we have some more coming!)
Pray… please pray as the ministry that hosts giveaways will soon be moving two hours away. Sharon is considering how she might replace it with clothing/needed item giveaways in the future.
Praise! Celebrate Recovery’s numbers continue to grow and leadership is stepping up.
Pray… we are planning a trip east in hopes of seeing anyone willing to catch up with us in person (we can distance and we all have nifty masks!!) We are looking to be in Delaware the weekend before Thanksgiving, driving up through Pennsylvania that Monday before and being in the Hawley/Honesdale area through the following weekend. All by car, with said wild puppy! Pray as we plan this.

Love and blessings, In Christ
Steve and Sharon