It has been a while since we have sent a ministry update out. So in this update we will catch you up on what has been happening in our lives in the last half of 2012. This past year has been a very challenging one for us, but by the grace of God we've persevered.

  

First we suffered the loss of family members, two of my (Jeff) great Aunts followed by the loss of Julie's mom Dorothy in May. While the loss of   loved ones was painful, we rejoice in the peace of knowing that they all had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that we will see them again in heaven. On May 14, Julie, Abby and I travel back to England to be with Julie's family and for her mom's funeral. It was truly a blessing for the three of us to be able to travel together and spend the time in England mourning the loss together. While it was a difficult time, the Lord did some amazing things during those three  weeks. He healed some family relationships that had been fractured for a long time, and he birthed a new part of our ministry there in Ipswich England were Julie is from. I felt the Holy Spirit strongly moving in me that we were to establish a new branch of our ministry there in Ipswich. By what I believe to be a divine appointment the Lord led us to Ipswich Community Church (ICC) where we met pastor Rod Stone and his wife Mandy. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will use ICC and M28 Ministries together in the future.

We returned home from England on 1 June. The third week of June  Julie and I served as sponsors with our churches youth group and went to Falls Creek, a Christian youth camp In Oklahoma. We were at Falls Creek for one week and were blessed by witnessing all that God is doing with the students of Dayspring Community Church. We are blessed to be able to serve as adult leaders of DCC's youth group, and see the spiritual growth of all the students.

 Around the end of June my neck started hurting more and more each day, after consulting with neurologists and a neurosurgeon it was determined that another surgery on my neck was necessary to remove  the bone spur that was pushing upon my spinal cord. We were told the recovery for the surgery would be 3 to 5 days in the hospital and two months at home. I had surgery on August 28 and there were complications from the very beginning that made the procedure much more difficult than anticipated. In the end the surgery was successful in removing the pressure on my spinal cord but it was a very invasive surgery and my body needed time to adjust to all that had been done. I was released from the hospital on September 14 and had to wear a rigid cervical collar on my neck and was not allowed to drive. On December 7 the Doctor finally allowed me to remove the cervical collar which was a great relief, I really grew to hate that thing, and removed the driving restriction, so needless to say I drove home from hospital. Although I still have a few problems with my legs, I am now fully recovered and look forward to an amazing 2013.

 
 

 During my recovery the Lord has given me clarity on what M28 Ministries should be working on right now. Our objective and primary focus is always to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) in all parts of our ministry. We have now established a Pastor Support program, an Orphan Support program and a Pastor Scholarship program to send new believers in West Bengal India and Eastern Nepal to a one-year Bible course. We also have several building projects that we need to raise support for. We will be sending more updates in the near future with more details about these different programs. Until then please keep us in your prayers, that we may remain true to the Lords will in our endeavor to serve our mighty King.