A Much Requested Update from the Boones!

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Romans 12:9
March 4, 2014 Volume II, Issue I

Dear <<First Name>>,
I used to think that mold was the stuff of spoiled food or a shower in need of cleaning. My life has now furthered my education in the intrcacies and occurrences of this nastiness!
Mold has occupied much of our living space this past winter. It has infiltrated into cabinets, grown on toys, ruined books and puzzles, covered the backs of some furniture, ruined a mattress, concealed the bottom of the drawers under the bed in our bedroom, crept around windows and hidden under baseboards. It's nasty stuff and has wreaked havoc on some of our health. In varying degrees we have experienced respiratory issues including allergies and coughing, gut issues, achyness and exhaustion. What's really crazy about the mold is how "alive" it seems. You never know where it will show up next. We've come to expect it to materialize again. We are constantly on the alert for it, ready to do a counter-strike against the vile stuff. We've found many good treatments: basic bleach (which causes other respiratory issues for me), plain white vinegar (which at 10% is quite strong compared to US standards), diluted tea tree oil and diluted grapefruit seed extract.
As we've fought the mold--with gloved hands, paper towels, spray bottles of fluids, a mop and bucket and a household fan, i've thought often of how much sin is like mold. It's ready to strike and cause problems at any moment. How ready am I for the counter attack? How alert am I to the fact that pride is creeping up on me? How observant am I to recognize that the way I'm thinking and feeling is really self-pity? Am I watchful of the words that I'm saying and realizing that they are hurtful in their tone? Have I been on the look out for the subtle attitudes of my heart that are selfish and self absorbed?
As a follower of Jesus, I need to be vigilant to the sin that is ready to debilitate me, kill the ministry God has blessed us with and damage our family. There's no time to relax and wait for the mold (or the sin) to grow...I need to be on my guard. My own fleshly desires will bring this sin as well as the enemy of my soul. I Peter 5:8 reminds me...., "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I'm not interested in sharing my living space with mold OR sin...
~meredith

What has been happening with the Boones?

Besides fighting household mold and personal sins, we've been busy ministering to the small church body here in Kwidzyn. We've seen the damage that quick tempered passionate words, hurt feelings, unresolved grievances and misunderstandings have caused. When feelings are hurt it's like the beginnings of a moldy spot...if it isn't treated and destroyed, it will grow into bitterness and it will cause one to hear and understand words from the offending person differently....We've seen the effects of this in the little church body. Autumn was a time for learning some of what had happened and winter has been a time of helping to bring these issues before the throne of Christ. We've been meeting (some of us in the church) weekly for prayer. These prayers have been for individual needs, health needs, the city and officials of Kwidzyn and especially that God would bring good communication and unity and love and forgiveness to those in the church body. We are so blessed to report that we've seen direct answers to many of these prayers. It is so uplifting to see God working to bring about His plan. We have been encouraged by the spiritual growth we've seen in the members of the body and continue to pray for their increased hunger for God and His Word which will bring them the blessings that they will never find elsewhere. We've witnessed a mother's relationship with her teenage son being revived from what seemed like death, a woman break out of a depressive state of mind, another woman reaching out to others in the church even when they aren't extending themselves to her and two women struggling in their own lives and family yet having an impact by ministering to and loving hurting women at their workplace. Please continue praying with us as there are issues that are still unresolved and there are times it feels like they will never be settled. Humility is never easy, but absolutely essential to bringing about true healing and harmony and all parties need to have this together in order to set things right between them.

Tucker has had the opportunity to bring the Word to the congregation on Sunday mornings and see God use those messages in amazing ways. Meredith has been able to share at the Ladies and Girls Bible Study and watch extraordinary conversations happen that have brought about greater understanding where misunderstandings have been.
God is truly at work in Kwidzyn!

What is next?

We will be wrapping up our time of ministry here the end of April. The regular pastor and his wife will return mid-April and we'll stay to celebrate Christ's resurrection with them and (prayerfully) see the end of the ladies study in Esther that we've just begun. It's been thrilling (to say the least) to be back in ministry over these past several months. There have been plenty of struggles and tears, but doing what God has wired us to do has been energizing. Please pray with us that He will show us what our future holds....how to support the family and serve Him on a more full-time basis is what we desire. We don't know exactly where He would have us be and what He will have us to do, but we want to be open and listen carefully to what **He** desires of us. We have also loved being together as a family 7 days/week. This isn't something we'd had over the past 5 years with Tucker commuting to the Phoenix area 2 1/2 days a week. Please pray that God will provide all that we need to be together for dinner every night!

Praise God with Us!

Changing hearts and lives of those in the church...
Protection of us on our many journeys to Gdansk for our immigration paperwork
A short term residence visa granted to us at long last (good till the end of May 2014)
New friendships for us and the kids

Pray to God with Us!

God's continued blessing and guidance for our last 2 months of ministry here in Kwidzyn
That we will continue to be vigilant about mold and sin...both of which bring us harm
Increased hunger for God's Word in the church members here
Continued growth towards church unity and love and forgiveness
That those who have invited will join us for Sundays or prayer time or the women's study
Direction for our future after our return to Arizona in May

Visit our website to read some of Tucker's latest musings in the "Thoughts" portion of the website as well as some short stories published by Paisley & Bethany in December. www.boonesnews.com You can also see a couple of videos from our benefit concert here.

Contact Us!

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support! We are so blessed by your continued generosity and love.
Serving By HIS Grace Alone,
Tucker, Meredith, Paisley, Bethany, Ansel, Amelia & Ephraim

Copyright © 2014 Tucker & Meredith Boone, All rights reserved.
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