Dear Friends and Prayers:

We are still alive and well, and having survived our second week of intensive Welsh! I would have written sooner, but have been having difficulty remembering how to speak at all - English, Spanish or Welsh! :o) Actually, we were in a small class of folks that have had between 50 and 80 hours of instruction, so were in way over our heads, but it was really good exposure. We went back to the beginners intro class for a morning on our third day, and Gladys stayed there, but I went back to level 2 again, and did get a good idea of the layout of the terrain. We will begin the regular classes now in September - called ULPAN, which is based on the very successful Israeli system used to get repatriated Jews speaking the language as soon as possible.

On the home front, well . . . We DO have a roof over our heads, and that is a blessing! As I mentioned in an earlier update, we are now in a trailer park until August 12th. We are still looking for a permanent place and have been patiently waiting, and diligently looking at various possibilities, but places for rent are really pretty scarce. There are some options, we could live in a large town, but we are holding out for something rural, and hoping to find a place close to the chapel. So we do greatly appreciate your continued prayers for this need.

A great blessing is that next Thursday the youngest 3 of our 4 children are coming for a 2 week visit, and we can barely wait to see them! It will have been nearly 3 months since we left the States, but it seems like longer than that. We'd love to have them for longer, but schools start up again just days after they go back.

Having left our home behind, it will be interesting to have them visit us in a temporary place. But we are glad to have them come see Wales, and get a taste of what the Lord has given us as a new homeland. We plan to do a bit of touring around and so will discover some new places together, and just enjoy having them with us. Having them spend some time with us in the chapel will be a special blessing for us as well. Then they can experience firsthand the focus of our calling here.

Thanks so much for persisting with us in prayer as we press into the Lord's heart for Wales. May His blessings and grace abound in your lives.

In His great love,

Dick & Gladys Funnell

For information on our mission to Wales, please visit

http://walesawakening.org

Cell in Wales: 011-44-7796-316626

AIM: enjoying Him

Support can be mailed to:

Verbo Ministries - Wales <x-tad-smaller>(Please write "Wales" clearly in Memo area)</x-tad-smaller>

P.O.Box 190

Kenner, LA 70063<bold>

</bold>Office: 877-723-4129 Toll Free

Dear Friends:

On Monday we start another week of intensive Welsh classes. Our first dose was really what they call a "taster" course, which concentrated mainly on alphabet and it's pronunciation - no small challenge in itself, as you'll recall. This next level is an introduction to verbs and sentence structure, and should give us the basic building blocks to make a real start with the language. Our first instructor said we may find ourselves struggling a bit to keep up, but that it would be good exposure, and keep things fresh until the regular series of 10 week courses start in late September.

Meanwhile, our housing situation will have us living out of suitcases for a while. Today and tommorow we are packing and moving things for temporary storage at the Elsaesser's farm, and then will stay with friends about 1/2 hour south of here, closer to where the Welsh course will be given in Haverford West. Then next Friday afternoon, we will move into a small trailer belonging to a friend from one of the church groups we visit. We we will able to stay there until August 12th, and are really trusting that we will have found a permanent place by then. We really appreciate your prayers about this on our behalf!

This past week we had the opportunity to help friends get in their hay crop. I think the expression "make hay while the sun shines" must have originated here in Wales! We have had over two weeks of mostly beautiful sunny days and clear skies. Locals, especially the order folks at the chapel, complain about the heat, but after 16 years in New Orleans summers of 95 degrees and 95% humidity, this is a breeze for us!

As we've seen virtually the whole countryside bustling with activity - mowing, raking and baling hay almost everywhere, I have been reflecting on how most of the smaller farmers all coordinate their work together, sharing equipment and labor. As friends from the church all came together to help load bales of hay, I couldn't help but see a picture of the greater Harvest at hand. This is the time when the groundwork is being laid out. Like ourselves, there are many others being prepared, and others brought in from places around the U.K. by the Lord of the Harvest. We see only small parts of this great puzzle, but the Lord has a wonderful plan of revival and salvation for this nation and beyond. We rejoice to find ourselves a part of this coming Wales Awakening!

Thank you for your prayers and support, and helping to make our labors here possible.

Much love and blessings to each of you,

Dick & Gladys Funnell

For information on our mission to Wales, please visit

http://walesawakening.org

Cell in Wales: 011-44-7796-316626

AIM: enjoying Him

Support can be mailed to:

Verbo Ministries - Wales <x-tad-smaller>(Please write "Wales" clearly in Memo area)</x-tad-smaller>

P.O.Box 190

Kenner, LA 70063<bold>

</bold>Office: 877-723-4129 Toll Free

Dear Friends:

Just as we finished a powerful prayer meeting with a small group of intercessors this afternoon, I got a call from the rental agent letting us know that the house we had agreed upon is no longer available. The curious thing is that at the beginning of the meeting this morning, we gave testimony of how last week two sisters in the meeting had prayed the Lord give a quick answer to our search, and a half hour later I received the call about the house when we were at Welsh class. And now that has all changed again!

I guess our faith needs a bit more stretching, so we again find ourselves waiting on His guidance. His ways are not ours, we know that for sure. We also know for sure that we are in His hands, and that in Him we can enjoy peace in any circumstances. And so we will just have to watch and see what happens next. We have made arrangements for a temporary place until August 1st, and so there is time enough for a solution to appear.

We are looking forward to the visit of our youngest three children who arrive on August 4th, and hope to have a place to accommodate them by then, and so would like to ask you to please pray specifically about this need.

Also I'm sure you have heard about the terrorist bombings in London this morning, and the tragic deaths and suffering produced by this horrible event. Please join us in praying that this serve to launch the Body of Christ here into a campaign of aggressive prayer to see the trend of increasing spiritual darkness overturned by the glorious light of the Gospel.

God bless you in His great love,

Dick & Gladys Funnell

For information on our mission to Wales, please visit

http://walesawakening.org

Cell in Wales: 011-44-7796-316626

AIM: enjoying Him

Support can be mailed to:

Verbo Ministries - Wales <x-tad-smaller>(Please write "Wales" clearly in Memo area)</x-tad-smaller>

P.O.Box 190

Kenner, LA 70063<bold>

</bold>Office: 877-723-4129 Toll Free