I’m in RDU waiting to board my flight. The process to get to my gate has been pretty easy. I’m excited to see what God does in me and through me.

Whenever you use public Wi-Fi (like I am at RDU) you should use a VPN. This will help protect your privacy and help secure your data. My favorite VPN lately is from Malwarebytes and it is called Privacy. It can be installed on the iPhone, iPad, Android, macOS computer, or Windows computer. It is not free but it is inexpensive plus it hardly slows down my Internet connection at all. Some VPN connections are almost unusable.

Malwarebytes VPN

Today I packed. Mostly. Well, some. Our daughter, Emilie, was visiting with Steven and the two boys. Spending time with a two-year old and a three-month old is definitely more fun than doing laundry and sorting toiletries. I did not get everything done today but I enjoyed family. Please pray for me that I can use time tomorrow to prepare technical documentation for this mission project.

Hello again!

About 3 PM Saturday, July 29 I fly out from RDU for my short-term mission trip.

I will be in Frankfurt, Germany at the GEM annual conference.

I return to RDU on Saturday, August 5 about 5 PM.

Please pray:

For wisdom to know how to improve the laptops, phones, and tablets for each missionary.

For love and unity among our team of eight volunteers with Mark 5 Ministries (M5M).

For me to be able to encourage many of the missionaries with Greater Europe Mission (GEM) as I eat meals with them and pray with them.

For open eyes and humble heart that God would teach me and encourage me.

For Angel as she will face loneliness and anxiety and practical difficulties as I am gone.

For thanks to God and donors for all the prayer and financial support .

Thank you for praying. Keep asking God to work in me and through me.

If you donated toward my trip, thank you! I received my passport and I purchased my plane tickets. On Friday, July 28 I plan to take the day off from work to pack.

Six years ago I was asking people to pray and give so I could go to Slovenia with a team from Mark 5 Ministries (M5M). I used my IT skills and my Christian ministry experience to serve others at the annual conference for Greater Europe Mission (GEM). God encouraged me along the way through my teammates and the missionaries we helped. This year I am preparing for a similar trip.

Lord willing, I plan to depart RDU Saturday, July 29 for Frankfurt, Germany and return Saturday, August 5.

Please pray that I will receive my renewed passport at the right time. I submitted an expedited application as soon as I was invited to apply for a spot on this team. The authorities indicate I might receive it as soon as June 1.

Please pray that I would be protected from the evil one.

Please pray that God would glorify himself through me and all involved with this trip.

Please consider giving a financial gift to help me go. All gifts are tax-deductible. Make your check out to Mark 5 Ministries and mail it to me so I can make a note of it and I will send it to M5M and they will send you a receipt. Do not write my name anywhere on the check.

Phil and Angel Shepard

1026 Horsetrail Way

Wake Forest NC 27587

I made it home with my luggage! I also brought back memories and pictures. Memories of time with ordinary people doing extraordinary things because of the Holy Spirit. Pictures of God’s beautiful creation. Along the way I found my IT skills improved.
I hope to post more this weekend before I return to work on Monday. Laundry, going to the gym, and getting my repaired car out of the shop have my time and energy today.
That’s me in the background putting a laptop through the Mark 5 Process a few days ago in Slovenia. In the foreground you see Craig Pruitt, Sr working on other devices.

Please pray as I’m boarding the bus now at 6:15 AM my time. I ride from Slovenia to the Venice airport (VCE) and catch American Airlines flight 715 to Philadelphia. Later today I fly from Philly to RDU.
This has been a good trip where God has been working in me and through me. I have more to post but not right now.
My team leader took these sunset photos here.

Enjoy!

I visited three countries (France, England, and Ireland). Not really, but I did eat meals with missionary couples serving in those countries. I asked them about the families and where they were from. I asked one thing in the last year that has been really great. I also asked one thing that has been pretty difficult. The answers mixed me with shouts of joy inside my soul and heavy sighs with tears inside at the hardships. I prayed for these families and thanked God for them. As I was praying I was moved to tears.
As I shared about my wife and daughter and our Summit Church small group I saw hope in the eyes of those to whom I listened. Hope for the gospel taking ordinary people and doing extraordinary things because of the Holy Spirit at work in us. You parents think life is hard work back home then imagine moving with your kids to a new country.
I’m making a real difference with the laptops I’m working on. Thank you so much to the ones that prayed and also to the ones that gave money to help me do this. I am so grateful! Your generosity has allowed me to be generous to the missionaries.  
I think this picture was taken by Larry Sanders but I think Mary Pruitt had a good one also. It was pretty stormy last night. The lights blinked in the room but the power to the computers did not.

God has allowed me to help and encourage others but I have learned also. Pray for me that I would be open to and be hungry for God to encourage and change me. I’m reading the sermon manuscript from Pastor JD.https://jdgreear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/4e-The-Man-Who-Lost-It-Most-1-Kings-11.pdf
At the meals I have plenty of choices for my ketogenic way of eating. Tomorrow I will try out the treadmill in the exercise area of the hotel.
I have met several missionaries and improved several laptops. Some laptops were so difficult we needed a team approach. I’m so thankful for the rest of the team.

In Italy it is Saturday morning and I have wonderful news! I have my luggage! A friendly Italian man named Eugenio came in early to work. He met me and took me to the lost and found room for luggage and we searched until we found it. Without thinking I was so happy that I gave him a hug! He smiled afterward but I think I caught him off guard. Thank you for your prayers. In a few minutes I board the shuttle bus for Slovenia and the GEM Conference where I will be serving the missionaries.