The Home Stretch 

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Johnson City, TN. It's good to be back home again, spending time with Heather and Krista after being on the road for 6 weeks. We covered 8000 miles as we traveled from Tennessee to Texas, Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Ontario Canada, Indiana, Ohio, Washington D.C., Virginia and North and South Carolina - whew! We experienced a bird strike in South Dakota, necessitating a windshield replacement but, other than that, our travels went smoothly. 

We not only covered a lot of geographical territory on our trip. We covered a lot of spiritual territory as well, sharing with churches and small missions minded groups on such topics as mutual care, suffering and our identity as Christ's body. Thanks to each of you who not only showed us hospitality but shared your lives with us. Sometimes it feels like we are put on a pedestal so we love it when you share your stories with us. God is at work in each of your lives and it encourages us to hear how He is working in and through you!

We have a special prayer request for the Pakistani refugee school we are associated with: our teacher and one of her daughters (a student in the school) are on their way to Pakistan to renew their passports and visas. There are some risks associated with this as they had overstayed their visas previously. They are planning to return before the start of the new school year in August. Please pray for their passports to be renewed promptly and that they would be granted visas to return to Thailand. 

Additional Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for us in the home stretch of our 2016 furlough. We are sorting, packing and spending time with the girls as we begin to make travel arrangements for our next season of ministry in Asia. 
2. Pray for Alberta in the run up to her intensive class in Atlanta. She leaves June 12 and returns June 18th. She is juggling studies between the home we are staying in and one of the local seminaries in the area. 
3. Pray for Heather as she finalizes plans to study this fall. She has narrowed her search to 2 universities in the UK, one in England and the other in Scotland. Pray for wisdom, courage and peace as she takes this big step.
4. Krista plans to defer her studies to 2017. Pray for her as she re-works her application to her preferred college - the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta