October 15, 2008

Dear Supporters,

We hope that this letter finds each of you doing well. This past quarter has gone by so quickly in one way and so slowly in another. As far as the work goes, there is never enough time to get everything done. On a personal note, it has been a slow motion roller-coaster ride. As we said in our last update, the congregation has asked us to stay and continue the work here in Webster. That request prompted us to begin purchasing the home that we have been living in the past two years. We began the process five months ago, but because of ma y difficulties with the owner's lender, we didn't close until September 30^th, but our patience paid off and God has truly blessed us. Thank you for your continued love, support, and and encouragement. We feel such excitement as we dig in deeper and continue to plant more seeds for the Kingdom.

The weather has been so much cooler and wetter than the last two years. Wee made through the tornado season without any sirens going off and all of our beautiful, tall trees are still standing. The fall colors are so magnificent, we hit peek this week and it is breathtaking. We are bracing ourselves for a long, snowy fall and winter. Everyone is expecting an early snow, possibly by the end of the month. Winterizing the house takes on a whole new meaning here! Putting up the storm windows, plastic, and insulation board are just a few of the things we do to try to keep the utilities as low as possible. The entire congregation teases us about having the coldest house in town, but we get by fine.

It is still a struggle to keep everyone in the congregation encouraged as they continue to face so many obstacles. Work is so hard to come by here. Our brother that lost his job several months ago, still can't find any work in his field. The husband of the sister with seizures lost his job last week. One of our young teens has been diagnosed with a strep infection in his blood and rheumatic fever. Our sister with hearing problems just had surgery to remove a cyst in her inner ear, and they have told her that she will never hear in that ear. She is also losing the hearing in her other ear. Please pray for our entire congregation, as this is just a few of the difficulties that we are facing God is good and He will give us all strength, it just helps to know that others are praying as well. Garret just finished a sermon series on the different aspects of suffering that encouraged everyone to keep trusting God through the tough times.

Our VBS was a success. Several children from the area were able to attend, plus almost all of our own children were able to make it in for the week. It is nice that many of the members participate in the teaching and preparation. The Rice Lake VBS and Family Enrichment Series with Dan Flournoy took place two weeks after our VBS. We attended as many of the evening sessions as possible. We are still attending the Leadership Meetings that are held once a month in Rice Lake.