Greetings from the Tanners,

We pray that you are staying well with the current virus going around. Even though our March is not shaping up like we had anticipated, we are so thankful that we can continue to trust that God is on the throne. None of this is taking Him by surprise. 

With all of the changes going on right now, and self-quarantines under place, we are so thankful that God had arranged for us to be home on the family farm. The kids have room to run and play outside, and we can use this time to prepare for upcoming deputation trips, whenever we can safely resume them. We're praying that we wouldn't need to cancel too many of our spring and summer meetings.

There is much unknown about the coming months. We don't know when the bans on gatherings will be listed, or if we will be able to leave next month to head to Missouri like we were planning. But, no matter what the future holds, we know that God will work all of this for our good.

February/March Ministry Update

The end of February and beginning of March were busy months for our family. We were in five separate churches during those weeks, sharing our ministry and preaching the word. We even had the blessings of being involved in a mission conference where Bryan was able to preach to the church school in the mornings during the chapel services. It was a new experience for us, but a lot of fun. Plus it was nice to be able to stay at the same church for three days and get to know some of the folks a little more.

Our travels took us across the state three times. The first trip over went well, but required some detouring because of snow in the mountain passes. The pass we needed to cross was closed, opened, and re-closed multiple times as we approached it, and when it was open, traction tires with 4WD or chains were required, with no large vehicles allowed. Having grown up crossing the mountains in the winter regularly, we knew better than to make an attempt in a large rear-wheel-drive van with no chains. That meant we had to take the long route, driving south and around the mountains. But praise God it only added a couple of hours to the trip and we all made it safely. The next two trips over the pass were uneventful and had mostly bare roads.

We are so thankful for the safety that God has been showing us as we drive. We have not had any real problems while driving, and with the exception of normal snow in the mountains, the roads have been easy to drive on.

We have been praying for a while now that God would provide us with a travel trailer. This month, God did just that. We have been searching for quite a while, and even drove to look at a few, but none of them felt right. Then Lisa saw one on Facebook about halfway down the Oregon coast. A long drive for sure, but after praying about it, we decided to take half the kids and go take a look. 

We both felt really good about the trailer, and when we got the opportunity to go inside, we knew it was the one. This trailer has four bunks in the back and a separate queen bed suite in the front. The table and couch both tun into beds. Officially the trailer sleeps ten, but we are able to fit the whole family of eleven just fine, since some of our kids are small enough to double up comfortably.

We did the best to check everything out prior to making the purchase. The water works with no leaks, and the gas furnace, stove, and hot water tank all work as well.

After agreeing on a sales price, we started the drive back home. We only made it partway, and then we stopped and spent the night in the trailer. It was such a blessing to not have to get a hotel room.

We are so thankful to everyone who donated funds towards the trailer. It is such a blessing to own the trailer outright, and not have to make any payments. Thank you again to everyone who not only felt lead of the Lord to give towards this need but acted upon that prompting. Thank you to all of you who prayed for this. We are so excited to use it on our next trips.

And if you'd like to see a walk-through video to see the beautiful trailer God provided, here's a link to our Facebook post where we do just that: 

Tanner Travel Trailer Walk-through

Also, Bryan worked hard to enclose one of the bunk beds for Owen this past week. This way he has a place where he can hang out during the day as well, as he often likes to retreat to his bed at home. With his inflatable bed, it took up too much space in the living area to have out all of the time, so this will be so much better for him. You can see a quick video of that modification here: 

Owen's Bed Modification 

• The purchase of a travel trailer that can be towed with our van AND sleeps all of us comfortably!
  
• We were home when the self-quarantine mandates began rolling out. 
• We have one church scheduled at the beginning of April in WA, and then will be heading towards MO for spring and summer meetings in the middle of the country. While these are still up in the air, we are thankful that we can trust God through the uncertainty. 
• We have 14 more churches/meetings scheduled so far for 2020.
• Our current committed support level is up to 16.3%. 
• Lisa's business hasn't yet lost any clients during this pandemic, and continues to provide the income we need so Bryan can focus on contacting churches and preparing sermons. 

• That the residents and staff currently at the Acres would stay healthy. All of the residents and some of the staff are in the "at-risk" categories.
  
• To continue to connect with Pastors and fill our schedule for 2020. We are praying for 25+ good meetings.
• That God would raise our support level to 50% or more this year. (We are currently at 16.3%)
• For continued safety on the road, we have many miles to drive in the coming months.
• For continued health for our family. 
• Owen is recovering from an infection in his left thumb. Pray he heals completely.
• Pray for a cure to Angelman Syndrom (what Owen has). There are some promising clinical trials being conducted right now. To learn more about Angelman Syndrom check out our blog from last year: https://tanners2ma.com/preparing-for-deputation-with-a-child-with-angelman-syndrome/

About once a month we publish a new blog post. This offers a behind the scenes peek at our journey to become missionaries. Here is our latest blog post: 

We are so thankful that you have chosen to sign up for our monthly emails, and are reading them. We praise God for each and every one of you.

Please consider joining our financial support team as well. If you would like to make a one-time tax-deductable donation or join our monthly support team, please visit our web site at https://tanners2ma.com/support-bryan-lisa-tanner/ to find out how.

We know that not everyone is in a place to give financially. If that is you, but you still want to help, we ask for your prayers. Please pray for us every time the Lord brings us to your mind. We know that your prayers are equally, if not more important in our success in this ministry. And we praise God for your continued support in prayer.

If you would like to know more about how you can volunteer at Missionary Acres, please send us an email or contact Ken Moon at missionaryacres@semo.net.