Focus On America Conference and Silver Dollar City

We went to Battlefield, MO for the Focus on America Conference at Wilson Creek Baptist Church with Bro. Moody. It's our favorite conference to go to ever! It is so relaxing and enjoyable because the church is willing to serve and do whatever you need. There aren't any "bigwigs" or people who think they need to be impressed. Everyone is on equal terms. We've been to conferences where we felt like we were being brushed into a corner because we weren't important enough; we didn't graduate college, we aren't "real" missionaries, we aren't even starting a church! How dare we think that we should be on the same level as them, or even expect to be talked to during the week. It's sad, but there are people out there that behave that way, even some very prominent men in Baptist circles act that way. But not at this conference! The men that you would think are the "important" men are serving food, refilling drinks, and talking to even the lowly people such as us. We decided not to bring our Fifth Wheel because it would have cost a lot more than just bringing the van, and the church was kind enough to put us in a hotel room for the week! I believe 36 men were able to present their ministry and needs, and around $40,000 was raised to meet those needs. Everyone gave; settled Pastors, new Pastors, Missionaries, and lay people in the church. It's exciting to see needs met and men encouraged. We were also able to go to Silver Dollar City, an Amusement Park near Branson. We were able to get extremely cheap tickets and we had a wonderful time! Noah, Kayla and Lela got to ride a roller coaster for the first time although Lela wasn't as amused as Noah and Kayla. Anna even got to ride a few rides. We enjoyed sharing a funnel cake, giant corn dog, giant pretzel, and an apple dumpling. We were having so much fun we forgot to eat very much! I was very proud of the kids and how they behaved. There were a few moments of disappointment or greed, but those were quickly squelched. We had a nice leisurely drive back to Centropolis and today Caleb is back to work. He is now laying the tile in the new Women's bathroom and should have that done tomorrow, hopefully. He will then set the toilets and get ready for the partitions. Things are really starting to come together! Please pray that they can get the work done quickly and without injuries.

New Job Site

We are now in Centropolis, Kansas. Don't bother looking it up on a map, it won't be there! The town is literally about 20 houses, 3 churches, and 2 soda machines.
We will be here for the month of October and Caleb will be putting in new windows in the auditorium, combining the mens and womens restrooms into one bigger mens bathroom, and putting in a new womens bathroom.
We've been here since Monday and already the church has been a huge blessing, they have been providing two meals a day (Breakfast and Dinner) and have shared many groceries to help with our lunch meal.
Al and Mickey Bray are also here helping, and it's good to see them again. We like being at job sites with them, even when Al turns into a grumpy old man. They're very sweet to our children.
I am very thankful for the early start we got on school! We ended up missing two weeks of school in September because of going home for our church's revival and then we accidentally left Kayla's school there and had to wait for it to be mailed to us. But despite all of that, we should be done with our first quarter by Thanksgiving which is still a lot sooner than last year.
I have to give a shout-out to Bob Jones Press Kindergarten material! Lela is doing so great with it, and can already read 3-letter, short vowel words. She also has about 5 sight words memorized. She's probably about where Kayla was at the beginning of 1st grade last year. I'm so excited for her!
Thanks for the prayers, and for the support! I hope these updates help everyone see the need and benefit of our ministry.