Barbara and I just returned from a wonderful trip to visit many of our brethren and ministry near Phoenix, Arizona. This was such a valuable trip in many ways, as we were able to meet on the Sabbath for services in the morning, and then the women enjoyed extended time together for a local Women’s Enrichment Sabbath afternoon. The theme for the day was “Encouragement,” so the title of my sermon was “Encouragement Leads to Greater Courage and Faith.” I spoke about the importance and power of encouragement from a biblical perspective.

Prior to the sermon, we also had three selections of very encouraging and uplifting special music for the normal sermonette time. Pastor Scott McKeon and I also honored Jim and Joan Tuck for their loving and valuable service to God and His children during their 45 years of dedicated service in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jim and Joan have one more trip to visit and serve our brethren in Hawaii before year’s end. On Jan. 1, Jim will also be retiring as our Southwest and South Central Regional Pastor. I can’t say enough in regard to how much I have appreciated working with Jim and Joan the past two years in MMS.

My wife also addressed the ladies in the afternoon with a message entitled, “The Courage in Encouragement/A Surprising Building Block.” I know Barbara was greatly encouraged as she spent time seeing longtime friends, renewing old acquaintances and meeting many people for the first time. She really enjoyed working with the women’s planning committee. She was also inspired by all the women who spoke and shared their stories.

On Sunday, a group of elders met together at Monte and Susie Knudson’s home for the Southwest Regional Ministerial Conference with many other ministers and wives connecting online from around the region.

At the online conference, it was announced that Robin Webber has been appointed as the new Regional Pastor for the Southwest region. Robin and Susan have served very faithfully in the region for many, many years and have a genuine love for God and His people. I look forward to working with Robin to serve the needs of our ministry and members there.

Barbara and I greatly enjoyed spending time with so many elders and wives from the Phoenix area and meeting many members on the Sabbath. We had never spent much time in the desert and we really enjoyed the difference in climate for a change! God is such a God of variety and various forms of beauty. We appreciate the desert a great deal more after this visit.

This conference was the last in a series of regional conferences that spanned the last two years. Now we move on to other ways to serve and educate our ministry as they feed and nurture God’s people!

May you all have a very physically restful and spiritually inspiring Sabbath day!