The Lord Our Keeper

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8

Over the past two months, we have traveled over 6,000 miles. Every time we return to our “home base” in Pennsylvania, we are reminded of the title of a book: “There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale” by Bilbo Baggins.” We are in a season of constant coming and going, traveling there and back again. This means many hours in the car. Many hours on the road. Over and over, the Lord reminds us that He is our Keeper. He is the One who protects us and allows our car to function well. He gives us the strength to minister when we are weary. He will not only do this for one trip, but the passage says that God keeps us “from this time forth and forevermore.” While this Psalm was written thousands of years ago, we still cling to it because our God never changes (Malachi 3:6). What a glorious truth to be able to place our trust in the Lord our Keeper.

Where we’ve been

We arrived Stateside on July 9th, so we are now two months into our 10-month furlough. We began “with a bang” by going out to Colorado. We had a missions conference in the Denver area, and we were blessed and encouraged through that time. From there, we were able to spend some time with Jeff’s side of the family. When we are not traveling, we stay with Lisa’s parents in Pennsylvania. We don’t have many opportunities to see our family while we’re on the field, so we are thankful for the blessing of seeing so much of our family. Towards the end of August, we had the joy and privilege of visiting our sending church. They have “held our ropes” since the very beginning. As we spent time with people we know and love and have ministered to, it gave us a sense of “home.” We are thankful for the iron-sharpening relationships that we have there, and we look forward to being with them again in October.

We just finished up a wonderful conference in Hampton, Virginia. We enjoyed strengthening and establishing relationships there, and the church family met some specific needs that we shared with them. We enjoyed many opportunities to share about Ecuador, and the preaching, teaching, fellowship, and music ministered to us.

What we’re up to

This week began the “gauntlet” of traveling and a full fall schedule. If you would like to follow our travels, HERE is a link to our full schedule. Our supporters are all part of the ministry in Ecuador, and we’re so thankful for the opportunity to report back to them. We do ask that you pray for us over the next two months as we will be traveling to meetings in Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Three of those visits include conferences. Each meeting and conference requires something different from us, so we would appreciate your prayers for our preparation, which sometimes happens on the road. We want to make the best use of the time we have to share about God’s work in Ecuador. With His help, we are in our 6th week of school. Every week brings something new, and we are learning to be thankful and flexible with all the changes. Traveling provides us with field trips and new experiences - praise God for new opportunities to learn and grow!

Please continue to pray for the ministry in Ecuador, that the Lord would help our coworkers, the Cruz-Chela family and the Woodfin family as they continue serving there. Please pray that the believers would be faithful to the Lord and wise in their decision making. We are thankful for technology that allows us to maintain contact with the people there.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us during this furlough season and for your continued prayers for the ministry in Ecuador!

In His service and yours,

The Mayfields

Jeff, Lisa, Simon, and Titus

The Double Scoop:

So many people have asked about the boys’ adjustment to the States. Overall, they have adjusted very well. Simon has started noticing things he misses about Ecuador, but he has enjoyed trips to libraries and the Post Office. Titus has surprised us by becoming quite the social butterfly. The traveling and change sometimes takes its toll, so we would appreciate your prayers for gracious consistency in our parenting.

Praise and Prayer: