“And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul . . .” 2 Kings 23:3
In this part of 2 Kings, Josiah has become the child king of an idolatrous Israel. He directs the priesthood to clean up the temple, and they rediscover the law. They read it to Josiah, he repents and has the law read to the people, and they renew their covenant with the Lord. The Balkans are much like Israel was, with a history of knowing the Lord and very few faithful today. One of our prayers is that the people will come back to the Lord, following him “with all their heart and all their soul.”
Thank you for your prayers for us recently! We had a great visit with Fred’s parents for a couple of weeks, including an overnight in Victoria, BC (a short ferry ride from Port Angeles). They also watched the kids while we had our first weekend away together when we went to southern Idaho for a weekend. Their visit was too short, but it was such a help and blessing!
We had a full weekend in Idaho, reconnecting with friends we made in Kodiak, meeting new friends, speaking at Whitney and Boise Friends on Sunday morning, and at an area rally at Greenleaf Friends on Sunday evening. It was fun to meet some of my dad’s school friends in Greenleaf and hear some of his stories from their perspective. We look forward to visiting more of the churches in the area and reconnecting with those we’ve already met, but probably not until we’re full-time with EFM. We’ve made it to 15% of our monthly support. We’re excited for when we can be full-time with EFM!
The next weekend we spent in Oregon, with a Friday memorial service for my great uncle that the kids and I went to, and then a missions dinner at Medford Friends and a Sunday morning service at Talent Friends. Again, it was good to reconnect with some people and make some new friends. Both weekends were times of encouragement for us, and we hope for the churches we were visiting as well. It was also good to spend some time with the Fodge side of the family at the memorial.
Now, things slow down slightly, we think. This weekend, we are home. Next weekend, we are in Oregon again for my grandpa’s memorial service and a morning service at Clackamas Park Friends. Fred is on call at work the rest of the month and cannot travel out of town, so we are looking forward to having some family time together and getting some other things done.
We are very thankful for your prayers over the last few weeks. There has been a lot going on, but we are thankful for new prayer and financial partners, for opportunities to worship with other parts of the body and see how God is working in other parts of the Northwest, and for the kids traveling well. We are especially thankful for God’s protection over my dad. He had a quadruple bypass on Monday and is recovering well. There is lots going on!
Prayer requests:
- Keep praying for Fred as he balances his various roles and tries to finish well at the city. Pray for moments of rest.
- Keep praying for the kids, that we will parent them well through this season, that they will find joy in the new relationships and will continue to travel well.
- Pray for the Balkans, that God will draw many to himself, that he will strengthen and increase his workers there, that he will bring peace and healing to the people there.
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We are currently raising funds for our monthly needs. We are so grateful for those of you who have already begun supporting us financially and in prayer, but we have a ways to go. We need to be at 50% funded before we can transition to full time ministry. Please partner with us, we would love to share in this ministry with you. There are four ways to financially partner with us:
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