The months of April and May have been some of the busiest and most profitable of our eight months of deputation. The Lord blessed us with a few missions conferences and many meetings. We were able to make new friends and partners in ministry and look forward to seeing how God uses the new connections we made to further His work in Oregon and the Northwest.

We left North Carolina at the beginning of April and headed for the Northwest. Our first stop was a great Missions Conference with Pastor Brandon Hardy and the great people of Bethel Baptist Church in Salem, Oregon. The Lord truly directed each preacher as to the message to preach and we certainly were challenged and grew during our time here. We had a wonderful time going door to door, enjoying meals with the Pastor and others in the church, and every night at the service. We then headed up to Poulsbo, Washington to be with Pastor Steve Burden and Bible Baptist Church. He was kind enough to let us come in on Monday, even though his Missions Conference started on Sunday. We had a great time with Pastor Burden and the people, as well as the Koehns who are planting a church in Ellensburg, Washington. We enjoyed the fellowship and going door to door in Washington as well. We finished our trip to the Northwest by spending Easter at Willamette Valley Baptist Church. Pastor Rick Donley was kind enough to let us share our burden on Sunday night and Edwin was able to preach.

We headed home to North Carolina a few days later. We had two days at home to rest, recoup, wash our clothes, pack the van, and head to the Midwest. We thank God for his safety and provision as we logged somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 miles on our van during this twenty five day trip.

We started this trip out at Crossroad Baptist Church in Wanatah, Indiana, with Pastor Rick Moore. We had a great time spending all day Sunday with them. Pastor Moore and the people were a great blessing and we enjoyed seeing what God was doing there and what He will do in the future under Pastor Moore's direction. Our next stop was Hillcrest Baptist Church, Logansport, Indiana. Pastor Brandon Hudson and I went to camp together during our high school days. His wife and I went to high school together. It was great to catch up and spend some time with them. The accommodations while at the church were out of this world and we were able to make some new friends during our stop here as well. Next on our road trip was a stop with a college friend, Paul Rebert, who is the Pastor of First Baptist Church in Danville, IL. It was great to catch up with him as well and share our burden and calling with the church.

Since Josiah's birthday was to happen during our trip, we planned a couple of days in St. Louis to celebrate. We enjoyed Chuck-E-Cheeses, the Zoo, the Science Center, and the St. Louis Arch. It was a great time of rest and rejuvenation. From there we headed to Ellsinore, Missouri where Pastor Adam Webb and First Baptist Church was kind enough to let us use their prophets chamber and allowed share our ministry on Sunday Night. The farthest west we would go was Edmond, Oklahoma. We had a fabulous time with Pastor Russ Bishop and his family. Their three year old church plant, Lighthouse Baptist Church is a great example of how God is using church planting in America. We were also able to enjoy some good preaching at Heartland Baptist Bible College.

As we began to head back home our first stop going back east was Calvary Road Baptist Church, New Albany, Indiana, with Pastor Mike Kleitz. We enjoyed our time with the people here and were excited when they voted to support us right their in the service.

The last leg of our trip was the most unexpected, yet exciting part! We had plans to be at a church in the Cleveland area. By way of a mutual friend, Pastor BJ VanAman at Pickerington Baptist Temple, Pickerington, Ohio, was willing to house us as we were passing through Columbus. He was kind enough to allow us to present our ministry during their Thursday night service. While there our meeting in Cleveland had to be canceled because the Pastor's mother had passed away with cancer and all the services would take place on the Wednesday that we were scheduled to be there. The Lord always has a plan though. They are also always higher than ours. After telling Pastor BJ about what happened he implored us to stay and enjoy their church plants' one year anniversary with them on Sunday. That Sunday they voted to partner with us!!! That was not part of our scheduled plan, but it was part of God's and we are thankful that He worked it out. We greatly enjoyed our time with Pastor BJ, his family, and the church. We look forward to seeing how God will use our partnership to glorify Him.

The schedule slows down a little bit as we will spend a good chunk of our summer ministering at Living Water Christian Camp, which is the summer camp our sending church runs. However, we we certainly ask you to continue to keep us before the Lord as we will be doing some deputation travel during the summer months. Things pick up big time starting in August as we head to the Northeast for about two months, before we head back out the the Northwest. We love you all and thank God for your support and prayers. May God continue to bless you all greatly!!!!