We are now just days away from moving to Dallas, Texas. Escrow on the house is closed, and we are as packed as we can be while we are still here. We pick up the truck on Tuesday morning, and head out Thursday morning. It’s a little hard to believe that the time has finally come for us to go, and after waiting for so long, the last couple of weeks have gone by so fast.

When you follow the Lord the enemy throws things in your way to try to trip you up. They are things that, if you let them, will cause a lot of stress, anger, fear, and trouble. We find, however, that if we hold on to our trust in God-the faith that He set us on this path-the problems will either be overcome, or will go away. He has not failed us yet. We have had more costs than we expected in the sale, but were able to save about the same amount in moving costs. The U-Haul dealer up here was not going to have a truck available for us, even though we had one reserved, but by calling the corporate office we got the truck AND 30 days free storage in Dallas. Every time something that looked bad has happened, it has worked out as soon as we let go and trusted in our Lord. These are good lessons for us to learn now, and take with us, because the enemy never stops.

Our next prayer list may be a little off schedule, due to travel and settling in at the new place. We will have our friends, Bill and Jean, with us for awhile, and we will be looking at houses and getting started in the offices. So please forgive us if we run late, and keep us in your prayers. Thank you so much that we can count on your faithful prayers.

Praise and Prayer needs

1. Praise that the house has closed and we are ready to go.
2. Praise that we will be able to spend the holiday with Josi’s family in Phoenix, and her sister and brother-in-law from Las Vegas.
3. Pray for travel mercies as Richard and Bill drive a moving truck towing the Jeep on a trailer, and Josi and Jean drive the mini-van with the dogs.
4. Pray for us to get pre-qualified for a new home in Dallas. We have applied with a couple of places and are waiting for word.
5. Pray for us as we live in a single room in the Residence Hall at the International Service Center for a month. We will be eating in a cafeteria, have no TV (horrors.), and limited computer space. And the dogs will be staying elsewhere. Pray for us not to trip over each other, not to get cabin fever, and to find a house SOON.
6. Pray for us to adjust to new weather, new working conditions, new people, new EVERYTHING. We are excited, but adjustment is always hard.

This list is created weekly, not necessarily on the same day. If you would like us to pray for any of your concerns, please send us a note.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram
Pioneer Bible Translators

The escrow on our house in Globe, Arizona, closes on August 29. We will be moving the furniture and final belongings out on Tuesday, September 2, and will finish emptying the storage units on September 3.

Our move to Dallas will hit the road on September 4—WooHooo! We expect to arrive in Dallas around 2:00 pm on Saturday, September 6, to offload into storage units in Duncanville.

We begin work in earnest at the International Service Center of Pioneer Bible Translators soon after. We’ll be spending a few days or a couple of weeks finding a new home there.

We will be sending all of our Partners new address information when we reach Dallas, when we rent a PO Box.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old, the elders, received their commendation”. Hebrews 11:1-2

A year ago, August 2007, God told us to “pack our bags” and that “this time next year, everything will be different.” We were not thinking in terms of leaving our ministry with Arizona Reservation Ministries. In October, God removed us from that ministry, leading us to Pioneer Bible Translators just a couple of weeks later.

Escrow will close on our house August 29, and we will move the last things out on September 2. We will be in Dallas by the 6^th. With God’s leading, we will soon be in a new home, finally working out of PBT’s International Service Center.

It has been hard, waiting on the Lord this long, but our faith, weak as it is by some standards, has led us to this point in our lives. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) He has called us, and we have answered.

For our friends and family here in Arizona, it’s time to be saying “goodbye.”. But this isn’t really a goodbye, it’s a “See you later.” We’ll be back on occasion. For old friends and new friends in Texas, we will soon be saying “Hello!”

There will be new challenges in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” We have faith that He will give us the strength, discernment, wisdom, and talents to meet all of the challenges that are ahead of us.

Prayers and praises for this week:

1. Praise! The house is sold, the termite inspection is clear, the house inspection was done and a minor repair has been made.
2. The septic inspection will be in the next couple of days, but pray that there are no problems.
3. Pray that the final packing and preparations will be uneventful.
4. Pray for the friends that will be helping us pack on the 2^nd and 3^rd of September.
5. We still need to raise new partners in our ministry-individuals and churches who are willing to stand alongside us in our ministry with Pioneer Bible Translators.
6. Pray for everyone at PBT-they’re going to have to get used to us “foreigners.”

This list is created weekly, not necessarily on the same day. If you would like us to pray for any of your concerns, please send us a note.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram
Pioneer Bible Translators

… but [Jesus] said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 (MKJV)

What great things the Lord has done for us! Our house goes into escrow tomorrow morning (8/15) and we will be moving to Dallas around September 5.

We shall praise the Lord for all His blessings. Sometime soon, I’m going to have to list them all. Our life is so full of them, it may take awhile.

But, here are some prayers and praises:

1. Praise! The house moves into escrow tomorrow. It closes on September 5.
2. Pray for our move. We are renting a truck and moving ourselves. The moving companies want way too much of our funds to be worthwhile.
3. We still need to raise new partners in our ministry-individuals and churches who are willing to stand alongside us in our ministry with Pioneer Bible Translators.
4. Continue praying for PBT-the missionaries, interns and teams that are in the field. Their safety and health are always of concern. Pray for their continued work in spreading the Gospel to Bible-less people.
5. Pray for our friends Bill and Jean, who have resigned from Arizona Reservation Ministries. May God lead them in new adventures.

This list is created weekly, not necessarily on the same day. If you would like us to pray for any of your concerns, please send us a note.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram
Pioneer Bible Translators

God is good and He sees us through all circumstances.

We have an offer for the house, but it is $10,000 below our asking price. However, it is a cash offer with a closing date of September 5. We will be making a counter offer in the morning-we would really like to be right in the middle, but we will leave the negotiating up to God.

We will keep you informed as things progress.

In Christ’s Service,
Richard and Josi Ingram

If you had no fear, what would you do for God? That was one of the questions asked during training with Pioneer Bible Translators in January. If you had no fear… But how can we live without fear? We have fear of failure. Fear of consequences. Fear of the unknown

I’ll tell you right now, Josi and I don’t live in fear. Even though things are really tight, even though our house has not sold, even though we have been arguing about stuff, even though we don’t have the money for this month’s house payment, still we don’t live in fear. However, we are being attacked by fear. It is something we struggle with all the time.

Instead, we live in God’s grace. We live in His promise to provide. We don’t understand how His provision works, but it does. Every blessing He has given us, we turn to praise. In all things we praise Him and worship Him. Even now, when we don’t know how to make ends meet, we trust Him. He will provide-He always has and He always will.

1. We really need your prayers. We need prayers for our finances.
2. We just mailed out information packets to some churches in northern Arizona asking them to partner with us, both in prayer and financially. Pray that these will be received openly and will bear fruit. We will be sending more out next week. Pray that we choose the right churches to send them to and that they, too, will bear fruit.
3. Pray that God will sell our house.
4. We may need to get part-time jobs to help our financial needs. Pray for wisdom and discernment that this would be in God’s will.
5. Josi’s cousin Diane is still recovering and her aunt Laura is traveling. Pray for continued healing and travel mercies.
6. Praise! Bill’s doctor gave him a clean bill of health! He just needs to continue resting while he heals. Also, Richard’s niece got through her exams and feels confident.
7. Praise God for bringing us a couple of new supporters. Pray for more to come alongside us in our ministry with Pioneer Bible Translators.
8. Continue praying for PBT-the missionaries, interns and teams that are in the field. Their safety and health are always of concern. Pray for their continued work in spreading the Gospel to Bible-less people.

This list is created weekly, not necessarily on the same day. If you would like us to pray for any of your concerns, please send us a note.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram
Pioneer Bible Translators

Still, we wait. We wait upon the Lord’s timing. Do we trust that God has good reasons for making us wait? It is easy to forget that He works in us while we wait. This is just as important as what we are waiting for. Even though we don’t understand, we understand that He knows what He is doing.

 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.         
2 Peter 1: 3-8 (ESV)

We wait because we trust in the Lord. We wait for Him to prepare us for what He wants us to do. We wait until He says “Go!”

It’s hard to wait. But while we do, we go on with the tasks that we have at hand. Last week, we removed a big chunk of concrete that was on one side of the house. It looked really ugly and was not level (tilted away from the house at about 30 degrees, or so). As the concrete came apart, a layer of flagstone appeared underneath it. Some of the stones are really nice ones, but they were covered up with cheap concrete. The tilting was from a root that ran along the side of the house, stretching from the tree out front to the back of the house.

This past weekend (July 26) we removed the patio in the back yard. It was broken and tipped away from the house. It didn’t have a root under it, but it was poured on top of an old concrete walkway that went along the back of the house. It extended several feet past the edge of the walkway. There was nothing to support the concrete beyond that, so it cracked and began tipping away from the house. 

These both showed problems that are reflected in our Christian life. A small root had gotten underneath and grew, unseen, until it put the walk out of kilter. Proper preparation had not been made before laying the slab for the patio and its own weight brought it down. A little sin can enter our lives, unnoticed, and grow until we are knocked out of kilter with our Christian walk. A proper foundation of prayer, bible study and Christian fellowship can support us when we have replaced our old walk with our new Christian walk. 

We are diligently working to be steadfast in our waiting upon the Lord. We are trusting in His provisions for our finances-but it is very hard. We are at the lowest point of our finances since joining Pioneer Bible Translators. We have faith in His leading that PBT is where He wants us. We have faith that, in His timing, our house will be sold soon. Pray for us to keep that faith. To remain steadfast. To be one, together, with the Lord. 

Here are some other things for you to lift in prayer: 

1. Pray for us as we are under attack from the enemy. We need protection, understanding, patience, and renewal.
2. Pray for wisdom and discernment. There are still decisions to be made about the house, including the price.
3. Pray for our finances. We are finishing mailings for contacting new Partners that we hope will prayerfully and financially support our work with Pioneer Bible Translators.  
4. Praise for a work situation that has completely turned around for a friend in Albuquerque. He faithfully waited on the Lord and is now being blessed with a new job.
5. Continue praying for PBT-the missionaries, interns and teams that are in the field. Their safety and health are always of concern. Pray for their continued work in spreading the Gospel to Bible-less people.

This list is created weekly, not necessarily on the same day. If you would like us to pray for any of your concerns, please send us a note.

In Christ’s Service
Richard and Josi Ingram
Pioneer Bible Translators