May - July / 2022 Update

May—July 2022

A Great Start

On May 22 we had our commissioning service at First Baptist Church in Plattsmouth, NE. This was such a sweet service and proved to be eye opening–“This just got real.” It was also cool to share this experience with the Lutes family; Jeff was ordained to go to California as an Assistant Pastor.  Within one month of being commissioned, we were able to gain the support of five churches as well as seven individuals. This whole experience has been so amazing to watch God work. I’m sure you know the feeling–when things work out, the only explanation is GOD!

Lots of Change

Professionally Speaking—Everything has changed! I have a new office, well it's more of a desk in a shared office. To be fair, it’s shared with one of the greatest men and friends I know so I’m not complaining. FBC hired a new youth pastor and it has been great as we have been transitioning together. We were able to co-lead our Teen VBS “Summer Fusion” last week. It was nice to have shared responsibilities for such a great task. Please continue to pray for our youth group as they go through this change.

Practically Speaking— We sold a house, bought another one, and moved all in July. God has been so good in all of this. Originally we were going to move into a SMALL rental house until we ship ahoy to Portugal, but God knew this just wasn't going to work! We have way too much stuff for that. We were able to purchase a great fixer upper that will fit our family perfectly and has a huge garage that will provide much needed storage when we go to Portugal. We will also be able to rent it out while in Portugal.

Personally Speaking— Unfortunately, this has been an incredibly rough year for our family. My father passed away in March, and my mother passed away just a couple weeks ago on my wife and I’s anniversary. God has been so gracious to us during this time and so have our friends. Our true friends have shone bright during this time, and isn't it great that we will always have a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother!

What’s Next?

Colorado— Tomorrow we are heading  to Colorado for our longest trip yet, 3 weeks. Up until now we have been very occupied with things here at FBC–Camps, VBS, etc.… But now it's all deputation from this point on. We are excited about the churches God has provided for us to share our passion for Portugal.

Thank you so much for your love, support, and friendship.

                       Love– Billy and Mary Ann