The Idaho Mission team returns to the field in 2021.

After taking a year off from mission trips, the Lord has opened doors in Blackfoot and Idaho Falls. Team members this year are Rodney and Lisa Jarrell, Bobby and Renee Stewart and their children, Austin, Addison, Aaron and Rose, Paul and Carolyn Pipkins, and joining us for the first time, Lyle and Rose Rainey and Kristen Montague.  Oh, and I can’t forget Pat and me.

And getting here is half the battle. No really, it is half the battle.

Depending on the group, each took three or four days to get here. Pat and I left Saturday a week ago, but we spent the first four days visiting relatives in Texas. We left Waco on Thursday, traveled to Limon, Colorado, then the next day traveled into Blackfoot. And compared to everyone else, our travels were a breeze. We did run into some stormy weather going across Wyoming, but that was all.

Lisa and Rodney’s clan had a little more of an adventure. They loaded up their big Ultrasport RV and took off to North Central Texas on Monday. Tuesday, Dodge City, Kansas was the destination. Wednesday was through Nebraska to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Then on Thursday, Satan’s demons started messin’ with the motor home. Radiator problems plagued the trip the rest of the way, as they crept down Interstate 80 at 55 miles per hour at best, with a few stops along the way to cool down. But they pulled into Blackfoot on Friday, despite fiendish attempts.

The Pipkins began their missionary efforts a couple of weeks early, as they did some work in a couple of locations in New Mexico. They did a backpack and food ministry in Threau, then went to Bird Springs Community Church and did some construction on the church building (a ministry they have been doing for 39 years). The Pipkins took three days off in Utah for some R&R, then arrived in Blackfoot on Wednesday. Their RV travels weren’t without problems, battling issues with tires, an electrical charging problem, and a broken heater hose. Paul was able to take care of all of that.

Lyle and Rose left Petal on Monday with their homemade travel trailer. The first night, they traveled to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, next night to Stillwater, Oklahoma, then to Holly, Colorado, and the last sleepover in Rawlings, Wyoming. From there, they cruised into Blackfoot late Friday afternoon. The Rainey’s only had an issue with some air conditioning, as it couldn’t keep up and had to deal with 103-degree temperatures.

So, as you can see, it takes three or four days of driving time. We will spend six days in Idaho. Then it takes another three or four days to get back home.  So yes, traveling is half the battle. But we are all about going through open doors, and this is the door that God has opened for this mission team.

Tomorrow we begin Big Fish Bay Vacation Bible School with Grace at Riverside Baptist Church and Falls Baptist Church. More about that in days to come!

Saturday, we were decorating for VBS, and Lisa wrote Jesus Saves on a plastic decorative life preserver. I thought of this ocean-side hymn to go along with our ocean-side theme:

Waft it on the rolling tide, Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Tell the sinners far and wide, Jesus saves, Jesus saves!

Sing ye islands of the see! Echo back, ye ocean caves!

Earth shall keep her jubilee, Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Jesus Saves! Priscilla J. Owens, 1882

Please continue to pray that God will open doors, plant seeds and that we will be used as vessels of God.

Until tomorrow, 

It’s All Don Hill From Here