Dear Prayer supporters

Sorry it has been so long since I sent out prayer requests. God has been doing good things, although it is not often what we thought He would do. Good thing that WE are not ultimately making the plans.

SABBATICAL: Because my father went thru chemo therapy last summer, I requested a 6 month Sabbatical to do some study and to be with my parents during this time. I have been living with my parents in Fresno since Sept 03. but I have just begun Home Assignment, speaking in Covenant churches, this March.

MOROCCO: When my father began to recover from his treatments, I followed thru with a desire to take an initial course in the language Arabic. I enrolled in a beginning course of Modern Standard Arabic in Fez, Morocco and began my 6 week course at the end of Oct 03. This was also the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the Islamic fast. In Fez I attended classes at the American Center and lived with a very hospitable Moroccan family. I was able to get a handle on the Arabic writing system but barely got started in language learning before the course was over. I learned a great deal during that time besides the Arabic language and met many interesting people.

My host family	School field trips

I returned to Fresno mid-Dec and had Christmas with my parents and my brother's family: Rob, Ruth, Carl and Andrew. It has been good to see family again and spend significant time together.

NOW IN THE SPRING, I am speaking in Covenant churches around the country. I have been in Oregon and Washington State, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Duluth MN. I will stay in CA for the month of May, visiting churches here, and then head for camp. Lake Beauty Bible camp in Minnesota has agreed to have me on staff as a missionary speaker for several camps in June and July.

CHANGES: The future may hold a big change for my ministry. Covenant World Mission has asked me to consider coordinating outreach to MARGINALIZED people in Europe. These groups are often immigrants coming from Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. We are in the process of discussing how we should move forward in this new venture. There are a number of people who are very interested in being involved in this type of ministry, and our increased presence in Europe would be a great encouragement to our existing staff in Spain, France and Germany. So please pray along these lines. There are many decisions that are before us.

HEALTH ISSUES: I have been dealing with a number of health issues during this time in the US. Some of the symptoms seem to be related to chronic malaria. I have had very good times and very low times. Most medical tests have shown little evidence of treatable disease. Please continue to pray that I might be wise as I seek counsel and treatments. I praise God for the times when I have been well and able to speak in various places.

OK, all for now. Thanks for your support, patience and for your perseverance in prayer.