"Your brother-in-law wants to get saved," was the message in an e-mail I received last week. Talk about a way to ease the stress of travel : -) Shirin and I listened to his story within a few hours of our arrival and then heard my youngest sister profess a newly found "heart knowledge" of the Gospel. While I've been given the privilege of baptizing my brother-in-law on Father's Day, I may find that my youngest sister (his wife) may also experience believer's baptism.

And, oh, about that airport arrival and the stress of luggage... for the second consecutive time, all of our luggage was waiting for us as we made our way to the luggage carousel, so thank you for praying to that end!

We have been enjoying the ease of shopping and the comfort of customer service; in fact, we're soaking up the friendliness, hoping to have some extra in store for when we return <g>. Jasmine has been asking to wear a jacket to stay warm in "all those cold stores" (air conditioning). She enjoyed being escorted through each aisle in Wal*Mart's toy department as she searched for the toy that would fit the amount of American money she had received for her birthday. (Ray, thanks for the opportunity to help her learn about "dollars and cents.")

In our first two days, Shirin and I have made back-to-back visits to Starbucks and, wow, is that stuff ever good!

Most of you have probably subscribed to Baptist Press News; if not, the instructions say, "To have friends subscribe, tell them to visit http://www.bpnews.net and enter their e-mail address under the 'Subscribe to BP' link at the top of the page." These headlines caught my attention this week, and I hope you find them useful:

CALIFORNIA--FIRST-PERSON (Phil Boatwright): Is Harry Potter merely entertainment?

SOUTH CAROLINA--Church models obedience to the Lord via CP Missions

TENNESSEE--Cooperative Program giving at 4.60% over last year's pace.

To those articles about your Cooperative Program giving, I say "Thank you" again and again! And may I add some belated thanks to our WWII veterans, especially in light of this article. The West: Nazi notions still loom. 

I'd like to extend an extra 21 million thanks to you Southern Baptists who really gave in a sacrificial manner this past Christmas! Here's the story and, wow, are we ever grateful! Thank you!

Lottie Moon missions offering surges past $136 million with 18.4% increase. 

Matthew 24:14

* Be sure to sign up for the Wednesday Weekly.

+ You started sending up prayers for the safe arrival of all of our luggage and asked that it come the same time we arrived... this is now the second time this has happened, and are we ever grateful! Thank you for making a difference in our lives : -)

+ You prayed that our adjustment to the US would happen quickly so that we could focus on the tasks before us day by day... this, too, has happened with ease as I've learned that "an object in motion tends to stay in motion." Jasmine has made a remarkable adjustment and was beyond thrilled to meet aunts and uncles who work at our company's administrative office buildings. BTW, the "headquarters" for our company is your local Sunday morning meeting place. It's from these places that we come : -)

+ You asked God to provide reliable Internet connections for us while we're in the US this summer... and a dear friend/colleague offered his company's high-speed connection whenever we were in the area : -) Now if we can just run that line to West Virginia <g>. Also, I have been able to receive e-mail through Outlook 2000, but I'm not able to send any - yet! I'm grateful that Topica allows me to send this message via their online site. Your intercession is making a difference!

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< Continue praying that the kinks of getting the 'outgoing mail server' would be resolved.

<>< Cover my brother-in-law in prayer as he learns what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

<>< Pray that today's VBS planning session would go well for us and that we would be effective in what we've been asked to do.

<>< We'll be joining Shirin's family for the weekend, so pray that we'd find receptive hearts ready to hear the Good News.

<>< Ask God to use us to share His message of prayer advocacy with a special group Sunday evening.

<>< Finally, pray that we would keep our eyes on Jesus as we concentrate on making the most use of the short time we have in the US.

>< Pray for the Hani of China. >

CALENDAR UPDATES

<If you're not receiving our bimonthly snail-mail newsletter, let us know so we can send it to you!><

2-5, May these final days before leaving for the US not be too stressful or annoying for anyone involved : -)

* Wow, I don't know *what* it would have been like apart form your intercession! Thank you for praying!

6-8, Pray with us for an uneventful airport departure, a safe flight, all of our luggage to arrive the same time we do, and that we can renew passports quickly and easily while enjoying family reunions.

* With the exception of a *thorough* search of every piece of luggage, our airport departure was great. The flights were safe, our luggage was waiting on us, we finished passport renewals a few weeks ago, and we've thoroughly enjoyed meeting new nieces and nephews (and cousins). Thank you for praying!