We left Alabaster this morning (May 27^th) and have stopped for a few days at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery.  We will visit a few friends here before resuming our trip.  We will arrive in SC on June 2^nd and relieve the

Valentines who have been conducting worship services there since just before Easter.  It is a blessing to have others to share this mission with.  The Resort missionary for Savannah River Baptist Association, Larry Leming, has had a tough spring with family and personal sickness.  He has been trying to recover from pneumonia but doesn’t slow down long enough this time of year to get better as soon as many would.  We continue to pray for him and his family as they experience these problems.  It’s kind of awesome how God continues to connect us with people we have met previously in resort ministry.  Larry was in the group that we went to the Winter Olympics with in 2002.  He will be attending again in 2010 and we hope he will enjoy that one as much as we did the one in Salt Lake City.  That always sounds great but sleeping on the floor in areas covered with snow in February can also be a bit chilly!  

 We were blessed to take a long weekend to visit Wartrace, TN about a week before Memorial Day.  We visited in the home of Dorris and Lavye Fann who are part of the group that makes an annual mission trip to West Yellowstone , MT.  What a treat to get to see all of them again and share a meal and laughs about the fun we shared as we helped with some of their building project.  We enjoyed a Sunday morning with them at their church where Butch had the opportunity to speak on missions. We toured their town and some of the surrounding areas.   We also enjoyed seeing one of the young ladies who served as an innovator with us in West Yellowstone .  Sarah from graduated from Middle Tennessee the week before we were there and was preparing to go home to visit with her family.  She had been offered a job in Des Moines, Iowa but wasn’t sure about it.  She did accept the job and should be beginning work there soon. 

    This is my first attempt at trying to handle our newsletter without sending it to either Cindy or Micah for posting.  I may be struggling but I am excited to have this opportunity provided to us by our wonderful daughter, Cassie.  We were going to cancel it and rely on a blog but Micah Avant got together with her and made it possible for us to continue our newsletter on our own.  God is so good and always provides for the needs of His ministry using us as vessels.  Please bare with us and we will try to do better each time.  We thank each of you for your faithfulness in praying for us to be able to continue.  God continues to open doors and give us the courage to enter them and we give Him the praise and honor for doing so.  We know that we can do nothing on our own and that we are Second.

  He is as always FIRST

Love and prayers,Butch and Vi