Dear Ministry Partners,
Greetings from the two of us – it is hard to believe that the summer is now nearly over. September 7th would have been my mom’s 85th birthday. Been thinking of her today and thankful she is safe in the arms of Jesus and no more worries or cares which comes with life on this earth. And speaking of birthdays we were able to celebrate Jeanne’s mom’s birthday on Monday. We told her we would take her out to eat wherever she would like to go. She chose “Freddy’s” as she was hungry for a hotdog, fries, and a root beer, followed by one of their famous custard sundaes with a cherry on top. We then took a ride to a nice little park/lake, followed by opening her gifts at her apartment – she loved it all!
We thank you for praying for Jeanne and her recovery from surgery. She is doing quite well now walking, driving the car, and even mowing the lawn the last few times! Things with the folk’s estate continue to progress as well. We were able to have the auction for their things two weeks ago. Things don’t seem to sell too well at auctions any more, but we did really enjoy getting to see so many of our friends and family there – kind of like a family reunion!
Just two weeks from today, Sept. 21, I will be departing for Asia Pacific. Our small regional airport, 35 miles from here, just started United Airline service to Denver this week, so I will be giving this a try. We hope it works out as it will be much handier for us for future trips as well. So my routing this time will be Kearney, Nebraska – Denver – Tokyo – Asia Pacific, and taking about 28 hours.
With this trip I have been busy in preparation. For our Wana Bible conference we are studying from Philippians 2, which should make for a great study, and I am looking forward to it. Our consultant team is then planning on meeting with four of our missionary teams to give help and encouragement to them. One of the things we want to key in on this time is “Team Unity”, as this seems to be a place where the enemy likes to attack.
The Scripture base we will use for this is 1 Tim. 3 & Titus 1 and taking a careful look at the qualifications of elders. This summer we were also able to get the Old Testament Scripture portions formatted and ready for printing. My folk’s memorial fund was directed to Wana Scripture, so we would like to get the printing of the Old Testament portions underway and then get them distributed. Our helicopter pilot got all excited when he heard about this and is looking forward to helping with the distribution. We also want to thank your prayers for the funds to make this trip. I am getting very close to what I have been asking the Lord for – He is always so faithful to provide!
Jeanne and I want to again take this opportunity to thank you so much for prayers for us and our ministry with the Wana Tribal people. Thank you for being a vital part of our team as we work together to expand the reach of the gospel to the people in Asia Pacific.
May God richly bless,
Ed & Jeanne Casteel