To download the prayer letter in a printable PDF format with picture and graphics, please click HERE

“Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?”

~ Proverbs 20:24 ~

The Lord has blessed in our furlough travels thus far with safety, good health, and encouraging meetings with both new and supporting churches.  To date, we have driven over 9000 miles through 24 different states and into some of the hottest temperatures we have ever experienced (105-113F in the desert states of the West)!  In all of our travels, the Lord has given us encouraging fellowship with friends in various ministries and has allowed us to spend some quality time with much of our family — many whom we have not seen for over four years.

The Lord has also blessed us  with the opportunity to give updates to six supporting churches and to present the ministry in Newfoundland to nine new churches.  A huge praise is that out of those nine churches, three have already committed to partner with us with financial and prayer support!  We have one remaining scheduled meeting at a new church, and we would ask you to please pray with us that the Lord would continue to provide the needed support in order to minister and live in Newfoundland.

Another update, which is both a praise and prayer request, has to do with our permanent residency application.  As you know, right before we left in April, we were able to submit all of our documents and applications for permanent residency to the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada). While we have been traveling, we have had several other steps to complete, and by God’s grace, we were able to get them all finished and submitted!  We sent our final submission in on June 30, and we are now waiting for IRCC to finish processing everything and issue our PR documents.  The only catch is that, because we are out of the country, IRCC has to mail us a physical document that we must present at the border in order to claim our PR.  So, this means that we will need to wait in the States to receive that document before crossing the border back into Canada, and we don’t know how long we will have to wait.  According to our immigration consultant, it usually takes several weeks to receive these documents, but it could be longer or shorter depending on their workload.  Our goal has been to try to be back home by July 23, but now our return date hinges on when we receive our documents.  

We know that all of this is in the Lord’s hands, and we are confident in His timing.  Even if this does delay our return home, it is still a huge answer to prayer that we have been able complete our PR applications and that we are just waiting for them to issue it!  We’d appreciate your prayers as we finish out our furlough travels and that we will receive the PR confirmation documents in the next couple of weeks.  Please continue to pray for the O’Briens for safety, as well as physical, spiritual, and emotional strength as they  travel each week to cover the ministry in Corner Brook in our absence, along with leading their own ministry in Stephenville.

Family Furlough Updates

One of the greatest blessings of furlough this time was that Elliot and Kara had the opportunity to attend a week of Youth Camp at the West Branch of the Bill Rice Ranch in Williams, AZ.  This was the first time that they have had the opportunity to be in such a preaching-saturated environment with other teens, and both of them greatly enjoyed every aspect of their time at camp.  It was encouraging to hear of how the Lord worked in their hearts   as a result of that week.  Katie and I were able to attend several of the services that week, and we were also challenged by the preaching and blessed by the camp theme of God’s faithfulness.  We are so very grateful to Bro. Troy Carlson, Bro. Glenn Stevenson III, and all the staff at West Branch for going above and beyond to make sure that our kids felt at home and had a wonderful week!  The only “downside” is that now they are wanting to go back every year!  However, once we are back in Newfoundland it will definitely be more difficult to send them there, but we can and will pray about it and trust that if the Lord wants it to happen, He will provide a way.

Our family has also enjoyed visiting many western states where we had not previously been before.  Travels though Utah and Colorado this time gave opportunity to explore several of the national parks, such as the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and others.  Through it all, we’ve been reminded of the greatness of our God as we behold His marvelous creation.

Thank you for upholding us in prayer and financial support.  We are truly grateful for your partnership in the Gospel and count it a privilege to be your representatives to the people of Newfoundland. 

To download the prayer letter in a printable PDF format with picture and graphics, please click HERE