Dear ones in Christ,
Since Gary stepped down as pastor of Living Waters Baptist Church in May, one hymn has often come to mind – one of our favorites – “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”
The first verse is:
“All the way my Savior leads me – What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?
Heaven’y peace divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know what e’er befall me, Jesus doth all this well;
For I know what e’er befall me, Jesus doth all thing well.”
And the closing line,
“This my song through endless ages; Jesus led me all the way.”
This is the desire of our hearts.
It seems we are constantly seeking His direction in this new phase of our lives.
No longer serving at Living Waters as been an adjustment for sure, and we want to thank you for praying for God’s direction as to how He would have us continue serving Him. And we see His definite “leading” in many areas.
First of all, after going to several churches in the area, seeking the one God would have us be part of, we felt “led” to visit the American Indian Church on another section of our reservation located about 20 miles from us at Clarkdale, AZ. Our first Sunday there, it felt like “home.” When you have been in NA churches for almost 40 years, that seems like home to us. It is a very small work, less than a dozen attending, Pastor Daigle is 86 years old, a Penobscot Indian from Maine, having started the work 41 years ago. He recently had a stroke and is somewhat limited, but still faithfully giving God’s Word. The folk have made us feel very welcome. We assured them up front that we weren’t there to try to take over, but we would be glad to help in any way we might be needed.
For some time now, Gary has felt God’s “leading” in meeting with Native American men that are incarcerated at our county jail located in Camp Verde. There was much red tape to work through in order to do so. It has to be done by video. One problem was that they don’t give out names of inmates, you have get those on you own. The first Sunday we attended the new church, Gary asked for prayer for guidance in this new ministry. One of the ladies came to him afterwards and said her grandson was incarcerated there and wondered Gary could get in contact with him, He then had his first contact! Gary has been able to meet with Michael once and is arranging another meeting. Please pray for Michael’s salvation.
We are so thankful God has “led” us to good doctors. Gary will be seeing an electrocardiologist in October concerning the need for a pacemaker. Bev is getting the last of her heart tests finished so she can reschedule her knee surgery that was canceled in May. She just had another bout with Covid, but is recuperating nicely.
We understand that things are going well at Living Waters, and we are so thankful God led Paul and Naomi Sondergaard to pick up the baton.
It was a great blessing to attend the annual IBIMI retreat in August, held at West Branch camp near Williams, AZ. What made it extra – special was that we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the mission board. Many pictures and memories were shared during that time. We were challenged and encouraged by great messages from Pastor Randy Miller and Brother Troy Carlson.
PRAISES:
*For fellowship and teaching at American Indian Church
*For opening doors to a new area of ministry
*For taking care of our physical needs
PRAYER REQUESTS:
*For God’s guidance in ways we can be of help at AIC.
*For new contacts Gary can meet with at the jail
*For medical needs coming up
We are grateful for your prayers and support in our behalf. Please continue to pray for God’s leading and direction.
In His Love and Ourst,
Gary & Bev Messick