At the end of February Andrew and Joanna and family visited the USA and spent a week at a welcoming, multi-cultural church in North Carolina for a mission conference. It was a time filled with opportunities to share about their ministry and be refreshed alongside sixteen other missionary families from around the world. It was greatly encouraging.
They were reminded of God’s heart for every tribe, language, people, and nation, and were encouraged to see His work globally despite chaos and uncertainty.
In the latter part of the week, Joanna’s parents joined them from Germany, and they had the privilege of visiting the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter before returning to Northern Ireland for the rest of their home assignment.
It has been such a blessing for them to reconnect with friends, see family, and spend meaningful time with so many people. Returning to their home church after three years, they were heartened by the love they felt from the moment they arrived.
They had the joy of meeting their newborn niece and spending special time with Joanna’s sister and her husband during their visit from Germany. They also had opportunities to share about their ministry in various church meetings.
Additionally, Andrew attended the Reach conference at North Cotes, where he took part in speaking and enjoyed connecting with the young people over meals and interactive activities, encouraging them to consider sharing the good news of the Gospel cross- culturally.
While they have been away from where they serve in Asia-Pacific, most of the Bible study groups and dorm activities continued, and another Sunday school seminar was held. Over Easter 200+ young people from different language groups gathered for the annual conference. Despite heavy rain, everyone was kept safe and encouraged by God’s Word.
Arriving back safely in Asia-Pacific safely on the 21st April Andrew and Joanna are looking forward to being part of the activities again. After the first two days of tiredness and main jet leg symptoms they feel more settled and praise God for how he has helped them and their kids – who have already attended three days of school.
Thank you for your prayers.