It’s official… our oldest son, Adam, is a married man!

On Saturday, June 24, we celebrated the wedding of our son Adam to a delightful young lady named Sofia Velis (now Sofia Belz!) They asked me to officiate the ceremony, which was an honor. As I pronounced them husband and wife at their ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, joy filled my heart at God’s gracious provision of a believing wife and ministry partner for Adam. Proverbs 18:22 states, “The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.” (NLT) Truly Adam has found a treasure in Sofia as they are perfectly suited for each other, both progressing through the MDiv program at Southern Seminary, both passionate to serve God in missions, both sincere in their devotion to the Lord and each other.

Every element of the time together was precious, but so much was happening at any given moment that it was difficult to take it all in. Several members of our family attended the wedding, and it was good to get to know Sofia’s family as well. All the bridal party were followers of Jesus Christ, Andrew being Adam’s best man and Alyssa being one of Sofia’s bridesmaids. They requested I clearly share the Gospel during the wedding, and watching Adam’s face as Sofia came around the corner and walked up the aisle with her father was priceless.

Just a few weeks ago, both Adam and Sofia were in Rio, Brazil, on a mission trip with a team from their school. So in addition to weaving in our union with God through faith in Christ (i.e. the Gospel) and the union of husband and wife in marriage, I personalized my encouragement for them by drawing upon their experience in their mission trip as a picture of a grander and more significant journey they are beginning in marriage.

The day after the wedding, Holly and I traveled to southern Kentucky to preach in my sister and mom’s church.  The following day we headed to the airport, but were bumped to a flight the next day, which made the brief four days between the wedding and my departure for a final training and graduation in Kenya even briefer.

Please join us in prayer:

1. Praise God for Adam and Sofia’s union, and pray for them to serve God dynamically as a married couple, much stronger and better than they could separately.
2. Pray for Andrew as he continues his real estate work, for Alyssa as she works over the summer and prepares to return to Boyce College to continue her studies, and pray for Holly who tries to keep her legs under her in the midst of much transition in her family members.
3. Please pray for upcoming ministry. This is the final training for this network of Masai pastors in Kenya. The Masai are very dependent upon the land since they are farmers of goats and cows, and the drought and famine have brought much hardship on them. Pray they will attend this final training where they will preach full messages through the book of Habakkuk and receive our correction and feedback. Following the training will be a graduation. This is often a big event for these pastors, and I will be speaking at it and hope to inspire their continued study and preaching. Also pray for important meetings on July 3 with Dr. Alia Tasse (who has several thousand house churches under his authority in the DMM movement) and Bishop Abel. These men have the potential of greatly expanding our influence in Kenya and beyond. The day after I return, we begin to host my curriculum revision team (Steve and Mike) for five days of curriculum work.

God is at work, and we are blessed to be involved with what He is doing, and deeply appreciate your prayers and partnership as we continue in His service.