Dear Supporting Church Families & Friends,
Greetings from Southern Arizona. As usual, we are so excited to share many things with you that the Lord has done for us during the past two months. He is so good to us! Many of you may have already heard this good news, but we are very excited to announce that we are expecting a new baby in March! Please pray for Louann and the baby during the next few months. We are so thankful for the wonderful family He has blessed us with, and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of this new one! Of course our entire family is very excited about this!
We were able to attend the Spiritual Leadership Conference at Lancaster Baptist Church in CA, and are so thankful for how the Lord used that time to encourage, refresh and grow us in His Word through great preaching and many helpful ministry classes. Please pray for the wonderful work God is doing through that ministry.
We also had the privilege of hosting a wonderful youth group from Hico Baptist Church during the month of July, as they came out and did our Vacation Bible School in Cockleburr Village and Ak-Chin. We are so thankful for their desire to help labor in the field and see lives changed. The Lord used this week of VBS to encourage faithful members, and also bring back some people we had not seen for a long time. It was also another opportunity to get the gospel out to some who have never heard before!
For two weeks in August we traveled to Keokuk, IA, for our annual IBIMI mission board retreat. We had a great time at this meeting, fellowshipping with other IBIMI missionaries and hearing some great preaching! We also took a few days while we were out there to go through Missouri, where Louann was born and raised for the first 8 years of her life. We were able to meet some of her family she hadn’t seen in years, find her old home place, and also find where her dad is buried. We are very thankful for the great time and the safety that the Lord blessed us with during this trip.
We ended August with some VERY exciting times in the desert! We were privileged to have preachers Sam & Dale Vance from WV out to preach for us. The Lord really blessed during these meetings, and three souls were saved! We are so thankful for those, as well as the many other decisions that were made during this meeting. It was great to see the altars full of Native folk doing business with God! Please pray for these new Christians, as well as those who have been saved and made decisions concerning their daily walk with Christ! There are a few adults in the Ak-Chin church who are struggling with different physical and spiritual problems. Please pray for these, especially the spiritually struggling, to return to the God who loves them so much!
We had great CASA (church at someone’s abode) meetings with Mrs. Mabel in Cockleburr during these two months. She was very sick during July, and we are thankful that she is doing better now. Please continue to pray for her, and the meetings there in her home. The Bible Clubs for kids in Cockleburr also continues, and we covet your prayers for this ministry. We are seeking God’s will for a place to meet there (their old community building is getting very bad, structurally). Please pray for the children there as well, as they have so many needs that money can’t fix! The Lord knows and has exactly what each one needs!
Please continue to pray for the teen group we have the privilege to work with. Many of them have a genuine heart for the things of God, but Satan works so hard to distract them and get them off course. We long to see the lives of young people changed, so they can grow into a wonderful relationship with Christ, and avoid the life-ending pitfalls that so many fall into each and every day!
We are thankful for the continual protection of the Lord on us, even in many circumstances that we know nothing about! We have been reminded of this lately, as during one night at the church property we killed two rattlesnakes. The second was in the parking area after dark, and the Lord allowed someone to see it before anyone stepped on it! May we all be reminded to be thankful for the “little things” (though they are not little at all) that we overlook every day! It would truly be impossible to count our many blessings, but we still should try.
Our family is doing well. The girls are starting back to school this month. Please pray for each of them as they begin this new school year, including Rebecca, who is starting K4! Pray for Louann as she teaches them and carries the new baby! We are excited to be working for the Lord, and so thankful for all of you who labor with us through faithful prayers and support!
Working together with you for HIM,
Brian & Louann, Latanya, Lilly, Rebecca & Brandon Shannon
