NTM

"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Matt. 7:9-11

 
Dear Friends and Family,

I want to first and foremost say thank you for your faithful prayers and support during this trying time in our lives.  I would like to give you a “good” report, but instead must say that Karen is not yet better.  

 
Our time with our family and home church in Ohio was a real blessing.  With my two brothers flying in from LA and my sister from Omaha, NE we had a small family reunion at my parents place.  Up until then, almost two weeks ago, we were feeling like Karen was improving and our return to Indonesia date of May 25^th was a real possibility.  The day after my siblings flew back and for the next four or five days she had a relapse of fatigue.  We were discouraged to say the least.  It meant that she was not where we felt she should be in order to return to the Moi.  

 
Since then it has been a battle of the will; to trust God and believe that though it looks like He’s given us a snake He in His goodness and love has indeed given us a fish.  Why?  Because He knows we need it.  I remember earlier on, when Karen was feeling bad again, thinking, “Okay, God I know you are good and I’m excited about what you have in store through all of this.”  The next moment I started feeling guilty for feeling excited about this as I considered the needs of the young Moi believers and unbelievers and of our Indonesian coworkers struggling alone interior and the Crockett’s returning back to the tribe in about a month.  As I said, it’s a battle of the will.  God wants us to be excited because He always has our good in mind.  He also wants us to trust Him to do as He promised and build His church in the Moi.  Please pray with us that we will rest in Him.
 

We are now back in Wisconsin with Karen’s folks.  After speaking with our home churches and leadership we feel that at this point we should pursue medical help for Karen.  We are trusting the Lord to lead us to the right doctors so that we can learn what we can and to at least rule things out.  In the meantime we are looking for some housing here in the Sheboygan, WI area.  We are also in process of getting five year visas for Indonesia.  In order to get these we need to be back in the country before August 15^th.  We truly covet your prayers during this time of uknowns.  It’s good to know that God knows the beginning from the end.
 

Fish is good,
Rich and Karen Brown
Atalee, Alyssa and Ashlynn