Entanglements

Things are kind of quiet for now. We have been finishing Christmas shopping, and Jim is working some part-time hours at his long-time employer for many years. He is helping them with software updating and report writing.

I have been reading a small book published in 1939 by Amy Carmichael. She reminds believers of the dangers of entanglement to social expectations, noisy unproductive talk, ("We should write it down as a law of the house that those who are absent are not to be discussed to their detriment, that no belittling stories are told of anyone, nor anything said about anyone unless it passes through the three sieves: Is it true? kind? necessary?"), and of spending time doing things instead of cultivating a closer walk with God.

We are so often reminded not to be caught up in the worldly entanglements of the secular Christmas celebrations. I need most of all to faithfully have my quiet time devotions and to walk with God. I need to be sensitive to the Spirit's reminders to watch my words especially when talking of other people. I need to pay great attention to my expectations being from the Lord.

Thank you for your part in helping us through prayer. It means so much.

Let us be wholly surrendered to God this Christmas.

First snow

The snow began falling last evening while we were enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with John and Noreen. The snow is beautiful with the Christmas lights. I took these pictures in this morning's early light.

Praise and thanksgiving

Because He first loved us...
"We love him, because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19

Because in Him we live, move, and exist...
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
Psalm 73:25-26

Because we have resurrected lives...
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
Galatians 6:14

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
2 Corinthians 5:21

Because you pray for us...
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
James 5:16

Lookout Mountain

We drove home from Atlanta yesterday stopping in Chattanooga to see beautiful Lookout Mountain. Battles were fought here in November 1863.

Our time in Atlanta was great. We had many opportunities to meet folks, the weather was warm, and we pray for some support from this church.

Thanks for praying with us.

Pressing forward

We will leave early Saturday morning to travel to the Atlanta area for a meeting on Sunday. As always we thank you for prayers of safe traveling but even more, please ask the Lord to help us to minister and be ministered to. We pray for hearts that are Christ-pleasing.

We believe we have some good promises of support coming soon. We will keep you informed.

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Matthew 21:22

A double blessing is a double grace.

"A double blessing is a double grace."

Shakespeare

We spent two weeks in Denver. We had a good time with family and took part in a great mission's conference there. While we were in the mountains one day, a pastor from Minnesota called and told us their church is taking us on for support. Also, we are praising the Lord for solid assurances from the Denver church that they will be voting soon with the desire to begin supporting us. While in Denver, Jim helped Joe work on a fence project. One Saturday, the family got together for a picnic and we snapped this picture of Dad and the three sisters.

We left Denver to travel to northern Michigan. (Yes, I finally got to see the Macinac Island bridge!) We had several opportunities to speak. While there we were privileged to meet another veteran missionary couple that have truly suffered physically for their missions call to the field of Russia. I was humbled and reminded to think little of my personal discomforts in light of this couple's faithfulness in suffering. We were also given strong assurances the church will be praying and hoping to take us on for support soon.

We are home now and the weather is pretty nice for the first of November. On Tuesday of this week the ladies in our home church blessed me with a shower of personal gifts and ministry items. I was so overwhelmed with the many gifts.

I cannot thank you all enough for praying for us. I believe God is encouraging us to keep hanging in there. We are home this week and then we travel to Georgia. Keep holding us up in your prayers.

"The power of prayer cannot be diminished by distance; it is not limited by age, infirmity, political changes or restrictions. The power of prayer in the life of an obedient Christian can only be undermined by neglect."
David Bentley-Taylor

Colorado

We drove from Casper, Wyoming Sunday to the Denver area just to hang out for a few days until the missions conference begins this weekend. We have been catching up with family here and really enjoying the cool dry air. Last evening we decided to visit a church in Longmont (about 20 miles north from here) and to introduce ourselves. We hope to get a meeting lined up there sometime in the future. We did meet a former student of Jim's from about 27 years ago when we lived in the Philadelphia area! She remembered Jim as her history teacher. Pretty amazing... and what an encouragement to see someone from many years ago.

We will try to get all of the family together this coming Saturday. Hopefully we can work around schedules.

We are doing well. Please pray for Jim. He has several speaking opportunities next week and we would like to be a blessing to the church as we share our ministry. Following the end of the missions conference in Denver we will be driving to Mio, Michigan (with just one day at home to take care of things there.) Thanks for your prayers.

Heading out west

We are planning on leaving at the end of the week to go out to Casper, Wyoming. We will present our ministry Sunday in the morning service. Following the meeting there we will drive down to Denver, Colorado for a missions conference.


Jim has several opportunities to speak during the missions conference, and he would certainly appreciate your prayers for those preaching times. Following the time in Denver we will drive back to the northern part of the lower Michigan peninsula. We have a missions conference at a church we have been in before. This church is located a short distance from the Mackinac Bridge. I am hoping to see the bridge for the first time. Yes, I know.... We have lived in Michigan for 23 years and one would think I would have seen it by now!

As always, thank you for praying for us.

Congratulations!

Dan and Sara are going to have a new baby in May! Click on their link to see the ultrasound image.

Peter and Olivia

We pray that they will "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18

Familiar...but definetly not the same!

Just like the traffic jam in the photo, things can be so familiar and so different. I have been looking in one of our Portuguese books and smiled coming across these words.

- A shopping is not a type of trip but it is the actual mall itself.
- Futebol is not American football but it is soccer.
- Coco is not chocolate but rather it is coconut.
- X-salada is a cheeseburger with the salad works. There is a true word for cheese, queijo, but in this case, the X is pronounced sheeze which sounds like the English word cheese. So your order becomes a Sheeze salada. Nice sense of humor!
- time is not referring to the clock but rather means team.
- Notebook (pronounced notch-book-ee) is not a bound pad of paper but rather a laptop.

We have much to learn....

Next week we will begin traveling again to Wyoming and then to Colorado. Thanks for praying.

September evening

I went out back to take a picture of the corn being harvested and saw this really pretty rose on one of my two bushes. It blooms well all summer long and into the fall. Wish you were here!

Just appreciating the quietness of this evening.

Joys in the harvest time

The air is cool. The sedum is blooming, and our neighbor has begun to harvest in the fields. This is a beautiful time of year and we are reminded of God's handiwork again. We are taking a few days to catch up on the mail, lawn work, and the opportunity to rest a bit.

Isaiah speaks of the joy of harvest relating it to the great joy experienced in the presence of Christ.

"They will be glad in Your presence as with the gladness of harvest." Isa. 9:3

Thanks for praying on our behalf.

Travels in the south

The butterfly display we carry with us always attracts much attention.... The blue morpho butterfly is especially eye-catching!

We left on the 4th for Charlotte, NC. We were truly blessed and overwhelmed by the generosity of the church there. We enjoyed southern hospitality at its best with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and some shopping for both of us as a gift from the church. We had several opportunities to speak and saw some friends that had attended our home church in South Bend a few years ago.

From NC we drove to Chesapeake to spend a couple of days with Bob, Janelle, Olivia, Dan, Sara, and Peter. Peter took some of his first steps while we were there! Olivia tried solid foods for the first time. This will make future visits a hard act to follow. Every one there is doing well. Dan has begun a new year of teaching and is continuing with his seminary studies.

On the 13th we drove to Greenville, SC to spend a day and a half with my brother Dave. Patti has been in Virginia helping her mother. We also saw Andrew. We tried to find Tim but he was out and about and we missed him. We had a great time talking with Dave.

On Saturday morning, the 15th, we drove down to Agusta, GA. No we didn't play any golf! We presented the Brazil ministry in the services on Sunday and Jim also got to take part in an ordination council for another missionary while we were there. The Lord has truly blessed. We drove back home yesterday and will catch up with things in Michigan until we leave to head out to Wyoming and Colorado in about two weeks.

May I ask you to pray that these pastors would remember to pray about taking on our support? Out of sight can be out of mind, and we need them to remember us!

Voyageurs

We are standing on the shore of Black Bay, an historic crossing area for the French fur trappers as they traveled around Lake Superior and between Canada and the United States. This is part of Voyageurs National Park in International Falls, MN. We had a great morning service with Jim teaching Sunday School and preaching in the AM service. After we went out for a Chinese buffet lunch, we took a short trip to this beautiful park. I am so glad that our country has tried to preserve these historic and grand places for us to enjoy.
We presented the Brazil work in the evening with folks listening and interested in the work.
We left yesterday morning and drove the first 100 miles in heavily forested areas and saw several deer. Thankfully we didn't get to meet any of them up close! We arrived home last evening and will leave in about an hour to head to the Charlotte, NC area. We would appreciate your prayers for safety, but so much the more for spiritual fruit and for the heart needs to be met through these times.

Jeitinho

Jeitinho is an interesting term that describes the human heart. Brazilians, well all of us in one way or another, think of ways to circumvent the laws that rule us in everyday situations. It is like making a way for your will to be done in the face of someone telling you it isn't done that way. If one needs a document signed, he might speak to a close friend or arrange for a favor in order to move the process faster. One might need to cut to the front of a line to expedite his business...no problem....Jeitinho! Make a way for it to happen! Bribe someone...jeitinho...make a way!
Lest anyone think I impugn only Brazilians, think of, "Every man did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6) It's simply pride of life.

Please remember to pray on our behalf this week. In International Falls, MN Jim will be teaching Sunday school, preaching for the AM service, and presenting the Brazil work in the PM service.
Then in Charlotte, NC we start the missions conference on Wednesday. Jim has a children's presentation on Thursday, preaching in the PM service on Friday, two meetings with church folks on Saturday, teaching Sunday school Sunday AM and then doing our presentation Sunday evening to finish the conference. We will be in the NC conference with several missionaries. Please pray for our presentation to be clear, Christ-honoring, and remembered! Thanks.

Red Sox fan

I just couldn't resist borrowing this picture of Olivia from Bob's blog. We saw the grand babies just a couple of weeks ago, and we are looking forward to seeing everybody again after we finish a missions conference in the Charlotte, NC area. Praise the Lord for these little ones.

Minnesota!

We are headed up to the border to International Falls this weekend. Please pray for safety as we navigate through the Labor Day traffic.

I am still reading A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael. I am continually reminded of her single focus and drive to do the work in India. She was buffeted with sickness and death in her Indian family as well as her birth family in Great Britain. She thought often about her call to be faithful in the face of both good and bad. I am thinking about our future and pray for that kind of faithfulness.

Please know we are grateful for your prayers on our behalf. If you haven't stopped by Jon and Patty's blog about the work this weekend in Porto Alegre, please take a few minutes to read. It will be a blessing, I'm sure. The link is printed below in a previous blog.

Check this out

Once we get through language school in Sao Paulo, this apartment building is where we will live.

You can stay updated on some of the work in Porto Alegre by reading Jon and Patty's blog. They just returned to Brazil and are working to get a new church planted.

Please pray they will make good contacts and get some folks interested in learning about the Lord.

http://hutchinsinbrazil.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Blessings to share

We have just returned from our first trip south this fall. We spent a few days in Virginia with family. Because schools are beginning again, the beach was not crowded and we had a nice walk in the sand and waves with everybody. See Peter enjoying learning to walk!

From Virginia, we traveled to Winston Salem, NC for a meeting in a large church there. We were struck with the tremendous love the folks have for their ministry, pastor, and for each other. Nearly everybody we met told us enthusiastically how much they enjoyed being a part of that ministry. Just imagine how much we were blessed when the church voted on Wednesday evening at the end of the missions conference to begin supporting us immediately. Other missionaries at the conference were also taken on for support. Praise the Lord for His encouragement to us this week.

Thanks for remembering us in prayer.

Our schedule

We leave Monday and will be in Virginia for 5 days seeing Bob, Janelle, Olivia, Dan, Sara, and Peter. After that we will be driving to Madison, NC for a missions conference. The following Sunday we will be back "home" with Jim doing pulpit supply in North Liberty, IN. Then we take off and head to International Falls, MN and than back to the south for another missions conference in Matthews, NC. Then we will head down through Greenville, SC to see my brother and sister-in-law on our way to Martinez, GA. And that's just September! We will, of course, take some pictures and update regularly. We absolutely need your prayers. Thanks!

Little "thorns" in the flesh

Yesterday afternoon I went to mowing in the ditch and ran over a yellow jacket nest. Before I realized that the yellow jackets were riled up (the mower was loud), I was stung quite a few times on the feet and lower legs. I put ice packs on the stings, took benadryl, tylenol, and advil. After awhile the pain reduced. Today I am feeling better. We plan on traveling Monday, so I am glad now to wait a couple of days before we go on a long trip.

Jim went out and sprayed a can of wasp and hornet spray into the nest and then burned the hole out with kerosene. I think he made a major dent in their population.

I am thankful the situation was bearable and the Lord helped me not to have a bad reaction to the stings.

Pray for us to have not only safety as we travel, but also for us to be tender to the Lord's help and leading. Thank you.

A Chance to Die

This is the title of Elisabeth Elliot's biography of missionary Amy Carmichael. It has been interesting for me to read of her personal struggle and final decision to go into foreign missions. Initially she did not have clear direction concerning the field or work. Amy simply offered herself in obedience. She received counsel from family, friends, and the China Inland Mission (1892).

Though I have not finished the book, I am understanding that she had a call and worked on her walk with God along the pathway. She had certainly not "arrived" spiritually and then decided to answer her call. I am encouraged.

If there be any reserve in my giving to Him who so loved that He gave His dearest for me; if there be a secret "but" in my prayer, "anything but that, Lord," then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Amy Carmichael

We have received an increase in support this week. We are very encouraged. Thanks for your prayers.

Please pray for our coworkers Jon and Patty Hutchins. They have just arrived back in Porto Alegre and are beginning a new church plant, Hope Baptist Church. A church team from New York is coming in a few days to make many contacts in the target area and help to get the work started.

August blessings

In our family we have 7 birthdays and 6 anniversaries this month. We praise the Lord for His mercies and goodness.

I am spending several days here refinishing some doors and painting two of the bedrooms. One bedroom was started 2 summers ago, and I never finished it. We will begin traveling next week so these projects need to be finished.

Tomorrow Jim has been asked to preach in a church locally, and I will teach a ladies Sunday school at our home church. These opportunities are appreciated. In the following weeks we will be traveling to NC, VA, MN, GA, WY, CO, and northern MI. Please begin praying for us as we will be in two churches we have been in before. Thanks for faithfully praying.

Winter in Brazil

I was looking through some pictures of Porto Alegre and thought you might like to see one of the many shopping areas in the commercial district of the city. In 2005 we went shopping here to purchase a Brazilian soccer jersey to display on our table. The salesman tried to convince us it was a genuine jersey and wanted, if I remember correctly, about $50 or $60 U.S. for the jersey! We negotiated the price down to under $10 and I'm sure he still made his profit.

This time of the year is usually cold. This weekend low temperatures will be in the upper 30's(F). Some of the inland area is higher in altitude and gets down to freezing. This would not normally be a problem except that buildings aren't heated. The chill sets in and the warmth you might normally expect as you enter a building is not there. Grocery stores, churches, and homes are cold and you have to be creative in clothing and trying to keep one room in a home heated. One Brazilian lady told me that Brazilians believe you make yourself susceptible to sickness when buildings are either heated or air conditioned. Abrupt temperature changes from outside air to inside air are "unhealthy." I am hoping to purchase some good leather boots when we get to Porto Alegre.

Please continue to pray for support to come in. I believe some churches are in better positions to start taking us on soon. We will be going to North Carolina and Virginia in the middle of August. Thanks for your prayers.

Loose ends...for now

We were gone for a month and things have happened here at home while we were away.
First, I came home to see the lawn was very dry. We needed rain, and that came the last two days, thankfully. Second, I noticed some new critters around the outside of the house. We have a mother rabbit with five babies that are still nursing. When I surprise them, the mother runs and the babies stay very still like small stones.

Also, I found the window well full of dirt! After a bit of investigating we discovered a ground hog had decided to dig in for new quarters. It has dug in the well and down deep by the basement foundation. This is a problem we still have yet to take care of.
We also have a small ribbon garter snake that makes its home along the back of our house. I jump sometimes when I see it, but I figure it helps the small critter population to be kept at bay.

Our computer has been using its security package to protect us from getting onto the server.... Don't you love computers? Hence, it's been a challenge to get onto the internet some days this week.

Jim has three Sundays in a row to teach Sunday School at our home church. So that's a praise. We continually thank the Lord for service opportunities and for help from our home church. They encourage us greatly. Our next meeting will be in North Carolina the 3rd week of August.

A book I have enjoyed on and off for about 10 years is 31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers. In the appendix (part IV) she reminds us,
"Lord, I'm Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may your will be done in my life. I realize I'm not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment, or my own glory. I'm not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I'm somebody important, or to promote myself. I'm not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards. I'm here to please You."

This is a small pocket-type book, and I would recommend it for your devotions.

As always thanks for prayers on our behalf.

Yellowstone and the Tetons

We came through the mountains of Wyoming on Saturday morning and arrived in Green River, WY in the evening. We have been provided another beautiful home to stay for a few days. Jim will present the Brazil work on Wednesday evening. We thought we would present yesterday, but the plans needed to be changed.
We really enjoyed seeing Old Faithful and some of the sulfur springs around Yellowstone. As the old saying goes... wish you could have been there with us.

We have had another church in Michigan re connect with us today. We were there last fall, and they are desiring to take us on for support. We will keep you updated on that. Please pray for them to take that step.

We have a very busy end of August through end of October. Pray for us to keep filling up more of the schedule. We have some new possibilities from lists that have been given to us.
As always we appreciate you remembering to pray for us.

Eastward

Yesterday we left Oregon. We drove through the high desert of eastern Oregon where the truck thermometer registered 108 degrees at one point. Air conditioning is a wonderful thing! We are now in the mountain time zone and will make our way to Green River, Wyoming by tomorrow evening. Since we have some extra time this afternoon, we are going to drive into Yellowstone National Park and try to see Old Faithful and other sights.

I am sure we will get pictures today....

The cup runs over

Yesterday we got to drive up to Portland to see Alicia for a few hours. She has an incredible view from her deck. In the thick trees birds are chirping, and you can almost feel a calm descend... pretty nice place to relax.

We drove to Eugene, Oregon on Friday and once again have appreciated the great hospitality of the church here. We are staying in an apartment in the church building, and we have been treated to several wonderful meals with good fellowship. Jim preached both Sunday morning services, and the brass group from Maranatha Baptist Bible College did a beautiful concert in the evening. We were blessed.

Tomorrow we will be joining the church folks here for a July 4th picnic and ball game with some fireworks. Our plans are to be in Green River, WY by Saturday for a meeting there Sunday. We are beginning to make our way back to Michigan.

In my devotions I was reading again about Ahab making himself sick over not getting Naboth's vineyard. Jezebel "acquired" the vineyard and hastened judgment on her family. I was reminded again that only God truly knows our every need. Something wicked in us drives us to get the things we feel we must have. I want to keep a loose hold on things and really trust God for His perfect provisions. He is good.

Thanks for remembering us in prayer.

Having Heart

"...at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart..."
Luke 18:1

We would ask again for you to pray specifically about two churches in the mid west that have indicated a desire to begin supporting us. Both have said money is tight, but they have not forgotten about us. One church will be voting sometime in the next few days to support us.

We have had our needs met above and beyond the necessities. God has seen to it that the expenses of this trip appear to be covered now. For that we are so thankful.

Tomorrow we must say good bye to this great Grants Pass, Oregon church family. We move on to Eugene, Oregon for a few days. Hopefully we will be able to take a short trip back to Portland to see our niece, Alicia. She is moving from Corpus Christi, Texas to Portland to begin work in a medical practice. We hope to see her before we begin making our way back east.

Jim will be preaching and presenting the Brazil work this Sunday in Eugene. Thanks for your prayers. Those prayers help us to "have heart."

Postcards

Redwood National Park in California


One fond memory I have for Janelle, Dan, JD, and Jim is their grandparents would send them postcards from places they visited. The postcards were greatly enjoyed and kept on display for quite some time. I hope we can send along a few postcards to our grandchildren in days to come.

I am really small next to those great redwood trees. They are said to be several hundred years old. We also went a few more miles to the Pacific and hiked down to the shore where a couple of brrrr-ave souls were swimming in the icy waters.

We had a blessing seeing those great trees and the ocean today.

Getting around

For those who have trouble finding their way to church....




We drove to Lacomb, Oregon yesterday morning and back to Grants Pass this afternoon. The truck turned over 100,000 miles on the way through Montana a couple of weeks ago. We certainly praise the Lord for a dependable vehicle. Today Jim taught a combined Sunday school, and then he preached for the morning service. We have been invited out for some lunch and fellowship tomorrow, and look forward to keep getting to know the folks here better.

I have been reading one of my favorite authors again. Elisabeth Elliot writes in, A Path Through Suffering, that the "sign" of the cross for every believer is to die to self daily, surrendering the will in obedience to the Father. I have heard this before and probably need to hear it daily.

Time and expectations

On our way to Crater Lake National Park we stopped for a bit to see this waterfall. Further up the river the water has carved out holes and come through rock to create a natural bridge. Water is so life-giving and so powerful that it can tear rocks apart.
But it doesn't happen quickly.


"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." Psalm 62:5
Waiting for things is one of my biggest heart challenges. Please pray that we will not wait upon churches or people to have our expectations met. We need to learn to wait on God and make Him the only true satisfaction of our souls.

Jim preached last evening from the book of Haggai. It was a blessing. Please pray for the folks here in Grants Pass to consider supporting the work in Brazil.
This weekend we will travel to Lebanon, Oregon for Sunday services. Keep us in those prayers. Thanks.

Also we congratulate our nephew, JD, and his wife, Danielle on the birth of their daughter, Lily Grace. Lily Grace is our first great niece. Some pictures are posted on JD's blog. See the link to the right of this post.

Snow in June?

We left Michigan on Tuesday the 5th, exactly 2 weeks ago. The weather wasn't good when we left. On our way through Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana we continued to have tornado-like storms and got caught in a hail storm in Gillette, Wyoming. All along, the weather has been "unseasonably cold." So it only makes perfect sense to find snow on all the east facing slopes at the park yesterday. The air temperature was in the 60's, but the snow is still being removed from roads around the rim of the crater and from off the tourist paths.

The red sweet Bing cherries are in season here and absolutely delicious. We have also been enjoying fresh, 33 cent, California avocados.

The second picture needs a bit of an explanation. The stump in the picture remains alive because its underground roots are grafted naturally to the large tree next to it. Even though the stump appears to be dead, it lives because it abides in the life-giving forces of the living tree. Some spiritual applications there, eh? I did not know until yesterday that it was possible for trees to graft their roots together underground. Pretty amazing!

Jim has been invited to preach tomorrow evening here in Grants Pass. Please pray for him to be clear and Christ-honoring in his speaking. Thanks.
We will travel to another church this coming weekend and then return to Grants Pass for a few more days.

All I can say is, "WOW!"

Today, for the first time, we visited Crater Lake National Park.

We heard the Indian myths about how the crater was formed....
We heard the progressive secular explanation: "millions of years ago"....
We saw the handiwork of the Lord.
It completely defies human words to describe the beauty.

Yesterday's presenting of the Brazil work went well. We were blessed and pray for the good folks here to keep their wonderful heart for missions. Please ask the Lord to help them think about supporting us. Thanks.

Thanks Dad

I am NOT kidding....this is the great view from the back door of the mission home looking east!

In his book, Humility: True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney reminds us to be always watching for evidences of God's grace in other's lives. Thanks Dad, for your faithful walk with the Lord. Thanks for working hard and keeping a Christ-centered world view about family, church, and work. You are a truly generous person. Happy Father's Day to you as a Dad, Grandpa, and now a Great-Grandpa.
Today Jim is teaching a combined adult and teen Sunday school, we are doing a children's program during the morning preaching service, and tonight we will show the DVD. Jim will also speak on Brazil and then preach. It's a wonderful day with much to do. Thank you for remembering to pray for us.

Pioneers

See the roses along the front walk of this missions home!

It's interesting to think of the early settlers who left their known homes for the unknown, unclaimed territories out here on the west coast. I know some came in search of earthly fortunes in the gold mines; others came due to restlessness in their spirits. Many came and stayed and worked through the hardships.
I have just finished reading King of the Cannibals: The Story of John G. Paton by Jim Cromarty. In 1858, Paton left all his comforts of home in Scotland and set out for the New Hebrides islands in the south pacific. He took his first wife and shortly lost both his wife and child to disease. He continued on, though, for many years with a second wife, several children, and most important... many he saw saved and discipled in Christ. He came, he stayed, and he worked through tremendous hardships, and God blessed him with eternal rewards. Paton was a true missionary pioneer.

Beautiful southern Oregon

Rogue River

Jim and I are staying for a few days in Grants Pass, Oregon. We are surrounded by mountains, sunshine, and lots of roses. Apparently this is an ideal climate for growing things. We are told snow rarely falls here.

We have the blessing of staying a few days in a mission home. We will present our Brazil work on Sunday here and then travel next week. We were in two Portland churches last Sunday and the hospitality has been great.