Changing Seasons

With the arrival of spring, the NW is in full bloom.  We inherited many fruit trees and flowers with our home here in Battle Ground so our yard is in bloom and very beautiful.  Spring has also brought other exciting changes.  Over the next couple of months, we will be extremely busy and needing much prayer.  We will be holding prayer for the Persecuted Church at our home this Sunday night.  It has been a great opportunity and a blessing for us.  In 2 weeks, Page will be leading a purity retreat at our home for mothers and their daughters.  It is desperately needed in our area. That same weekend I will be flying to Jacksonville, FL to lead a 2 day SAFE conference.  When that weekend is over, we will be 4 weeks away from leading a team to Guatemala.  There is a total of 10 folks going, 5 of which are Carrolls.  Yes, the kids are going and they are ecstatic.  We will be building a relationship with a Mayan village in San Rafael, GT.  So please pray that we get off to a great start -that we will see decisions for Christ, encouragement for the indigenous church and a motivated church in the NW commit themselves to pursuing global missions from here on.  Also, pray for our kids.  It will be a new experience with new challenges for us all, but we are excited to see what God will do.  With the commitment to foreign missions and a new weekly time of prayer that Pastor Troy has begun on Wednesday nights, the church has been engulfed in spiritual warfare.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  After only a couple of weeks, 5 GT team members stepped down.  One, who is in her 70's lost her home and will be displaced at the end of this week.  Another, is being audited with 2 years of taxes due to a negligent business partner.  Many marriages are under attack.  One is fighting to keep a granddaughter.  Another has been told by her Pastor uncle (from a different church) that she needed to leave mission work to the "professionals." (I have no idea what qualifies a person to be a  "professional" - can't even find that word in the Bible - I'm open to any suggestions.).  While all of that is going on,  Pastor Troy here has set aside 6 or so men to serve in leadership at the church.  I am thrilled at this and will be working alongside our Pastor in equipping these men for church leadership.   Immediately following our GT trip, we will be returning to Alabama for a few weeks to rest, visit and pray.  After that trip, VBS.  Whew!  Busy summer, but praise God for the opportunities.