We have arrived in the US! Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf. The trip from Portugal to Boston was great an uneventful (just the way I like it). At the airport, pastor Stricklin and his family were waiting for us. After a restful night of sleep, we are able to focus on the work at hand. Soon we start visiting churches, trying to raise support for the Lord’s work in Portugal. Right now we have four priorities.
1. Our personal walk
We really don’t want to get so busy with ministry that we forget our personal relationship with the Lord. Oswald Chambers said,
“The tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure that ever lived. The lodestar of the saint is God Himself, not estimated usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man’s life is the relationship of worth to His Father.”
Please pray that during this time of deputation we will grow in our relationship with the Lord and with each other.
2. Getting Settled
This seems strange given the fact that in just a few days we will be going to Connecticut, and then on to Alabama for 3 weeks, before returning to Rhode Island. What do you mean “getting settled”? Nevertheless, there a number of things to get done. This involves transportation arrangements, some paperwork and organizational work with our sending church. Please pray that all of this will go well.
3. Meetings, meetings, meetings
We will be staying in the US (with some stops in Canada next year) until the end of July. We are still in the process of booking meetings to fill up our schedule while we are here. We really have no preference as to where these meetings are. Right now we have meetings booked in 12 states, so if you know of any church that would be willing to hear about what the Lord has been doing in Portugal, feel free to contact us. There are some exciting things going on in Portugal right now, we would hate to be away from the field and not use the time to be raising awareness about the tremendous need in Portugal.
Thank you for your prayer support. We appreciate you comments and questions. Feel free share the resources in the website.