Greetings!
We have now been on deputation for almost three months! It has been a challenging time with being on the road constantly and Sam being sick but God has truly blessed and we are getting excited about heading down to Mexico as soon as the Lord allows. We want to thank each of you who prayed for Sam when he was sick. We have taken him off of foods with fructose in them and he is doing tremendously better! He has gone from weighing just over 18 lbs in the hospital to 21 lbs 3 oz. this morning! He has also grown quite a bit taller and seems to be much happier in general. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray for us as we try to figure out exactly what he can eat because right now his diet is very limited.
Over the last month we have visited churches in Iowa, Missouri, and Mississippi. Thankfully the Lord allowed us to stay in one place with my in-laws for most of the month since the majority of the churches were within three and a half hours of their house in Glenwood, IA. The Lord worked through these churches to provide us with the funding necessary to continue on deputation and to raise additional monthly support towards our goal. We are on the downhill side now and we are so excited about seeing how God will provide the remaining necessary monthly support. We are committed to being in Mexico by January 1st, 2011 regardless of where we are in our fundraising but we feel confident that as God works through men and women who desire to see God glorified through the work of missions we can be there much sooner if that is His will.
Thank you all for praying for our safe travels. We have traveled thousands of miles since starting deputation and we have not had any accidents or major car problems for which we are extremely grateful. The service department at Wal-Mart did mess up our oil plug up which prevented us from leaving Iowa on time to head to Missouri but God had a plan even in that. Wal-Mart agreed to pay to replace the oil pan since they were at fault. We had to get estimates on replacing the oil pan and then they gave us the cash to have the work done but we just did the work ourselves and we were able to pay to replace the breaks and do some other needed car work with the money we saved from the labor cost.
We do not have a church scheduled this upcoming Sunday since it is the 4th of July (Happy 4th everyone!). We are going to be spending the holiday with my parents in southern Missouri. We have a canoe trip planned for Monday the 5th and are very excited about the chance to rest and spend time with family over the weekend. We will then be in Missouri until the end of July at which time we are headed to Florida for a few weeks in August followed by a stay in Indiana. Please continue to pray for our safe travels and that God would be glorified in our ministry. Once again if you are interested in having us present at your church please contact us with you pastor’s information or have him contact us directly. We are presently scheduling primarily for the fall. Also don’t forget to you can find us on facebook at, stanley’s2mexico, and on our website at www.stanleys2mexico.com. At our website you can find a list of prayer requests and the most recent issue of our kid’s blog which is a great way to get your kids and grandkids excited about missions. If you would like a prayer card or bookmark email us your address and we will get one right out to you.
Philippians 4:20 – “Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
In Christ,
Nathan, Mary, & Baby Sam