Dear friends,
Greetings once again. We’ve wrapped up another semester of mobilization ministry here in Aggieland and around the State of Texas. We wanted to spotlight some family news in this letter as there are some big updates to fill you in on there. And stay tuned at the end of this e-mail for a ministry announcement.
So, without further ado, our most recent family picture…
… was taken at Katie and Coby’s wedding last December. Moving from left to right, I’ll just run down the latest news from our kiddos (and grand-kiddos):
Andrew and Katie, Elle and Harper: Andrew is starting his third year of residency in Bryan, TX. It has been a very full schedule for him these past couple of years, but it’s exciting to see how God is already using him as a physician. Katie is no longer working at the Bee Community (work community for adults with disabilities) and instead is a full-time mom. We are so glad to have them close by for these years and enjoy Elle and Harper coming to visit most Thursdays. The girls are doing great and growing up so quickly. Elle is full of energy (and reminds us so much of Andrew at that age), and Harper is cool as a cucumber and sweet as can be.
Katie and Coby, obviously, got married in December in a beautiful ceremony. This month, Coby graduated from Texas A&M and just this week has begun Physical Therapy school at UTSA in San Antonio. This past semester, Katie was also working at the Bee Community and is now looking for similar work in the San Antonio area! We are sad to see them leave town, but excited for their future together.
Michael lives and works in the San Marcos/New Braunfels area. He is a therapist for children with autism. He is gifted with children and is having a positive impact on the little ones he works with. Long term, Michael is planning to return to school in a few months’ time to pursue a master’s degree in counseling.
We were blessed to get to visit Cara and Braden up in Lynchburg, VA. We were able to work a personal “side trip” alongside a ministry trip up to our Wayumi facility in April (more on this later). They are doing great as they get close to celebrating their first-year anniversary. They will both be graduating from Liberty University in December and plan to return to Texas afterwards. (Yay!) Cara will have her nursing degree and will be looking for a job, while Braden is also considering PT school, but will probably take a gap year to work.
Last, but definitely not least, Ben and DakotaKate continue to work here in town, Ben as an engineer and DakotaKate with our church’s global outreach department. BUT… DakotaKate is going to be leaving her job in a few weeks because…
[[Cue tears…seriously I’m shedding tears of joy as I write this…]]
Some of you are already aware of the difficult journey Ben and DakotaKate have been on these past years, and we are rejoicing in a true miracle of the Lord in giving them a healthy pregnancy and baby girl.
Psalm 105:1, 2:
Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Please continue to pray for them and this new little one who is scheduled to enter into the world on August 1! (That’s granddaughter #3 for us for those of you counting at home.)
Ministry Update
So what’s going on in the mobilization world? I’ll start by sharing a few photos from the last few months of ministry happenings. (If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this should save me about 4000 words of typing…)
Hosting our Mu Kappa (“Missionary Kid” group) at the beginning of the semester
Presenting Ethnos360 opportunities to a group of Aggies gathered in our living room
Repping Ethnos360 at Dallas Theological Seminary and getting to meet one of our new mechanics who will be heading to PNG next year
Taking opportunities at churches to speak about God’s heart for All Nations
Not pictured:
A quick trip to Bakersfield, California in February to do orientation for a new rep coming on board our team
Mission conferences at LeTourneau University and East Texas Baptist University
Our weekly Perspectives class in College Station! This has been a great opportunity to meet students interested in serving the Lord cross-culturally.
The aforementioned trip to Wayumi in Jersey Shore, PA. (For more on Wayumi check out www.wayumi.com). It’s a great opportunity for church groups to come and experience cross-cultural ministry without actually leaving the USA
Hosting two “Into the Buddhist Mind” presentations again this semester
Lots of coffees with students and pastors and other ministry leaders, presenting opportunities for participation with Ethnos360 as a small part of fulfilling the Great Commission!
Administrative work for our USA Rep team. (This can be a significant part of my day but makes for a pretty boring picture as it would just be me sitting at my computer at my desk.)
Finally…
We’ve been having a bit of trouble with our e-mail letters getting to everyone without getting spam filtered. So, we’re investigating a couple of services that are more tailored to ministry prayer updates. These would likely involve you receiving shorter updates from us a bit more frequently (monthly?) and in a more timely manner for prayer purposes (E.g., “Neil is going to be at such and such conference this next week, pray for open doors to share with students…) as opposed to getting big summary updates from us at semester’s end. We think it will lend to greater interaction between this ministry and those of you who support it so faithfully through your prayers!
Anyway, we wanted to let you know so that when you get an update from us in the coming weeks that looks a little different, it’s all on the up and up! And, of course, if you are no longer interested in receiving these updates, that’s OK! We all get a ton of email and we won’t be offended if you decide you need to opt out of another mailing list!
We are so grateful for you all who stand with us in prayer, giving and encouragement.
Joyfully in Jesus,
Neil and Becky
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