We are back in Tucson after a LOT of summer ministry travel. We spoke at 19 different churches! Besides that, we had 47 small group meetings. That math adds up to 66 speaking times while covering 9585 miles. We slept in 20 different beds…. thank you to all who housed us. We came back ready for a break… and jumped right back into a full schedule here. Besides getting to see so many of you this summer, there were a few big highlights….
Note: I took tons of pictures this summer…. too many to choose from and I know I would forget someone, AND this letter would just never end, so here are some personal highlights. (Yes, that was a run-on sentence)
Gabriel and Ruth were married on May 31. It was a beautiful day of celebration. Dan Enright, adopted family, performed the legal part of the wedding. (Pictured above) Ruth’s father gave the wedding message in Portuguese (they are Brazilian) so her grandmother could understand. Ruth’s brother translated for everyone else and it was such a great message. We are beyond thankful for Ruth and her parents who love the Lord and seek to know HIM.
We have a few family members missing from this picture due to our CHICKENPOX saga. Yep, first Bethany got it at 29 yrs of age, followed by baby Kate, Blake, Jade and finally Jesse! It was quite the experience trying to have a wedding and figuring out who can go and who can’t and who has been exposed etc…. Matthew and Karizma drove all the way across from San Diego and were not able to be around the kids. That was probably the saddest thing ever! Apart from that, as I said, it was a beautiful day and Gabriel and Ruth are married! They are both continuing their education at Liberty University.
Kate, gets the honor of modeling a ChickenPox photo. She had a very bad case, but thankfully, she will never remember it!
Hey wait!!! Did I even introduce you to Kate Flower Rocha? Kate arrived the end of March. She is Bethany and Filipe’s 3rd baby and we are all in love!
My Mom turns 90 this month, and for the first time in 10 years, all of my siblings were in the USA. So, we had a family reunion / birthday party! There was over 50 of us there and it was so wonderful.
Miriam is busy learning the care of pregnant Mommies, birth and newborn care! There is no doubt that God has given her this desire of her heart. She has a heavy load, between classes and clinical shifts, but when doing something you love, the load doesn’t seem so hard. If you are not on her newsletter list, you should be…she shares some amazing and interesting things of how God is working in her life!
This box FULL of books is all the info about this plane pictured below it. This is an up-coming project that you will hear more about in the future. This plane served in Indonesia for many years and came to us in April of this year. The goal is to rebuild it for ministry in Mexico. The log books will be studied by Paul and the guys to learn about the history of this plane.
We recently had a flight with some unusual cargo. Check out this link: Not Our Usual Cargo to find out what it was we had in our plane this time!
We are off again. 2025 is our year for travel. This time we head to Germany where we will speak in a new church and update the supporters we have there. Paul will also have the opportunity to share at the Bible School where his parents ministered for many years. Paul’s parents and three siblings live in Germany so we are taking this opportunity to spend some time with them as well.
And just to make your day better… my grand babies. This pic just makes me smile, so I’m sharing that smile with you.
If we saw you this summer, thank you for taking the time to visit with us. If we didn’t see you, come on out to Tucson! Regardless when we see you next, thank you for your prayers, encouragement and giving so we can be here working with UIM Aviation.
with love
Laurel and Paul
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