Mama Olena did a wonderful job with the delivery and is doing very well. Melody swallowed some meconium and needed extra attention but is doing beautifully now.

About a year and a half ago, while I was home playing with Michelle, I felt such a rich joy and deep fatherly satisfaction inside my soul and I decided that, if God gives us another little girl (Melody), her middle name would be "Joy". So, our sweet Michelle Victoria was the inspiration for Melody Joy’s middle name!

Along with our 8 lb. 2 oz. blessing came another provision by the Lord, a little bit heavier. Through the services of Mission Auto Connection, Inc. (Coshocton, OH), we were able to find a 2004 Honda Odyssey EX for a very good price. Mission Auto Connection was founded by Les and Sharon Revennaugh in 1996. Having served as missionaries for over 16 years, they understand the difficulty missionaries face in purchasing a vehicle during stays in the U.S. Although Mission Auto was begun as a service to the missionary community, the same service has been expanded to the general public with great success. Our plans are to ship the van to Ukraine and use it there for family and for ministry. We sold the Sprinter before returning to the States.

A group of men from our church visited Chad (Africa) recently and spent a couple of weeks building a hospital for the local ministry. No fancy preaching. No big crusades. No media coverage or mass advertisements. Just simple service and hard work. Honest and caring men using their skills and knowledge to meet great needs in the name of Jesus Christ. I really like this. Don’t you? God doesn’t call us to "fancy" - just to "faithful".

My sister, Kathy, gave birth to a son, Darren, just 14 days after the birth of Michelle. Can you believe that Kathy now gave birth to a daughter, Kylie, just 8 days after the birth of Melody!?!? Unplanned by us but great for the cousins! God is good!

In God’s Grace,

The Merchant Family