Pittman Family Update

Greetings in the Lord! Just wanted to send along a few praise reports and prayer requests before we “hit the road” tomorrow:

PRAISE:
1. For a blessed trip to Cuba recently; Paul was able to accomplish all ministry goals on this trip; the Westover church team was a great blessing and fun to travel with.

We were able to visit with two missionary families in the provinces and it was great to see the tremendous progress in growth of the house churches.

2. Paul was able to spend quality time with the Mision Mundial leadership and see real “team building” progress and planning for significant expansion in 2009! Rejoice with us!

3. Praise God for Paul’s religious visa being issued…..too late to avoid purchasing a tourist visa too (just to get on the plane from Costa Rica to the island…sigh…but THANKS for praying!

PRAY:
1. For quick recovery for folks all across the island, from two “back to back” devastating hurricanes; Gustav crossed over Isla de Juventud as a category 5 and Ike raked the island for two days from east to west as a category 4; many crops and agricultural production have been destroyed; we found it difficult to find fruits and fresh vegetables of any kind during our trip and prices have skyrocketed! Diesel fuel had increased from 0.65 CUC per liter to 1.40 CUC in just the last few weeks.

2. Pray for the church planter training course which was “rolled out” on the island earlier this year to yield results; already, on this trip, I was able to see positive signs of new leadership stepping forward and stepping ou REJOICE! This is an absolute imperative for us to continue to manage the tremendous growth and expansion of the church.

3. Pray for traveling mercies for the Pittman family’s travels to Thailand TOMORROW for the UWM Global Training conference; praise God for resources for the trip and PRAY with us for safety and energy, for wisdom and willing minds to gain much from the training. Our mission director shared recently the metaphor of warriors preparing for battle, sharpening their swords. He compared missionaries “preparing for battle” by “sharpening THEIR swords” by continuing their training and equipping. PRAY for Dori and I and many UWM colleagues to be successful in the next week or so as we “sharpen our swords”. Thanks!

We really do appreciate you! Thanks from all of us for your partnership in ministry by praying, encouraging and giving!

NOTE: Hot off the “press”! Look for our new blogsite at: www.pittmancrew.typepad.com

Enjoy!

WE WILL BE OUT OF THE OFFICE UNTIL 19 NOVEMBER 2008; WE EXPECT TO BE AVAILABLE BY WAY OF EMAIL THE ENTIRE TIME IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT US!

Blessings to you today from your missionaries in Costa Rica!