The last few weeks we have had meetings in the Atlanta area. Many have been churches that already support us. We were in a couple new churches and also scheduled some meetings in the area for next year. During our time in Atlanta I preached in a deaf church in which one young man was saved. It was a blessing to talk with 12 year old Luis after the service and show him how the Lord died for his sins.

Stephanie was ill part of this trip. We took her to a doctor to get some medicine for the illness. When he checked her blood pressure, his concern for the illness was lessened because of immediate concern for her high blood pressure. We were sent to the emergency room to get started with some long term care. I was able to take her home and get her scheduled in with a doctor. She is undergoing some tests and treatment to take care of the blood pressure. In the process the doctors have found some other issues that we are going to be checking into. Pray for her health.

After leaving Stephanie and the kids in Pensacola, I returned to Atlanta for two more meetings before going to east Tennessee. Our mission board holds a conference each November in which the board of directors meet for planning and business purposes. The missionaries who are home and pastors who are very closely associated with the board attend this time of fellowship and preaching. It was great to be with some old friends I have not seen in at least 4 years. Some I have not been with for almost 8 years.

I have returned home and will be home for a few more days before heading to another church this weekend.

We appreciate your continued prayers for our traveling safety. Also, please pray for Stephanie’s health issues that the doctors will be able to care for her. I will keep you posted with any significant news about her health.

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The last couple of weeks we have been in Virginia and Indiana. The meeting in Virginia was in a church that currently supports our ministry. We are quickly learning that visiting a supporting church is very different than being in a church for the first time or seeking support in a church. When we are in supporting churches the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

We have been in a couple of churches in the Indianapolis area. We will then move to Atlanta to be in several supporting churches and a couple new ones before Thanksgiving.

God is blessing and we are enjoying being with friends and family as we move around.

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Thank you for praying, we finally got into a house this week.

After we bought the car we headed to a supporting church in North Carolina. It is a church that has supported us for several years. The church called a new pastor since we were last there and we instantly fell in love with him and his family. It was a blessing to spend several days at the church getting to know the members better and getting to meet the new pastor.

On the last day there I was privileged to preach the Sunday morning service. There were two young men who indicated a need for salvation. I was able to take one with me and another missionary talked with the other boy. We were able to lead the 11 and 13 year old boys to the Lord.

We got back to Florida and continued the house searching. We finally made a decision on a house on Friday, but it has taken almost a week to get all the paperwork done. We started moving in on Thursday of this week. It is sufficiently large to meet our needs and comfortable enough to provide us relaxation when we are home.

Thank you again for praying.

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Thank you for praying. We were able to purchase the exact vehicle we were looking for. It is a silver 2003 Honda Odyssey.

Typical of missionary life, we bought it while on a trip. So our current truck, 1990 Suburban, is sitting in a church parking lot outside of Atlanta waiting until we drive back through that area so we can pick it up and take it back to Florida.

We will be back in the hunt for a house by the middle of next week.

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We spent 8 days in Pensacola (our home base) looking for a house and a car. The house is to rent for the year and the car is to buy. We stayed with David’s parents during that time of searching. Neither a house nor a vehicle presented itself before we had to leave on our first furlough trip.

Currently we are just outside of Atlanta headed to North Carolina for a mission conference in a supporting church. It has been humorous today trying to remember everything that we need to pack for a conference. I am sure we have forgotten something, but there is always a Wal Mart nearby.

Pray with us about finding a house to move to when we get back home. We are also looking for a car. We have hopes of finding the right one on this trip. We have some leads and options, but have not gotten peace about any of them so far. We know the Lord will lead and give us clear direction.

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We arrived in Pensacola, Florida several hours later than planned. We got stuck in evacuation traffic out of Louisiana. Other than that our trip went very well. We had no vehicle problems and only had to unload our truck and trailer once for inspection. In Mexico we have military check points on all the highways and have to stop several times each day for potential random inspections. But our one thorough inspection came at US Customs.

We will be in Pensacola over the next two weeks looking for a place to rent for the year and getting settled in. Then we start traveling in meetings about the middle of September.

We appreciate your prayers.

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Now that our work at the church here has officially ended, it is time to finish packing and get on the road to return to the US. We will be traveling from Tuesday to Saturday (or beyond) to get back to Pensacola where we will call home for the next year.

Today at the church service, we had a wonderful turn out of people. I don’t think a good count was ever gotten, but we had 30+ at the service and there were close to 20 other pastors, missionaries and friends who came by the church after their services were over.

One pleasant surprise we had was that two of the main administrators at the local Deaf school came to the service this morning. These are two ladies who do not participate in a hands on way at the school, and therefore I rarely see them. But they are government officials who are in charge of the administrative tasks and are usually present for all the school functions when the public is invited. These ladies have been very kind to us and spoke very highly of the work that the Lord has helped us to build. They probably have very little understanding of all that we are trying to do, but they have been supportive in our efforts to provide spiritual guidance to the Deaf community.

I have felt for some time that things have gone well with the ministry and that God will continue to bless the Greens and the work here. After today, I feel even more confident that we are able to walk away knowing that we have done what God has called us to do and that He will continue to build this work through other people.

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Thank you for praying for us and our ministry here in Merida, Mexico. We have been here a little over four years and it is time to pack up and head back to the US. At church today we have invited all the Deaf that we have been able to. Many are people with whom we have worked over the last few years. While we have seen many saved, there are still many that we have contacted and taught who have not accepted the Lord as their Savior. Today will be my last opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

After the services this morning, we are going to have a meal at the church. Of course all those who are at the church will be invited to stay and we will also be joined by other missionaries and national pastors.

We have worked for some time to transfer the authority of the church over to the other missionary family. All the people who regularly attend the church have been looking to Bill as the pastor for quite some time. It is those with whom I have personally built a relationship, who do not attend our church, that will be seeing this transfer of authority today. We are really wanting them to look to Bill and Jennifer as the ones they can contact to get spiritual help.

I talk a bit about our departure in the latest episode of the Missionary Talks podcast.

If we are not too worn out and frazzled at the end of the day, I will try to give a report with a couple of pictures.

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Today we were privileged to baptize one of our recent converts. She is a lady who was saved in March. She came to our church after seeing me put an invitation flyer in a neighbor’s gate. She is wheelchair bound because of polio, but sent a friend across the street to grab the flyer and find out what the American in the neighborhood was promoting. The first Sunday she was with us was a special day we had in February. You can read more about Magi’s salvation in an earlier post.

Recently Bill (the other missionary we work with) has been teaching on baptism. Magi told us in church last Sunday that she wanted to be baptized before we left for the US. She stated that since she got on the path to coming to church and ultimately finding the Lord because of that one flyer I placed in a gate, she wanted me to be part of her baptism.

Today we were able to go to another church with a baptistery and baptize Magi. Since she is in a wheelchair, we put her in a plastic chair in the water and tipped her backwards. I have not been part of too many baptisms, but I can assure you this one will not be soon forgotten. It was an honor to be a part and that she felt so strongly in honoring us in this way.

In the video, Bill is the one who actually performs the baptism and he asks me to pray at the end. Of course this is all done in Spanish and in Mexican Sign Language.

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Today we drove home from the Deaf camp in Yucatan. We were there from Tuesday to Friday of this week. There were 22 participants in the camp, which is about what we expected. We did not have any salvations during the week, but we were privileged to spend individual time with the Deaf and their hearing family members which we normally do not get to do in our normal ministry.

This week of camp marks the final stage of our ministry in Merida. We have finished four years here and are excited about leaving the ministry in the hands of another family. The next 10 days will be spent packing and tying up loose ends.

We will also have one final event at the church which will be a going away party for us. We have worked to invite the many Deaf that we have met through our four years of ministry here. Of course it will be an exciting and emotional time for all of us, but I am thrilled about having one more opportunity to present the Gospel to those who have not made a decision for Christ. That special day will be August 24. We would really appreciate your prayers that God will lead the people to the service and that they will be willing to hear the Gospel one last time from us.

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