Thanksgiving’23.
This Thanksgiving was a delightfully cool (85°) and rainy day here in the jungle. We hosted a small group of thirty missionaries and had a lovely time of fellowship as we shared good food and our favorite part - hearing what God has done in everyone’s lives and ministries this year! It is a sweet blessing to get to celebrate a holiday with a group of people who have likewise left their families to take the gospel of Christ to the farthest reaches of this vast jungle.
This is the time of year when “beating back the jungle” creeps up the list of priorities, so Vann has spent a lot of time on the tractor. This job is one that he doesn’t really mind most of the time, but this month some different small part has broken every time he’s used it, which takes extra time to repair, or he’s come in with wasp stings all over his face, head, neck, and shoulders – the hazards of life in the jungle. He doesn’t ever complain about the trouble though. Most of the time he just expresses his deep gratitude for such an amazing machine to help run this mission base.
The Round Robin house has been insulated, painted, and the exterior doors installed, so it is officially “dried in” and ready for the finish work inside! So exciting! That also means that the very unpleasant-to-us project of drywall finishing is coming up soon and we would welcome any help if anyone has experience and can come – probably February - March’ish.
We almost lost our three-year-old German Shephard, Master Chief to a mango seed – another hazard of life in the jungle. The silly boy swallowed a mango and gave himself a bowel obstruction that caused him and us a lot of trouble. After said trouble, he is doing quite well and is recovered to his sweet mischievous self, thank God!
We sure do thank God for each of you as you care for us enough to read our updates, pray for us diligently, and support us in this ministry – we lift you up to the throne of our great God who sees, knows, and cares about every detail of your lives. We ask Him to bless and keep you safely in His almighty hands until we meet again.
“Never dull your sense of being your utmost for His highest – your best for His glory.” – Oswald Chambers