Praise and Prayer for October 19, 2010

God has brought us through another week, and safely over another 1200 miles since last Tuesday.  We are grateful for His protection and for His help for us, especially for the children as we face the many challenges that our travelling schedule brings.  They have been a part of our ministry presentation in almost every church where we have ministered, giving greetings, quoting verses and singing.  The constant changes do bring special challenges, however, and we would ask for special prayer for extra grace for each of them. 

Last Wednesday evening, my Mother’s oxygen levels dropped toward the end of her dialysis session and she needed to be taken to the ER.  She was in the hospital through today, when she was discharged and returned home. They drained 1.25 liters from around her lungs (thoracentesis) on Friday and adjusted some of her medicines.  We are thankful for brother Don and Ramona and my Aunt Mary Lee who are there and able to help and visit during this time when we are so far away.  Cherith’s Mom has been a real help to my Mother as well, and has been able to visit her several times. 

It is good to be back here in northeast PA.  We are nicely settled into a single wide home on the Dale Grosvenor farm, nestled in the beautiful Endless Mountains near Montrose, PA.  This week we have a special opportunity to join Pastor and Mrs. Rosenau and several other couples from Springville Baptist Church in attending a Couples Prayer Advance (Christ Life Ministries) in Lancaster, PA.  We look forward to the special time of studying and applying Biblical principles to strengthening our marriage relationship.  Our children are excited about spending time with Jessica Leslie who has taken extra time off work to be able to watch them for us.  We will be leaving the Advance early on Friday evening in order to retrieve our children and then on Saturday travel up to Parishville, NY for meetings on Sunday.

  Praise for:

- protection on our travels this week from NC to VA to DE to PA to NY, and back to PA.

- His help for the children, and for their participation in our home ministry.

- Josiah’s life, and for his second Birthday last Wednesday (October 12) in DE, and for the fun time celebrating with some of our ministry partners.

- God’s undertaking for Jonathan’s Mother this past week, for some improvement with her breathing, and that she has now returned home again.

- the time we have here in northeast PA connecting with our church family here and with partners in ministry.

Pray for:

- protection in our travels to Lancaster, PA and Parishville, NY.

- our children, for extra grace for the challenges that they are facing, for adequate rest and for good progress in school.  Pray for them as we leave them with Jessica on Thursday and Friday to attend the Prayer Advance.

- Jonathan’s Mother, for increased strength and that she’ll be able to breath well and rest well at night.

- God’s blessing on our ministry partners and that God would raise up others who share our burden to partner with us through prayer and financial support.

Praise and Prayer for October 11, 2010

The color of the leaves is changing as we head north through Virginia toward Delaware, continuing on a seven-week trip of connecting with ministry partners and seeking to establish new partnerships.  This past week in West Virginia and North Carolina included a special opportunity to speak in two of the chapel services at a Bible College in Winston-Salem, participating in one church’s missions’ conference, and ministering in four supporting churches.  The miles stretch on before us, but the prospect of good fellowship and encouragement and the opportunity to share our burden for France with others drive us onward!  We appreciate so much the hospitality and generosity of all of those who have been so gracious to us over these past several weeks.

Thank you for your prayers for us throughout this time, even without news.  While other responsibilities over these past several weeks have threatened to overwhelm us, updating our blog has been impossible though it has weighed heavily on our minds and hearts.  Cherith spoke in two ladies’ fellowships in Grand Rapids, our first year of homeschooling began, we continued to help my Mother, hosted an open house to celebrate her 80^th Birthday, and joined our church family at Wealth Park Baptist Church in celebrating 125 years of outreach and God’s faithfulness.  As this trip approached, we became very concerned that we not leave my Mother without having some practical solutions worked out.  She had been in rehab for 7 weeks, then with us for nearly two weeks, preparing to return to her apartment on Bridge Street.  From our house, she returned home, but soon realized that a move to an apartment with more assistance available would be not only desirable but also necessary.  The Lord intervened through leading and opening doors and prior to our departure on this trip we had not only found a beautiful facility with meals provided and assistance available but had also gotten Mother moved out of her two bedroom apartment (keys turned in) into her new one, a studio apartment at Lincoln Square, just 1.5 miles away.  The Lord provided family members to watch our children throughout the week, others to help with cleaning and moving, and even a truck and trailer for the move (complete with Cherith’s cousin Luke to drive and help with moving).  We left Mother on October 1 heading south on this 7 week trip, and though she still had a lot of adjustment and settling in to do, she was enjoying her new home, the home-cooked meals provided and the assistance available.   

  Praise for:

- God’s protection over the long miles, for His help for the children, and for the fellowship and encouragement as we connect with our ministry partners.

- healing for Cherith for a sprained finger, and healing for our family from some nasty colds.

- God’s answer to prayer in providing for Mother’s move before we left MI for this extended trip.

- some good news and continued contact with friends in France.

- God’s provision for extra expenses through some special love gifts.

Pray for:

- protection and grace for our travels, this week connecting with partners in NC, VA, DE, PA and NY.

- Jonathan’s Mother, continuing to adjust and settle into new surroundings and dealing with numerous health issues.

- God’s blessing on our ministry partners and that God would raise up others to partner with us through prayer and financial support.

Praise and Prayer for September 5, 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Thank you for your prayers as we continue on this trail of reconnecting with many of our ministry partners.  While many of our friends and family out east are facing storms and power outages, we have enjoyed good weather when we have been on the road.  God has given safety over many miles driven here in Michigan and precious fellowship as we have ministered these past couple weeks in churches in Delton, Lansing, and Petoskey.  Our kids were able to be a part of the VBS program at Grandma and Grandpa Broeckert’s home church and enjoyed learning more about God and His Word in such a fun way.  Our family has been able to enjoy a few very special activities with other family members: picking blueberries, an afternoon at the Hudsonville Fair and an evening at Lake Michigan.  This past weekend, our hosts treated us to an afternoon in their boat on the beautiful Walloon Lake, and both Adrianna and Caleb went tubing for the very first time.

Monday, September 5, 2011

An unexpected (by us, though not by the Lord) turn of events this past week made it impossible to get this update posted until now.  As I was bringing my Mom home to our house to spend a few days after her discharge from Heartland last Monday, her speech suddenly became unclear and I could no longer understand her.  We turned around and headed to the ER of Butterworth Hospital.  She was admitted and watched through Wednesday when I once again brought her back to our house.  They ruled out stroke and felt the symptoms could be attributed to a bit too much fluid being taken out at dialysis in the hours preceding the occurrence.  Mother has been with us since Wednesday evening and we have been enjoying having Grandma with us during this time.  She is doing well, though she tires easily and keeping up with her busy schedule of appointments is pretty taxing on her.

  Praise for:

- God’s protection over the miles and for good weather in our traveling.

- good meetings and the encouragement and good fellowship we have been enjoying with friends around MI.

- Adrianna winning an English (!) Bible at the great DVBS she and Caleb attended – for the most points won in her age group.

- God’s protection of Mother this past week, and that she is finally out of Heartland and home from the Hospital.

- God bringing Jonathan’s brother David and his family from PA to visit with Mother and other family and friends for a few days.

- a great day yesterday with our friends in Ithaca.  Praise for each of our prayer partners that uphold us!

- God’s provision for the purchase of the kids’ homeschooling materials through the love gifts that we have received.

Pray for:

- wisdom in prioritizing, strength and time to accomplish the host of tasks that we need to do, along with spending time with Mother and other family.

- Jonathan’s Mom, for wisdom concerning her return to her own apartment, and for continued safety from fall.

- the contacts that we continue to make with our ministry partners.

- the continued contact that we are having with our friends in France.

- our support team, and that God will add to our team and bring in the remaining support that we are lacking.

Praise and Prayer for August 15, 2010

We’re thankful for God’s help as we’ve gone through the whirlwind of the past couple of weeks.  The Lord answered prayer for our family as we separated for our round trip back to France to renew our residency cards.  The children did very well with Grandma and Grandpa Broeckert, and we were able to accomplish the purpose for the trip.  A special blessing was joining the church family in Reims for prayer meeting on Tuesday evening, the only full day we were in the country.  We even got to participate in the service as I was asked to lead the singing and prayer time and Cherith was asked to accompany the service.  Two young people were present that our church has been praying for these last couple of years.  One of them received God’s gift of salvation a few weeks ago and has been attending services regularly since.  God continues to work in hearts!

 

Cherith enjoyed a special opportunity to attend a Ladies’ Retreat with her aunt and a cousin where they were blessed by the ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Gracia Burnam.  God protected our family as we made a road trip to WI and Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.  We spent some time with my Grandma Teachout and my uncle’s family (Clifford Teachout), including a cousin and his wife that drove from Minneapolis for the weekend, and ministered at Grandma’s church in DePere,WI. This past week was the Broeckert family camping trip in Ontonagon, MI where 19 of us gathered for several days of fellowship, hiking, swimming in Lake Superior, and various outings.  We were missing Cherith’s brother Davar and his family and her sister Hadessah.  It was good to get home Friday evening just in time to prepare for a full day of ministry with our dear friends and partners in Fremont, MI.  Our meeting schedule has begun in earnest and we depend on the Lord for health, strength and protection in the days ahead.

  Praise for:

- the Lord’s answers to prayer for our family as we were separated for four days for our trip back to France.

- God’s answers to prayer concerning the two young people that we saw in prayer meeting in Reims.

- the Ladies’ Retreat Cherith was able to attend.

- the family reunions that we have been able to be a part of.

- God’s blessings in the meetings that we have had and for the blessing and encouragement that we have received.

- the progress that Jonathan’s Mom continues to make at Heartland Healthcare.

Pray for:

- wisdom and strength to accomplish all we need to do along with our heavy meeting schedule.

- our children with all of the challenges and changes that come with the schedule that we are having.

- the church in Reims, and for the new believers.

- wisdom for the doctors treating Jonathan’s Mom as they deal with the breathing problems caused by the buildup of fluid in her lungs and abdomen.  The Plavix she is taking for the stents that were inserted recently is keeping them from doing the procedure to drain the fluid.

- God to provide for the purchase of homeschooling materials for Adrianna and Caleb’s school year.

Praise and Prayer for July 25, 2010

Time marches on as we struggle to keep ahead of the demands and responsibilities of each day.  How thankful we are for all the Lord has done for us and allowed us to accomplish and be involved in these past two weeks.  It was good that Jonathan was here to move his Mother to Heartland Health Care Center for rehab from the Hospital before we left for Cleveland, OH for Baptist Mid-Missions’ Annual Conference July 11-14.  The conference based on the theme “Redeeming the Time” was a blessing in so many ways as we enjoyed the fellowship of friends and loved ones we hadn’t seen for several years and enjoyed the spiritual refreshment of the preaching sessions, the special music, ministry presentations and the useful workshops.  Adrianna and Caleb had much fun with the friends they made as well as in various activities organized according to their age including a day trip to the Cleveland Zoo.  We are so thankful too that Jessica Leslie was able to fly to Cleveland for the Conference to help with our kids and to profit from the sessions.  It was great to introduce her to the wonderful team that works in our Home Office.

Since we got back to our home here in Marne, our time and efforts have been split between preparing for our home ministry (messages, DVD presentation and display) and visiting and helping Jonathan’s Mother.  His brother Don put in many long hours with us as he used his talent in graphic design to put together our display.  After several very late nights, thank the Lord that we were ready for our very first speaking engagement Sunday night at Wealthy Park Baptist Church.

  Praise for:

- the great Annual Conference with good fellowship, much spiritual refreshment and fun for our children.

- the good care and progress that Jonathan’s Mother has been making in rehab, and for the opportunity to be near enough to be a help and encouragement to her.

- the Lord’s help in getting all of the details prepared for our first speaking engagement Sunday night, and that many family members were present, including Jonathan’s Mom.

- the generosity of our church family shown through a love offering last evening which covers half of the cost of our plane fare back to France this coming Sunday.

- the time we have been able to spend with our families, including a special Birthday party for Adrianna on Saturday when she turned 8.

Pray for:

- Jonathan’s Mother who fell last night at Heartland and was taken to the ER at Butterworth Hospital for a CT scan and 5 staples in a laceration to her scalp.  She is rather bruised, but is back at Heartland.

- us to be able to catch up with communication and other projects after having so much put on hold these past several weeks.

- safety as we travel back to Reims, France on Sunday for three days to renew our temporary resident cards.  Pray that our one-year cards will be available for us to pick up by Tuesday (otherwise, we will have to make another trip back to France within three months).

- Adrianna, Caleb and Josiah as we leave them with Grandma and Grandpa Broeckert for the time that we are gone to France, and for Mama and Papa too.

- the Lord’s provision of finances to fund some major expenses we have: complete funding for this trip back to France ($1800 still needed) and funds to purchase home schooling materials for Adrianna and Caleb for this school year.

Praise and Prayer for July 8, 2010

Sunday, June 26, Reims Evangelical Baptist Church had a special farewell service for our family.  They presented us with some beautiful gifts, but also with meaningful testimonies of how God has used us to impact ministries and lives in the church. It was a touching service and there were some tears shed.  How we praise God for giving us the opportunity to minister here in Reims these past four years.  We look forward to soon sharing with you in person some of what He has done.

The Lord worked out the timing for our trip home as Caleb was certified to be no longer contagious from the chicken pox and Josiah was yet to break out with them.  He did – three days after our arrival in PA!  We were sad to see Jessica leave us (to go to her home) but are so thankful for the greatly needed help that she was to us over the past two months.  It has been such a blessing to see family and friends and to have a very brief time with our sending church, though we have had to juggle things just a bit to try and not expose too many people to Josiah’s chicken pox. 

God is our strength and guide.  Little did we know upon returning to the USA on June 28th that Jonathan’s Mother would again enter the hospital in MI June 29 with pneumonia and a blood infection while all three of her sons were together in PA.  His brother Don and Ramona had driven to PA to meet us with Mother’s minivan, which she is loaning us for the six months we are home.  After much prayer we decided to come on to MI this week so that we could be near Mother to help.  God gave us much encouragement from our church family, and special understanding, as we had to postpone our meeting with them on the 10^th and reschedule for a later date.  On July 6^th our family left home in Pennsylvania at 5am, drove across Canada and into Michigan, and arrived in Grand Rapids about 6pm.  The Lord gave us needed strength and alertness as we drove and cheerful attitudes to the children who were even able to sleep along the way.  Thank you for praying for us! 

 

The Lord has given us the mission house of Berlin Baptist Church in Marne, MI (outside Grand Rapids) to stay in for these six months.  The location is ideal as we are only about fifteen minutes from the hospital as well as from Cherith’s parents and brother.  We are very tired, but thankful to be here at this very needy time. 

  Praise for:

- the BJU Musical Missions Team and the concert they gave in Reims on the 20^th.  There were a number of unsaved visitors who came.

- the encouraging farewell service from the Reims church.

- Jessica Leslie who was such a help and encouragement to us as we packed up and made the trip back to the USA.

- safety as we travelled by air from France to NJ, then by road on to PA and finally to MI.

- God’s help as our family adjusted to the six-hour time difference.

- our family and friends who have been so gracious in welcoming us back to the USA and providing us with groceries, toys, clothes and books for the children as well as meals and places to stay!

- improvement for Jonathan’s Mother.

Pray for:

- Josiah as he recovers completely from the chicken pox.

- Jonathan’s Mother to regain strength and weight (she is now 108 lbs) and for her transition from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility for a period of strengthening before she would be released to go home.

- Wisdom in our own time management as we have a lot of projects that we need to finish, including sermon preparations and our ministry presentation.

- the BMM annual conference that will be held this next week Monday through Thursday in Cleveland.  We are planning to attend along with Jessica Leslie, our Pastor, Roger Rosenau, and his wife, as well as with Cherith’s parents.

Praise and Prayer for June 20, 2011

 With each hour of every day full to the max, the time seems to pick up speed as our departure date approaches.  My Mother was able to return home from the hospital on June 10 and has been slowly recuperating.  We have been thankful for the telephone and for the way the Lord has helped her.  If all goes as planned, we will be together again on July 15 when we arrive in MI where we will be based for our furlough ministry.  There are still a couple meetings to schedule as well as visits with as many members of our support team as possible.  Our presentation is coming together, though complications with technology are causing a few delays (time that we didn’t think we had to spare!).  God is helping us with our projects, but the list is still long.

Sunday was a very special Father’s Day for me as Adrianna shared her testimony of salvation with the church and followed the Lord in believers’ baptism.  We praise the Lord for a full auditorium, and for the positive feedback that we heard from many people who were encouraged by Adrianna’s example.

Praise for:

- progress with projects and encouraging visits with church family.

- a special farewell party that was organized by the GBS (Sango outreach) in our honor, and for the fellowship and encouragement there.

- Adrianna’s desire to obey her Savior through baptism on Sunday, and for God’s help as she shared her testimony with the congregation.

- God’s help for Jonathan’s Mother, for her return home and for returning strength.

- all that God has done over these past four years of life and ministry in Reims.

Pray for:

- the BJU Musical Missions Team that will be in concert tonight in Reims, and for a good response to the 10,000 flyers that have been distributed.

- God’s help with innumerable projects this week as we finish up our presentation and pack suitcases for our flight to the USA next Tuesday, June 28. 

- our children’s health as Caleb is coming down with Chicken Pox and Josiah will likely follow (keeping in mind the big trip and transition next week).

- for our last Sunday at the church here, for the special farewell program that is planned as we leave our dear church family that has been a major part of our lives for over four years.