Dear Friends, Family, Prayer and Ministry Partners, August/September 2024
Thank you for your interest in the evangelization of our Native American Indian
population. The last two months have been filled with opportunities to do just that.
Most recently, we have begun our second year of Good News Club in our local public
elementary school. We have prayed for an entire year for one of these young ones to
be saved, and God let us see two children come to Christ our first meeting back
together! We also have seen an increase in attendance from the numbers we saw last
year. Would you please pray with us for the supply of the $1200 needed for the
curriculum and insurance fees associated with the GNC?
We began the month of August on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota. Our
annual IBIMI missionary retreat was an encouragement to all who attended. Our
member missionaries were our guest speakers. Each message was refreshing to those
blessed to hear them. We also enjoyed a side trip to the head waters of the Mississippi
River, and a bucket list desire to visit Angle Inlet and the northern most reservation of
the lower forty-eight.
Our teens traveled to Peoria, AZ for the annual Bill Rice Ranch West Branch
Youth Conference early in September. They came back home having heard great
preaching and enjoying a day of fun activities. Sherry and I are so thankful for our
current youth group. Their eagerness to attend and actively participate in evangelistic
activities has been a huge encouragement to us. A missionary’s desire is always to see
those you are ministering among, go out and minister to others. This past Sunday was
“Fifth Sunday.” Our teens taught the Sunday School classes and ran the Junior Church
service. They also lead the music, collected the offering, and gave the announcements
in the main service.
Also, in September, a record number of our ladies attended a retreat in eastern
Arizona. Then, one week later, Sherry was privileged to be a speaker at another ladies’
retreat in central Arizona. The testimonies from those who attended were filled with
gratitude to the Lord for the practical messages they heard.
On a personal note, we were excited to travel back to the part of Canada where
we had served for six years. Most of our children, their spouses and children were able
to join with us for a wonderful family reunion. While there, Sherry and I visited with one
of the Stoney families we held home Bible studies with while living in Alberta. We were
saddened to hear of the lives lost over the years. But, we were thankful for the many
that were saved during our years there. The Stoney Reserve still has no Bible believing
church ministering on it. Please, pray for laborers! Throughout this continent,
reservations and reserves are hurrying blindly toward a Christless eternity. Thank you
for your financial support of our family as we minister among the Hualapai. And, lastly,
consider if the Lord may have you join us or the countless other mission fields around
the globe.
For God’s Glory,
Steve and Sherry De Ford