This update, we started in Oklahoma City, where we had gone to be with Laura's dad, Brother Van Manen, for his surgery. The doctors were removing a tumor nearly the size of a cantaloupe, and they had warned him ahead of time that the location of it meant he would likely lose a good deal of strength and mobility in his right shoulder. We prayed hard about that surgery.

When it was over, the doctors told him something nobody expected. They had gotten the tumor out without doing the damage they feared. Brother Van Manen said the site actually hurt less after the surgery than it had before, and his strength and mobility came through better than anyone predicted. We are still waiting on the full pathology report, but the early word is that they got all of the cancer. Praise the Lord for that.

While he recovered at home, Laura's brother Tony came through to visit. Tony is the kind of guy who makes a hospital recovery feel like a family reunion. He and Bonnie laughed far more than two people probably should, and it was the best medicine Grandpa could have asked for. Tony pastors Centennial Baptist Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and he has spent years taking mission trips to some genuinely hard-to-reach corners of the world. I am thankful for a brother-in-law who loves the Lord and keeps showing up for people who need the Gospel.

We left Oklahoma City, came home long enough to unpack and repack, and were gone again the next morning, this time to Houston. On Sunday, we got to be with one of our longtime supporting churches, Calvary Baptist Church in Conroe, Texas. Pastor Mark Parker has been a good friend for years, and it is always good to walk back into that building. That morning, a missionary to America gave a presentation on American history that he uses in schools, and it was genuinely fascinating. That evening I had the chance to present our work in Ghana and preach, and it was a good day all around.

The next morning came early. Danny and I flew to Alberta. Laura and Bonnie flew to Boise. A guys' trip and a girls' trip, split clean down the middle.

Danny and I landed in Alberta with one plan: catch fish, eat well, and not think about spreadsheets for a few days. Laura and Bonnie flew the other direction, off to Boise for a family anniversary. We figured we would compare notes when we got back.

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We had no idea how much there would be to compare.

While Danny and I were in Canada, my own dad, Ernie Consford, went in for what was supposed to be a routine dental surgery. It turned out to be a lot more work than anyone expected, and the complications have left him in a lot of pain with a long recovery ahead. My dad has been a faithful servant of God for as long as I can remember, and he is my best friend. I would covet your prayers for him, that he would heal quickly and get back to doing the things he needs to do to serve the Lord. Between his recovery and Laura's dad coming through surgery, we had a Father's Day this year that I am not going to forget. Laura and I are both keenly aware of how much we were given, getting dads like ours.

Danny and I caught more fish than we knew what to do with. We spent the time with my sister and her family, and there were a lot of laughs that had nothing to do with the fish. Meanwhile, Laura and Bonnie were a long way away, celebrating with Laura's family in Idaho, and based on the stories still coming out of that trip, Idaho held up its end just fine.

In the middle of all that, a text came through from a friend back in Kentucky. While we were at Central Baptist Church in Mount Vernon a while back, I had gotten to talk with a young man who told me he had never once thought seriously about salvation. We had a long conversation, and by the end of it I could tell he just needed time to sit with what he had heard and let the Holy Spirit work. That text said he had accepted Christ as his Savior the previous Wednesday night at church.

You do not get many better text messages than that one.

We are home now, piecing together the rest of the year's schedule. We are working to fully raise our support by the end of this year so we can be back on the field in Ghana by January. If you would like to follow along with what God is doing or get connected with us, you can do that at consfords.com/connect.

Thank you for praying for Brother Van Manen, for my dad Ernie, for Tony's ministry, for the churches that keep standing with us, and for that young man in Kentucky. We do not take any of it for granted.