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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? WHAT ARE THEY DOING??
Those are questions our family is being asked . Let us give you a brief update and perhaps explain a little about what we and other missionaries do between assignments. We never really quit serving, we are just not on site for our summer assignment yet. We served with Westwood in Mexico and stayed in the Rio Grande Valley for ten days after the church group left for AL. We visited with some old friends there and helped Mona and Linn a little and then began a slow travel toward Montana. We have been staying on some military bases as we travel to stretch our funds and due to the cost of fuel it makes more sense to stay in an area a little longer than to be traveling. That’s one reason we didn’t return to AL. It is too expensive to travel all the way back there and then turn around and travel all the way back across the country again. We need to be in Montana by May 12th and Butch will be preaching at First Baptist of West Yellowstone on May 15th. The pastor has a daughter graduating from college in Arkansas and this will allow him to be there with her. I guess for us this time is like a furlough. We finished our Winter assignment at Gulf Shores, made a brief trip home and joined Westwood for the Mission trip to Mexico, and will soon be on site for the Summer in Montana. We are blessed that God has chosen to use us in areas that allow us to be in service in climates which allow me to be able to function in spite of a gradual decline with MS. The temperature in Montana is so pleasant once the snow stops because the humidity is so low and that helps with the fatigue which is so difficult to live with. We look forward to working with Jean and Liz Page this Summer because that brings family into the picture along with all of those college students. We will only have 20 this year so that should be a breeze!! (That from a lady who always worked with babies???) Butch has been great with them and maybe he is beginning to mellow with age too!
May 1st we celebrated 40 years of marriage. God has been so good to us and given us a wonderful family and church family to share our lives with. When He called us into missions we made a choice many didn’t understand but it is one we have never regretted. In 1988 we sold our home and began serving Him in Mission Service Corps and for almost nine years we were full-time in an RV. Then in 1997 we returned to AL and bought a house again and after almost six years we once again felt God’s call to return full-time to the mission field. Once again we sold our house and moved into an RV and now we are serving as He sends us. Sometimes it is difficult but God promised his grace was sufficient for all our needs and it always is . When we feel we need to be there for our family and can’t be He provides someone to help, when we feel isolated and alone He reminds us that He never leaves us, and with the assignments He has given us we have found extended family and there always seems to be a hug or two to share. The internet has been a blessing because it has allowed us to stay in touch with family and friends and to be able to locate things we need wherever we travel. If you will take the time to drop us a note occasionally we would enjoy hearing from you and be glad to answer any questions you might have about our ministry and if you would like information on becoming a part of volunteer missions we would be glad to help you with that.
We will have pictures to share the next time we write. We have to take time to go through them and try to lay them out to send. We really need to work on this. We’re just two old folks who know very little about computers so we don’t always get it right but maybe we are learning as we go. Perhaps one of the students this Summer will be really sharp with these things and help us to do a better job with it. Just know that we appreciate all of you being prayer partners in our ministry and ask that you continue to remember all of the students as they seek to do God’s will this Summer too. We pray for lives to be changed and spirits to be filled to overflowing with the love of Christ. Thank you for your love, your prayers and support and may God grant you peace and blessings in all that you do.
In His Service,
Vi and Butch
“For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory.” Romans 11:36 LB
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