Dear Co-Laborers,
Today is Labor Day and with it the traditional end of summer. It seems these past few months have gone by quickly and is hard to believe that autumn is already upon us. We trust this letter finds you well and ready to begin the new fall schedule.
Last week we made kind of an unexpected trip to Wisconsin. Scott and Rachel Meyer have been co-workers of ours out in Asia Pacific for many years. Their eldest son Benjamin, of 15 years, has been battling a very rare form of cancer for the past 3+ years. On Sunday August 25 he went to be with the Lord. Meyers were on a “medical leave” and living in central Wisconsin so Jeanne and traveled to Wisconsin so we could be with them during the funeral. We were glad that our co-workers Steve and Linda Rosengren along with a couple of other families from Asia Pacific were also able to be there to support them through this difficult time. We know the Meyer family would appreciate your prayers in the days, weeks, and months ahead as they adjust to life without their Benjamin.
It is hard to believe that it is just over two weeks before I will be departing for Asia Pacific! It seems no matter how hard I try to plan ahead for these trips there is still a lot of last minute things to take care of and last minute orders of things folks would like me to bring. Most all of my travel arrangements are made with the exception of a couple of hotel reservations which I need to make later today. My plans will be to leave home the afternoon of September 18 and then flying out of Lincoln, NE early morning on the 19th. We will appreciate your prayers as I will be gone just over 6 weeks arriving home early in November. I have many things planned for this trip which include: Regional leadership meetings, Wana Bible conference for our church leadership, visiting Wana churches, making consultant visits with some of our other missionary teams, curriculum development, and then an extra trip to Thailand for some leadership seminars which our mission holds every three years for all our leadership teams in South East Asia. All in all it looks to be a very busy trip. I will appreciate your prayers for health, strength, stamina, and that I will be a blessing to others. We praise the Lord too as unless something unforeseen takes place it looks like I will have sufficient funds for the expenses this trip will entail.
Jeanne and I also want to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your prayers this past month. We appreciate your part on our team as we labor together to see the Wana tribal people reached with the Gospel, Scripture translation, Bible lessons, and to see them come to further maturity. We will also appreciate your prayers for Jeanne during the time that I am gone as she holds down the fort and that nothing out of the ordinary would happen while I am gone.
Serving together with you,
Ed & Jeanne Casteel