Church Meetings and Family Time in May

We have found ourselves spending a couple of weeks in meetings close enough to be able to stay at our home. This allowed us to spend some time with family members who are realizing our departure time is drawing closer. Nisha and girls where able to go to Chicago with Aunt Heather and spend some fun time at the American girls store and Navy Pier; while Jon and the boys spent time with Jon's brother and his mother at the Toledo Zoo. Many fun moments took place at each which will be remembered and cherished.

As a family, we've been able to present in Indiana, Illinois, and will be finishing this month in Maryland. Jon appreciated the opportunity to set up a table display and attend the Pastor's conference in Rockford, Illinois.

We are at 95% of our support and must meet the criteria of the full 100% and have passage fund secured before approval of purchasing tickets and setting specific target date. If criteria is met by June than we can further pursue August departure but if not met by June than it will be a January departure. Please pray with us that God will allow us to depart in August.

Indiana Meetings on Mothers Day!

We had the joy of returning to two areas that we had previously lived in at the beginning of us serving in full time ministry. The first church was Calvary Baptist in Lapaz, IN which is pastored by Ryan Wardlow, who was a teenager when Jon was the youth pastor in Plymouth. It was a blessing to see him in full time ministry today. Our children will remember the church as the one with eight little bunny rabbits found in the grass at the church. What excitment that brought.

The second church was Dyer Baptist Church in Dyer, IN where we attended as members back in 2000. Pastor Atkinson has been a tremendous example of a compassionate Christian. What a delight to be able to present our calling of church planting in Peru with these two churches. Once again, God provided safety in traveling, food, and lodging for our family during this trip to Indiana.

May 2010 Prayer Letter

Dear Fellow Laborers of the Gospel, May 2010

We returned back to our sending church for their mission conference and had opportunity to give an update and preach. We have just completed a busy spring schedule filled with good mission conferences. Over two months of meetings and only seeing our support increase by one percent left us reluctant to report our percentage in our prayer letter. However, within three days of writing this letter, God has saw fit to allow us to hear from a group of churches who voted to support us which has increased our support level to 95% and has rejuvenated us to consider packing up for a sooner departure. Praise the Lord!
We had an opportunity to sit down with our Pastor to express our desire and urgency for departing in August. This would allow us to attend the fall semester of language school in Costa Rica. He was thinking that it would be in January of 2011, but with God providing the surge of support and showing the possibility of it happening in August, he was thrilled to entertain the idea. We are scheduled to meet with our deacons on May 25th for final approval from our church and June 28th for the exiting meeting with our mission board before we purchase our tickets. So much to do before August! It seems as if someone has given us a huge push down a steep snow hill on a sled. We have responded with tears of joy and are overwhelmed with the excitement. May God be praised for all He has done!
We will be purchasing Rubbermaid containers to begin packing items to take with us. We are watching prices for tickets and are considering taking extra baggage with us on the plane so that we would have it available to us in Costa Rica and in Peru while avoiding shipping a container altogether if possible.
Please pray for us to raise the remaining support needed, see God provide the funds for exiting, homeschooling to be completed, passports for children, packing, meetings, traveling, and all the other details that we must meet to have a smooth transition.
We rejoice in the Lord for providing each of us with good health these last two months and safety in our travels. We have been encouraged to see our children’s desire to share the Gospel. Our son Matthew was able to lead a neighbor to Christ and Katie is praying to lead one to Christ on her own. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We pray that fruit will abound to your account as we faithfully serve together for the sake of our Savior’s name.

Jon and Nisha Harris