August 2026 Newsletter

Psalm 23:1-6 (ESV) – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
 

Praise the Lord! The building in Eureka, MT is finished. On July 5, they had their first service in their new building. It was a blessing for us to serve alongside Valley Baptist Church for 21 months. God provided many new friendships, and it was hard to drive away. Lord willing, we are planning on returning for their dedication service September 19.

Our July plans did not go the way we anticipated. We left Eureka, Mt on July 6^th. On our first day of travel, Brian decided to pull off right before the big mountain pass near Butte, MT. As we slowed down the truck died and wouldn’t restart. We got towed, found a mechanic and a hotel, and we were able to get on the road the next afternoon after a couple of sensors were replaced. We made it to our destination that evening and day three started off well. We drove about 100 miles and the truck started making noises and there was white smoke and flames coming out of the exhaust pipe. Thankfully, as we pulled over onto the shoulder to stop, the fire extinguished itself and there was no further damage to us or anything around us. Due to where we were and the size of our truck and trailer, we waited 8.5 hours in 95° weather for a tow truck. We found a hotel and a mechanic in Forsyth, MT and waited. We learned that the turbo went out on the truck and that it would take 8 days for the part to come in and for the truck to be repaired. This meant that we would not make it back to Michigan for Amanda’s birthday, and we would not make it to family conference. While we waited in Montana, we also learned that Boundary Waters was closed and our family vacation would not be possible. During this same time, we also learned that our ministry partners the Wooster’s decided to leave the building ministry. Although none of this is what we wanted or had planned, God has encouraged us along the way! Sunday morning was the hottest day on record in Montana, and we walked 1.3 miles to a Baptist church in town. That church loved on us and provided a car for us to use, laundry facilities, and a couple meals. The hotel was very gracious and let us plug our tool trailer in and made sure that we had a room for the duration of our stay. Many people from across the country reached out and we sat in amazement as people provided for our unplanned financial needs and our expenses were covered!

On July 19, when we finally arrived at our sending church in Iowa City for the week of Vacation Bible School, we were exhausted. Again, God provided the energy, focus, challenge, and encouragement that He knew we needed for that week. We helped in the Junior class and helped the kids memorize Psalm 23. The teacher we worked with was one of our youth group kids a “few” years ago and he shared how we impacted his life. We also served as the missionaries for the week and did a short presentation every day. Pastor Waldron shared the truths of salvation every day and we followed up with the kids and had a few confirmations and a few new salvations! We needed the reminders of Psalm 23. The simple truths remind us that God is our shepherd and He cares for us. The truck ran well and we made it back to Michigan.

We thank God for you!  Thank you for praying and helping us do what we do.  We truly could not do this ministry without you!

Fulfilling the great commission together,

Brian, Brenda, Nathanael and Rebekah

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