Greetings from the Frozen Midwest!

We apologize for not updating this sooner but as many of you can understand it has been busy. We are in our house and the boxes are slowly and surely disappearing. BG is in his second full week at the ministry. He is quickly getting back into the swing of things and is very excited about the direction the Lord is taking the ministry. Angela is very busy getting the house in order. We did not realize how much stuff we had, resulting in many trips to Goodwill! The house is looking great and there is now plenty of room to walk around without having to move a box.

Lauren has been doing a good deal of babysitting lately and helping Angela organizing the house. Keely has been busy setting up her room, some babysitting and meeting with friends. Unfortunately for her we just found her schoolbooks this past Tuesday. So, she is back to school after her nice, long break! Freida (our very spoiled dachshund) now has a sweater as she is constantly cold, especially when going outside. She is readjusting to the cold fairly well and she has become even more attached to Keely than before!

Below are some pictures of the snow taken this week. The first one is our deck, the second is of a pine in our neighbor's yard, and the third is Freida. Currently the temperature is -12 with a windchill of -31. In South Bend, IN (just 15 minutes away) they have opened several warming centers for people. We have about 16-18 inches of snow. It has been snowing quite a bit this week so we are starting to lose track. We are VERY thankful for a warm house!

We pray that y'all have a blessed weekend! Thank you for your prayers and support of our family.

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

11-24-08: 14 More Days and then . . . Snow!

Well, we are down to 14 days until we leave. Check out this picture out at Life Action's Camp last week. They had 9" of snow that night.




We appreciate your prayers - we are at about 73% of our support if I am guessing correctly!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving - for we all have much to give Him thanks for in our lives.

BG & Angela

11-20-08, Only 18 more days!

It's hard to believe, but it is only 18 more days until we are in Michigan. The movers will pick up our things on eithe DEC 4 or 5 and we will pull out the morning of DEC 8.

We are still working on our support and if my estimates are correct, we may be at 70%. If the Lord leads you to, please pray for that additional 30% and that it come soon!

We will be having Thanksgiving with my parents as well as my brother & sister and their families down in Denham Springs, LA next week.

Pleaase take time to reflect in the goodness of God and to give him thanks in ALL things.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thess. 5:16-18

November 15, 2008 Update

We hope you are having a great weekend!

Just wanted to give you an update. IF our estimates are correct, we are at about 60% of our financial support goal. Thank you for those that are praying for us and for those that are supporting us financially.

We only have three more weeks until we leave for Niles, Michigan and begin our ministry with Life Action. We plan on pulling out either on December 8th of 9th. There is a Senior Leadership Team meeting beginning on December 15 that BG needs to attend.

We have found a house to lease for a year that is ready to move into once we arrive. It belongs to a staff member of Life Action that has just moved to another part of town.

We do so much appreciate your prayers. Please do continue to pray for our financial support to come in over the next two weeks. God is faithful!
BG's Life Action e-mail is ballen@lifeaction.org. Please feel free to contact.

Reassigned to Life Action

We are being "reassigned" by the Lord back to Life Action. The Lord has blessed us here at First Baptist Church of Brandon. We have learned much during this year that we believe will make us much more effective in our role at Life Action.

BG will be returning as a member of the Senior Leadership Team responsible for facilitating and developing the various leadership teams, the strategic planning process, succession planning, leadership development and the development of strategic partnerships across the nation.

We plan on leaving Mississippi for Niles, Michigan the week of DEC 8. The Lord has provided us a house to rent once we arrive in town.

We are in the process of raising our financial support to return and as of 11-12-08 are at about 60% of our goal. We would greatly appreciate your prayer support in this and your financial support if the Lord so leads you.

In Christ,
BG & Angela