Month: November 2019

Planning for Next Year

By Jon Stover on November 19, 2019 in Quick Update

Olena with one of her former students
Grace Independent Baptist Church

Greetings praying friends and family,

We have been blessed to have some much needed down-time this month. It has been an opportunity to continue to form our schedule for the next year. The two meetings that we have had this month (Anchor Baptist Church and Grace Independent Baptist Church) have been local, so we haven’t done much in the way of travel. We have however been quite busy making contacts since we have been back, which is a difficult balancing act when you are traveling. I made far fewer phone calls and send fewer emails in all of October then I have these last two weeks. That is the advantage of being stationary, I suppose. However, we are gearing up for the next year, trying to fill up the remainder of the year.
Speaking of our year, we have a rough shape of how our travels are going to take us. In January, as has already been mentioned, we are going to be out in Arizona. February and March see us in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland. March and April have us in the the Great Lakes area. May and June is back in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, with the rest of June is in Alabama, Missouri, and . July is still somewhat open, but we will probably be in that Midwest area (Nebraska, Oklahoma, etc.). We are planning our survey trip of August, so pray that all the details will work out. September and October has us in Pennsylvania and New York, and then out to California for November. December is still empty, but there aren’t a lot of churches that schedule missionaries in December.
And a quick update on our survey trip: we had Olena’s biometrics appointment today. Pray that the green card application would continue to go smoothly.
That’s all for now! Thank you for your prayers; we can see God working!

This is a website!

By Jon Stover on November 6, 2019 in Quick Update

It’s official! Stoverstogermany.com is up and running! It is obviously still a work in progress, as I am still sifting through the many, many options available to us. It is a little bit overwhelming, to be honest, but I’m sure God will give me the knowledge to figure everything out. I know it has been a while since our last update: I actually had one written for a while, but I was waiting to finish the website to actually post it, so there will be two weekly updates today, rather than one! Consider it my penance for being late with our updates, and my guarantee that it shall not happen again (guarantee not guaranteed).
We are back in Maryland after a very busy October, but God has been good and it has been a time of refreshing reunions. We have been safe throughout all of our travels, so that is an answer to prayer! At the close of my last update, we were at the BWM annual meeting. God was very gracious to allow us time to spend with the Mitchums, Lena’s adopted missionary parents. They were such a blessing to the both of us! Pray for them as they are headed back to Canada; their furlough had to be cut short, sadly, and they are still in need of support, but we trust God to show himself mighty!
The Sunday we returned, we had the opportunity to present locally at First Baptist Church in Deale, where the Boyds (whose family is good friends of ours) attend. It was nice to see familiar faces and spend some time getting to know Pastor Mayes and his wife.
We also were able to spend a week with our good friends Pastor David and Miss Tina Jett. It was a relaxing but cold time to be with them in the remote reaches of Marienville, PA and Forest Area Baptist Church. The fellowship there was wonderful, and I know Pastor Jett is excited at all the Lord will do there! We had the opportunity to visit with Pastor Don Pendley and see his vast and impressive Bible room. It was an astounding collection, and we were truly privileged to see it.
During the week we were able to swing over to Truth Baptist Church with Pastor Thompson in West Salem, OH, and encourage the brethren during the Wednesday night meeting! They are a wonderful bunch, and we pray that God will continue to use them.
Last Sunday we had the refreshing privilege to be at Anchor Baptist Church, where Torrey Snow, my beloved friend and brother in Christ, regularly attends. With all of the busy travels in October, we hadn’t had much time to spend with the Snows, and it was just a joy to be able to do so again.
I am a little over time, but hopefully we will be able to keep regular updates now that this major milestone is finished! Thank you as always for your prayers!