Richard & Ruth Jertberg Family
Madagascar
Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples
July 2021
Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your faithful prayers for our family! We were able to
participate in the weddings of my sister in April and of my brother in June. We
thank God for the people He has brought into their lives who also have a desire to
serve Him! As we traveled, we were able to give updates to a few of our
supporting churches.
This past May, Richard and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We
have grown and learned a lot these past years and pray that we will continue to
learn and grow in the years to come. We praise God for the work that He has
already done in knitting our family together. Time goes by so fast! We must be
diligent to use the time that God has given us for His glory!
We praise the Lord for each one of our children and the things that are
happening in their lives. Matthew is now 15 and is going into 10th grade. He is
growing into a tall handsome young man who is diligent to do what is right. Sarah
is 13 and is going into 8th and 9th grades. She loves to read and play the piano. It
is fun to watch as she changes from a girl to a lady. Nate is 11 and is going into
6th grade. He is careful to do what he needs to do in a day and likes to play with
cars and draw airplanes. Abby is 9 and is going into 4th grade. Abby is carefree
and full of energy; she enjoys adventure and crafts. Kezia is 4 and is doing well
learning her letters, numbers, and writing skills. She loves to play with Abby and
“do school.” Hadassah is about to turn 2 at the end of July and likes to play with
her older sisters and brothers (though sometimes she is not very welcome in their
games). The baby on the way (unknown name) has 5 weeks left till her due date.
She loves to move and stretch, and her arrival is anticipated by all of us.
The older 4 kids are practicing piano and learning new things as we work
on the property that God has given to us. As we clean up piles of trash left in the
woods by previous people, we learn how to be stewards of God’s creation and
how bad it is to throw trash on the ground. As we build, do landscaping, and clear
brush, the kids learn how to work and know the satisfaction of accomplishing a
task. It is really a blessing to have helpful, hard working kids! With great attitudes,
they help out by packing for trips and working outside, cooking and cleaning,
taking care of and teaching the younger kids, giving out tracts, and many other
things!
We praise God that this pregnancy has been straightforward. Please pray
for a healthy, smooth delivery with no complications. It is so amazing to carry a
tiny person inside of you and feel her move around or have hiccups. Each of our
children are a gift and blessing from the Lord!
We praise God for the generous donation of a tractor to the work in
Madagascar. Richard has been busy doing the stateside logistics of getting the
tractor prepared and shipped. It was loaded and shipped on June 14. Please pray
that it makes it to Madagascar without problems and that it will be a useful tool!
Madagascar remains unopened to travel in or out. At this point with the
fast-approaching due date of the new baby, we would not be able to go to
Madagascar until after the baby is born; but it is hard to make plans when the
country is not even open. The bags that we had previously packed will need to be
resorted and repacked. We will need to get a passport for the new baby and get
our other paperwork in order before we can leave. Please pray for God’s direction
in our lives that we would know His will for us!
In the Service of the King,
Richard and Ruth, Matthew, Sarah, Nate, Abby, Kezia, Hadassah, and new baby
Jertberg
P.S. If anyone has e-mailed Richard in the past few months and did not receive a
reply, please e-mail him again and forgive the lack of response. Hadassah
somehow moved all e-mails to the spam folder and marked everything as spam;
the spam folder automatically deleted the e-mails. He may not have seen your
message.