Updates from Ted & Marlene Sutherland

As we stated in our last newsletter, we began on August 5, traveling from Golden, CO to Moab, UT. We were able to fellowship with Pastor Cole Howe and his wife Cindy. We went to The Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point. We saw amazing mountains, and extremely deep canyons. This entire trip has been filling our eyes with the beauty that God has created here on earth for us to enjoy. Cole gave us a tour of the Moab area along with the history that goes along with it. It was so interesting!

Leaving Moab we went to Orem, UT. The people at Grace Baptist were so welcoming and gracious. We enjoyed our time helping Pastor Daniel Long and his wife, Asia, as they were away from their home church. It was a blessing to spend our time getting to know so many of them. They treated us like royalty – meals and coffee with new friends; even a couple nights at a cabin in the mountains that's owned by a family in the church!

Our afternoon and evening trip to Delta, UT was a blessing. We met with Pastor Bob Oswald and his wife, Caitlyn, and their girls from Grace Baptist Church. It was wonderful to attend their Wednesday evening service. While visiting, Caitlyn shared that they had a visitor one Sunday morning. She was raised LDS but eventually walked away from that entirely. She and her husband are truck drivers but they drive their own rigs. Last November, while on a haul, her "true crime podcast" ended and unexpectedly autoplayed a sermon. She listened out of curiosity and then couldn't stop. At some point, a preacher gave the Gospel, and she accepted Christ while driving her rig. Soon she bought a big Bible and began reading it - from cover to cover. She walked into church carrying her big Bible and sat on the front row. When Bob greeted her she stated that she needed to get baptized. He responded with, "We'll talk about that." When she shared her salvation testimony, he knew that she definitely knew what she was talking about. She was saved and knew she needed to take that next step of baptism. She talked with Caitlyn recently and told her that she needed prayer. The first time she read through the Bible it took her about 4 months. This time, it is taking her longer and she thought she was really "slipping." Oh to have that kind of excitement about reading the Word of God! She along with 7 other individuals were baptized on a Sunday in June. Praise the Lord!

While in Delta, we were able to meet with a special couple from Ted's past. The Sutherland family lived at 6701 Clermont until he and Ned were about 2 years of age. At that time they moved to a slightly larger home, 2 houses down the block at 6721. The Casons – Dennis and Gayle – moved into 6701. Growing up, Ted's family did not have a TV. On July 20, 1969, they watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon at the Cason's home, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Dennis was the pastor at Grace Baptist in Delta for many years and they still live in that area. We visited with them for a couple of hours in their home.

During the weeks that we spent in Utah, Ted met with several pastors and missionaries. He enjoyed visiting with Mike Keller, the missionary to the UVU students. Mike was able to share much information with Ted to help him understand how to speak with the LDS community.

We had breakfast and a nice visit with Pastor Steve Miller and his wife, Kenna, from Heber City, UT. Although we were unable to meet their son, Tyler Miller, we were blessed to meet his wife, Sandy, and their 3 children, Lily, Landon and Lance. They are missionaries to Bolivia. They'll be returning to the mission field in October. The Millers also have a son in Utah that has a camp, Camp UTIBACA (Utah Independent Baptist Camp). All the individuals that we talked with about their camp experience, couldn't say enough good things about the camp.

On a couple of Sunday afternoons, we made our way over to Springville, UT to attend Hobble Creek Baptist Church. Pastor Jory Petitti and his wife, Marisa, minister there. It was a blessing to be in those services. Ted met with Pastor Steve Martens from Spanish Fork Baptist, a church that John Rogers and his wife, Beabea, started. The Rogers are on the board of BEM. It was a blessing to meet Pastor Martens and see how the work is doing in Spanish Fork.

We even had a tour of Provo and BYU from Mark and his wife, Shelly, (our tour guide, Gretchen) while we were in Orem. We had a fun lunch at the Creamery.

We left Orem, UT early Thursday morning, September 3, making our way to Iowa. We stopped in Saratoga, WY, to see our nieces for a quick visit, then on to Laramie to meet and visit with Pastor George French, a friend of Pastor Rob's from Golden.

We arrived in Iowa; we'll be here for most of the month of September. We are looking forward to being with Pastor Ed Hannahs, Pastor David Parrott and Pastor Bob VanSant. We'll also be taking a trip to MO during the month, to visit Evangel Baptist Church and Missionary Acres in Silva, MO.

PRAYER REQUEST –

We would like to share a prayer request that many of you have already read on Facebook or other places, but we want to share it with you. Last month we received a call from our daughter, Amy Worley. Jerry and Amy's son, Jordan, and his wife, Mary, are expecting their 2nd baby, a girl named Jade Saoirse Worley. Amy let us know about this request –

(From Mary) – Please pray for our little Jade as we got some unexpected news at our 20 week anatomy scan. Jade was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). This means that the left side of her heart didn't develop fully, and she will need multiple surgeries shortly after her birth. There are a lot of unknowns right now, but we really appreciate your thoughts and your prayers as we trust God's plan for her life.

We are thankful that we serve an awesome, omnipotent, magnificent, all-sufficient God, who is The Great Physician. He made little Jade and He knows all about her. God is in control and we leave the health of this precious baby girl in His loving hands. As you can imagine, we are praying for a miracle – God is still in the miracle-working business! Please pray for Jade and our family!! I'll add a couple of side notes. After putting Mary's prayer request on Facebook we received a message from a former church member and student (from Fond du Lac in the 80s) that their daughter was diagnosed with HLHS and had three surgeries as an infant 18 years ago. She graduated from high school this past spring. What a blessing to hear this testimonial and to hear from Justin! We've also found out that Mary's close friend has been researching HLHS for the past several years and has a lot of knowledge to share with Jordan and Mary. She is in the medical field and may even be able to be present for some of the procedures. God is so good – all the time; and all the time, God is good!

Another bit of family news that we received while we've been on our trip is that our grandson, Ezra Miller and Selah Cutler will be getting married on the 5th of December. We are so happy for them! Pray for them as they begin their life together!

God has given us opportunities to come along beside pastors and churches across the nation to enrich them, encourage them, and fill in for them if they need a break while we minister through the BARNABAS ENRICHMENT MINISTRIES. It is truly a blessing and an honor to serve God.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Ted & Marlene Sutherland

OUR SCHEDULE:

SEPTEMBER

6 - Fellowship Baptist Church, Marshalltown, IA

13 - Calvary Baptist Church, Union, IA

17-24 - Evangel Baptist Church and Missionary Acres, Silva, MO

27 - First Baptist Church, Eldora, IA

30 - First Baptist Church, Milltown, WI (9/30 - 10/4)

OCTOBER

4 - First Baptist Church, Milltown, WI

10-14 - Midtown Baptist Temple, Kansas City, MO

18 - Fellowship Baptist Church, Marshalltown, IA

NOVEMBER

14 - BEM Small Church Enrichment Conference, Kokomo, IN

DECEMBER

2-8 - Ezra and Selah's wedding, SD

We have a lot of catching up to do with you. There has been so much going on... In case you haven't received our newsletter in the past... We began praying about this ministry a couple of years ago when Ned first introduced it to us. In 2025 God seemed to be directing us to get involved with Barnabas Enrichment Ministries. Being used by God to minister to pastors and missionaries, their families and their churches has been a burden on our hearts. God "solidified" this decision by allowing us to be voted by the ministry as appointees at the January, 2026, Barnabas Enrichment Ministries Annual Meeting.

In February we were on our "first" trip, sharing our ministry with friends and family in Arizona. A couple saw the '95 Buick Regal that we were driving. God impressed on them that doing this ministry, traveling nation-wide, we were in need of a reliable vehicle. They drove us to the car lot, allowed us to choose the vehicle of choice (with some direction from them, because as most of you know, we are not great at choosing vehicles!!) We left the lot that day with our brand new 2026 beautiful blue Chevy Traverse with only 91 miles on it. We serve an amazing, loving and caring God!! We have "affectionately" named it our Barna-Bus (Barny).

Our next trip was in May as we drove to the mid-west. One of our grandsons was graduating; we were able to be in that service. Then Ted preached at Northern Plains Baptist Church (Pastor Neil Hannahs), and shared the ministry in South Dakota and Fellowship Baptist Church (Pastor Ed Hannahs) in Iowa. Every meeting whether in church or over a cup of coffee was truly a blessing to us.

We knew that God wanted us to do this ministry full time. Ted was still the pastor at Calvary Baptist in Golden. We felt the responsibility to have things taken care of with our church before we could leave. Looking back, God had His hand on all of it, even when we didn't realize it. Following God's leading over the months, Calvary voted to call a new pastor, Robert Sanders, actually merging three church groups together as one. We praise the Lord for answering this need.

We are now on our next "assignment" – ministering to the people in Orem, UT. We will be at Grace Baptist Church (Pastor Daniel Long) for four Sundays while the pastor is away.

On the way to Orem we stopped in Moab, UT, spending time with Pastor Cole Howe and his wife, Cindy. We met a number of their folk at Moab Baptist Church. Thursday morning we enjoyed a trip to The Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point – our 50th anniversary trip. Cole also took us on a tour of the area on Thursday afternoon. It was fun to hear the history of Moab and see the beauty all around the area. God's artwork is amazing and we never get tired of viewing it!

Ted is making phone calls, appointments, and meeting with pastors in Orem and the surrounding areas while we are here. It is our prayer that we can be a blessing to everyone as we meet with them and pray for them.

Our next stop will be in Iowa where Pastor Ed Hannahs has helped us with names of churches and pastors. So far our schedule has us at Fellowship Baptist Church in Marshalltown, Calvary Baptist Church in Union, and First Baptist Church in Eldora for Sunday services in September.

In the month of November we will be at the Barnabas Enrichment Ministries Fall Meeting in Kokomo, IN. We are praying that God will lead us to more pastors and churches with whom we can meet, minister, and be a blessing.