Praises:
Glad for further direction about PNG.
Prayer Requests:
Safety on the road, homeschooling, Jan-March scheduling, and future storage for the motorhome.
Independence Day, Family Time, and the Frozen One
Driving thousands of miles can be wearing and kind of a grind on a big family, so we are thankful for opportunities to have some fun. We were at a meeting very near where Kiera and Jeremiah live, so we were able to pick them up and go on a special trip to see Manhattan on Independence Day. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and it was rewarding to be with our Kiera after her wedding and see how great they are doing. Silas fulfilled the requirements of joining the “Frozen One” group by eating a pound of ice cream after weighing in at 99 pounds body weight, therefore making his body 1% ice cream. Lily also did it a long time ago too, but no one else in our family has accomplished the feat.
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana Meetings
After leaving New Philadelphia, OH, we headed to Mount Zion Baptist in Denver, PA. It was great see the Sweitzers again, as we had met them a year ago at our missions board’s annual conference (AMCT) and some others friends we met at AMCT as well. After Independence Day we headed to Port Washington, OH for a meeting. Charlotte and Silas played some roller hockey and Soccer with the church kids in the parking lot and it was great to get to know the church family there, and also to see not only Pastor Harvey and his family but all the Ellingers from AMCT.
We headed to Michigan and got to visit our friends the Albers. While there, Pastor Alber and I got to make a couple visits and lead a lady to the Lord. We had a good meeting with a wonderful church in Chelsea, Michigan and we were very thankful to be able to get a homeschooling and exercise routine back up again.
In Kentucky I was blessed to accomplish the lifelong goal of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky, and we had a great time at Victory Baptist Temple. Pastor Smith and Miss Judy are in their early 80s, and were very kind and ‘grandparenty’ to our kids; it is so great to make good friends like them when we can. They were celebrating Pastor Smith’s one year anniversary as pastor. He pastored for 40+ years elsewhere before and “came out of retirement” to help this church. We couldn’t stay long though, and off we went to Indiana and Hope Baptist Church in Dillsboro. We arrived on Monday for the Wednesday meeting, and wanted to go out to dinner with the pastor’s family, but all the kids were feeling really sick. The Gabbards were super kind and brought us some amazing chicken fried steak to our RV instead, and a bag filled with all our favorite snacks from the ‘about us’ page on our website! We rested up, had a great meeting, and left the next day for an 8 hour drive back to Pennsylvania where we are now. Phew!
Looking Forward
With this year filled I am now scheduling meetings for January through March in Florida, as snow and a motorhome are not a good combination. Please pray I can fill those months up and that we can be a blessing everywhere we go.
Also, out on the horizon, we need to find a good storage solution for our motorhome. We do not want to sell and go through all the issues that come from buying a new motorhome on furlough, when this one is paid for and has low mileage. There are many possible pitfalls of storing it the wrong way, but you can go overboard in cost of storing it the perfect way. So pray we can find the right way and be good stewards of our house-on-wheels!
Thank you for your kindness and prayers,
Rick Schworer
