Dear friends,
The culmination of months of prayer and planning began this week! Connect ’24, the annual student ministry training event that we host each summer in a small town in Germany, promises to be another fantastic week of intentional ENCOURAGEMENT, EMPOWERMENT, and EQUIPPING for the task of reaching secular campuses in Europe with the love of Jesus.
Would you please pray for Connect ’24? We are believing for the Lord to do good things in the lives of every participant, and can’t wait to share those stories of answered prayer with you. Thank you!
In other news, we are coming to the end of one of the busiest 3-month spans of suitcase-living that we’ve ever had. Here are a few of the highlights:
Introducing Mr. & Mrs. David Bonin
In May, all the Bonins, along with Paw Paw Lynn, made it to Waxahachie, TX to celebrate David and Allison’s wedding. We are so grateful for the Lord blessing them with each other, and blessing us with a new daughter & sister-in-law. Anytime we can all be together is very special indeed!
In addition to the much-needed time spent with family, we have had meetings in churches and with friends to raise awareness of the spiritual needs in secular Europe, increase prayer support for us personally and for the ministry, and to cover the cost-of-living increase in our new budget. It has been a joy to re-connect with friends all the way southeast in New Orleans, LA, north in Bolivar, MO, west to Tulsa OK, and Dallas, TX, and many points in between. We’ve been encouraged by our travels as we are seeing a fresh emphasis on the Great Commission as people are called to give, pray, and to “lose themselves in all the world for Christ’s sake and the gospel.”
Most of the month of June was spent in Springfield, MO for Missionary Renewal which we attend at the end of each four-year term. Pictured above are some of our Europe colleagues during our Regional Studies breakout. It was a rich time of connecting with old friends as well as new workers who are on their way to Europe for the first time, including some who will be working with Students for Christ – a direct answer to our constant prayer for more workers!
This summer also marks a significant milestone in our family: Josiah graduated from high school this year. While this marked the end of 28 years of grading tests, essays, and creating transcripts for this home-schooled family of six, it also meant the beginning of the end of university campus visits, scholarship interviews, and of course, driver’s ed. Please pray with us for Josiah as he discerns his next steps in his pursuit of God’s call on his life – and yes, it will have something to do with music. 🙂
Pictured: Dropping Josiah off for his last MK summer program
Following the conference in Springfield, our last trip in the US was back to Waxahachie, TX, to await the arrival of our fifth grandchild. Baby Eleanor arrived in her own time, and we are grateful that she and Claire are both doing well.
Thank you for your support in so many different ways. We are excited to get settled back home soon (and maybe rest a bit) so we can embark on this new season of ministry in Belgium and beyond.
For Christ’s sake and for the gospel,
Blair, Dina and Josiah
P.S. Don’t forget to pray for Connect! Thanks!