September 16, 2022
Dear Praying Friends, Just a short note to bring you up to date. It is hard to believe we have already been here a month. Mercy, how time flies when you are having fun, although, just between me and you, at my age, it just flies regardless if I am having fun or not. Be that as it may, let me bring you up to date on what is going on these days.
Once we got here, we had to do car shopping, or rather, we decided to go with a mini van this time, as I was trying to find something a bit more comfortable for the many long trips we seem to do every time we are back here and we did find one, but wouldn’t you know it, there probably has not been a worse time in years to be shopping for a used mini van. Even though the one we finally found has over a 100,000 miles on it, you would think it was gold plated at the price we paid…But, Lord willing it will be a good reliable vehicle to visit around with. Although, as I mentioned last time, we are trying to limit our visiting commitments until we can finish the King Of Glory lesson book we have translated into Yanomamö. The translation part is finished, but now I am trying to format it to fit the space for the printing. It is proving to be more time consuming than I had anticipated, but we are making good headway. Your prayers are still much coveted and appreciated.
This Sunday, Keila and I are flying to Boa Vista, Brazil at the request of some missionaries who are also working with the Yanomamö on the Brazilian side. They have asked us to come in and bring some of our church elders to visit with and get to know the Christians in their village. They are praying our guys can be a real help and encouragement to their people. Pray about this trip. It does seem like satan has done much to try and hinder and discourage, but our guys are leaving the city of Maturin tomorrow by bus heading to the Brazilian border where they will be picked up by missionaries over there. Keila and I are flying, but if one were just looking at the hours we are going to be traveling, one might think we were going by sail boat or possibly even paddling. The trip is very long. The best tickets we could find have us stopping in Miami, Brasilia, then, another city I am too tired to look up and finally, 37 hours later, arriving in Boa Vista, where we will be picked up by the missionaries there. Then, the next day, MAF will fly us into the jungle village. The 28th is our anniversary so I told Keila I was taking her on an exotic vacation. She was not amused when she found out it was to a Yanomamö village, but that is what I get for trying so hard. I mean, I figured, how much more exotic can you get? All that to say, we are excited to get there and try and be an encouragement to the missionaries and the young Yanomamö church there. Again, your prayers are very appreciated.
Mia is working part time and also trying to get her driver’s ed out of the way so she can move up from her permit to her real driver’s license. She is doing well, and Lord willing, should be finished with her driver’s license clutched in her sweaty fingers on the 23rd. (Mia thinks I took the part out about her sweaty fingers, but honestly, I have watched her drive and my statement stands) She is staying here in the Macon area with friends while we are going to be in Brazil. It is so good to have her with us for a few months. Currently, she is hoping to get an internship up at the Bible Institute she graduated from, in January. She also covets your prayers.
We praise the Lord for getting another large batch of Messengers and Torches heading to Venezuela. We will meet up with this shipment and take it into the jungle when we return. We are super excited to be able to place these audio devices into even more remote villages. We can’t even imagine how God is going to use these tools for HIS glory. Thanks for your partnership in making this possible. We have a short video I am working on with pictures of the torches being placed in different villages. Actually, the pictures are of people getting these devices. Please look at their faces. Here is the link.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8e55f7g355bfgxk/placing%20torches.mp4?dl=0
Thanks again for your partnership with us!
Michael and Keila