Dear Friends,
August 2009
August has passed like a dark ship on a murky night, you are aware of it,
but it all tends to be a bit hazy. I started out the month by driving to London
to pick up some people, who were coming over to study in the medical field from
Taiwan. The eldest of whom was a Christian and was saved in Washington D.C. They all came out to services on the
Sunday and we invited them back to our house for lunch. This went very well and
the younger two came back to services two weeks later with another friend and
the eldest had already gone back to Taiwan. They simply adored Max as well as
the rhubarb crumble with custard for dessert. They all took tracts and I even
printed out some in Chinese for them.
This month we had a split bible study time, The women met together and
went out for lunch. The men were supposed to go fishing in the north sea and we
had invited along some lost folks as well. (Well you figure several miles out to
sea you can tell them about Jesus because they are not going anywhere). We also
had a guest preacher come in from Germany, Mike Nimeshiem, the single’s director
at Rheinland Baptist Church. However, things did not go as planned and the night
before the shipping forecast said there would be 11 foot swells with gale force
winds, and since these were only six men boats the captain said we could not go
out, and I having no wish to being used as a flotation device in case of
submerging, agreed. Although tipping a boat over in more
gentle shallow waters could take care of stubborn peoples baptisms. ( I am of
course joking there.) So instead we had our first, albeit hastily arranged
prayer breakfast. This went very well and since it was at 9:00 am, rather than
the 5:30 am start of driving, it was a little easier on the system. Brother Mike
also preached on the Sunday, which was also good.
I received an odd request from someone I had never met before. They asked
if I would come and bless their house. I told them I cannot bless things, but I
can ask the Lord to bless. I have never done anything like that before, and I
certainly despise empty ceremonies, so what I did was to read part of Psalm 1
and the beatitudes concerning blessings. How God describes who is blessed and
what these blessed people do, which of course is to seek God. How do we do that,
through study and obedience to the Word. What does the Word tell us, to receive
Jesus Christ. It may not have been what they expected, but any chance
to share the Gospel, especially as they invited me over. Do you want your house
to be blessed? Well this is where you start, right in the Bible.
I was also involved in premarital counseling and shed fixing with one
couple, (these are unrelated difficulties as one can be fixed with a hammer and the other
you just consider using a hammer). Myself and
another church member helped another lost friend with fence posts by me
holding the
post with a manual rammer and another guy hitting it with the arm of a digger.
It was little dangerous, but fun and I needed some exercise. Also, I got to play
with a 5 ton digger for an hour. It is one thing saying Jesus loves you, and
another by demonstrating that love when God gives opportunity, for that love
they cannot deny or dismiss.
Max is continuing to grow, now he can open the door handles in the house,
which are a lever type. So, I changed his handle on his door to a knob type,
which he has not figured out yet. Laura and I celebrated our 15th wedding
anniversary in August. Thank you all for the cards and letters. We treated
ourselves to picking up some Dominoes pizza from the next town over, it was very
nice.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. And even though
days are not easy, there will be an end. There is coming a day when no more
heart aches shall come. No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the
eye. You get the picture. Until
next month.