Greetings from Calgary!
Even though I have lots of beautiful photos, this will be a brief, imageless report — which, I know, will make some of you happy!
I began this first trip, heading to Nova Scotia, on June 1st. Due to some communications glitches, I arrived in Halifax, on a delayed flight, not knowing if my friend would be there. She went to the airport not sure if I would be there either. Fortunately, we had a fantastic time together (other than the ticks!).
She took me to the ferry to PEI, where I thoroughly enjoyed my time with a family of seven who then saw me off for my flight to Alberta. The pace picked up there with a series of day visits – all much too short – with all these fantastic friends and family.
The connecting flights to Oregon went smoothly, and I had an incredible time at a supporting church and visiting friends there. After a 1.5-hour delay, it was still a comfortable connection to Calgary. The flight schedule change gave me more time for visits here today before catching the flight back to Ontario tonight, arriving tomorrow — on Canada Day!
The five days in Ontario will be full of activity before heading out on the next trip. One of the questions I’ve been asked a lot is about my housing for retirement. I was basically looking at two options, but I’m always open to whatever the Lord provides. Those two options shifted slightly to two new ones – both of whom contacted me while I was on this trip. Please pray for the Lord to guide me in making this decision, as I hope it will be my last move until Heaven!
The other major question I was encouraged to receive was about the El Faro property. A lot of prayer has gone into this process, and I thank you for it. Willy called after leaving the notary on Friday to let me know the process will take another 2–3 months. That was discouraging news, but the notary suggested three options for moving forward, and I am very pleased with how this should be finished. I had hoped the property title would be in the church’s name before I left. Now I’m hoping it will happen before I retire, so please do keep praying for everyone involved in the process. I think the Lord is teaching us all to have more patience!!!
The El Faro church is doing well and has completed the Level 2 training. They’re now looking forward to a missions trip in July. Please pray that those who go will grow in spiritual maturity, and for those they’ll be ministering to in the area of the Bible college where Willy and Isela graduated.
I’m so grateful for the prayer and financial partners the Lord has provided over the years. It’s been a joy to share with those I’ve seen on this first trip how God has been – and is – working in the areas where I’ve been privileged to serve. And it’s been just as encouraging to hear their stories of God’s faithfulness! I’m looking forward to the visits through MI, IL, WI, and IN from July 7th into August. I’ll be driving for the remaining visits, so please pray for safety on the road – and that I’ll be a blessing to those who’ve been such a tremendous blessing to me
Grateful for your partnership,
PS for Canadians – I have a new personal giving link: https://team.org/w/cad/115797. Here is what TEAM of Canada wrote to explain it: As stewards entrusted with the resources we are given, whether that be people, finances, or tools, we are always open to opportunities to improve. Last Fall, we switched systems that processed automatic bank withdrawals for donations and now we have the opportunity to do the same thing for recurring credit card transactions. This change will allow us to process transactions more easily, with a better integrated system, resulting in lower costs and people time while potentially giving you more features.
If you would like to make a contribution to my support, you could click on the appropriate link:
Brenda
