Update July 2024

We are grateful for your prayers for our ministry over these past couple months.  God has supplied sufficient grace and strength and we are thankful for His hand at work. While attendance in our French ministries has been down somewhat recently with summer travel, it is exciting to see the people God is bringing faithfully who study His Word with interest. Cherith is having weekly Bible studies with a woman who is struggling, and continues to work with several others.  Our Bible studies sometimes reveal faulty understanding of the Scriptures. One reaction we have heard a number of times is "That is so true. I see it now -- I never understood that before!"  This summer we have scheduled a number of opportunities for relationship building and service opportunities.

Praise the Lord for the safe return of the couple from Ivory Coast and Ph’s return from northern NB. Praise the Lord for D and Ph’s graduations from French universities here, for Caleb’s graduation from HS and for Dr. B. receiving high recognition by the Université de Moncton for his outstanding teaching career at the university. We thank God for what He has done for these individuals and for their part in our ministry. Pray for Dr. B. as he participates in our French ministry and for ongoing opportunities to reach out to his unsaved family and former colleagues. Praise God for the opportunities for building relationships in our French group this summer through special activities, including a pizza and film night this Friday.

Our friend Mt from Québec drove in from Nova Scotia to lead the service and preach while we were away to SC and Québec last month.  He announced his engagement to B (a 2022 EBBI graduate) from Nova Scotia. They are planning an October wedding, as they continue their monthly involvement in our French ministry. Praise the Lord for His direction in Mt and B's lives to serve Him together. Pray for them to know God's clear direction regarding their future ministry.

Praise the Lord for His help for the Maritime G.A.M.E.S. the end of May, when young people presented various ways they are developing their God-given gifts. Our boys participated and we helped adjudicate and give feedback. Praise God for His work in hearts through the good messages by the evangelist speaker, and for a number of decisions that were made. Pray for the Youth and Junior Camp ministries in NB and NS this summer, for decisions to be made and for Caleb and Josiah as they help. Pray for their own spiritual growth.

Praise the Lord for Adrianna’s completion of three online classes while under a heavy workload, and for a missions trip with her church’s youth group to Utah in June. Pray for Adrianna as she continues her summer internship along with one online class and as she serves with the youth group at church.

The end of June we traveled to Québec for a Broeckert family gathering. We were 13 in all, including Cherith’s parents and all but one of her siblings. We praise the Lord for that time with family, some who we hadn't seen since 2017. 

That Sunday, we were able to join the Eglise Baptiste de Saint-Augustin for services and fellowship. This was the church that sent their pastor and 15 others on a missions trip to Moncton in October 2022 to help us with our French ministry. It was great to reconnect with them and meet others, including the parents of the 4 children we hosted in 2022. Their connection to the Teachout family goes back many years to their Bible school training when they studied under both my Uncle Richard T. and my cousin Raymond T. What a blessing to see them serving the Lord faithfully and teaching their children to know and love God. 

We were thrilled to get to a French Christian bookstore in Quebec City where we stocked up on some French Bibles, books and tracts, unavailable here in NB. 

After Québec, Cherith’s parents spent a few days with us here in NB, including Sunday when they were able to connect with people in both the English and French ministries. We visited the remains of the first European (French) settlement on Prince Edward Island with them and learned more about the tumultuous Acadian history in the Maritimes, leading to the strong Acadian identity with culture and the French language we see around us.

Praise the Lord for the opportunity God has given to Emmanuel Baptist Church to reach out to the Acadian and foreign francophone population through the completion of EBC's first bilingual church flyer. Pray for God to use the bilingual church flyer to draw French speakers to Himself.

Much has happened and big changes are in store for our family regarding Caleb’s future, but God’s goodness and faithfulness have been evident. We are encouraged that He is never surprised and we have seen His guiding hand at work. Your prayers for us during these times are much appreciated.

The Lord opened the way for the four of us to travel to Greenville, SC by car the beginning of June for Caleb’s high school graduation from the Bob Jones Academy of Home Education.  We are so grateful for God’s work in Caleb’s life and for His leading to prepare for full-time ministry.  It was so good to see Adrianna again and have our whole family together for three brief days. On our trip back to New Brunswick, we saw friends and family and had a good visit with Pastor and Mrs. Rosenau, from our sending church.  It was as our re-entry papers were being processed at the border that we received unexpected news.  As we were handed our paperwork allowing us to live and work in Canada, we were told that while Caleb was now qualified to work in CA, unless he obtained a study permit, he would not be allowed to attend any post-secondary school including EBBI (the Bible institute here.)

We were shocked but the Lord helped us as we began to process all the implications and we soon began to see His hand leading and preparing all of us for this change. Though our hearts hurt to lose Caleb (at least for now) in our home and ministry (as he was serving in the local church and had begun to get involved in leading worship in the French services) and at EBBI, we are grateful for God’s clear leading for him to attend Ambassador Baptist College in NC this fall, not far from where Adrianna is at BJU. Currently away for three weeks of summer camp (camper, then two weeks as assistant counselor), he’ll have only 4 days to pack up and say goodbye here before leaving for two weeks of Paris Olympic outreachJuly 31. Lord willing, we will drive down with his things to meet him in Charlotte, NC upon his return from Paris, and see him settled at Ambassador.  

Praise the Lord for the great turnout for Caleb’s graduation open house, including unsaved neighbors from across the street and a special visit from a couple that drove up from our home church in Springville, PA. Pray for the salvation of our neighbors, M and C, and for good opportunities for us to witness to them. Praise the Lord for His clear leading in Caleb’s life and for the many opportunities God has given him to serve and use his gifts for the Lord this summer. Pray for God’s protection and continued clear leading for Caleb as he serves Him this summer and as he prepares to leave home this fall.  Pray for God’s provision for his college expenses.

Praise the Lord for His blessing of the continuing ministry in Bambari, Central African Republic where one couple graduated from the four year Bible School program and thirteen couples are enrolled to continue. Praise God for the completion of the school year for the new Christian school in Bambari.

Pray for Pastor D and his wife L as they prepare to move from Kouango to Bangui to begin studying at FIBAT, BMM's seminary there.

Praise the Lord! We just received an email that we were drawn today (July 18) and are invited to proceed with our application for Permanent Residency for Canada. Pray for us as we work on gathering documents required for the application, including police certificates from the countries we have lived and medical exams for each of us. If we get all the documents together before our French language tests expire August 3, we will not have to retake the tests.

Finally, we would appreciate prayer as we begin to plan and prepare for Home Ministry next summer as we will be completing four years in New Brunswick.  Pray that God will guide as we set up our itinerary to connect with as many of our partners as possible in the time available. Pray that He will provide us with someone to replace us here during our absence here so that we are free to leave.