Greetings from Ohio and Puerto Rico...

Greetings from Ohio and Puerto Rico! Yes, that is correct, the Ingram family is currently in two different parts of the world I, Heather, am writing this update letter from Ohio while David is in PR. I will explain why  later on in the letter, but first we have an exciting update concerning the land loan for the orphanage that we shared about in our last monthly report.

                                                                                                                                                     

 As you remember there was a loan on the land that the orphanage was built on and there were past due payments totaling $2,060. The total balance of the land loan was $4,500 which was to be paid off by December 2016. God has seen to it through supporters such as yourselves, that not only the past due amount was paid off but the remaining balance of the loan has been paid off too! Praise be to God! We are so relieved to have the orphanage now operating debt free. We can not thank you all enough for your financial support, not only on a monthly basis but as well as for special needs such as this one. We are praying for you all that God will continue to richly bless you so that you may continue to be a blessing to others!

There are several ministry and family announcements we would like to inform you all of at this time: on Fathers Day I surprised David and the rest of our family with news that we are expecting our 4th baby! With us living in PR during a Zika outbreak David and I made the difficult decision to spend the pregnancy in the States and deliver the baby in Ohio. However, this was not an easy decision and it also comes with a lot of necessary planning and preparation which of course takes time. During the pregnancy we are planning to travel on furlough to provide updates for our supporters and Lord willing, speak at new churches. Planning a furlough, temporarily moving a growing family, and wrapping up ministry activities in PR we estimated was going to take us at least a month to accomplish. We were expecting to be ready to come to Ohio and begin everything sometimes in August for the rainy season came to PR. However, at the end of June David’s grandmother passed away unexpectedly. David,

myself, and the children flew up to Ohio for the funeral which was held on July 1st. Thankfully, his grandmother was a believer and the family is being comforted with this hope and peace through the Lord’s strength. If you have ever hear David sing you have heard him sing one of his grandmother's beautiful songs. So now, we find ourselves with another difficult decision : for everyone to fly back to PR for a few weeks to try to accomplish everything that’s necessary while I stay cooped up in the house away from mosquitoes carrying Zika OR for David to fly back on his own and do everything himself. We weighed out the pro’s and con’s and ultimately decided that it would be best for David to return to PR solo that way he can focus on getting everything done without worrying about family needs in addition to work. David flew back to PR July 11th and hopes to be back sometime around the first or second week of August. The children and I are currently staying with David’s parents in Ohio.

David already has a couple speaking engagements and a revival meeting lined up for our furlough trip and is looking for more dates to fill and opportunity to preach revivals. A phone call from David will be coming to a phone near you shortly! We look forward to seeing everyone again in the coming months and sharing with you what God has done. Feel free to beat David to the phone and give him a call at 937-307-0694 to schedule our visit for your church, small group, or simply a friendly visit, he’d love to hear from you!

David is also planning on a second Pastors/Leaders Retreat sometime this coming Fall.  Making phone calls and setting dates is another activity David is planning on doing in the coming weeks while he’s in PR. If you’re interested in attending or would like more information about the retreat, give David a call at the number listed above.

Along with these announcements there is of course prayer needs that David and I would like you all to be praying with us about. Going on a furlough with a family of 5 requires vehicle space; space for luggage, a projector screen, Joannah’s play pen bed, and of course 3 car seats of various sizes. This means we will need a vehicle bigger than a compact car. We have contacted an RV sales lot to put the bug in their ear about who we are

and our needs. As it would turn out the proprietors of the company are Christians. They currently didn’t have anything in the size we needed but they said they would pray with us for God to provide what we needed. If you and your church group could begin putting the word out to everyone that a missionary family is looking to use an RV or van for furlough, that would be helpful. If an RV isn’t available to us then acquiring a van would be our next option. A moderate sized RV would really be the ideal solution; as most of you know we have 3 highly energized children and staying with people while we travel isn’t always easy. We know God already has a plan already in place and knows how our needs will be met, whether it be through an RV or a van and really patient and hospitable people willing to open up their homes to our unique family! We are excitedly waiting to see how God will work everything out and we will do our best to keep everyone updated while we travel. Please remember that a phone call is always welcome!

We know and understand that our needs are great but thankfully they are not greater than our God. Last month God provided $4,500 for our orphanage land loan, if that isn’t a testament to how awesome He is then I wouldn’t know what would be! Right now there are more questions than answers and more unfulfilled needs than provisions. Please be praying for us about everything we’ve shared in this letter. We look forward to writing you all again in August to share with you how God has already begun fulfilling these needs.

Servants together,

Heather Ingram