Press On Towards The Goal...

Friends and Family, let me start by apologizing for not sending out a March update. Life got busy and it fell by the wayside! Here is what is up with us: New& Exciting  We were blessed this year to have the spring breaks of my Seminary, Amber's school, and the youth's school schedule on the same week, so we took a trip down to Florida with some good (and generous friends), Neal and Layne, to their family beach house. We got tan, enjoyed the beach, walked a park, hung a hammie, played a board game (Catan, multiple times!), and generally just had a great time getting away. Also, I caught up on my Hebrew homework (to the -rightful- chagrin of Amber.) Funny  As usual, Amber comes home with the best stories of kids saying silly things. Recently, Amber went on a field trip to a park and kids were pushing boundaries by playing in a creek. One older boy crossed the creek on a stick that was not sturdy. This inspired a smaller and younger boy, only 8, to head toward...

New/Exciting February was full of guests after church and friends staying overnight while coming through town. Our good friend Patrick stopped in on his way to Virginia. He came along with us to a service project and movie time with the youth. Afterward, John Adams came over to visit and it was a sweet reminder of a friend group from time past! We hosted other wonderful guests on a Sunday afternoons including Cade, Fedner, and the Skeens family! For Church, I scouted out our March retreat with some youth. We met Bjorn, a monstrous, fluffy, and  friendly pupper at the campgrounds. Bjorn and Jeremy Funny As a teacher of young children, Amber comes home with the best quotes. Some of them become inside jokes for us around the house. One we often laugh at is  "I didn't have an accident!...I...I just got a little pee in my underwear." I'm pretty sure this is a good sermon illustration, I just haven't figured out exactly how. Prayer Please pray for ...

Haiti Partners, This is Sarah teaching a lesson about how we are children our King. They made crowns to illustrate! Yesterday, we started out at 8am setting up for vbs. At 9am we welcomed the kids in the church with music and blowing bubbles! Amber and I (plus translator Shnyder) led 5 small groups in a lesson from 2 Corinthians 5:4-7 about how we are like jars of clay who God can use to keep his treasure, namely, himself. We decorated some small jars with funny faces for the craft. Afterward the team played games with the kids. During games I prepared with some of the  translators to share the gospel. I used the “three circles” gospel presentation that starts at creation, then describes sin, brokenness, the gospel, our response, and finally handed the mic off to the local pastor. I was asked to do this because kids will often tell missionaries what they want to hear. Instead, we are having the pastor do the closing so he can reiterate the gospel clearly ...

A few family and friends have asked if we send out something to keep loved ones updated on our life since we are separated by distance. I want to try and post/send a short update for each month that reviews something new or exciting, difficult, funny, and how you can keep us in prayer.  This is the first go at that. (This is Bronson typing, by the way) On our Kentucky "snow day" New/Exciting Since the New Year began, I went to a missions conference and took a conference course. As part of an assignment I had to interview 3 foreign nationals who are not Christians. I interviewed an Imam (a Muslim "pastor") and it was a great learning experience. I am more convinced than ever of the beauty of Christianity as the only religion where God saves us, while other religions only offer men how to obtain salvation for themselves. Here is an edited video  (for time's sake) of the interview I showed to some youth. Another exciting thing is that I was blessed ...

Haiti partners, I’m excited to report we are on our way! We have a 16+ hour drive to ft. lauderdale, FL ahead of us. I, Bronson, am looking forward to seeing how this time is used to refresh my commitments to evangelism and discipleship. Amber is excited about...sleeping at the moment 😃😜. (I wish I could sleep like she can in a car!)  Please pray for protection for us,  as the enemy hates the spread of the Gospel;  we are engaging in warfare of the deadliest kind, spiritual! “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil...

Amber and I are going to Haiti on July 1 st -7 th with 7 other members of Ballardsville Baptist Church (and 1 from another local church).  The trip is led by Brent Gambrell, the President of A Door to Hope Ministries. He has an ongoing ministry presence in Haiti, which takes short-term missionaries to areas of strategic outreach. We will be going to a village called Calebasse (Cal-eh-bass). We know we will be in Calebasse for prayer walking, sharing the gospel, and doing home repair. We don’t know exactly what else we will help with yet, because it could change before July! The possibilities include the building/repair of a church, helping with a pastor’s conference, VBS, or orphanage repair. Much of the work focuses on recovery and repair from the disasters Haiti experienced in 2010 (7.0 earthquake) and 2016 (Hurricane Matthew). ( See this later blog  - we received  news of more trip specifics ) Would you partner with us in praying for our tr...

Haiti Partners, Just today we heard some more details about our trip to Calebasse, Haiti! We will be doing:  • 2 mornings of VBS • 1 day of working on an orphanage • 1-2 days of helping build a house • 1 day of prayer walking/immersion Please help us pray for 3 things this week: 1. For God to prepare the hearts of Haitian boys and girls to respond in faith to the gospel at VBS. 2. For God to prepare us to have humble hearts, ready hands, and a willingness to be flexible.   3. Continued financial support from individuals as we get closer to the trip.  Thank you for partnering with us to take the good news to Haiti! We will try to write up 1 short update per week as we get closer and learn more about our trip. -Bronson & Amber 5/29/18