Praises:

Good meetings and Colton is now twelve years old!

Prayer Requests:

Safety, health, homeschooling, May-July scheduling, and that more churches continue to take us on for support.

Busy Month

January has been a busy month. A typical week for us involves 2 days of meetings, 2 days of driving, and then 3 days of school, other work, recovery, preparation, etc. I am now trying to squeeze in calls to schedule meetings for the months of May-July in New England; if you know any pastors in that area looking to take on a missionary family please have them contact me. We are getting dangerously close to 75% support, and waiting on our visas.

Snapshots of Seven Meetings and a Conference

The new year began with my oldest son and I “terraforming Mars” in a board game with some friends at New Testament Baptist Church in Okeechobee, Florida, which is a great way to slip into the New Year. At NTBC we had a great meeting, and it was neat to meet Pastor Dowler as he went to Massillon Baptist College the same time that Melissa did. The family was fighting the flu, but we headed to Coconut Creek and First Baptist Church. We felt very comfortable there and really enjoyed the multi-cultural, diverse, and conservative nature of the church, and we were very honored to have had them take us on for support. At Liberty Independent Baptist in Deland I was reminded once again how sometimes these meetings come and go just a little too fast. Special folks, and we would have loved to stay longer, but missionary life involves saying goodbye a lot. At Grace Tabernacle in Brooksville we enjoyed listening to the pastor talk about his experiences travelling in ministry.

The next stop was in Jensen Beach at Martin County Baptist Church, and it was a privilege to be a part of their first-ever missions conference. The conference was particularly special because my friend Peter Putney and his family were there. Peter preached a message in 2019 that stirred my heart (and the rest of the Schworers!) and started the whole process that led to where we are today. It was, as some people put it, a “God thing” that Peter was there because it was not coordinated. I didn’t know Pastor Welker at all, I just called him and he scheduled us, and months later Peter contacted me and told me he was going to be there with us.

After going to a missions conference, it’s always nice to try and recover a little. The kind church at Pahokee had us scheduled for a meeting and allowed us the space we needed to try and rest, kick the virus we were fighting, and get some school done. The family atmosphere of the church was a blessing that Sunday. Then we went to Jacksonville and Hunter Park Baptist. The pastor still faithfully serves in the Navy and pastors a church! His wife was so sweet to prepare us a meal which included salad, fresh fruit, and veggies, something we find ourselves lacking at times!

Then it was time for a whole new adventure: a bilingual church in Hialeah, right outside of Miami, were only about 7% of the people speak English as a first language as most of them are from Latin American countries. I went for a walk in the city, which was beautiful, and most of the very friendly people didn’t speak English at all but we still managed to communicate! The church folk were so kind, and so was the pastor. It was great to see the passion they had for the community and to go street preaching with them, though it was all in Spanish so I just smiled and held a sign.

The last church of the month was in Sebring, and it was such a blessing to meet the Goodwin family and enjoy great fellowship with them. The church was kind and laidback, but still serious about the Great Commission. Please continue to pray for our safety as we travel, support to come in, and for our visas to be approved around the time we are to leave.

Thank you all for your kindness and prayers,

Rick Schworer