Praise and prayer

First I will go with the prayer request because it is needed right now. Our crew chief broke his collar bone over the weekend and due to it not setting right he is going into surgery today. If you could be praying that the surgery goes well and that he has a speedy recovery. As for the praise the building project is going smoothly, but slowly without Todd on the site. We have passed our first inspection, and are currently getting 2 of the units ready to be sheet rocked. The sewer and water have gone into a few of the units already, the main thing we need right now is the electrical put in. Pray that it can get done soon so we do not fall behind schedule and it's ready for students in the fall. We have also got a modular building to help with our classroom space until we can get the new ones built. It was a real blessing, to get it for the price we did.

As for Amanda and I, we are doing well, the warmer weather has been a blessing, it just sort of lifts our spirit to get out of the cold. Work gets started quicker and we get more done with the warm weather. Also thank you for your continued prayers and support we are both glad to have people praying for us all over, and just being apart of this ministry here.

Your brother and sister in Christ,
- John and Amanda Stro

ps. A picture will be added later today :) It just needs to be taken!


Update on Todd~
Todd's surgery went well. It took a bit longer than anticipated as the surgeon found a three inch gap in his shoulder bone. He had an overnight stay in the hospital and is currently home resting. Please be praying for a speedy recovery. He is getting a bit anxious to be back into the swing of things.

Amazed!?

A picture from us to you!!! Praise God, it finally worked!!! Hopefully it will continue working.

I wanted to share this picture with you all. In it are the ladies from a Bible study I attend on Wednesday nights. They have been such a blessing! Last semester we were studying the attributes of God. This semester we are going through the book Crazy Love by: Francis Chan. It's all about love and our relationship with God.

Even before our study began God amazed me with what He can do. For starters, I was a bit nervous about purchasing the book. As you know finances are rather tight, and I was having trouble justifying buying the book. God totally eased my mind when I was talking with my sister KT a few weeks ago. She had bought the book last semester to go through it with a friend and never did. Thus she was more than willing to mail the book to me so that I may borrow it for the study! God is good! There was no need for me to be concerned.

The first chapter challenged us to think about who God really is. What really struck me was how we often miss the little things that God blesses us with. Such as what we see, hear, touch, and taste. He lavishes us through the diverse colors that we see in a sunset. Or what about all the different kinds of laughter we hear? Think about how nice the sand feels between your toes when at a beach. And what about FOOD! Everything could have tasted like peas, but God had other plans in mind for us. Praise God for the diversity of senses!

God is constantly blessing us all throughout our week. The question is do we choose to recognize them. I am totally guilty of not always recognizing blessings. For example last Saturday it snowed here! Crazy I know! I was not so excited about it because I was thinking... Great another cold week! Winter is never going to go away. Boy was I wrong! As the snow was melting I saw a little bit of green poking out of the snow in various places. And then I looked over by our shed/shack there were clusters of green plants, which will grow to be flowers. Wow! Spring is really on its way. And to top it all off the past few days have been very warm... as in 70 degrees warm! Praise God for the snow to help emphasize to me that spring is on its way!

Serving an Amazing God,
Amanda Stroze <><

PS. Thanks for your prayers regarding finances. We are seeing God working! Please keep praying for us, and we thank you for being apart of our ministry.