“And you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Mt. 1:21
Feliz navidad from Mexico! May this Christmas be one of hope and peace for you because of Jesus. This past year held a number of rather eventful things for us, and we’re very grateful to God for seeing us through them all.
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I'm back from the doctor. I have an eye patch and some pills. What happened to my eye in technical terms is that I got a corneal abrasion.
Thank you for all of your prayers.
Jacob
Nathan Olson is a Short Term Missions Assistant.
Many Christians in our world are full of complaints, grief and discomforts. The thought of rejoicing seems unlikely or impossible looking at the circumstances that surround them. May the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the remembrance of the salvation that he brings for our lives bring a joy that is non-circumstantial and that goes beyond the daily grind of our lives. May our joy continue to be in Him!
Yesterday I was raking and accidentally poked my eye in a pine tree, and today it is feeling much worse.
I am going to the hospital for it now. Please pray for me.
Jacob is a Short Term Missions Assistant working in Brazil.
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“God has ordained to dislodge and
defeat Satan by the prayers of His
people.” -Wesley Duewel
Kirstie felt nervous on her first day as a teacher in the Kid’s Clubs. She’s a big 7th grader now but the class she has on Tuesdays can be a handful. Thankfully, Samuel volunteered to be her helper. Even so, day one of the Club was a tough day.
Actually, it was for all of us.
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Jacob O’Flanagan is an AFLC Short Term Missions Assistant working in Brazil
It's been a little while since my last update but things have been going well here in southern Brazil. The past few weeks I have mainly been working with the grounds keeping at the Seminary and Bible school campus here in Campo Mourao. So far I have been doing everything from raking, to working in the garden, to cleaning the walks around campus. Edival, who is the guy that I am working with here at school has been happy with the work I have been doing and I have had energy to do the work set out before me.
I've been back to Maringa to have Thanksgiving Dinner with the Abel Family which was delicious. I found out yesterday that I will be spending the holidays in Curitiba, the capital city of this state. So I am looking forward to and preparing for that.
We have had a couple of camps here over the past couple weeks which help the school out financially, and the buildings aren't being used for much else anyway since it's summer here and school is out.
I have been able to learn a little more and more Portuguese every day and am able to exist in a completely Portuguese speaking environment. Last but certainly not least I have been able to make good connections with the people here even with the language difference.
Thank God for all of these things, and I ask for continued prayer in all of these areas.
Thank you all,
Jacob
As I approach my final semester at Northwestern I am faced with the task of a senior project. For a couple of years now I have thought about the idea of filming a promotional/informational DVD for the AFLC work in Brazil and possibly other mission fields later. As a way to unite this vision with my senior project I am . . .
From the mountains to the plains, through the forests and even to the desert, our furlough travels across the U.S. have been a mountaintop experience. . .
As I have visited with many of you I have heard several of you say “You are going to love rocking the Babies”; and you are right! I have been practicing my cuddle so that I am ready for Pamela, Altieres and Thivaldy, three of the babies in the Miriam Infant Home. But there are others who are part of the Miriam family who are needing to feel special expressions of God’s love, even if it isn’t found in a rocking chair!
Deisy is a bright and sunny young lady, and at . . .
"Prayer, with thanksgiving, is the means God has appointed for our obtaining freedom from all anxiety, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding." R.A.Torrey.
We received a little baby girl last week. Little Melina was16 days old last Monday we she came to us. We're not sure yet how long we will have her. She suffers drug withdraws and failure to thrive.
Mary Ann was in charge of about one hundred volunteers serving over five hundred people a Thanksgiving meal last Saturday. By the grace of God and though your prayers everything went really well.
Cesar's adoption is being held up because CPS cannot get an original copy of his birth certificate. Now, after how many months, they say we have to go to Tucson and get it ourselves.
Our Sunday school in Mascareñas is doing very well, much more consistent now. We normally have 16 to 18 kids. Last Sunday about half of them were suffering from colds. One little guy, Manuel, was in tears trying to continue working on the prodigal son story. We stopped, had everyone lay hands on their neighbor and we prayed for one another.
Laura's adoption in Indiana didn't work out, she is now back here in Arizona. She has been over to visit a couple of times. Twice now she has called us to come get her because she was locked out of the home she's living at. It is possible she'll be coming back to live with us again soon.
There continue to be murders everyday in Nogales, Sonora. I talked with a lady who has moved from Nogales, Son. to Nogales, AZ. who says that the cartel are buying up a lot of homes in the more wealthy areas of Nogales causing a lot of people to leave and buy homes on this side of the border. Her husband is a lawyer, and is scarred to take cases over there for fear of them.
We continue to visit in the neighborhoods, the Lord opening doors every time for opportunities to share the Gospel. We shared Jesus with Jesus on Sunday. He said by his good behavior he'd get into heaven. He was on his way out, but he gave me five minutes to convince him his way wouldn't work and that he needed Jesus Christ in order to make it. I went over by two minutes, but I believe he was convinced.
God bless you all this Thanksgiving, and for your "prayer, with thanksgiving." May "the peace of God which passeth all understanding," fill you all, your fellow workers,
Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie, Cesar.... and Melina.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
Read more at our blog spot at: http://jacksonsfellowworkers.blogspot.com
Seeming repetitious in what we have to say, I pinch myself and remember that until there are no more languages out there
waiting for God’s Word written in their heart language, we will press on with the urgency to bring God’s Word to the
Bibleless. Lest we get lost in our daily routines, we turn to the wonders of God’s Word that refreshes us as water that
quenches the thirst. Like you, we have
personal struggles we deal with on an
ongoing basis that we need to continually
bring to the feet of Jesus. And as we trust God that it is in Him
that we live and move and have our being, He continues to anoint us to do
what He calls us to do even as the enemy tries to discourage us. The enemy distracts us to worry while the light of God’s truth renews our mind
to trust and obey. There is no greater peace experienced than that
which inhabits our hearts while we remain in the center of God’s
will. In obedience, God graciously promises complete joy (John 15:11),
peace (John 14:27), life (Matthew 16:25) and rest (Matthew 11:28-29). Please pray with us for open hands around the world waiting to hold God’s Word as you see the beautiful children in the photo above privileged to do. Pray that seeds come to fruition and more people answer the call to tend the task of bringing God’s Word to the nations.
People You Need to Know
It always amazes me that God allows us to partner with Him; that He would chose to make His will done on earth through the acts of His children. It both takes my breath away and blesses me! I have had many opportunities to see men and women in action walking out the Love of God, and I have seen the fruit of their
obedience.
I would like to introduce you to three such servants
who lead the Miriam Home ministry. They, on a daily
basis, lay their hearts before the Lord to serve the
children in His name. Your prayers for them are vital! They are not relying in their power, might or wisdom but on God’s and they need to be held up and blessed every day!
Click here to open the newsletter and read about these people.
This week in the Butagaya class I was teaching on the Good Samaritan. The moral of the story is simple: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” As we were discussing the Good Samaritan, across the road a family was preparing for the funeral of their 16-year-old son. He had been beaten to death the previous day for attempting to steal a machine for squeezing the juice from sugar cane (valued around $90). Mob “justice” is a part of life here.
This week we saw a real-life example of one who loved his neighbor as himself. Henry (not his real name), one of the students from Butagaya, had a friend whose wife was having complications 5 months into her pregnancy. She was having labor pain (possibly miscarrying) for three days. They had gone to the Main Hospital in Jinja which had refused to help them because they did not have enough money to pay. Instead they referred them to a hospital in Kampala. (Government hospitals are supposed to treat people for free, but don’t.) Henry had gone and visited them in the Jinja Hospital and then went with them to Kampala. He offered to care for their 1 ½ year old son while they sought to get the help they needed in Kampala. As things turned out, the mom and baby both died and the grieving husband was faced with the task of transporting the body back for burial. Henry managed to help him find a place for burial and helped with the expenses as well. He is continuing to look after his friend's son until he is in a place and position to care for him again. Henry has sacrificed his time, energy and finances this week as he has so beautifully loved his neighbor as himself.
Thank you for your prayers for our family. Please pray too for the widowed husband. He is an unbeliever and we are praying that he would come to know Christ as he is seeing selfless and sacrificial love modeled to him through Henry.
We appreciate you all so much!
Nate and Rhoda Jore
We have a lot to rejoice in looking back on this last year and all that the Lord has brought us through. In February we had come to the end of a six month waiting period for receiving our visa to come to Brazil. The Lord miraculously provided this visa for us February 11th, and by the 18th both of us finally started off on our mission for Brazil. This time of waiting turned out to be a major blessing in our life, and we have since seen how the Lord used this to bring everything into action in his perfect timing.
During the eight months that we were able to stay in Brazil, we were able to learn a lot and see the hand of the Lord move in a lot of situations. We were also able to be active in working in three different local congregations with youth and children’s ministry, leading in worship, preaching, and assisting in camp ministries. We also had the chance to work in the revision and construction of a training material for the church body in Brazil for the instruction and education of Free Lutheran doctrine for the churches here.
During this last month of October, we have really had a great month to finish in. We were able to have Nathan’s dad come down and spend two weeks with us here in Brazil, traveling and promoting the Ambassador Institute to the churches here. In that time, we were able to visit the churches in Londrina, Maringá, Curitiba, Campo Mourão, and Foz Igauçu to spend time ministering with them and talking with the pastors. We also attended and had the Manual Evangelico presented at the AILLB Annual Conference here in Brazil and the Manual was preliminarily approved by the board. We look forward to the Lord continuing to use that which we have worked on and labored with even past the time that we will be spending here.
The ministry in Brazil is very strong in many areas. The members of the churches are very open about their faith and it was refreshing for us to see this after coming from a culture that is not nearly as open about what they believe. The people here have a strong desire to make the church body here grow to its full potential. This is very evident with the active involvement that the people have in their local congregations. The desire to be involved in Sunday School, Youth Group, Bible Studies, Camp Ministries, and Evangelism all are a reflection of this. Though the ministry here still needs missionaries, with the leaders of today and looking to the leaders that we see tomorrow, we feel that the ministry here will do nothing but grow stronger as long as Christ is kept at the center and they are continually looking to Him and His Word.
We look to the book of Nehemiah, as the Israelites had finished building the broken wall of Jerusalem in fifty-two days. In Nehemiah 6:16, it is said of the Israelites that “they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of [their] God.” For the both of us, as we come to the end of our time here in Brazil, we truly have the same perception of the ministry here. Without the help and power of the Lord God Almighty, we would not have been able to accomplish that which we have done. We praise God for His work, His faithfulness, and for His provision for us during this time. May the Lord also continue to show you His faithfulness as He has shown it to us. We want to thank you for your prayers and support during our time here, knowing that this would not have been possible without the prayer partners we have in you
Our next needed prayer request would be for our 39 day trip home leaving November 1. For blog updates during our trip, please continue to follow us at www.preachandteachbrazil.wordpress.com where we will be posting updates along the journey. There, you may also find our itinerary of the trip which will be posted.
Only Jesus,
Jon Nelson and Nathan Olson
From February-November, 2010, I worked as an assistant for AFLC
World Missions in Brazil. While
there, I saw the need for support of the church leaders around the world. My goal is to equip those in need of biblically sound material and provide them with the resources that they need to become missionaries to their own people. The cost to support this
mission project is $15,000.
We are enjoying our fall travels through the Midwest. What beautiful weather we have had! That certainly parallels the warm reception we have had in all the churches we have visited. Thanks to all who have graciously welcomed us and listened to our story - the story of God's amazing work in the hearts and lives of the Brazilian people with whom we have had the privilege of working. Our travels will continue for two more months before we head back for Brazil and another term of missionary service. We both are a year older now and are feeling a bit of the stress of this "gypsy" lifestyle. Thanks for remembering us in prayer. God has kept us happy and healthy!
Members of the new Jinja class which began on September 23rd
Dear Friends,
While visiting the sick in Jinja Hopsital, Tracy (the woman in blue above) shared with several patients the story of Cain and Abel that she had just studied in our new Jinja Bible class. Those listening asked, "But why do all the stories in the Bible talk about sin? Why didn't God make sin end with Adam and Eve instead of passing it on to their children?" One of those listening was a man who was near death from AIDS. He said, "I am here today because of my great sin. I have slept with many women and have murdered many of them by infecting them with HIV and now I am reaping the consequences of what I have done." The man was hopeless and fully expecting to receive the fires of hell as his deserved punishment for how he had lived his life. He asked Tracy why God created this world when He knew that we would become sinners, deserving hell. Tracy gladly shared with him the sweet message of the grace of God. "Jesus took the sins of the world on himself as he died on the cross; including your sins. You can be forgiven of your sins and receive eternal life." The man replied with excitement and relief, "I have been waiting to hear this good news," and he prayed, confessing his sins and receiving the gift of salvation that had been offered him.
Tracy is part of a new class that we started on September 23rd here in Jinja. It is different than the first three classes in a number of ways. This is the first class that we have started in town. The first three classes have all been in village locations and attended by the local Basoga people. The new class is conducted in English because it is the common language among the students. (There are over 40 languages spoken in Uganda) There are eight languages represented among the students whose hometowns cover nearly every region of Uganda. Jinja has many residents from other districts because there are more opportunities for employment and education here than in most villages. So far there are 14 students attending the Jinja class.
When Jesus was choosing his disciples, he did not choose the learned Pharisees, but instead chose the common fishermen who were ‘ordinary, unschooled’ men. In many ways, the Jinja class is also comprised of the ‘fishermen’ of Jinja. Most of them are common workers and ‘ordinary, unschooled’ men. It will be interesting to see how God uses this class to further his Kingdom. Please pray for the students with us, that they may grow in their understanding of the Truth, and that they will be bold in sharing their faith with others.
Meanwhile, as the class in Jinja is just beginning their 1st term (starting with the story of Creation), the Butagaya class is soon completing the 2-year Ambassador Institute program. What will come next for those completing the training? Reproduction has been at the core of our goals for the training program. We are praying that among those who graduate, there will be several who feel led to begin training others in the teaching that they have received. The Kagoma class was the first example of this as Fred (one of the Butagaya students) is now using the Ambassador Institute training there. Fred has recently started taking another of the Butagaya students along with him to help him teach in Kagoma as he hopes to begin training in yet another location next year. Three other students have told me that they are also planning to begin training in other locations. Multiplication always starts slowly, but we are excited to see the beginning of it!
On the home-front, Rhoda and the kids are enjoying spending their days learning together. Elijah especially enjoys Math and Science, while Jude loves Art and Music. Elijah recently started piano lessons, and Jude is eager to start on the drum. They both recently joined a gymnastics class, taught by a British woman who is here doing aid work, where they can get all of the flips and jumps out of their system each week, instead of on our couches. Jeremiah is growing chubbier and jollier by the minute! He sure is fun to have around. Hannah takes her job as “big sister” quite seriously. She would be quite happy if we gave her more one-on-one time with him, but since finding her sitting on him on a few different occasions, we keep a close eye on her. She hasn’t caught on yet to the fact that she can’t rough house with him like she does with her big brothers!
We try to keep our blog regularly updated with pictures, so keep checking back for recent shots, even if you haven’t heard from us in awhile. You can find us at:
Thank you, friends, for standing with us and praying for us. We are so grateful for your support. We are always encouraged by your messages, so please keep them coming!
Serving Him together with you,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah, Judah, Hannah and Jeremiah Jore
nrjore@gmail.com
Sushma has come from a poor Christian family. She has completed 10th grade at St. Paul's Lutheran School, AFLC – India.
Sushma says that when she looks back to her school days, it was by God's grace and the prayers of pastor Alvin Pinno President of AFLC Canada and founder of EECC, she could complete her studies in school and started 11th grade (Intermediate School 1st year).
When she received very good results in 10th grade she came back to the school and conveyed her thanks to each and everyone who helped her.
Our school is very proud of our kids like this who are eligible to go to higher studies in college. So far 38 students were promoted to higher studies from school. Praise the Lord.
Greetings supporters and prayer partners!
The month of September has been busy and gone by very quickly. We’ve been working in a lot of different areas and as we begin finishing our tasks here we can’t help but look back at out trip and see how quickly time has flown by.
After two months of hard work, we have finally finished our revision and publication of the Manual Evangélico for the discipleship and the training of leadership in the churches. These books will be presented at the Annual Conference here in Brazil, October 8-10. Please be in prayer for approval and for the acceptance in the local congregations. The goal of these books is to have them serve as training material in each of the AFLC (AILLB) churches here and for them to serve as lasting works for the church.
This month has also been full of work with the local congregations (youth ministry, children’s ministry and programs, church visitation and evangelism, leading in worship weekly, bible studies, etc.), which has all continued to serve as a blessing from the Lord. We have greatly enjoyed being able to get involved with the churches here and it is sad to think about leaving soon. Please continue to pray that the Lord opens doors for us to be effective in the ministry us as we press onwards. We look forward to the Holy Spirit using us for His glory in everything we do and say.
As we look forward to the future we are excited about the opportunity to have Nathan’s dad, Pastor Kevin Olson, with us for two weeks. We will be traveling and visiting churches in Curitiba, Londrina, Maringa, Campo Mourão, and in Foz Igauçu. Pastor Olson will be presenting the ministry of the Ambassador Institute in hopes of working with the local congregations here in training and discipleship of leadership. By the time that we leave Brazil, we will have visited all but two of the AFLC churches. The two exceptions being in Vitoria, which is approximately 30 - 35 hours away from where we are living.
We are also looking forward and gearing up for our trip back home to the States. After nine months here in Brazil, we will be leaving November 1st for the States with an estimated arrival date of December 9th. We will be traveling by bus through South and Central America until Mexico City and then will be flying back from Mexico City up to Minneapolis. Instead of trying to find a plane ticket around the times of the holidays, we decided to take a courageous and adventurous trip as it will be covering and crossing 14 countries. The trip has been well and thoroughly researched with a 34 page itinerary and is as safe as possible. We are going to be traveling with one of our Brazilian friends for 15 days of the journey and then seeing friends along the way (including recent AFLC seminary graduate and friend Darwin Paccha and his wife Kristen in Ecuador). Please pray that the Lord keeps us safe and all goes smoothly on our trip back.
Please also keep us in prayer as we plan on life back in the States. Both of us are going to be looking for vehicles and are looking for the Lord to open doors for that as well! If you happen to hear of a good deal on a vehicle, please consider letting us know or World Missions know.
Thanks again for remembering us in prayer! God bless!
Jon Nelson & Nathan Olson
If you would like to support us in our ministry here in Brazil, please send your support to:
(Jon Nelson & Nathan Olson)
AFLC World Missions
3110 East Medicine Lake Blvd
Plymouth, MN 55441
Hello Family and Friends,
We are asking for a cover of prayer for Ecuador. The police have quit working because they are against the president. Everything is in chaos. Robbers everywhere. Everything is closing down and everyone is staying in their houses for protection. Pray that this passes quickly and that we are safe. Another American said that when they overthrew a different president this lasted for about 2 weeks (longest time it lasted). So, we´ll keep you updated and just pray for a short strike or short overthrow and protection for everyone in Ecuador!
Blessings to all,
Kirsten and Darwin
What Does Love Look Like? Larissa is a beautiful 8 year old girl. When he first came to the Miriam Home she was also a confused, sad and pretty mad little girl. She was taken out of her home, away from her mom and her brothers (7 years old and 10 months old) and she didn’t know why. Initially many of the staff didn’t know why she was there either, but they knew this sad little girl needed to know . . .
Seeking the Lord and His precepts as we continue our journey in faith
with Him serving full-time in missions never fails to bring joy unspeakable,
personal challenge in the burdens we need to give to Him and constant reward since that is what serving the Lord with our whole heart brings. We
wish you could be with us meeting the people we meet, seeing the hand of God at work in wonderful ways and knowing the urgency of . . .
The theological training program is going well. From next month onwards we will be conducting classes to our pastors also regularly apart from two weeks training program. Monthly two weeks program is for students who are from various denominations. There are 15 students in this program. However, as our AFLCI pastors are coming to Chirala every month for taking their salaries we have planed to conduct training classes during that day. That is on second Friday of very month.
We want people who are in other denominations would know that the AFLCI has theological program, so that they will also join in our training program in future. In this way we can develop our Free Lutheran Bible College in Chirala.
Luther Dasari, President AFLC-India
Thanks so much for your faithful prayers! We arrived without incident safely back home to Jerez. We did see 3 caravans of military vehicles at different times carrying some heavy equipment and around 150 soldiers in all. There were more federal police on patrol as well. Unfortunately, though our trip was without incident we arrived to find that our garage had been broken in to. Thankfully, there wasn't much stolen. Moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and still but they can't touch our treasure. It's safe in Christ's hands.
Eyes on Him,
Todd, Barb and girls
Praise the Lord for the Bible camps that were held this year. They reached kids from difficult neighborhoods, difficult home situations, and encouraged the . . .
"Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." John Bunyan
Kind of a scary morning with our brother Alfonso. Everything was good while making our morning visits into the neighborhood, it was after the service that I really noticed that he wasn't right. He said that he has eaten breakfast, but it was obvious by the way he was acting that he hadn't. So I quickly got him a coke, made some beans and heated up some tortillas and he was soon his usually jolly self. That diabetes is nasty stuff.
We have kind of adopted another one in Nogales. No not another kid, but a lady in the Buenos Aires neighborhood who just about died from not eating right, or rather at all. She's about 70 I figure and as thin as a rail. This economic crisis is definitely effecting the elderly the most here on the border.
Our Sunday school in Mascareñas is still going well. It varies from three to sixteen on any given Sunday. Alfonso really enjoys working with the kids, and they really like him. Yesterday during the singing he was playing air guitar by my side while singing. I asked if he wanted to use mine, and he said no, that his doesn't go out of tune. And of course all the kids laughed. We really have a good time with them, and they are so eager to learn and participate in the stories and memorization of Scripture etc. We thank God for the Giles work that we are able to use for them (take a look).
There continues to be more and more interest in music, especially in learning the guitar among the youth in Buenos Aires. We have been rounding up old guitars, gluing them back together, stringing them up so that they'll have something to use. We're really hoping that out of the bunch, a few will develop into a group of worship leaders. We are praying that God will move one or more to become interested in serving the children out in Mascareñas.
The cartel wars on the border seem to continue the same. There are killings here in Nogales just about every day. The police presence has been especially high these days because they are celebrating 200 years of independence and 100 years since the Mexican Revolution.
Things on the home front are doing well. Cesar has healed from having staples in his head from a cut he received while playing. Gracie is getting straight A's in school. Mary Ann loves working at the Crossroads rescue mission. I continue to find people just about every week in Mexico who have been touched by the mission and thus opens doors for me to share with them about why we do what we do.
Thank you all for and with us that God will continue to open doors, and that men, women and children here might pray and thus "cease from sin."
Your fellow workers,
Darwin, Mary Ann, Gracie and Cesar.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
Visit our blog spot at: http://jacksonsfellowworkers.blogspot.com
Dear praying friends,
We arrived at the border here in Texas today. We've got some things we need to get done on the truck before we head home and then Lord-willing we'll be departing on Wednesday morning around 8 or 9 o'clock. We continue to be very grateful for your prayers for us.
Eyes on Christ,
Todd, Barb, Megan and Kirstie Schierkolk
Heading for Jererz
Last month I told you a bit about three siblings: Jonatas, Giovana and Sandrinha who arrived on a Saturday to the Miriam Home. They were scared, they missed their mom, they badly needed loving care and the healing touch of the Father. These three precious children only stayed in the Miriam Home two weeks before the juvenile authorities decided it was safe for them to go home. Can you imagine how the care givers in the Home felt?
I’ve been thinking a lot about that. The first time I was in Brazil I worked in a . . .
Missionaries at Home and Abroad
To love the Lord our God, is the heartbeat of our mission,
The spring from which, our service overflows.
Across the street, or around the world
The mission's still the same - Proclaim and live the truth
in Jesus' name.
10,000 miles this summer
Our furlough travels have taken us through eight states since the beginning of June. We have done 32 programs in churches and camps and 21 individual presentations of our missionary work.
Wherever we go, people have received us warmly. Our heartfelt thanks to each of you who invited us into your churches and homes, willing to listen to our story and join . . .
The email at the AFLC Campus has not been functioning since Wednesday morning. If you are trying to contact World Missions please call or email at delpaflc@msn.com.
Justo Pillman’s latest newsletter is now available.
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The ministry here in Ecuador has been such a blessing for my life and has been all of my focus for this season in my life. I’m so thankful to the Lord for the many people I have met and the many friends I have made. I’m especially thankful for . . .
Pastor Connely Dyrud 
Elijah Wesley 
Hannah Ellen 
On June 29th we received an amazing and precious gift. Jeremiah Daniel was born in Kampala, the capital city, after a long and intense labor. We laughed and cried and praised God for this new life that He has entrusted to us. He was joyfully embraced into our little family, and he could not be loved more fiercely by his proud siblings. He is a jolly and roly-poly little man who is content to hang out on a quilt on the floor or in Mom's baby-carrier, watching and giggling at all of the activity around him. One quote by Jude that we'll never forget, said when Jeremiah was a few months old: "I love Jeremiah the best in our family, but I think he likes milk more than me." 
