Tuesday the First Year Missionaries who went out for 9 months, September to May, returned home. Dave and I spent the day at the airport welcoming them home. What a year they had. One by one as they greeted us they told us how God used them and how much they changed. Here is what one FYM; Isabel Maldonada, told me she wishes she could tell every future FYM.

"Make the most out of your time during this program. You will probably never have 9 months where you are being discipled and going out and ministering again. At times you will want to give up but that is when you need to press into God and ask him to give you strength and to fill you up for each day."

I welcomed home Brandon Benson, (he was in our youth group in MN) and he said to me,
"Every kid my age should do this. I would recommend FYM to everyone."

What a joy it was to see them grow in their faith and see how much they have fallen in love with God. I am excited to know that now we have 80 new college aged students being missionaries right here in the USA. Praise the Lord for changed lives and fresh blood with energy and life in them. My prayer is that they will change the US with their new love for God.

Keep them in your prayers as they readjust back to the states. This next month is extremely hard for them, they will feel lonely and out of place, they will have a desire to go back to the people they ministered too. They left the individuals in extreme poverty and they have come back to luxury. Keep them in your prayers.

What a great God we serve and worthy of our praise. He is at work all over the world.