Life is moving here in Russellville! The men are working hard and getting things done. They've had to make a few adjustments and changes so there was a slight holdup, but they're working with a plan now! We've been blasted with several snow storms! It seems like wherever we go, we get record snow falls. But the kids love it, and we love being parked inside.
School has been going well for us, I made a daily schedule plus a chore chart, so we are getting things done. Kayla is ahead in her work, and doing well. She is starting to put sounds together to make words. She can read words like cat, tub, and shut. As long as she doesn't try to guess what the word is, she does a great job! Noah is cruising through his work. He will start times soon and he's dreading it, but I tell him that he mastered cursive, so he can do multiplication too! Lela thought she wanted to start school, but then she discovered that school wasn't as thrilling as she thought it would be! I bought her a preschool book at Walmart and she quickly got tired of the coloring and drawing lines, and now she only wants to cut and paste!
Anna is amazing us all. She is crawling, climbing stairs, trying to climb onto the couch and getting into everything! She is very inquisitive and wants to know what everything does and how it does it! You can see her brain working and moving.
We will be going home to Mustang, OK for our church's Big Day on March 7th. It's the anniversary of us moving into our new building, built by New Testament Church Planters, USA. Our goal is to have 300 people. Please pray that we would reach our goal, so that more of our community is reached! We might be staying for the Missions Conference the next week, but we're not sure.
Future projects for us would be Anthony, Kansas (south of Wichita) and Joplin, Missouri. We're not sure of the timing right now. Caleb is looking at plans and making plumbing lists and suggestions. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

A New Year!

The new year is upon us, and I can't believe 2009 is already gone! So much happened last year, it's fun to remember what we were doing exactly one year ago. We were getting ready for our third leg of deputation into the southwest, I was just getting over my pregnancy sickness and starting to enjoy pregnancy, and the kids were turning into real missionary brats!!
This year we are still in Russelville, Arkansas. The worked has slowed while the Pastor has to wait for money commitments to be fulfilled. The building is starting to look more like a church and with more families back from Christmas vacation, things are really going to start shaping up!
With this new year we are going to get down and get serious about school. At the end of Fall doing school with the kids was kind of sprung on me, so we ended playing catch-up until the end of the year. We've finally gotten caught up and now we're going to start fresh. Lela has been asking and begging to do school so I got her a Preschool workbook and I'm going to start teaching her. If anyone has any advice on how to teach a 2nd grader, Kindergartener and Preschooler all at the same time, plus watch a crawling 7-month old, I would love to hear it! I'm thinking we'll have to do the girls in the morning and Noah in the afternoon, but that's as far as I can think.
We're back in Oklahoma for this week so we can get our taxes done and go to the Heartland Home Missions Conference. We're ready for an exciting week of preaching, seeing old friends, and maybe raising some money or support!
Thank you for your prayers and support, we are thankful for everything God is able to do for us and through us! Leave a comment if you can, we'd love to hear some feedback from those few that might read this!

New Place

Well we are now in Russellville, Arkansas converting an old Sports Complex into a Church! The men are going to be building an auditorium, finishing classrooms, expanding the kitchen and building a Fellowship Hall and making a Missions Apartment upstairs big enough to hold two families. It will also have a washer/dryer! (that's exciting when you've lived in missions apartments for a year!!) More families from NTCP are coming this next week and the work will resume after Christmas. It should only take about two months to get the job finished.
Our family is doing great! Noah is speeding through school, he tries to get done as fast as he can so he can help pick up nails or so he can play his Lego Star Wars game! Kayla is doing great at school, she's started recognizing how to put sounds together to form words. She likes to guess at what the words are, though, so I have to be careful and make sure she's actually reading, not just guessing. Lela is a big girl now, she turned four on the 1st. She doesn't want to do anything little anymore, she wants to be big! Today we went to the park and she refused to go down the little slide, she wanted to go down the BIG slide with Noah and Kayla! It's amazing how fast kids grow. Anna is our littlest baby so far, but she has big attitude! She smiles almost constantly, we can even get her to smile while she's crying. She's starting to try to crawl, she gets up on all fours and rocks and growls, but she hasn't figured out the arm movements yet!
We're having fun living in our trailer still. It's amazing to think of how much room we used to require, and now we all (somewhat) fit into this small trailer. But the Lord is good to us, and when you know you're doing what God wants, it's easier to adjust to what that life is for you.
We've met some good people and made some new friends. We were sad to leave the church in Lincoln, they felt like family, but it's exciting to look forward to the new people we're going to meet!

Almost finished!

The house here in Lincoln, Arkansas is almost complete! The target date for completion is December 11th and if everything goes right (haha!) it should be done by then. It is looking really nice and it's exciting to see it all come together! I wish I could get some pictures posted but right now I'm not able. As soon as I can, I will!
We were able to go to Iowa for two weeks. My parent's church- Bible Baptist in Glenwood, IA- is trying to remodel a house into a Sunday School building so Caleb was able to go to put in windows, make some suggestions, and do some small repairs. While we were there we got to stay at my parent's house! We had a great time, Grandma made some new pjs and dresses, the kids got to run around and play with Grandpa, and we got to spend time together. It's such a blessing to have parents who always leave their home open to you, no matter when it is! We just have to tell them when we'll be there and they leave the door unlocked!
Next week we are going to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. The Monday after we will be coming back to Lincoln to finish up a few things, and then heading to Russelville, AR. The Pastor there was able to buy a 2million dollar building for $600,000.! It was a sports complex so there is a lot of room for a church to grow! A Private school was renting the building and they build classrooms, so all they need is an auditorium and some plumbing issues solved. We will probably be there for most of the Winter.

Construction Update

The construction on the parsonage here in Lincoln, Arkansas is going very well! It's fun to see the everyday progress and to see the excitement of the church and the Pastor's family. The first floor walls are done and they're finishing up the second floor walls. They're hoping to put up the tresses on Saturday and then work on the inside. Caleb is itching to get some plumbing done! He's excited to get to that part.
Last Sunday I found out that the ladies from our church back home were going to a Ladies Retreat in OKC. I have missed the last couple retreats and I wasn't able to go to camp, so this was something that I really wanted to do! When I found out Mrs. Moody was going to be a speaker, a little plan was formed in my head. Caleb called Bro. Moody and they said they would be able to pick me up in Tulsa (a little under 2 hours from Lincoln) and Andrea (my Sister in Law) said she would be able to take me back to Tulsa on Saturday. So I had a ride there and back, I just needed the money! We figured I would need about $50. to pay for the registration, meals and gas. All week I prayed and prayed, just knowing that God would provide. On Friday morning (we would have to leave at 11am to make it to Tulsa in time to meet the Moodys) Caleb called our church to see if any support or money had come in. Pastor said I was clear to go, that the money had been provided!! Praise the Lord! I knew He would come through! So I was able to go and I had a wonderful time. It was so fun to be around my church sisters and goof off, talk, cry, and fellowship. I miss my church family when we're gone and it was nice to see them more than just at church.
It is cold and rainy here in the Ozarks. Please pray for the health of our family and the men in the group. It seems like a sickness is starting to go around because of the cold and rain and we don't want anyone else to get sick! Thank you for your love and prayers, God is so good to us, better than we deserve!

Home, Sweet, Home

We had a great time at home! We left Jacksonville, AR later than we had expected. A lady in the church owns her own salon and she wanted to give me FREE highlights before we left. How could I say no? They took longer, much longer, than I thought they would and we didn't leave until after noon. We got home at around dinner time, unloaded our stuff, and then went to pick up the kids from Nana and Papa. It was SO good to see them! We stayed up late talking about things they had done, and then we went to bed, I was exhausted.

Friday we unpacked and tried to organize the house, Saturday was visitation and things all day, and then Sunday was church, of course! We dedicated Anna on Sunday that 6th. We have forgotten to do it in the past and we wanted to make sure and get it done. We tried to take family pictures but, unfortunately, we couldn't get one. Nobody was in the mood, really, and we couldn't get a picture where everyone was smiling and looking at the camera! We're going to try again when we go back home next time.

That following week, the 7th-13th, was our revival. We had a wonderful week, and we had a good crowd for each night. There weren't a lot of big decisions made, and the altars weren't filled every night but as our Pastor said, it doesn't where the decision was made (at the altar, in bed, in the car) as long as decisions were made, that's what counts. There was a lot of rain, but it was a good week regardless!

That Monday, the 14th, my plan was to do laundry and pack and then clean the house on Tuesday. I had about 6 loads of laundry to do that day. After the 2nd load of laundry and only one sink full of dishes, the water pump went out and I was unable to do anything that involved water! We're hoping to be able to fix that next time we go home. Fortunately we were able to catch rainwater to flush the toilets and Caleb drained the hot water tank so I could wash dishes! The laundry I just stuffed in bags and I washed it here later.

We arrived in Lincoln, AR on Wednesday the 16th. The Brays arrived on Friday, and the men were able to get some work done on Saturday. While we are here we will be building a parsonage for the Pastor. Kevin Alexander and his family have been in Lincoln, AR for a little over a year. They started out in a rental home but when that wasn't working out, the Lord worked it out to be able to build a house on the property. Until that is complete, they are living in the top floor of the church building. It's and attic-type floor with no windows and slanted roofs. They were able to put in a bathroom and outlets for a washer and dryer, but other than that they live in a big living area. They have three children; Ashley is 16, Timothy is 13 and Abigail is 10, I believe. They are a very sweet family!

Just an update on recent projects: it is estimated that Caleb saved the church in E. Wenatchee, WA over $15,000. And the church in Jacksonville was saved $8,000. This isn't to brag or to be prideful, but just to show the need and usefulness of this ministry! A lot of people don't understand and think it's unnecessary for us to be going around and building churches, but when you see those numbers, it's hard to say that it's an unneeded ministry. That's almost $25,000 that can be used for the Lord's work and seeing souls saved, instead of going into the world and the hands of men. We don't know how much will be saved here yet in Lincoln, but in Oklahoma there is a house-building company that charges $45/sq. ft. to build a house. The parsonage we are building here is going to be approximately 2,000 sq. ft. That would be $90,000. NTCP saves an average of 60% off original building costs, so if you figured that up, we will be saving the Lord, and this church, $54,000!! Think of all the money that could be saved, if more men and families would surrender to this type of ministry! It may not be a Salvation Ministry, but it does help further the work of the Lord so more churches can be planted, and more Missionaries can be supported, so that more souls can be saved!

Moving On

Well, today is our last day here in Jacksonville, Arkansas! We've had a great time, the people have been amazing, and we've felt right at home. But we are ready to go home and see Noah and Kayla! At least I am! Caleb will finish up the bathrooms today. He just has to put in the toilets and sinks and make sure everything drains fine. And then tomorrow we're headed back to Oklahoma.

(closets that will be turned into bathrooms)
We'll be in Oklahoma for a week and a half and then on Monday the 14th we're headed back to Arkansas but this time to Lincoln, Arkansas. It will be our first time using the fifth wheel that we are borrowing, so it should be exciting! We will be leaving Noah and Kayla in Mustang again so they can continue going to school.



(Caleb putting pipe into the ground)

While we're in Oklahoma our church is having our 8th Anniversary Revival services! Bro. Ivan Casteel will be preaching and we'll be having the Nelsons provide special music Friday through Sunday. It should be a good time with good music and preaching!



(mobile classrooms that needed bathrooms)
Please pray for us for safe travels as we drive back and forth. Praise the Lord we had another church take us on for support! We are excited how God is providing for us and that we are able to share our ministry with other churches. Paul said in Phil. 4:17 "Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." Our goal of raising support isn't so that we'll have what we need, God will provide what we need! We want other churches to share the fruit of what God has called us to do and have a part in this exciting work! Like Paul says, if we have Christ, we have all. Thank you for your support and prayers!