Pastor's Note - February 24 
This week, I wanted you to hear from Josh Lewis, following his recent trip overseas:
MJ and I have bumped into many of you who have asked, “So how was the trip?” We thought it might be helpful to share an update here in the CBC weekly.
First off thanks, to the family and friends who watched the twins for us while we were gone. We couldn’t have gone without that help. Also, thanks so much to those of you who prayed. We felt the Lord’s merciful answers in many ways: 1) Several pressing health issues for MJ, Ruth, and I, were all resolved right before we left for our trip enabling us to go, 2) we had no flight delays, no cancellations, and no car troubles/accidents (when you drive past an overturned cement truck on the highway in N. Africa, one is reminded this is not to be taken for granted), and 3) we were able to meet with many of the people we were hoping to meet.
As many of you can attest, your ability to work with co-workers can make or break the workplace. We wanted to meet the school administrator, the other teachers (both local and foreign), and other foreign Christians in the city, to see if we could work with these people. Not only were we pleased to meet the other teachers and admin there with the same purpose and heart we would have, we were able to meet one other (of the few) foreign families there whom we might be able to enjoy Christian fellowship with, which was not only unplanned, but also quite helpful at getting a clear picture of the city and state of “the work” there, so we thank God for providing it.
Lastly, we asked for clear vision. At the beginning of our trip, and the end, there was a similar theme that struck both MJ and I: the darkness of this place with regard to knowledge of the Lord through Jesus Christ. It almost felt tangible as we sat in our hotel room. The song, “Let the Nations be Glad” came to mind on our last morning there. “Let the whole earth be filled with the praises of the Lord, For salvation belongs to our God; Let the nations be glad.” How will the nations, and not just the nations but also our neighbors in Olathe, be glad? By hearing the word of Christ and believing, which they need to hear from us. (Rom 10:13-17)
God has given us a strong desire to work towards this largely Muslim nation in N. Africa hearing this message about Jesus Christ and growing in godliness by means of developing healthy local churches. But desire isn’t everything. We also would ask those of you at CBC to help us in this discernment process by praying with and for us, as well as affirming whether or not we as a family are qualified and capable for this work.
We love and appreciate you all,
Josh and MJ (Bella, Izzy, and Ruth too)