Dear Friends,

Hello!  It’s been too long since we last updated you.  Joshua is growing beautifully!  On Mother’s Day, he turned six months old.  Beth loved celebrating her first official Mother's Day!  This is such a fun age.  He is now rolling over, sitting up on his own (almost :), putting his feet in his mouth, and trying to crawl.  He pushes up on his arms and kicks his legs, squirming around on the floor but not quite crawling yet.  It is so fun to tickle him and watch him squeal with delight.  We’ve decided he looks most like Jason, but the Gossett’s claim the dimples :)  At his six month check up, he weighed 18 lbs. and 13 ozs. (75^th percentile) and measured 27 ½ inches long (90^th percentile).  We  hope we’ve got an upcoming basketball player!

 Beth____________________

I have really loved being home with Joshua these six months.  God has taught me so much already through being a mommy.  I am learning patience, grace, unconditional love, and letting Him carry me in my weakness.  I am thrilled to report that Joshua is now sleeping through the night!  He started this beautiful new season at about 5 months.  He also loves eating fruits, vegetables, and cereal along with his milk these days.  Our daily trip to the cafeteria for lunch is quite a social outing for him.  So many friends take turns holding and kissing him :) 

God has blessed me with wonderful fellowship with other moms...such a gift!  Every Tuesday afternoon, three other moms come to my house, and we encourage and refresh each other.  Two of the moms are sisters, and their husbands are in School of the Bible this year.  Their families will be ministering in Asia next year.  The other lovely mother is from Eastern Europe, and her husband is currently studying in Teachers for the Nations.  Their vision is to start a Christian school in their formerly Communist home country.  It is such a breath of fresh air for us to share our hearts with each other and pray for one another.

Also, there is currently a family here from Colombia planning to do Teachers for the Nations in the Fall.  Their vision is to start a Christian school in Peru near the Amazon Jungle.  I am loving helping them to learn English as I practice my Spanish as well.  Adult fellowship during the week is precious to me!

Jason____________________

We’ve had a fantastic year with School of the Bible and it is coming to an end soon!  The lecture phase will end in late June and the students will then launch out to begin their summer outreaches.  These outreaches are designed for the students to teach and multiply what they have learned this year.  We will have a team going to Thailand, one traveling in the northeastern part of the United States, and one working with SST’s which is a summer training and outreach program for teens.  The SST will train the youth and then take them to Mexico for outreach.

A teacher always learns more than his students.  The opportunity to be on staff with School of the Bible has taught me so much and given me much more confidence to share the Word of God.  My pastor recently asked me to speak on Sunday morning while he was out of town and even though I still get nervous I feel like I have something worth hearing. Taking on the challenge of teaching the Greek class this year was daunting but I am very glad that I did because it caused me to dig deep and learn a lot more so that I could communicate it to others, especially since they come up with questions that I had not thought of before!!

 Student Section

I would like to introduce you to the Kirks.  Adam is a student this year in School of the Bible and I’ve had the privilege of working one on one with him.  His wife, Melanie, comes to our house for a ladies’ small group with Beth.  When they arrived they had two children, but they have recently had another beautiful baby.  In the midst of all that Adam has still kept up with all the homework load that we give the students (3 hours of study a night.)  Melanie’s sister and brother-in-law are also here preparing for ministry.  The two families plan to minister together on the mission field.

The Kirks' Vision

“God has been preparing our family to minister in Central Asia for the past several years. We believe that God has called us to affect the Muslim world with Christ’s tangible love, so we will be creative in sharing His love and truth to people, with the goal of sending them into more un-reached areas so that others can hear too. May God's Kingdom come!”

We love to work with such wonderful people, to help teach and train them for God’s calling on their lives and to see the nations transformed with the truth and power of the gospel.

 ___________________________________________________________

Leland Paris is the director of YWAM Tyler and his brother Oren is the Chancellor of Ecclesia College in Springdale, Arkansas.  They have a minister’s fellowship there and chose to honor the ministry of some of the YWAM staff here in Tyler. 

So, Beth and I took a trip to Arkansas to be licensed for ministry by Ecclesia Minister’s Conference.  I guess I can officially marry and bury!

 We saved the big news for last!!!

So we hope you’re still reading :)  We are moving to Arkansas!  This spring, we have been praying about God’s next step for our family, and we feel God is leading us to Springdale, a city in northwest Arkansas close to Fayetteville.  Jason will be studying at Ecclesia College (which was formerly a YWAM ministry) to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies next May.  We are praying that we will be able to live on campus, and Beth may be working part-time. As of now, August 20^th looks like our date of departure.  We have truly loved our time with our YWAM family here in Tyler but are also excited about what God has in store for us with this next adventure.  We hear fall is gorgeous in Arkansas, and we would love to have visitors!  (Springdale is close to the Ozark Mountains :)

We'll talk to you later,

Jason, Beth and Joshua