Dear Family and Friends,
We have had a great couple of months as we have been laboring on the field.
During the month of February, we had Round Up Sunday with Evangelist Greg Waggoner. He and his wife were a huge blessing to our church. We had some that were gone for a little while that had come back to church. It was exciting to see them come back. That next day, my family and I had a missions conference in Beeville, TX with Beeville Baptist Church. This is my (Jacob’s) parents’ church. It was a great conference with a great spirit towards missions. We enjoyed visiting my parents, my sister, and her family. Following that conference, I flew to Bosie, ID, rented a car, and drove down to Winnemucca, NV. It was a one day mission’s conference and I went there by myself as my wife and son were with my parents in Beeville, TX. I had the privilege to preach missions Sunday at Pastor Mondt’s church (Lighthouse Baptist Church) in Winnemucca. I was very encouraged by the pastor and his wife. The spirit of the church was wonderful! On my way back to Beeville, it was a little crazy because it was snowing a lot and it was right after the Super Bowl, so a lot more private planes were in the air than usual. Eventually, I got back to my family 2 days later than expected. While my family and I were away, Dr. Arthur Maricle filled the pulpit for me and afterwards was able to lead one of my teens to the Lord! We were so excited to hear the good news! On February 25th, we took 10 teenagers out door knocking and they had a blast! I was proud of them.
The month of March was quite busy! On March 4th, we hosted a ladies fellowship and 3 other Native churches got to join us. Tohono O’odham Baptist Church in Casa Grande, AZ, Tohono O’odham Baptist Church on the T.O. reservation near Casa Grande, AZ and Cocopah Bethel Baptist Church. The speakers were Dawn Veldhuis (pastor’s wife from Cocopah Bethel Baptist Church) and Louann Shannon (pastor’s wife from Tohono O’odham Baptist Church on the reservation near Casa Grande, AZ). The theme was Growing In Grace, and Mrs. Shannon shared her testimony and Mrs. Veldhuis shared a small devotion. Although no salvation decisions were made, the teens and ladies in attendance listened intently and were encouraged by the speakers!
On March 6th- 8th, I took a teenager with me who feels called to preach to the North Valley National Pastors and Workers Conference in Santa Clara, CA. We had to leave a day early due to my wife’s hospitalization from a COPD flare. March 15th-18th, Samuel and I attended Victorville Baptist Church’s missions conference while Lydia stayed home to rest. It was exciting to see a thriving and growing church that loves missions! A few days later, they contacted me letting me know that they would be supporting us monthly and would be donating one of their church buses to us so that we can pick up more people on the reservation. Please PRAY that I will be able to complete my CDL training and get my CDL license soon!
On March 26th, we brought back evening service at New Haven Baptist Church. We had suspended evening services for a few months due to being on the road on part time deputation. This allowed us to present at nearby churches while being able to still hold morning and Thursday night services. On March 28th, we celebrated Samuel’s 4th Birthday and were able to host a small party for him with some of our church attendees.
During the month of April, we had quite a few families stop attending due to circumstances in their home lives. Our attendance has dropped, but we are thankful that the people in the area know that we are always here for them. At the beginning of the month, we had a few different scenarios take place. Two girls came to services who were invited by the Jr. Higher Lydia tutors. We had never met them before and knew nothing of their home life. They asked us if we could buy them some groceries, and we said we could after the service. After the service, we took them to the store and bought them groceries. We later found out that they had nothing in the house because their mom and her boyfriend are Meth users and had sold their food stamps. They had 6 younger children in their home. We also found out that the mom’s boyfriend doesn’t allow them out of the house at times and that the mother sometimes beats them. Sadly, this has already been reported to the authorities but nothing was done after the investigation. As soon as the authorities left, the mother beat the children so badly that they bruised. Please pray that God will allow us to minister to this family.
We had three big Sundays during this month as well. We had Easter Sunday with three new visitors and had our Second Anniversary Sunday on April 23rd. We then had our first ever Missions Conference from April 28-April 30th. Missionary Ryan Nez from the Navajo Reservation preached and our people really enjoyed him and his family! We gave out Faith Promise Commitment Cards and besides ourselves we had one other person give towards Faith Promise Missions. Praise God for that! During our conference, the painting of the building was completed and we are so thankful!
Thank you again for your prayers and support!
The Jones Family
Missionaries to the Quechan Native Americans
Colossians 1:18
Prayer Requests:
Salvations: Vanity, Leia, Ish, Zan, Manuel, Donavon, Damen, Katlin, Elie and Marven.
Spiritual Growth: Adam & Justin (called to preach) Dallas, Emma, Bernita, Seneca, Maleena, Melody, Angie, Lusion, Uriah and Airus.
Health:
Lydia- wisdom for Drs. with worsening lung function and that tests would show the cause
Samuel: that he will continue to grow and develop
Bro. and Mrs. Veldhuis with general health
Needs: $3,000 for Jacob’s CDL Training, $1,100 for Teen Camp in June.
Personal: Wisdom, strength, Samuel’s future and health.