February 2023 - Darfus Family Update
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
January was a busy month on a personal level. One of our dear colleagues, “Beautiful Aunt Nancy,” passed away. She found out she had cancer in October, and it took her to heaven on January 19th. Words cannot adequately describe what Nancy Butler meant to so many people, our family included. She was there to encourage when we were discouraged. She played games with us when we needed company. She was our sons’ stand-in grandma when theirs were too far away. She loved us and we loved her.
Nancy loved camps. Her experience had shown her many Native children grew in the Lord with the help of the camp program. Nancy believed camps made a difference in the kingdom… and we couldn’t agree more. She will be missed!
Another major change in our lives was that we packed up our belongings and moved to a new location about 4 miles away in Phoenix. Southwest Indian Ministry Center (SIMC) is now called the Christian Community Center (C3) and houses various ministries. One of those ministries, Thrive AZ, uses much of the campus to house and care for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. Our move allows C3 to use our old home for these new ministries.
We are still able to receive mail at the old location because our camp office is located on the C3 campus.
Other than the two events mentioned above, everything else continues as normal. We still facilitate Camp Bible studies every two weeks as well as take part in a Native adult Bible study each Wednesday evening. The participants in these two Bible studies are a blessing and they have become people very dear to our hearts.
This year’s camps, a Faith Memorial Church work team, and Homeland Ministry Assignment (HMA) are approaching quickly. In case you don’t know, HMA means we return to Ohio and raise ministry partners to assist in God’s work. If you would be interested in hosting a coffee and dessert event with a few of your friends who might be interested in hearing about the ministry, please contact us. We will be in Ohio all of June and most of July.
Thank you, dear friends. All your encouraging words, prayers, and support are very appreciated. None of this would be possible without God and His use of wonderful people like you!
Doug & Becky
We are in need of additional ministry financial partners. If you would be interesting in supporting God's work here in the Southwest, please click the button below.