A Good Easter and a Long Road North

Easter Sunday morning at our home church in Center, Texas, is one of those gifts we do not take for granted. Danny and Bonnie were glad to have their mom home, and all of us were glad to be there together. It felt good to worship with our own people before heading back out on the road.

We left Wednesday morning for El Dorado, Arkansas, where Pastor JD Weido was hosting a missions conference. This was no ordinary missions conference. Brother Mark Haynes has spent more than 30 years as a missionary to the Navajo Nation, and his son, Brother Joel Haynes — pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas — was the featured speaker. Two Navajo pastors who had been saved and trained through the Haynes ministry were also there. It was like stepping onto a missions field right there in Arkansas. Brother Weido summed it up well when he introduced the lineup as a Native American missions conference with one strange missionary to Ghana thrown in. He was not wrong.

Churches, Fellowship, and Buffalo Food

We had meetings in Little Valley with Pastor Pete Guadagno at Grace Bible Baptist Church, and that evening in the inner city of Buffalo with Pastor Jim Donath at Evangelical Baptist Church. It is always an encouragement to see men faithfully serving the Lord in places where the Gospel is so needed.

Monday through Wednesday we were in a missions conference at Center Road Baptist Church in West Seneca with Pastor Fundy Tores — a friend of more than 30 years. Between services, we suffered through Buffalo wings, pizza, and Texas Red Hots. Somebody has to do it.

Barrie, Ontario — Old Friends and 600 Teenagers

After West Seneca, we crossed into Ontario and spent a few days with Brett and Janell Pennell in Barrie. Brett is the senior pastor of Heritage Baptist Church and also serves as principal of Heritage Christian Academy. Brett and Janell went to Oklahoma Baptist College with us, and Laura and Janell were good friends growing up. Walking into their home felt like being welcomed back.

Brett asked me to speak at the school, so I preached in the high school chapel, the elementary chapel, and three grade school classrooms. One boy in the fourth-grade class asked for my autograph. After I signed, he asked Laura to sign the same scrap of paper. When Laura asked him what he thought of our penmanship, he told her hers was perfect, but mine was more realistic. I have heard worse reviews.

That evening, Heritage Baptist Church was gearing up for HBCYC2026, their annual youth conference, expecting more than 600 teenagers from the region. We stayed and helped. I ironed logos onto T-shirts, and Laura helped assemble program booklets. The building was spotless, and the people were working hard to make everything excellent for those students. Watching a healthy church pour itself into the next generation is something worth seeing.

We are grateful for every door the Lord continues to open. This Ghana missionary prayer letter for April 2026 captures only part of what God has been doing, but we hope it encourages you to pray and gives you a clear picture of where things stand. Thank you for standing with us as we press toward the field.

You can find all of our past updates on the prayer letters archive page. If you would like to learn more about our ministry or get in touch, visit our about page or connect with us directly.