Dear Supporting Church Families & Friends,
Hello from HOT southern Arizona! Summer is here, and with it a very busy schedule (and some very warm days)! We are excited to share some of what the Lord has been doing with you all. We thank the Lord for allowing us the opportunity to travel back in May to a camp meeting in SC, and visit a few friends and churches along the way. The Lord used this time as a great refreshing for Louann and I, and also provided some new and much needed support! We praise Him for being so gracious to us. We are also very thankful to all those who treated us with such kindness along our journey! The best friends we have on this earth are the ones that God has given us, and we are very thankful for the friendships that He has blessed us with!
There have been exciting times here in the work of the Lord over the past few months (isn’t it always exciting to work for Him)! In early June we had a visit from a wonderful group of ladies from TN who did a ladies’ meeting for our churches here. The ladies’ meeting was “Priceless Biblical Stories” and included songs and stories from many different women of the Bible. This was such a blessing to our ladies here. Many stood and testified in the services following of how much God has blessed their hearts though this meeting. We so appreciate these 20+ women traveling all the way to AZ to be a blessing to the dear Native ladies here!
We also had a one night “mini-camp meeting” in June with a combined service between three churches. What a great night the Lord blessed us with, as there were over 80 people in the Ak-Chin church building. The Lord blessed us with 3 preachers and several special singers as well. The Lord really used the service as a time for our little church family in Ak-Chin to grow. They have since been more vocal in offering testimonies in church of the Lord’s blessings, and have begun to respond more during the invitation time, after seeing so many others do so during this meeting!
The Lord is really blessing the church in Ak-Chin. We have had several new visitors lately, and several new kids coming as well! Please pray for the work there. It is so exciting to see new ones saved, but very much exciting to also see newly saved people growing in the Lord. Many lately have found their way to the altars, and have been discussing messages after the service, etc… How I long to see God use these people to win their own! Pray for continued growth for the saved here!
The Cockleburr Bible Clubs are going well, with the exception of attendance dropping during the first month or so that the kids get out of school. They run to all corners of the rez when they get this first taste of “freedom,” and will soon be back in their own villages. We are excited about a VBS that we will be having there in July with a visiting church group from NC. Please pray for this meeting, and the VBS for the other churches that will also be going on during this time.
We are also praising the Lord for the wonderful teen camp that He allowed us to attend this year. We took four teen girls, and heard some great preaching. The Lord spoke to many of the 500+ teens in attendance, and all of our girls made some big decisions during the week. It was such a blessing to see all 4 of our timid girls stand in the midst of a church full of teens and adults, and testify as to what God was doing in their hearts. They made decisions concerning being better servants for God, being REAL Christians (my, how the world would change if all “Christians” would be “real”), and many others. What a joy to see them testify of those things in front of our churches back home as well. Pray for them, as they have a desire for these decisions to be long-lasting, and know God can help them keep those commitments. Also pray that the Lord will use them to spark a fire in all of the young and adults of the church, and that they may be used to reach the people of the reservation.
Our family is continually blessed. We thank God for His grace, and for you all who love and faithfully support the work here with your prayers and finances. Continue to remember us in your prayers!
Working together with you for HIM,
Brian & Louann, Latanya, Lilly, Rebecca & Brandon Shannon
