Spring Update 2026

The Sheppard Family April 2026 update! Thank you all for the continued love and support for our ministry! Good things are happening in 2026 for us and we are so thankful to get to share the things God has blessed us with! "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19 The Sheppards continue to serve as missionaries in the local community and abroad. Ron continues to work in North Carolina at a company that builds airports as well as the company in Oregon that builds bridges. Linda continues to coach gymnastics, serves within the adoption triad, assists individuals with disabilities and the elderly, as well as organizes various sports projects with a focus on healing from trauma.

Special Olympics: We pray for the continued ability to serve within the various ministries the Lord has entrusted us with. This past year we were grateful to have been able to help with various community projects and programs the latest being Special Olympics North Carolina, Gymnastics. We have 14 athletes in our program now. We continue to stay active with Special Olympics in the States. We host pratice every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 at our gym, Union County Gymnastics. We had the pleasure of participating in the Union Diversified Industries Prom again this year. Many of our special olympics athletes attended.

Transportation Bus: As part of our ongoing work with Special Olympics North Carolina we transported our bus to North Carolina from Oregon. Please contuine to pray for the funds for the bus as we will be using it to transport athletes to state games in May of this year. We are still in need of some minor body work and paint as well as repairing the wheel chair lift. We look forward to many years of service with the transportartion bus! Georgia: We continue to host Retreats at the Bear Lodge Cabin in Georgia. Our next one Women's Retreat with be a Trauma Recovery retreat in June. We continue to serve with outreach events at the cabin. We continue with the restoration of the Tea House. We pray that it will serve as a place of inclusion for people with disabilities, provide jobs and ministry funding.

UPCOMING PROJECTS: We have several upcoming projects happening in the near future. Guatamale mission trip the end of April. Please continue to pray for the family of Javier as it will be one year since his tragic death. Columbia Gymnastics Retreat in May. Family: Linda traveled to France and Belgium in March to see our son David. Linda continues with Physical Therapy and is healing from her many back surgeries. Naomi is turning 16 and contiues to help at gymnastics. She is an offical volunteer for Special Olympics this year. Christelle, Phuong, and Melissa participate in gymnastics and are looking forward to state meet in June. Julia was accepted to nursing school and is doing very well in Oregon. Eight of our children are in North Carolina. The rest are in Oregon/Washington except for David who remains in France for the past 6 years.

Please continue to be in prayer for all of our missions in Haiti. We do not post many details due to security concerns for our staff and dear friends who remain in Haiti. There are several upcoming projects that we are praying for guidance and safety. We are in prayer regarding potentially moving our ministry to another location within Haiti and also praying regarding working with Haitian refugees in other caribbean countries. Please pray for peace and for all of the unrest and rioting that continues on.