MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-17-2005

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Greetings, one and all. Much has happened since our last update. On Friday, we received news that another soldier has left us. Burton Brush, my wife's grandfather died of cancer. He'd battled the disease for 4 years, and Friday morning the fight ended. He was a longtime BIMI missionary in South Dakota, and his creation, the Pioneer Bible Institute curriculum, is being used by missionaries and pastors all over the world. He will be missed terribly. We were in the middle of a missions conference at Lafayette Bible Baptist Church in Manchester, MO (pastor: Ed Bragg)at the time. We finally decided that, since all we have to drive in now is my cramped old mini-van, and it's a sixteen hour drive, Anna would go to the funeral with her sisters and cousin, taking Elizabeth, and I would remain to finish the conference and keep the three boys. I have a meeting at Bible Baptist Church in New Franklin, MO on Wednesday (about 2.5 hours away). Anna should be back late on Wednesday.

The missions conference was great. I got to teach a mission lesson in Children's Church on Sunday morning. I taught a missions lesson about a boy named Madugu, which involved the wordless book, a tool for giving the gospel to children. Afterwards, a nine year old boy named Anthony asked Jesus to be his Savior. That afternoon, after Anna left and we said our goodbyes, I went over to a nursing home in Eureka, MO and reached from John 3. Afterwards, an elderly gentleman named Bob also asked Jesus to be his Savior. Tremendous! Old or young, all need to hear the gospel, and all are precious to the LORD.

Then we drug our weary bodies home so the kids could get a nap. They got an hour. I got everyone up and fed them rapidly (had to finish on the way). Made it on time, tho'. We finished up the conference, and came on home. All in all, it was a great conference, with great preaching, and, in spite of fierce opposition from the Enemy, God's will was done and the Church was edified.

Home today, holding down the fort. We're resting up, running errands, cleaning house and what not. Missing my wife and daughter, tho'….

Well, that's all for now.

Prayer Request

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Looks like the possibility of getting a van from North Carolina may not work out after all. It had set for a few years, and the pastor didn't feel comfortable letting it out on the road without getting it worked on first. There was no one available to do so, and no way to get it to St. Louis to be worked on here. We still need something large enough for our crew, so be praying that God will provide something else.

God bless, and thanks for praying for us.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-10-2005

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Howdy folks! We're back in St. Louis. Currently, we're doing the usual Monday morning routine, which is resting and playing catch-up. As soon s I fire off this email, Anna I will be going out alone for the first time in weeks (tomorrow is the anniversary of when we got engaged 5 years ago!). We just haven't had time before now. Have to get groceries, run some errands, and lastly get some Chinese food at this new buffet that opened up nearby (mmm…mmm…good…). This is very romantic when you have 4 children! 🙂

Last night we were at Sweet Springs Baptist Church in Huntsville, MO. The meeting went great. They gave us an exceedingly generous love offering, which is very helpful, since our support level isn't very high yet. We'll be in a missions conference in Manchester, MO, Lafayette Bible Baptist Church and Pastor Ed Bragg to be precise, in a few days. Really looking forward to it. I love missions conferences. I'm really enjoying deputation. It feels great to be doing what you were meant to do, full time, and without having to juggle a full-time job. The kids have been great, more or less.

Great news! A pastor in North Carolina contacted me with the outstanding news that a member of his church, a widow, has a van she wants to give us. It's an '87 Ford Econoline conversion van. They bought it new, and it has 20 to 25,000 actual miles. The only thing is it's been sitting for two years. The battery is stone dead, and there may be some dry rot in some belts or a dirt dauber nest under the hood, but other than maybe that, it's in great shape. The pastor is going to check it out for us and make sure it runs. What a blessing! We got news of it barely 48 hours after our other van was declared Dead-On-Arrival. Thank you everyone for praying. I've checked out pictures of this make and model, and it looks very much like our old van. God was good to us in taking away the other van. We don't know all the reasons why, but everything He does is good. He has continued to be good to us in providing another van. Not that He had to do so. He is under no obligation to us to do anything. We are just so thankful that He has chosen to work in this way.

I'll probably be flying out next week to get it and drive it back to MO. Neat…

God bless y'all.

The Van Saga

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We're back. Alive. In a manner of speaking… I spent most of the day Friday looking for rental vehicles. Nobody had any vans – not good. Well nobody had any cars either, not in Sioux City anyway – also not good. They either didn't have any to rent, or they wouldn't let us take them one way to St. Louis. Alamo would, but for around $400. So, as a last resort, I tried Alamo again and had 'em check Omaha, NE – two hours away. They had a full-size available. So I made the four hour round trip with my wife's Aunt Cynthia (her and Uncle Brad bailed us out of this mess by letting us stay the night at their house in Carroll, NE). We swung by the body shop first in Sioux City so I could strip the van of all our remaining goods. That was hard, and awfully final. I Left My Van in Sioux City –> there's a country music song in there somewhere.

Finally, I made it back to the house around 10:30 PM. We loaded up the stuff in the Chevy Impala. Crammed is more like it. The kids were crammed in the back like sardines, with stuff jammed wherever we could find room. In that condition, then, I drove through the night on the long, eight hour voyage remaining to us. My wife slept in shifts, when not forcing herself to stay awake and keep me conscious (she hadn't slept much the night before, for obvious reasons). The kids did so well. They slept all night, except for very brief periods when we stopped to get gas for the car and caffeine for me. They never complained, and through all of this, have remained cheerful and cooperative. They make me awfully proud.

St. Louis was a very welcome sight at 7:00 AM this morning, two days and one van less than we were originally planning. I just got up (had to sleep, couldn't stay awake any more). The kids slept 'til 12:00 PM. Fortunately, we only have an evening meeting tomorrow, and it isn't far to drive.

All in all, we've done very well. I had plenty of time to think while driving back from Omaha, NE, and it occurred to me that were very blessed in all this. Yeah, we lost a good vehicle, which is a drag. Yet, nobody was killed or injured. We have a working vehicle at home to tide us over until we can locate a replacement. We're not out any money (the van was a gift), and we have enough to pay all our bills and to spare. Through it all, I had the peace that passes understanding, which I'm beginning to realize includes my own. I remain confident that just as God gave the van to us, and took it away, He can give us another that will be as good or better. He made a man blind from birth so Jesus could heal him in John 9. He had to deal with blindness until then, so God could be glorified. He took our van away, so He could be glorified in giving us another. It will all be for the best, once enough time has passed for us to see everything yet to be revealed. God is building His message in us, and teaching us to trust Him, which will certainly have to do in the years ahead.

God bless you folks, and thank you for your prayers and encouragement in all this.

Van Update

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Last night we called Anna's Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Brad. They called friends of theirs, Norm and Dawn Breece, who lived close by. They really came through for us. Norm called a tow-truck for us, and he and his wife ferried most of our belongings and us over to their house to warm up and wait while Cynthia and Brad were en route (they live an hour away). Then we loaded up and headed to their house in Carroll, NE. We crashed that night. I slept, but Anna did not, being all wracked with guilt and worry like she was.

We just got the word on the van, and it wasn't good. It's totalled. The frame is badly bent, and can't be pulled out without significant expense. So, this wonderful van that God provided is now ruined. I have to rent a car to get us the rest of the way to St. Louis, and we
have my work van to get around in. We won't be able to make any long distance trips in it because it's too small for us and our stuff. Fortunately, our meetings in the next week or so are relatively close, but I don't know what we're going to do after that. Please pray. Not the way I was planning on beginning full-time deputation…