Thanksgiving Week

Pastors Tony and Sarah Armbrust and family of Vermillion, South Dakota.

We had a wonderful time on Sunday with the folks at the Faith Fellowship Church in Vermillion, South Dakota. Even though Mike had a bad cold and did not feel well, he still ministered and we were well received by this loving congregation.

Earlier in the week we celebrated Thanksgiving twice, once with Nancy's extended family who live in the Des Moines area and once with our son Paul and his family in Austin, Minnesota.

Some of Nancy's family from the Des Moines area gathered for a Thanksgiving celebration.

Playing table games with friends and family at our son Paul's home on Thanksgiving Day.

Celebrating November birthdays with the ladies of the Living Bible Church of Austin, MN.  Kate Juntunen was one of the celebrants.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving with family.  It has been several years since we have been in the US for the holidays and every minute was precious.  God is good to us and we thank him for each family member, good food, warm homes and happy memories.  We especially thank him this year that our son Paul is recovering well from his stroke.  He still has a way to go to be back to normal, but he has made great progress.  Praise God!.

Warm Welcome

The Open Bible Church sign in Waterloo, Iowa shows the cold temperature Sunday morning.

 It was a cold 6 degrees Sunday morning when we woke up in Waterloo, Iowa. By the time we arrived at the Open Bible Church, the thermometer had climbed to just 16 degrees, but we received a warm welcome from Pastor Aaron Keller and the lovely people there and enjoyed sharing with them about our work in Eastern Europe.

Pastor Aaron Keller

We have known Pastor Aaron since he was just a baby.  His mother and Nancy were on the Bible quiz team together at Sunshine Open Bible when they were teenagers and Aaron and our son Paul were classmates at Eugene Bible College. 

Open Bible Churches have wonderful pastors.  Everywhere we go, we are encouraged to be with these men and women of God who are faithful, compassionate, hardworking and Spirit-led.  Many of them face very difficult situations and yet stand in faith, expecting God to work in and through them.  They are true heroes.  Remember to pray for your pastor and express your appreciation to him or her often.

Long-time Friends

One of our favorite parts about visiting churches and people who support us is connecting with long-time friends.  Last Sunday we were at the First Church of the Open Bible in Freeport, Illinois.  There we reconnected with Pastors Burliss and Dawn Parker.  Pastor Burliss visited Hungary when we were there and spoke at the Inste Conference and at some of the Open Bible Churches.  So, not only do we know the Parkers as friends and supporters, but also as co-workers on the mission field.  We reminisced about Hungary and our friends there in addition to having fun as friends.

Pastors Burliss and Dawn Parker

 The church in Freeport has been a faithful supporter of our work in Hungary and it was good to see many of the people that we met in previous visits to the church.  Sunday morning we were pleased when Darlene Boyer asked us if we remembered her daughter Brenda who graduated with us from Open Bible College.  Of course we remembered!  We also remembered Darlene and her husband who were so kind to Mike when he visited their home during our college days.

A quick selfie with Darlene Boyer.

It is an awesome privilege to know many wonderful, faithful servants of God and to be able to connect with them from time to time.  Imagine how much more wonderful it will be when we all meet in heaven and will never have to say good-bye again!

Many People Help Us

Visiting churches to share about Hungary and Romania is continuing.  Sunday we were invited to be with the folks at the Open Bible Church in Boone, Iowa. The morning service was wonderful and afterwards, several people mentioned that they remember us from when we visited them before.  We were pleased that some still had our prayer cards at home.

Mike speaking to the Boone Open Bible Church leaders

 After lunch, we were invited to say a few words at the leadership meeting.  Mike did a great job explaining that the leader's first responsibility is to have and maintain his own close relationship with Jesus and then to concentrate on the people they lead.

"Guess Who?" What a fun game!

 But before Mike spoke, Naomi Waldo led a little game to help everyone know us a little better.  She read a little-known fact about one or both of us and each person in the group was to hold up the stick indicating which one they believed the fact referred to.  It was great fun and we all laughed a lot.

Mike painting the bathroom

 During the week, we painted Nick and Leona Venditti's basement bathroom.  They have been so kind to let us stay with them several months and we were happy to be able to do a small favor for them.

Global Missions staff.  Left to right: Michelle Wanat, Julie Patten, Vince McCarty with Nancy

Thursday we took the Global Missions staff out for lunch.  We truly appreciate all that Vince McCarty, Michelle Wanat and Julie Patten do for us.  They do a great deal of work behind the scenes that allows us to go to and remain on the mission field, such as taking care of all the donations that come into the office and all of the book work that goes with it, handling our mail and multitudes of administrative details, and giving us direction and guidance all along the way.

It takes a lot of people's help for us to be able to minister in Romania.  Thank you to everyone who has a part in giving, praying and sending.  We appreciate you!