Micah is baptized!!

What a happy day! We rejoice in God's goodness....Micah told us last week he was ready to be baptized- because he wanted people to know Jesus is his Savior. This is something we have been asking the Lord for...we know Micah asked Jesus to be his Savior a few years ago and we have been praying that he would hear the Lord telling him when it was the right time to follow Jesus' example of baptism. Micah told us he knows the water/baptism doesn't save him, only Jesus saves. And that he wants people to know he is a follower of Jesus. wow....praise God for this step of obedience!! 

On Christmas day in the afternoon we asked our friends Mike, Ednah, Pendo 

and Laurien to join us as witnesses to Micah's baptism. 

And then we ate cake to celebrate...

happy birthday, Jesus, 

and happy baptism day, Micah!

Christmas morning mayhem. :)

We are so thankful for the greatest gift of all....Jesus Christ! 

Home sweet Home

Merry CHRISTmas from the coast! 

The kids had a lot of fun making these popsicle stick nativity scenes....thank you, Paula, from FSBC El Dorado for putting this in the Advent bags you gave to the boys! 

While we were away it rained A LOT and we had damage to the ceiling. 

We are grateful for the workers who came to patch things up. 

We got things cleaned up just in time to host the Kisima Christmas party. 

Thank You, Lord, for the men who help run Kisima- Mike and Dennis. 

May many more hear about the hope we have in Jesus 

through freedom from addiction in the coming year. 

 

Thanksgiving in Kansas

We had the incredible gift of traveling to Kansas to see our families in November. Papa and Grandma Donna welcomed us at the airport and we spent the first week with them in El Dorado. 

While we were there it snowed 8 inches!!! 

Then we traveled to Independence to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. 

                                           Mark was able to help his dad with the gutter. 

                                          And you can see there was no snow here!

                                                    

                                                             We spent a few days with Nana.  

                                                    

                                           

                      

                  It was nice to see Brady and his family at their place. 

  

                                    We stayed a few days with Deanna and her family, too. 

                                                                                                              

I love this picture of Mark and his brothers and sister...Michael, Deanna, and Matt.

                        

                    We were so happy everyone in Juli's household 

                     was healthy enough to make a last minute visit from OK. 

                                                       

                                                   Thank you, everyone, for letting us stay with you 

                                                  and also for making Thanksgiving 2023 so special! 

Cousins cousins everywhere

What a blessing to spend time with all the cousins! We missed RuthAnne since she had the flu, but we did love watching her sing with her college acapella group live on tv! 

It was crazy to realize a few of these cousins have their own jobs and wheels, now. Oh my, time flies....

                                   

                                

                                 

They're here!!

Woohoooo we were so very excited to welcome MetroEast Baptist Church from Wichita, KS 

and their team of volunteers this month!! 

Thank you Michelle, Barry and Sheryl!

And Melynda's Mom, Bev (Nana) came with them. WOW double the blessing! 

We are so grateful for the sacrifices everyone made to be able to come on this mission trip. Thank you for the years of praying, the preparation, the planning, the saving of money, the giving generously, the hard work, the serving, and all the love! 

You have made such a huge impact on our lives and the lives of so many here these last two weeks. 

We thank God for your partnership in the Gospel!

We love you, MetroEast!

And we love you, Nana!!

 Taking a tour of Kisima and listening to what this ministry 

is about from those who are a part of it. 

Prep work

We were hard at work the day before VBS and the marriage seminar making sure everything was ready.

 

VBS

We had an amazing time at VBS with the team of volunteers. They shared 4 Bible stories- from creation in Genesis up to Jesus dying and raising again on the Cross-

and came prepared with all kinds of fun (and therapeutic!) activities for the kids. 

                            

 

 Melynda's Mom, with the help of Tina and Esther, 

taught the mamas how to make dresses out of pillowcases. 

We pray this will give the families 

a little bit of extra income to help with living expenses.