Dear Praying Friends and Ministry Partners,
Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
We have wrapped up a great summer of ministry on the Hualapai Indian Reservation here in Northwestern Arizona. Our home church youth group came out to help us with backyard Bible club and VBS early in July. The girls in the group taught the Bible clubs each morning while the boys helped us paint the church. They also put in some fruit and nut trees at our house. We are looking forward to many great harvest in years to come. The VBS was well attended and two young people accepted Christ as Savior!
We want to clear up any lingering misunderstandings regarding the home-going of Dustin De Ford. Dusting was one of the 19 firefighters lost in the devastating fire near Prescott, AZ. His family are friends of ours and there was much confusion because Dustin’s dad, Stephen, is a Baptist pastor in Montana. Many thought we had lost our son in the fire. Please, continue to pray with us for the Stephen De Ford family in the loss of their son.
In August, we attended our annual IBIMI conference. This year Brother Gary Messick hosted the meeting at the work in Verde Valley, AZ. It seemed God had a special meeting planned for us as circumstances prevented most of our plans from happening. We were encouraged by many of our men to continue for the Lord in the ministries in which He has placed us. God also brought Brother Garry Locklear and his wife Sheril to visit with us. The Locklears are Lumbee Indians from Fairview, NC and travel all over the US supporting Indian missions through preaching, building, and a ministry of encouragement to missionaries. They were a blessing to our entire mission family! Sherry and I also celebrated our 25th anniversary. The mission family surprised us with a beautiful cake and many cards. A couple of weeks later, Paul and Betty Hiscock were with us for a crash course on music! They brought our a Christmas program for our church to begin working on and walked us through it step by step. We loved our time of fellowship with them. And look forward to their next trip west!
September brought us back to the beginning of another year of home school co-op. I also drove to Pensacola, FL to take our son Immanuel to college. Sherry had a hard time letting him go, but Manny is adjusting very well to college life.
We did have the sad duty of removing one of our families from the membership roll. Please keep Danny and Ruth in your prayers. Satan has gotten a hold of this couple and is trying very hard to destroy them. They had been members of our co-op as well, so their children are back in public school. We are grieving over this family and pray they return to us quickly.
Now, we look forward to fall and all the ministry opportunities that await this wonderful time of year. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of this ministry. We are truly grateful for your part in the Lord’s work among the Hualapai!
For God’s Glory,
The Steve De Ford family