Praises:

5 great months of deputation complete!

Prayer Requests:

Safety on the road and homeschooling.

North Carolina and Old Friends

One of the truly wonderful parts of deputation (and there are a lot) is seeing old friends again from so far away. While in North Carolina we were able to reunite with a family we’ve known for probably about 20 years! It was a great time of fellowship and laughter.

The stop in North Carolina was also particularly special for us because we were able to visit Temple Baptist Church and see Pastor Randy Mitchell and his wonderful wife Sister Lynn. They have been a joy to my heart for a long time. He ran the youth group, college & career group, and the Bible Institute of which I was a part. To add to that, Pastor Mitchell performed the wedding ceremony for Melissa and I! It was an honor to be able to present the burden, preach, and even be invited to the Salt and Light broadcast to talk about PNG, the call, and what deputation is like.

Oh, There’s No Place Like Florida for the Holidays…

When I think of Christmas and New Years I do not think of sand, palm trees, and running the AC. But that’s what this one is like, and (with us most likely serving on the coast of PNG) that’s what the most of our future ones will be like as well only probably hotter and more humid.

In Leesburg we had a great time. We met the pastor, and then a few hours later were were at the Christmas party where there was amazing food, gifts, karaoke, and crazy Christmas outfits including the pastor’s which was some kind of very Christmasy hunting camo with green and red mixed in. It was fun. It was good to spend a week there and get caught up on some homeschooling, which can be difficult with all the traveling we do. Also there was a chili tasting contest and Silas, Colton, and Lily were judges! So many things!

In Orlando we found a place to stay for Christmas and New Years. Originally the schedule showed nothing for three weeks (it’s extra tricky for churches to schedule missionaries around Christmas and New Years), so it was recommended to me that I call Tabernacle Baptist Church. I called, and asked simply to use the RV hookup for three weeks. They let us come here and have been so kind! My kids have made friends, they let us use a van, they asked me to preach in school chapel and Sunday night, and on top of that God gave us two other meetings for while we were here.

There’s so much to stay about this holiday season. We have missed our family and friends, but God takes good care of us. I wish I could tell you more about the all the great people we are privileged to meet and spend time with, I never can fit it all in. If you are so inclined, check out our Facebook page The Schworers to PNG where Melissa posts every week about what we’ve been up to. Please continue to keep us in prayer as we travel around Florida for the next three-ish months raising support and looking for alligators!

Thank you for your prayers and kindness,

Rick Schworer