Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings once again from our beautiful home in Knysna! We are enjoying cooler temperatures with plenty of sunshine as we move from autumn to winter. This time of the year has typical highs reach the upper 60’s to low 70’s, while the lows comfortably settle in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. Without central heating in the house, it can get chilly, but it’s great for a good night’s sleep. As usual, we are very busy with multiple ministry tasks and opportunities before us; and we continue to be amazed at the wonderful grace of God in that He allows us to be here serving Him.
While George’s primary ministry through the Biblical Leadership Institute rolls on, and while Amy’s primary ministry in computer skills training through Launch Workplace Readiness is as busy as ever, the past two months have been particularly eventful for our church (Knysna West Bible Church, in case you’d forgotten the name). As we have grown in number, it has become increasingly difficult to fit everyone into the living-room area of the Hunter’s house. We have been praying for some time about a way forward concerning our meeting space, and over the course of the last several months, we’ve had different potential solutions come our way. Unfortunately, none of them have been the Lord’s answer to the “problem.” Would you please continue to pray the Lord leads us to the perfect place for our church to permanently meet?
While the developments in our church have dominated our focus on the “ministry front,” our focus on the “personal front” is Ashley’s upcoming wedding. It’s hard to believe that in less than three weeks, she will be married! She and Louis have been getting ready, and the Lord has provided Ashley a job teaching at a Christian school in the town of George where she and Louis will live (about an hour away from us here in Knysna). She begins this job today (May 30th), and we are grateful for this opportunity for her! Louis is very close now to completing his Instructor’s Rating to go along with his commercial pilot’s license. In addition, they have signed a short-term lease for a small apartment that Ashley will move into soon. And then, above and beyond all the preparations for the wedding day itself, they are working through all the legal issues related to their marriage. Please pray that all the legal hurdles will be overcome, that the registration of the marriage will be approved, and that Ashley can successfully submit her “spousal visa” application in order to begin earning income asap.
We are planning to be in the USA from about July 21 – August 24. The purpose of this trip is three-fold: first, we are having a wedding reception for Ashley and Louis on July 30. This will allow our stateside friends and family to celebrate with us since the wedding is here in SA. Second, we will be visiting many of our supporting churches, a few of whom we haven’t visited for a long time. And third, we will be getting Alyssa settled in at Cedarville University for the beginning of her college journey. As well, we are looking forward to connecting with many of you individually during this upcoming visit. As we get close to the time, we’ll communicate more details of where we’ll be and when. Please pray that the logistics for this brief but important trip will come together.
In the midst of all this positive news to report, we are humbly reminded each day of what a privilege it is to be used by God to lead people to Christ and in Christ, for His glory. Thank you again for your prayers, financial support, friendship, and encouragement. We are truly blessed to partner with you!
Because of Christ,
The Coon Family