Dear Friends and Supporters,
I hope this letter finds you all in good health and rejoicing in the Lord. This past month has been filled with all kinds of excitement for me personally, so I pray that this letter encourages all of you.

February began at Parks Crossroads Christian Church. I had the privilege of staying at Worth and Martha Cox's house, an elderly couple who might be aging physically, but their spirits are as alive as ever. I was blessed to hear from their experiences and glean from their wisdom. I worked with the teens this week and was able to encourage a few of them in their walks with God. The pastor, Pastor Randy Kelly, once again went through his three-day course on the history of the Bible with the Team. I really enjoyed learning about the roots of the Book that I hold so dear. His daughter, Anna, was my adopted little sister for the week, so I had a great time being an older sibling.

Shiloh Baptist Church was next. In case anyone is wondering, all of these churches are within 20 minutes of each other, so we didn't really move far. This week, I stayed with Bob and Lesli Arrington, a couple who hosted Kevin and I last year when the Team was at Parks. I had such a great time last year, and we bonded so much, that it was a  tremendous blessing to stay with them again. The guys had a great time crashing cars
playing Road Rage on the Xbox and I had a great time catching up with them concerning all that has happened this past year. This week at Shiloh, Ardy gave us teammates the responsibility of planning next week's chapels, so we were busy making videos and planning lessons for the students.

Faith Baptist Church and Christian School was the last stop for this month. I stayed with George and JoAnn Braxton again, my host parents from last year. The students were, as usual, very excited to see the Team, therefore we didn't have too much trouble breaking the ice. I had the ninth grade guys for my impact group, and they responded reasonably well to the topics. I had a great time getting to know them and just hanging out during lunch and after school. One student who was a particular blessing to me was Alex, an eleventh grader. I was able to talk about several key issues with him concerning his walk with God and in turn, he blessed me by encouraging in my walk. One unique opportunity we had while at Faith was to visit the local prison. I had never been to a prison before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The inmates were very excited and welcoming of the Team and we had a great time singing and sharing Christ with them. I think I should visit
prisons more often.

Thank you once again for those of you who faithfully pray for me and support me. I hope that this letter gave you a glimpse of my last month on the road with Encounter. I'm looking forward to this next month, knowing that “He who has begun a good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

In Christ,

Ethan