It has been just over two months since our last prayer letter.  We are so thankful for the goodness of God in our lives and in our meetings.  February was an unusually slow month with only two meetings; however, the month of March and April have been quite busy.  At the beginning of March we were able to present our ministry in five churches in five days!  There are five churches south of Tampa which hold their missions conferences at the same time.  Each church hosts one missionary and the missionaries rotate throughout the five churches.  It was a busy five days but such an incredible opportunity to meet so many people who said they would be praying for our family and ministry.

After leaving the Tampa area, we headed to Miami for an appointment with the Paraguayan Consulate.  When one enters the country of Paraguay, a visa must be obtained.  The visa is $160 (per person) and only lasts 90 days.  We found out several months ago that we could visit the consulate and obtain a visa that would last the life of our passport for the same cost.  So we made an appointment and went with fresh passports in hand.  Unfortunately, we were NOT told ahead of time that we had to enter the country within six months of the visa being issued.  Thankfully the consulate is going to allow us to mail our passports and applications to them once we return from Mexico in December.  Please pray that this will be a smooth process so as to not delay our leaving  for the field in January.

We are currently in Tupelo, MS.  We praise the Lord that this week (in a matter of three days) the Lord has provided five new supporters.  We are still asking the Lord to bring us to 100% of our needed support before we leave.  In three days we will return to Pensacola for a few days before traveling to Georgia for two meetings.  During our time at home we will be moving out of our fifth wheel and preparing it to be sold.  Our prayer is that our truck and camper will sell quickly and for a good price.  It is bittersweet to know that we only have four nights left in our home on wheels.  We have been so blessed to be able to travel the deputation trail in this camper and sleep in our own bed each night J.

As we have mentioned before, Jim will be departing on May 3rd for Oaxaca, Mexico.  Please pray as Kari and the kids will join him on May 11th.  Would you specifically pray for safety as we travel and grace as we get adjusted to this next phase in our lives and ministry?  Times of transition can be stressful on the entire family, but especially the children.  We do covet your prayers on our behalf.

Until we get to Mexico, we do not know what kind of internet or phone access we will have.  If you need to contact us after May 2nd, please use our email address.  In our next letter, we will let you know if we will have a phone while in Mexico.

 

Your grateful missionaries,

 

Jim & Kari Showers & family