February 2005 Adventures

We had Georgia on our minds this month as we traveled from Dalton to Valdosta, even slipping into North Florida, sharing what God has done for us and the people of Paraguay.

We began the month by attending the opening of the Board of Director’s meeting for The Mission Society.  This meeting approves new missionaries for The Mission Society, and it was a blessing to be a part of this event.

We headed to Dalton, GA the first week-end in February to attend their annual Missions Celebration Week-end.  The theme for the week-end was “The World Is Our Parish”.  Several local mission as well as foreign missions had an opportunity to share their ministry with the congregation.  We have a display table that we take with us to show some of the various products from Paraguay, as well as provide pictures of our ministry.

The next week-end we traveled to Fernandina Beach, FL.  We had a chance to visit with Ed’s Father and attend our supporting church in Fernandina, The Memorial United Methodist Church.  Ed had a chance to preach at 2 of their services, and we were able to show our PowerPoint for their contemporary service.  We always like to give our supporting churches a gift.  Here, Ed is presenting an Amanecer Cross to Pastor Bruce Jones.

 From Fernandina Beach, we headed to Gainesville, FL.  We celebrated with The Family Church their first Missions Conference.  Again, it was fun to meet other missionaries, and to become acquainted with the various local mission projects in the Gainesville area.  When we attend conferences, the churches provide us a family to stay with.  In Gainesville, we were welcomed into the home of Steve & Pam Bailey.  We shared good conversation with the Baileys and their 2 children, Megan & Matt.  Here is a photo of Pam with daughter Megan.

The next Sunday, we headed from North Florida to Valdosta, GA; and attended The First Methodist Church of Valdosta.  We graduated from high school in Valdosta, and First Methodist is the church we were married in.  We saw lots of long time friends, as well as having the opportunity of sharing our ministry with both PowerPoint and Mission Moments at 4 of the services in Valdosta.

The last Sunday in February we were able to share with our home church, Cannon United Methodist, in Snellville, GA.  For those who say “you can never go home”, you have never known the wonderful folks at Cannon.  We were able to share at all 3 services, as well as presenting our ministry with PowerPoint during the 2 Sunday school hours. 

In addition to visiting churches, we also visited some dear friends in Knoxville, TN; we had a good friend from New Jersey come to Atlanta for a visit; we presented our ministry to a Disciple class at Snellville UMC in Snellville, GA, and to a Sunday school class at Oak Grove UMC in Atlanta, GA; we’ve had dinner or lunch with many friends; we’ve been able to visit doctors; attend a Homeland Ministry Retreat; and we even had a short, 2 day vacation in Mexico Beach, FL.

Our schedule for March looks just as busy as we continue to visit as many of our supporters as possible.   Please pray for our safety as we continue to travel, and for our Pastors and their churches in Paraguay.  We miss them all!