One of our missionaries, Doug Hammett, sends out regular prayer letters, but he also sends out even more regular emails, talking about everything that is happening in Southern Africa. He’s working in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana, in addition to South Africa. He sends at least one a week, it seems. I always read them, and about three quarters of the time, I write him a short note of encouragement. I wrote him, and he sent me a note back. He asked how the work was going in California. Missionaries might have more of a tendency to look at what is occurring in America to be a work too, more like missions. That’s true. I look at it that way too, except I know I’m not a missionary. I’m a pastor. When our church first started, I can say that I was more of a missionary at that time. I treated our church like I was a missionary. The biblical word is “evangelist.” It is a different job than pastoring. I wasn’t pastoring, because we didn’t have a church. That job of missionary transferred to pastoring and with a long term commitment to continue to pastor. Except doing the work of the evangelist in Sacramento, but very part time, I have still been pastoring. I told him that we had regular gospel conversations here and were making disciples. He said in a short answer that mostly he hears that many are struggling. I’ve never thought at any time that we were not struggling, but I also see our church as on very firm footing and still moving forward in the work of the Lord.