Update on Baby Levi

Our grandson Levi is in need of your prayers. He is having surgery today for the omphalocele problem he was born with. The doctors were very pleased that the omphalocele was quite small which means it is much less serious than they first believed. We thank God for that. We also thank God that the cleft in Levi's lip is not serious. Surgery for his lip will come later. He was born, however, with a defect called bladder exstrophy in which his bladder is outside his abdominal wall. This brings with it a range of other problems that will require three or four more surgeries to correct. Please pray for this little precious one and his parents. God has already done so much for them. He is able and willing to do much more.

New Grandson!

We are happy to announce that Levi Michael Juntunen was born this morning to our son Paul and his wife Kate in Minnesota. Levi was 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He has lots of dark hair and is "feisty." Both mother and son are doing well.

Levi was born by ceasarean section because of some abdominal problems. He also has a cleft lip. Both of these conditions will require some surgery. We are asking people to pray for little Levi's surgeries and his mom's recovery. God has already answered many prayers concerning Levi and his parents and we are confident that he will continue to do so.

We are in California visiting churches right now. We wish we could have been in Minnesota for Levi's birth, but are looking forward to seeing him and his parents in November!

Our Schedule

Nancy ministering in the Open Bible church in Roseville, CA

We wanted to update everyone on our schedule while we are here in California. So far, we have been to the churches in Roseville and Paloma. We have had a great time getting to know the pastors and their wives in both churches, and enjoyed our time with their wonderful congregations.

Tonight we will be meeting with some of the leaders of the Creekside Open Bible Church in Martinez, CA. From here we will be going to Concord, Antioch, Fair Oaks, Lodi, San Jose, and Bay Point. Please pray for God's mercy on us as we travel, and that we will be a blessing to the pastors and congregations we meet.

The reason for us to travel to these churches is to raise funds for our ministry in Hungary. Not only do we need enough monthly support to live and work in Hungary, but we also need to raise money to translate the INSTE Level Two books into Hungarian. If you feel the Lord is leading you to help us, please follow the directions in the right-hand column.

God bless you.

"Foot" Washing

After Jesus washed his disciples' feet, he said, "Now that I have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." Our customs today don't include washing our feet, but our customs do include washing our cars, so maybe we should wash one another's cars. At least that's what Pastor Dan Reason in Roseville, California did for us yesterday. When he found out that our car needed a wash, he got out his hose and soap and sponges and helped Mike wash it. What perfect example of a servant! Thank you, Pastor Dan!

And that's not all, Pastor Dan and his wife Lyn were our gracious hosts this weekend treating us like royalty in their home. Plus, we enjoyed a wonderful service at their church. Everyone there received us with warmth and love. May God bless the Open Bible Church in Roseville!

On the Way to California

We are on our way to California. Along the way we have seen miles and miles of flat farm country in Nebraska...

A gorgeous sunset in Colorado (we took a little side trip to see Mike's brother Scott and his wife Dee) ...

the Great Salt Desert in Utah... and way, way too much of each other in the car!

Tomorrow we plan to arrive at our first destination in California. Please forgive us, friend, if you were on our route and we did not stop to see you!

Off to California!

We are busy washing clothes, packing and making arrangements to leave for California tomorrow. We are looking forward to meeting new people and seeing new places. We are especially excited about what God will do in, through and around us as we visit sixteen churches in six weeks. There will be many miles on the road, living out of suitcases and many different beds. Please pray for God's protection, provision and power. See you soon, California friends!

Steak Dinner

Iowa corn-fed beef steaks, fresh corn on the cob, baked potatoes and salad--it tasted as good as it looks. Thanks, Nick and Leona Venditti, for this wonderful American feast!

Good Friends

I, Nancy, enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with my prayer partner from Austin, Minnesota. We talked so much I forgot to take a picture! Debbie and I spent more than three hours catching up about the past three years and sharing what the Lord has been teaching us recently.

Debbie was my prayer partner for most of the ten years we pastored in Austin. We prayed for our families, our church, our city and our nation. We shared with each other what God was saying to us, our dreams and visions. We often prayed with others but sometimes it was just the two of us.

It is hard to express how important and valuable to me having such a faithful, compassionate prayer partner was. As difficult as it was leaving Austin to go to Hungary, the things I learned and the relationship I developed with the Father through our times together gave me the faith and courage to do what God was calling us to do.

Thank you, Debbie! May God continue to use you in many ways!

Rejoice in All Things

We enjoyed a wonderful service at the Spanish First Church of the Open Bible here in Des Moines this morning. We needed an interpreter, of course, so Nick Venditti helped us communicate. We had a great time with the Spanish brothers and sisters and some other friends who joined us. The meal following was delicious, too.

On our way home, Mike had to brake suddenly to avoid hitting the car in front of us that stopped suddenly. Unfortunately, the car behind us couldn't stop in time and hit our car. Both cars pulled to the side and the drivers got out to survey the damage. We thank the Lord no one was hurt. Our car (actually, our son is loaning us his car) suffered a broken bumper and crumpled license plate. The other car, however, had more damage. The airbags deployed and the front end was smashed. The 16-year-old driver was concerned that no one was hurt and conducted himself very well as we waited for the police to arrive. The police had to give the young man a summons to court since the accident was his fault. His parents, who arrived after the police, were calm, but will surely dole out their own punishment, especially since they had bought the car only two weeks earlier. Poor kid!

Soon after we got back to Nick and Leona's house, their next door neighbor came over and asked if we had heard any noise coming from their house during the few days they had been gone. Seems that a window had been broken and a possible break-in had occurred. Leona said she had heard something and waited to talk with the police. Wouldn't you know it, the same policeman who helped us arrived to help the neighbors. He couldn't help but notice our car parked in Nick and Leona's driveway. We thank the Lord for good policemen!

Four Generations

Our son Mark and his family came to Des Moines this week. Yesterday we took a quick trip to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to visit Mike's dad who is 84 years old this month. While we were there, we were able to get this four-generation picture.

During the week, Mark and Nadine participated in meetings at Open Bible Churches and we babysat the two boys. We went to Merle Hay mall when it was raining and played in the play place there. The next day we went to the Blank Park Zoo and McDonald's.

All of this activity wore grandma and grandpa out, so we also watched some videos.

That is, most of us watched videos. Looks like grandma and grandpa weren't the only ones who were worn out!