Fall 2024

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. (Psalm 9:1-2)

Greetings from Grand Rapids! The Psalms are full of praise to our Lord, for His goodness, His greatness, His love, and His mercy. We are rejoicing in how the Lord has been working throughout this year in particular, and we are evidence of the Lord's continual grace and provision.

Ministry Update
Since our last update, we have made the transition from Romania to the US, and we have already been serving with the Bibles International team of Baptist Mid-Missions for two months. It was a bittersweet time as we bid farewell to Romania where we called home for nearly 15 years. We were humbled by the many expressions of thanks we received as our teammates and Romanian friends organized several events to say goodbye.

In October, we had our first meetings in churches to report on our last term in Romania and to share more about our new ministry responsibilities. If you would like to schedule a meeting with us, please contact us. We'd love to see you again!

We also have a new prayer card. If you would like to receive one or more, please let us know. We will be distributing them as we visit our supporting churches in the coming months. In the meantime, we will continue to correspond via our prayer letters and Facebook group as before.

Family News
When we returned to the US, we had two short days with Amber before we took her to the airport to fly to Japan. She is enjoying her time as she studies at Kansai Gaidai University this semester. She has a full schedule of classes, and she is also taking an online class at Miami University. She is also has been taking advantage of her time to see the country and visit with a new friend and her family on occasion, who are serving as her host family.

We also had a chance to visit Celeste and Ben in Madison, WI, and we enjoyed seeing their townhouse, Celeste's workplace, and the weekly farmer's market outside the capital building. Ben has begun his second year of veterinary school, and he continues to excel in his courses while working part time on the weekends.

Thank you for your involvement in our lives and ministry!

Dave and Ruth

God's Provision of a Home
God's provision has been evident to us as we were able to quickly find and purchase a home in Grand Rapids. Although we began looking at homes online prior to our arrival, our friends recommended an experienced realtor who helped us navigate the home buying process. After seeing a number of homes, we found one that we felt would meet our needs, both for our family and for hosting guests and interns connected with Bibles International. We later found that this particular home was also owned by believers, who were gracious enough to leave us a number of furnishings and yard equipment, including a beautiful china cabinet. After two months, we now have possession of the home, and we moved in earlier this week. Prior to moving in, we were blessed to stay in the finished basement apartment of BMM missionary colleagues, Larry and Sallie Fogle. We are continuing to visit area churches, seeking to find a new church home where we can serve and worship.