Praises:
90% Support!
Prayer Requests:
Safety, health, homeschooling, more churches continue to take us on for support, and visas.
New Hampshire and 90% Support!
This is the second time we’ve been to the New England/New York area on deputation. We were very thankful to go up 8% points in a single month, putting us at 90% support! Many of the churches up here took us on the same day or a week later!
We love the fun, sarcastic culture of New England; meeting Pastor Scearbo of Olivet Baptist Church quickly reaffirmed the theory that with many New Englanders, the first thing they say is to be taken lightheartedly, then you pause, and the real answer quickly follows. It was great to see our old friends the Bards in Glen, New Hampshire. I really love how God works things out like that, letting you cross paths with dear people while getting to meet new ones at the same time. At Tabernacle Baptist Church in Litchfield, NH, I got to preach my very first Mother’s Day sermon. I did not get to meet the pastor though. He was in Pensacola at his son’s graduation. I am thankful for the level of trust he put in me in letting me preach at his church even though he was away, and then to find out a couple of weeks later that they took us on for support was incredible.
The Walkers, New York, and Rear Brakes
Months ago, when I was setting meetings, I tried to schedule 3 months in New England. It didn’t work. I had a hard time even filling May. So I called up my friend in New York, Denton Walker, and not only did he have us in, he gave me some referrals, and before we knew it, the entire month of May was packed! We were blessed to go to three New York churches!
Another example of how God works things out, as we came upon the RV campground we were staying at, we could hear our back brakes grinding. Obviously, they needed to be changed. So I scheduled to have them replaced – which meant staying in the same spot for nearly two weeks. That turned out to be a huge blessing for our kids because they got to spend a lot of time with the Walker kids, and being able to go hiking and fishing with friends was amazing for them. The Walkers loaned us a vehicle to get around, and in the end, we only missed one meeting from the setback of being stranded in New York.
Maine, the Papua New Guinea Folks in Portland, and a Last Meeting in New Hampshire
After New York, we headed to Maine and really had a wonderful time. The folks at Faith Baptist in Newcastle were great. It was also neat to hear the connections that Pastor Odonnel and his wife had to many of the other churches we have been at in Maine. In Portland, it was also great to see Sister Yer and many of the PNG students who were so kind to come and hear me share our burden for PNG. That service, they all sang a special, and it was fun seeing their reactions as I told PNG stories, and to tell them in Melanesian Pigin how much it meant to me that they were there was moving. The last meeting we had was at Granite State Baptist Church in Concord, NH. Colton, in particular, really enjoyed visiting that church and said there must have been fifty kids there!
Thank you all for your prayers! We’re off to Ohio next!
In Christ,
Rick Schworer
