June 30, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello, from north Louisiana. We will be in this area for a couple of weeks and then be hitting the road pretty hard all the way into the fall. We are ever thankful for the opportunities that God gives us to share our burden to reach the deaf in South America and around the world. We ask that you continue to pray that God will enable us to do His will for our lives and that many deaf will come to know Christ and then grow into mature Christians.

Melissa and I have had a few people tell us that we should be keeping a journal of all the experiences we have had on deputation. Others have also mentioned that we should right down the things that we have learned and what future missionaries going out on deputation should be prepared for. Melissa has started a journal and I have started putting together a list of things that I think would be helpful during deputation. We have learned much about putting total faith in God. One lesson that God has been teaching us over the past few months has to do with worry. Many times on deputation there can be uncertainty about tomorrow. When those times come, God has a plan to meet any known or unknown need. We have seen God meet needs even before we knew that we had them. Just recently we were given a rather large blessing. It was not until a few hours later that we found out that we were going to need what was given to us. God supplied before we even had anything to worry about. We went to bed that night knowing that God knew all along what was going to happen. The Christian has no right to worry. It’s not just that we should not worry; but that with God on our side, how can we begin to justify any type of worry. Worry only causes problems for the one who is worrying. God has promised to take care of those who are His children.

As for our support, we had gone several weeks and several meetings where we did not gain any support, but God has given us more support since then. Here is one of those lessons concerning worry. I am still calling pastors and scheduling meetings. Our desire is to get to Peru as soon as God will allow. The need to take the gospel to the deaf is great and time may be short. Please continue to pray.

A quick note: If any of you can and would like to receive our prayer letter by e-mail, please let me know. We have been sending them out by e-mail to anyone who asks. This would save us some time and money. We want to be wise stewards of what God has provided. If you are interested you can either call me at (850) 375-3956 or e-mail me at corymelissa@aol.com. Also is you have Microsoft Word, please let me know and I will send the letter as an attachment. If you do not have Microsoft Word, I will send the letter in the body of the e-mail. This also goes for any of you who already receive our letters by e-mail. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank You for Your Faithful Prayers,

Cory, Melissa, Amanda, Elaina, and Olivia Ricker