All Gave Some, Some Gave ALL

A friend showed me this huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed. It's quite an impressive sight. I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock.

Tomorrow we leave Kalispell, Montana and head out towards Wisconsin. Lots of icy roads out that way, so please pray for us.

The Wild Game Night was great. We had many wild game dishes cooked by the men and a Turkey shoot afterwards. They turned a hallway into a shooting gallery for pellet rifles and who ever got the best group of three won a 14 lb frozen Turkey. I preached a sermon on how to be a good marksman for God, and then had to put my sermon into practice. I lucked out and won the contest and the turkey, but we don't have a freezer in our Honda mini-van, so I will have to leave my prize behind in Kalispell, Montana. That is OK though. The real prize was getting to know some great people up here in the greater Flathead Lake area of Northern Montana.

Wild Game Night in Montana

It may not be what you think! Wild Game Night in Montana is not what you DO, but what you EAT! I will be speaking at a church on the Flathead Indian Reservation territory in Kalispell, Montana. I thought being on the mission field was an adventure, but visiting churches back home can be very interesting as well!

We had a good Sunday in Missoula visiting a church pastored by our friend Gordon Dexter. He and his church received us warmly. We stayed with the Lambs, who treated us to good food, great hospitality and to fascinating conversations. We hope to have a reason to visit them every furlough!

We will be out of cell phone range for a while, but you may leave a message with Janis, the church secretary of Bethel Baptist in Kalispell, Montana at this number: (406) 755-5062

So Friendly, the -3 Degrees forecast Didn't Scare Us Away!

We drove up to the beautiful Flathead Lake valley, 2 hours north of Missoula, Montana to speak at Bethel Baptist Church. We heard on the news that the temperature will drop down to -3 degrees this week! But the warmth of the church made up for that! Bethel is a supporting church, in the best sense of that word. The people provided a home for us to stay in, scheduled meals for us through the week and even increased our monthly support. Pastor Pestel and the membership have included us in their family activities and made us feel more than welcome. This is definitely a place we will circle on our maps to pass an extended visit whenever we get the chance! We hope to come back some summer soon and help them with their Summer Camp Out-Reach at Lake Blaine Bible Camp.

Quincy and George, Washington

We spoke in Quincy, Washington where the church warmly welcomed us last Wednesday. We met an associate pastor, Juan Carlos, who had us over for his house for dinner. His family is from Peru and is helping out in the church by developing a outreach to the many immigrant people in central Washington State. We got to speak Spanish and eat some Peruvian favorites and met his entire friendly family. (Gracias, Juan, y Dios Les Bendiga! = Thanks, Juan, and may God bless you all!).

After prayer meeting, we spent the night at a deacon's home in George, Washington (no kidding). We enjoyed the tour of the potato farm they operated and the great fellowship this friendly family allowed us to share with them. We then had a 6 1/2 hour drive to Kalispell, Montana about 2 hours north of Missoula. Beautiful country, but a bit colder than Puerto Rico!

Super Time at Nooksack Valley Baptist Church

In spite of the Seattle Seahawks losing the Super Bowl, we managed to have a great week-end with the fine folks of Nooksack Valley Baptist Church in Everson, Washington. After a three hour drive, we were welcomed by Pastor Craig and were pleased to stay with our Nooksack friends, the Fullners. The Fullners, besides being great hosts, have many hobbies and are skilled at them, so we were able to pass a very agreeable and interesting week-end with them. Sunday, I got to present our field twice as the church has a large congregation and has two morning services to accommodate everyone. After the morning service, we were treated to lunch by the pastor and attended a Super Bowl party in the afternoon. We enjoyed the excitement, food and fellowship, but the best thing was bonding with these fine folks. We feel we have renewed friendships, but also made new ones this weekend in Everson, Washington!

Driving, Singing and Driving Some More

Last week we drove to Enumclaw and Graham, Washington, where we met some great people and had an encouraging response to our missionary presentation. Now we are headed for Everson, Washington up near the Canadian border. Our daughters have a big songbook they have constructed and sometimes bring it out for a song time during our drives. The article below says we are doing something good for our health! Amen!

IRVINE, Calif. - Singing in a choir may just make you healthier, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine.
Researchers at the school found increased levels of disease-fighting proteins in the mouths of choir members after they sang Beethoven's choral masterwork, the Missa Solemnis.

According to the study, a protein used by the immune system to fight disease called immunoglobulin A increased 150 percent during rehearsals and 240 percent during performance. The boost seemed directly related to the singers' states of mind, which many participants described as happy or euphoric.

"The more passionate you feel while singing, the greater the effect," said education Professor Robert Beck, who authored the study with Thomas Cesario, dean of the university's College of Medicine. The study was published this school year in the scientific journal Music Perception.

The difference in the increased levels between a performance and rehearsal, scientists theorized, may be because the singers had achieved mastery of the complicated piece after often-stressful rehearsals and were enjoying the thrill of the performance itself.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

"Make New Friends, But Keep the Old, One is Silver, but the Others Gold"

We will be speaking in Enumclaw and Graham, Washington this Sunday to new people, but tonight and tomorrow we are enjoying renewing ties with our old friends and extended family. Dinner, popcorn, corny jokes and old movies with my brother-in-law Steve Dorsey and his wife Nancy were a real treat for us Friday night. Saturday, more friends are coming over. Being isolated on the mission field can make it hard to maintain friendships and family closeness. We feel blessed this month by being able to revive and renew our important personal relationships.

We are trying to fill in our meetings for April in the New York/Penn state area of the country. Please pray that we might get some good meetings scheduled soon for April.

Pleased in Puyallup

We had a busy couple of weeks and a big Sunday in Puyallup recently. Sunday, Tina gave her testimony and I taught about missions in the Adult Sunday School hour. Tina then taught in Jr. Church and I spoke in the main morning service and showed our PowerPoint presentation. Sunday night I preached and the church responded warmly both in friendship and financially. Pastor Franks gave us the good news that the church was giving us a raise in their monthly contributions to our ministry. They also gave us a generous gift of $800. Praise the Lord! Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to the kind people of Puyallup Community Baptist Church. Thank you!

Family Watch Dog Site Protects Children.

My Uncle Tom sent me a link to an impressive site that helps safegaurd kids from sexual predators. It is called: http://www.familywatchdog.us/. Put in your address and the site shows a map of your local area and where the sexual predators in the area live. If you click on the locations, you even get a picture of the person, the crime they were in jail for and even the distance they live from your house! Maybe it will make some folks more paranoid, but I think it is a good idea as it makes you aware of the realities of the neighborhood. As a missionary on the road with children, I appreciate the good work others have done to keep an eye on evil men so we can live in a safer neighborhood.

Kids Galore: Awana Night in Puyallup, Washington

Tina and I spoke at a great youth outreach that is a ministry of Puyallup Community Baptist Church. I taught 3 classes that had about 40 kids in each class and Tina taught the younger children in a different part of the church. They were interested and asked lots of questions. Maybe one of those kids will be a missionary someday!

Bethany and Rachel are going back to Pensacola Christian College tomorrow morning :( to complete their sophomore year at college. We will get up early and say good-by at the airport at about 11:30. We will really miss them.

“Locks of Love”

Bethany had Tina cut off 11” of her hair today. They are going to mail it in to “Locks of Love” a group that helps children who have gone bald while undergoing cancer therapy. It is nice to have kids who have learned to give of themselves to help others. We are very proud of them.

Flexible Friends

Pastor Doan let us speak Wednesday in Vacaville on short notice and we were received well by him and the church people. One lady gave us a chocolate cake and a pair of shoes to Tina to take home! We all had cake for breakfast the next morning! A newlywed couple, Kevin and Rosemary Aubin of Sacramento allowed us to stay with them from Monday night through Thursday afternoon. They were known to our daughters, but we had never met them before. Thanks to a flexible church and some hospitable new friends, our trip from Los Angeles to Tacoma was, comfortable, enjoyable and a lot less expensive than it could have been! Thanks!

Speechless in the Sierra Nevada Foothills

I heard Tina answer the phone and say “Sorry Pastor, Steve can’t speak to you on the phone right now, he has laryngitis and is saving his voice to preach in your church tomorrow.”

And I did! I could barley whisper or even swallow. The next morning, I felt a thrill of fear as I walked down the aisle of a church, opened my mouth and waited to see if I could hear my own voice. Praise the Lord, it was sufficient to the occasion and lasted the entire service.

The people of Porterville were wonderful and encouraged us. Right after the service, we had a great lunch, but my throat was so sore all I could do was sip soup and listen to the others talk. Maybe that is why I got it! Well, whatever the reason, today I was able to eat a regular meal for the first time since Friday night, so I think I am good to go for our meeting in Vacaville, California Wednesday night. Come out and hear us (I hope)!

Orchard Ave. Baptist Church info: http://www.orchardbaptist.org/index.htm

Christmas in San Diego and Los Angeles

We had a great a week visiting between San Diego and Los Angeles seeing family this Christmas season. We received gift passes to see the famous San Diego Zoo, thanks to my sister Kris, and were treated to a tour and a train ride by my dad and his wife Susan.

We are now at my sister Danas’ house in East Los Angeles till Saturday. We enjoy all the good Mexican food and feel like we are in Puerto Rico when staying here.

Saturday, New Years’ Eve, we will travel to Porterville, about 3 hours north of Los Angeles. Sunday, we will be speaking (Lord willing) at:

Henderson Avenue Baptist Church, habc@ocsnet.net1876 West Henderson, Porterville, CA 93257 , Phone: 559.781.9358

Please pray for our safe arrival and that we might be a blessing to the churches we visit as we work our way up to Tacoma, Washington

A Funeral for Grandma

My grandmother, Margaret Long of Cleveland, passed away last week. She was 94 years old. We were not able to attend the funeral, but my brother and sister stood in for us. Grandma was from an immigrant family from Yugoslavia, spoke a good number of languages, was a great cook, helped the poor and bed ridden in her community and loved us very much. We will be in the Cleveland area in about 3 months and hope to see our extended family then.

They're Back!

Bethany and Rachel flew in from Pensacola Christian College Monday! I have a sister who works at Disney Travel and she got us all free guest passes for Disney and California Adventure. We are living out of suitcases with family down here in Los Angeles area and having a great reunion with everyone. Having family all together again is the best Christmas present we could have hoped for! We are visiting my father in the San Diego area this week. We also were treated to the San Diego zoo yesterday! We appreciate the generosity of family and friends that are working well this week to give us a very special time together.

Missionary Road trip: From Long Beach, CA to Carpinteria and Oakview, CA

Tina, the Twins and I packed up Saturday and drove about 3 hours to the home of Steve and Kathy Button. Steve is the Pastor of the Carpinteria Valley Baptist church of Carpinetria, California. Tina and I had met Steve and Kathy when they lived in Martinez, CA. Once we even spent almost three weeks with them during our deputation travels many years ago. They graciously received us into their home and we enjoyed all the catching up kind of conversations we had with them. The church had a nice projection system and even a remote control device, so I was able to give our PowerPoint presentation without sitting at the computer. It was the first time we gave our presentation and put out our display, so I was a bit nervous about it, but all seemed to go well. We met a lot of friendly people and were encouraged by their generosity and good will.

Sunday afternoon we relaxed at Steve and Kathy’s house and then prepared to go to Oakview, a town near Ojai, about 15-30 min from Carpinteria. Just before we were to go, we found out that the Oakview church was having problems with their projector. Steve graciously offered to lend us their own personal projector for the day, so thanks to him we were able to give a slide show of our missionary experiences in the church at Oakview Sunday night.

The Oakview church proved very friendly and we were remembered by a good number of the people. Pastor Linn Carothers and I have some things in common (country churches, college professors, etc) and I enjoyed the time we had together, but wish we had more time to get to know each other better. That night we gave our presentation and were asked to give our testimonies, explain our call to the mission filed and share our vision for our future ministry. We had a good Q&A time as well, so the service went overtime, but everyone seemed happy and hung around for an after church fellowship. We were invited to a spaghetti dinner at the pastor's home after church and had a chance to speak to a group of teenagers that were there. When they found out that our daughters Bethany and Rachel are going to Pensacola Christian College, there was a lot of interest among the teens about why we picked that school and what was it like. We challenged the teens to consider going to a Bible College and missions as a possible life path.

The roads were clear late Sunday, so we were able to return to Long Beach in just 2 hours.

Bethany and Rachel are flying in from college to be with us Monday at 9 PM! It has been a LONG time since we have seen them! God is good and we are experiencing many blessings by meeting many good people and being able to enjoy some precious family fellowship.

Made it!

Friend, church member and shade tree mechanic Miguel assembled our car and gave us a ride in it to the airport, and we made it on time! I had my doubts if that thing would ever run again! It was a real grunt getting ready for this trip. The flu knocked me for a loop and took about 4 days out of my preparations for visiting the States. In spite of being sick, I managed to write a final, give it and get in all the grades Friday, leave Saturday and get into Los Angeles, California about 10pm. We visited with family till about 12 midnight, but because of jet lag, it was 4 AM to our tired bodies.

Just before we left, we got our first cell phone. Our number is: (787) 702-8790

The first order of business upon arrival was to buy a car. I learned how to use Kelly Blue book (kbb.com) online to price and locate the cars. Then I learned how to use carfax.com to get vehicle history reports on them. We narrowed in on a 1999 Honda Odyssey 7 passenger mini-van and were able to buy it. It cost $9,900, but with extended warrantee, tax, license, etc it ran about $12,000. We plan on driving it till the end of May and then leaving it for our college age daughters to use but available for us. The idea is that, instead of renting, we will have a car somewhere that we can pick up and use whenever we return to the States for meetings.

Today I hope to finish our Power Point presentation. This is my first one, and I am working with a lot of interruptions, but hopefully we will finish it before we need to show it this Sunday morning!

We will be driving to Carpinteria, California, about 3 hours North of where we are in Los Angeles (Long Beach) for a meeting here:


Carpinteria Valley Baptist Church
http://www.carpinteriabaptist.org/
800 Maple Ave., Carpinteria, CA 93013
Pastor: Stephen R. Button
Phone: (805) 684-5014

Tina came down with a cold yesterday. Please pray for our health, energy, wisdom and opportunities for us to promote missions. Merry Almost Christmas!

I Think I’m Winning…But They Keep Moving the Finishing Line!

I preached my last sermon, taught our last Bible study and went on visitation one last time this week, so I ought to be ready to leave Puerto Rico tomorrow at 3:20 PM. I spent a LOT of hours grading Bible college final exams because of a record number of students (22) taking my classes this year. I just called in the grades, so I’m finished at the school too! Hurray!

Just a few days ago a gentleman gave me a call. He wants to study Greek with me in the Spanish language, but cannot leave his work to study with us during the day. So we have begun a personal course between us. I have taught the course in lecture format before, but this time I am going to teach it by use of a Wiki (a kind of a web page), audio and video clips and email. Once we get through the class, we ought to have a nice set up for others who want to study but cannot attend regular classes. In a way, it is forcing me to take another step closer to a vision I have for our ministry: creating an online seminary in the Caribbean to help train our people.

I got news this week that I have been accepted into a Doctoral degree program. The program was set up by a network of Bible colleges and Seminaries in India, who have many students who cannot leave their jobs to attend. The resulting structure is a perfect set up for people in my situation, and most of the program can be completed online. By going through a program like this myself first, I hope to pave the way and replicate on our field the good things others have created on theirs. By God’s good grace, I hope to study and do a lot of the work on the road between our scheduled meetings.

Sometimes it is hard to know when you are finished! I do not think we will ever be finished, but I do think if we keep in the race, we will find that we are on the winning side!

Up, Down, Up but Moving Forward!

With only a week to go before we leave for the States, our schedule was quite full and exciting. It even became more exciting when I fell ill with the flu! It basically knocked me for a loop for about 4 days.

At first, I just thought I was getting tired. I had to help about 22 of my students prepare for the final exams, so I dragged myself down to the college, taught, took a nap during chapel and then taught some more and came home and went straight to bed. Then the chills and fever came. Fortunately, I had planned ahead a bit and scheduled our deacon Wilfredo to preach that Sunday. It was my last Sunday AND my 51st birthday, so even though I was still wiped out, I went so I would not loose my last opportunity to encourage our people before our departure. I am over the fever part, and recovering, but still shy of the 100% rebound I was hoping for by now.

I will miss our church here. The people have become our friends and the simple pleasures of life on the mission field will be missed during our 5 month absence.

We will leave Puerto Rico (Lord willing) at 3:20 PM this Saturday and about 9 flight hours later be in Los Angeles. Please pray that I can make a rapid rebound from my battle with the flu, and we can all arrive in peace and safety.

MMM..Almost Ready!

Christmas Pig on a spit is a big hit around here from now 'till Jan 6, Three Kings day. I think I know how he feels! We are in a whirl getting our home, church and Bible College set up for our absence. Also we feel the pressure of arranging meetings and getting our family ready for about 6 months of visiting churches in the US. We hope to receive a warm welcome from a caring church, even if it is in a cold climate! We are almost ready to come. Please pray for a warm welcome for our family as we travel to raise support for the missionary work here in Puerto Rico.

The College and Highschool group had a nice outing at a park in San Juan recently. But now, we are all gearing up for the end of the semester, final exams and traveling home for Christmas. Just two weeks and we will have to lock up the house for 5 months and visit our supporting churches in the States. It is not easy to focus on finishing the semester, preparing the church for our absence and making preparation for meetings many months down the road. We would appreciate your prayers for widsom and peace duirng the next few weeks!

Home office memo: 20 factors affecting missionary giving

I got this memo from the home office about factors affecting giving in the US. Very interesting.

1. Average credit card debt per U.S. household is $8,400. Source: Cardweb.com
2. Americans spent more on legalized gambling ($2,500 for every American) than on groceries. Source: Focus on the Family article on the US abstract reports
3. Requests for emergency shelter assistance grew an average of 19% from 2001 to 2002 in 18 major cities - the steepest rise in a decade. Of these requests, 41% were families, 41% single men, 13% single women, 5% minors. Source: USA Today
4. 70% of employees are retiring BEFORE they are 65. And 33% of retirees indicated that 90% of their income came from their Social Security retirement check of $895/month. Source: Washington Post
5. 20% of Americans have items stored in the U.S.'s 40,000 storage facilities. Source: USA Today
6. Many U.S. families (and churches) are only a couple months away from a financial crisis. Source: Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) at the University of Michigan
7. Record 1.5 million bankruptcies in 2002 (more than the ENTIRE decade of the 1960's). Source: U.S. Courts
8. Average college student carries 4 credit cards (with UNPAID balances of $2,327).Source: Washington Post
9. Financial problems are among the most frequent contributing causes of marital stress and divorce. Source: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
10. 50% of new college graduates owe $10,000-$40,000 in student loans (and 1/3 were unable to make their first monthly payment 6 months after graduation). Source: Wall Street Journal
11. $10-13 trillion dollars in inheritances will be transferred to the Baby Boomer generation within the next 10-20 years. Yet, 70+% of the elderly today have NO will or trust ($0 for church/non-profits) Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy
12. 95% of Christian educational institutions (colleges, universities, seminaries and Bible colleges) offer NO personal or ministry financial curriculum. Source: Lilly Foundation Studies
13. 90% of denominations offer no available (or limited) financial teaching resources to their pastors or churches. Source: Christian Stewardship Association
14. 85% of Pastors feel unequipped and uncomfortable teaching on finances and giving. Source: Lilly Foundation Studies
15. 90% of churches have no active plan for teaching biblical financial principles. Source: Christian Stewardship Association seminar research
16. In 2000, 12% of all born again adults tithed to their local church. The percentage rose to 14% in 2001, but dropped to only 6% in 2002. This represents a 62% drop! Source: Barna.org
17. There has been a 30+ year decline in the percent of income Christians give (depending on the denomination, the average giving is 1% � 3? %) Source: Empty Tomb Research
18. 20-35% of church attendee giving records are blank ($0 of recorded offerings given). Source: Christian Stewardship Association
19. In 1999, $3 billion was given to 600 Christian mission agencies. Compare this to $58 billion for soda products, $24 billion in jewelry store sales, $8 billion for movies theaters, $13 billion for chocolate products, $38 billion in vending machine sales, $11 billion for computer/video games, $7 billion for greeting cards, $23 billion for toys, $91 billion in lawn/garden industry, $23 billion for pets. Source: Empty Tomb Research
20. In the Bible there are 40 verses on "baptism," 275 verses on "prayer," 350 verses on "faith," 650 verses on "love" -- and 2,350 verses that relate specifically to finances and material possessions.

Kristin has the Dengue Fever : ( , but is OK.

We knew she had a fever, but finally discovered it was the Dengue when her feet started itching. The classic symptom of itching comes in the middle days of the Dengue, which lasts about 10 days and is followed by a week or so of fatigue. The bad thing is that you can’t take aspirin, because the Dengue causes your blood to thin and aspirin just makes it thinner still. Kristin is taking a break from homeschool, sitting with her feet in a pail of cool water and watching some old Disney videos. I guess it’s not all bad!