New Digs

This Summer is hectic. Rachael and I are almost settled in KC (No more living out of boxes!), but we've not had much time to enjoy it. Since leaving Kirksville I have officiated my second marriage ceremony (for a couple from my church back home), Rachael has organized and produced her sister's wedding, and we've spent quite a bit of time on the road.

In addition to running back and forth to Kirksville shuttling sound systems and such, Rachael and I have also spent time in Southeastern Missouri. My Grandmother has Parkinson's and a few weeks ago discovered she had developed pneumonia. We spent the night in the hospital (Thanks for the directions Nick) with Grandma and sent Grandpa home to sleep. Grandma hadn't been eating much and after we arrived Rachael examined her and discovered that her Parkinsons had left Grandma with little to no control over her tongue making it extremely difficult to chew solid foods. This had also been the cause of her pneumonia as food had gotten into her lungs. Rachael recommended a plan of care and a new diet, both of which have helped greatly.

Grandma is home now, but please keep her and my grandpa (Tom and Louise Howard) in your prayers. This is the first time in over 50 years of marriage that Grandpa is the cook. My father left him detailed instructions on how to make high calorie soft foods for Grandma to eat, but he's pretty nervous about cooking for her. We'll soon move them in with my aunt and uncle in Texas. I think it will be good for them to be around the younger grandkids and Grandpa will certainly like being back in the country.

Rachael was recently hired as the Director of Giant Step, a special needs day program for mentally and physically handicapped children. She has also joined the Special Education Staff at Hickman Mills school district and will begin to work with students there in August.

I am concentrating on raising support, preparing for the new ministry in Tucson and starting my first book. (Yes, I'm currently writing a book) In May I was asked to lead a new prayer initiative at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lee's Summit. It's based on the 24-7 prayer movement. If you've ever read the book Red Moon Rising, it's pretty much the template for the 24-7 prayer movement. Rachael and I also started The Journey a children's ministry at Cornerstone where we help kids learn the Bible by introducing them to the Journey of God's people and helping them learn how they fit into the story of God's people.

I'm in Denver right now working out of the Mission to the Americas main office for a few days and then will spend the next week in Estes Park with Ryan Miller (and others) at our National Staff Forum. Rachael is back in KC house-sitting for her grandparents while they vacation.

We'll be in KC for the next year and will move to Tucson in July to get the church up and running. We invited people over last week to hang out and were happy to spend time with Dan Schmidt, Rachel Haffey, and John & Kathleen Cross. We hope to be able to reconnect with these friends and others during our time in KC.

Well, time to start working on support letters and such. - Oh, one more thing, if you're reading this and you aren't already part of our support team, you should be! Use the resources God has blessed you with to help reach others. E-mail me about joining this team that is vital to the success and development of this new ministry.