 Hello friends and family! It’s been a little while since we’ve written, and we have been busy! This summer at the King’s Lodge, there have been more people coming and going than usual, and that has kept us hopping. Since returning from our outreach in March and finishing the DTS, Sue and I have been investing in a group of people that both of us have been feeling need some extra attention. That group of people is the missionaries with whom we serve here at the King’s Lodge.
I, Rick, have gone into the Staff Care office (some call it Personnel), and am making it my business to make sure that our missionaries are cared for and healthy. I am working with a team of like-minded people who are making plans for setting into motion some systems for enhancing all of our lives around this place. Things like small group meetings for everyone, staff 1-1’s for everyone, and making sure that people take enough time for themselves in the busy work life we lead here.
Sue is busily caring for people in a less organized, but no less effective fashion. She meets regularly with them, encouraging them and walking with them through life. She is always creating and is our family’s chief gardener in the wild vegetable patch we are growing. And when she isn’t pulling weeds in people’s lives, she is pulling weeds all around our large property here in the midlands of England.
Our urgent big news is our trip back to the States coming up this week. Life doesn’t always go the way we want, and our family isn’t exempt. Our wonderful nephew, Tak, who is 22 years old and has Down Syndrome, has been fighting a mighty battle with leukemia for the past year. A few weeks ago, he was unable to achieve a level of remission required to perform a bone-marrow transplant that was his big hope. When that happened, his medical team had to let my sister and her family know that they had done all that medical science had to offer Tak. All therapy has been suspended, and now, it seems that Tak’s next hope is our great hope – his home in heaven. All of us who live here in England are now making plans to spend time in the US with Tak and the family. Sue and I will arrive on Wednesday 21st August and will be there with them for three weeks.
As you can tell, this is an unexpected trip and thus, not one we had budgeted for. International travel is expensive, and airline tickets are just the beginning. This trip will easily cost us $2500, or more, which we didn’t expect to be spending just now. We don’t usually ask so pointedly, but if anyone is able to help us defray the costs of this trip, it would be gratefully received. Our giving details are listed below. We are very grateful and always humbled by the support we receive from many of you.
We daren’t make any promises, but if any of you would like to try to see us while we are in the States, we will see what we can do. Obviously our priority will be our time with Tak and his family. Please contact us if you think you can meet with us – especially if you can make it to Bellingham, where we plan to be most of the time. God bless each one of you, and may you know Him and His blessing in your lives.
To our supporters in prayer and finances, we would like to once again say a big THANK YOU! You are our lifeline, making it possible for us to continue in this work of the Kingdom. Our stories are your stories.
Rick and Sue
Support for the Joyces can be sent to:
Toledo First Baptist Church
PO Box 279
Toledo, WA 98591
Please make your checks out to the church and attach a sticky note saying that it is for the Joyces.
Thank you so much, faithful supporters!
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