DISCLAIMER: I don’t know every bodies birthday. If I miss yours please do not get mad.

A Happy Birthday wish to the following people

My nephew Victor who turned 4 on March 30.
My Dad who turned ?? No I won’t tell on April 14.
My bother Robert who turned 23 on April 19.
My Aunt Jeannie (I don’t know when her birthday is but it is in April.)

Yes it has been two months. March went by fast and now April has too.
I don’t really remember what happen much. I don’t think I will divide up the two months but I will just sum things up.

Day Care
I worked the first week in March in the Kindergaden Day Care. The lady I subbed for because her mom was in hospice came back March 9th. Her mom had passed away early in the week. (She was a Christian.) I did not work in the Day Care until the 3rd week in April and that was just for a few days. I am trying to sub no more than 3 days a week now.

Family
In March Mom came to visit for a few days. She came a few days before Bible Conference at BJ, then went to Bible Conference, and finally came back for a few days after Bible Conference. Jesse and I took her up to Bob Jones Saturday the 17. We had a “Family Gathering” in which the only ones missing were Dad and Robert.
This coming Saturday Jesse and I will go to BJ to get Alissa. In Jesse’s words “Alissa is graduating from her Freshman year”. (I might not have the quote just right.)

Church
We still do not have a pastor. Last night (Sunday) the message was about “Being the Right Type of Person in the Church”. Basically it was about how everyone of us is suppose to have all 5 points in our lives. Don’t remember all the points but three of them were Love, Growth, and Fruit.
Last Wed. was our last AWANA meeting. It was called “Party Night”. This coming Wed. we are having the Awards Ceremony. I helped out in Sparks. We are going to say our Motto, Theme Verse, and sing our Theme Song. It will be fun.

well, I think that was a fast wrap up.

Elizabeth Elliot has written many books which have been used of the Lord in countless ways to challenge my thinking.

Her book, These Strange Ashes I finished reading on my recent trip to Spain. Many of its pages now have additional markings where things she said spoke of current struggles within my own heart and life. The book tells of her first year on the mission field and reflects on the feeling that much of it came to naught shortly after she was moved from that field to a different place of ministry.

I want to share just a few excerpts from her writings in hopes that they will encourage others of my friends who know the inner struggles of which she speaks. Some of you will recognize how my heart’s cry for the people of Sabga closely follows Mrs. Elliot’s reflection on the children of San Miguel.
“There was something heartbreaking to me in hearing these recitations shouted so earnestly for so long by these poor children. They came from homes where there was no such thing as a book or a map or a piece of paper no anyplace to put such a thing if it were given them, and they would probably spend their lives tilling the small patch of jungle, but perhaps they would learn to read the Bible and that would make tilling the soil all the more worthwhile.” (page 50)
This passage reminds me so much of the school in which I taught and so many others like it in surrounding villages where much of the instruction is carried by rote memorization of facts.

“Faith’s most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain.” (page 125)
How true I have found this statement to be as I seek the Lord’s timing and direction concerning my future direction for ministry. I trust though I am pressed inwardly nearly every day that in the Lord’s strength I will find rest.

I thank those of you who continue to uphold in prayer concerning my desire to serve the Lord on foreign soil. I have been asked a multitude of questions concerning that desire, and yet the answer is and I pray always will be the same. Yes, I love the African people. Yes, my heart yearns to see them freed from the bondage of sin. And still, I look to the Lord alone for my next step.
In His sovereign plan and will God moved me from the jungles of Equatorial Guinea to serve Him in the mountains of Sabga. He brought me back to Greenville, SC hoping to stay only as long as necessary.
My desires have not changed. Oh sure, the Lord has used certain experiences through the past 6 months to mature my thinking and cause further dependence on Him. But through it all I continue to hope He will again move me on in His perfect way and time.
For now I thank Him for the unexpected ministry He has given me in the lives of people with whom I work daily at Beck Academy, a public middle school here in Greenville. Thanks again for your prayers.

At God’s blessings. I’m just so happy with all He’s given. I debated on whether or not to even blog because I hate being misunderstood, but just had to because I don’t care what anyone thinks…I truly am happy and want to say so! Just had to say thanks…
Thank you for my job! I love [...]

(sorry..i just learned the html for that and wanted to try it out…sooo lame i know b/c most 1st graders even know how to make a heart..eh well)…

Post update: This post has been edited from its original writing. Several comments I made were unwise, unthoughtful, and offensive,…

This afternoon, officials at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin, named Dr. Chuck Phelps as the new president of Maranatha. This is great news for Maranatha specifically, as well as for those of us involved in Christian higher education. Chuck has been a youth pastor, a church planter, and a senior pastor. He serves on the boards of several Christian organizations. He and his wife Linda have five children.

I knew Chuck when he was a student at BJU back in the 1970s. As it happened, when our family moved to Owatonna (so that I could teach at Pillsbury), Chuck was the youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church. For over fifteen years, Chuck has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire. I am very excited about Chuck becoming the president of Maranatha. He brings a strong vision for educating the next generation of young people for the Lord’s service. Also, Maranatha is one of Pillsbury’s “sister” schools, so we have more than a passing interest in anything that strengthens our fundamental Christian schools.

Be sure to pray for Chuck and his family as they make the transition to Maranatha over the summer.

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