Two Special Guests

We had the pleasure of getting to know two special guests at SonSet Solutions. The first, Dr. Tim Gilmour (right), is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. He spent his sabbatical with us and worked primarily on developing the next generation of our Power Quality Monitor. You can read more about him on our webpage: https://sonsetsolutions.org/a-sabbatical-with-purpose/. 

Our second visitor also came with a specific purpose: to get training that would enable him to pursue his long-term goal to serve in Asia-Pacific as a radio planter. Trevor Schwarze (below) completed his pre-field training at Mission Training International in Colorado earlier this month, and he has relocated to the Asia-Pacific region already. Trevor appreciates all he has learned during training here at SonSet Solutions. Trevor's story is also featured on our webpage:  https://sonsetsolutions.org/empowering-our-partners/.

VBS praise

We have had several churches collect funds for SonSet Solutions through their Vacation Bible School programs. Please praise the Lord with us that the gospel was shared to many children as well as for His provision for SonSet Solutions. The churches all surpassed their initial funding goals to provide generously for SonSet® radios or Solar Media Centers.​

Jean was also blessed to be able to serve at McCoy's Vacation Bible School. She taught first and second grades, and five children raised their hands to speak to a teacher/helper. Please pray for these five that God would continue to pour his word into their lives.

Family Updates

We hit some milestones this summer!

· We celebrated out 36th wedding anniversary. That just flew by.

· We celebrated John's 60th birthday!

· Congratulations to Johnny who just got promoted to Lead Animal Keeper and will be in charge of three animal areas of the zoo: two in Asia, and one comprised of North America and South America! In addition, but separately, he is was also named as the Institution Representative for black-footed ferrets.

· Congrats to David recently got a raise and is doing well at MarkNet Alliance.

Praises

We are thankful that John's mother, who was very sick and in the hospital this past week, is showing small signs of improvement. 

Jean is currently serving at Checkpoint Bible Camp this week as camp nurse.

Requests

Please continue to pray for John's mother, Susan and for her recovery.

Please pray for the ministry of Checkpoint Bible and for continued ministry this week.

Inside Glimpse: Machine Shop

Inside Glimpse: Machine Shop

Yes, that's me!  This is a glimpse into our amazing machine shop at SonSet Solutions.  Here, talented staff design and craft many things that have great impact around the world, such as water monitor components and antennas. This helps us keep our technology cost low and also allows us to try many novel and creative approaches to providing solutions.

The men who work here are highly motivated daily to use their gifts and abilities to bring blessings to many worldwide -- both to advance the good news of Jesus and to provide for physical needs.  They love the Lord deeply and recognize the need to draw from Him what they need for fruitful, effective service.  Every morning before staff devotions (yes before) these men and I come together to pray and seek the Lord's guidance, provision and strength for the day ahead.

In the photo above, one of the men is teaching me the basics on how to use a machine to do some cutting – and it's more complicated than I thought!  It's a privilege to serve alongside these men and so many others at SonSet Solutions, who share the passion to advance the gospel worldwide!

Family: Rich Heritage 

Psalm 127:3 calls children not a burden but a heritage and 

reward.  The Lord gives these precious little lives to us as a gift.

It's a blessing from the Lord when He provides you a Godly mate.

Over time He may give you children. If so, you pray and He may graciously draw and save them. Then over time He may provide them with a Godly mate, and perhaps give them children as well.

We're in that grandparent stage and are deeply thankful for our children and grandchildren!

We are glad to be able to see most of our family on a fairly regular basis. We are sad that JR is a little too far away for some of these family events.

 

Praises

We have been encouraged by the good response to our printed and digital communication pieces. (Though since taking on the primary role in donation services, Jean is mostly just proofreading these pieces. However, she still enjoys being part of the process.)

We're continuing to be encouraged as we've seen so many people like you faithfully continue to partner alongside us in ministry. We love you, we pray for you, and we are deeply thankful for you. Together we're making an impact worldwide!

Requests

The worldwide chip shortage continues to cause major delays, particularly with our upcoming SonSet® radio with an audio Bible.

Please continue to ask the Lord to intervene for a breakthrough. There's a definite need!

There are several countries where we have partners that are enduring political and/or social unrest. Please join us in prayer for our partners who serve and minister in these places using our technologies. Pray for peace and that the message of hope would be clear to them. 

Reaching the Inaccessible

 

 Reaching the Inaccessible

“How will these refugees be reached with the gospel of peace and hope in Jesus Christ?” This was the question posed to our Broadcast Solutions Team by one of the leaders of ACROSS, a ministry based in South Sudan. He was not speaking of the 2.5 million refugees who had fled in 2013 when civil war broke out in the country. He was referring to the 1.5 million internally displaced people who stayed but sought shelter in some of the most isolated parts of their own homeland. Now residing in almost inaccessible regions, they find themselves outside the reach of Christian FM radio stations which cover the more populated cities in the country.

Engineers from SonSet Solutions worked with ACROSS to design and consult on the installation of a lower-power shortwave radio station using our regional 1kW TB-1000 transmitter and Lazy-8 antenna. These two technologies, when combined, give the station the ability to cover the entire country of South Sudan. Listeners are now hearing the gospel over the airwaves and interacting with the radio through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.

Jacob, a listener, says, “Good News Radio has become my friend. It is my dream to be listening to the Word of God every day and to receive this training. … I give thanks to God for Good News Radio!” Another listener, Joseph, responded, “I love listening to Good News Radio every time because it is showing me the way of God through the good news of Jesus Christ.”

In 2021, SonSet Solutions also sent 640 SonSet® radios to increase audience access to the station. This year we plan to send another 960 radios, all funded through our SonSet Radios: Delivering God’s Word campaign. Vince Ward from Good News Radio says, “This dream of saturating South Sudan with gospel-centered radio programming has become a reality. All glory to God!” We say, “Amen!”

 [https://sonsetsolutions.org/reaching-the-inaccessible/]

Lansing Bible Church Area

The pastor at Lansing Bible Church was gone May 8 and May 15, and John was able to speak both Sundays. We were able to sandwich in some visits to supporters, and were really blessed by the time spent with them as well as worship with LBC the last two Sundays. We have been so amazed by how God moves our personal partnership team. We clearly see God moving people and are grateful as they respond--our shortages have been met several times before we even knew we had a shortage. Praise God and our faithful friends and family for this amazing evidence of provision.

We were blessed to be able to make Elizabeth and Pete's home a home base from which we would travel and meet everyone. It has been fun to have morning cuddles, celebrate Mother's Day simply, read bed time stories, talk to Abel, see Micah and Eleanor do school...the list goes on and on.

Praises Our needs are met before we even knew we had needs. For our two apprentices, who both started this last month Requests

1. A breakthrough on the chip shortage for our next generation SonSet® radio.
2. Stamina and faithfulness - as ministry is stretching and growing us in good ways.