Friday, July 30, 2010

Today our Joe is 20 years old. Happy birthday!

We finished up the last day of Enrichment Week with a message from the Director, David Snyder. He used an acrostic on Faith using Hebrews 11.

1. Focus forward by reviewing the past; looking to the future and concentrating on eternity.
   
2. Abhors apathy. We will move v. 7, always forward, and moving whole heartedly.
   
3. Ignores impossibilities. The Physical as in Abraham and Sara. Spiritual armor in Matthew 17; Salvation of souls, Luke 25:18 and Heb. 11:29
   
4. Trusts tenaciously even when it takes longer, Acts 7:23; even when you don't know how it will turn out; Daniel 3
   
5. Honors Him—God is pleased through lives of faith like Enoch Heb. 11:5, Abraham. God will reward. Gen. 12:2
   

After the morning session was over, everyone packed up, got some sandwiches to take along or eat in the dining room, then left. It was a good week. We went over to see some friends from Independent, Marcel and Sandy Anderson. We met their daughter Marie and youngest son. Marcel had the day off, Sandy came in a little later. They have not changed much at all. Both are looking to get employed with the TVA after completing some further education.


 Along about 4:00 p.m. we got gas for the car and headed up 81 back toward Maryland. According to our GPS we would arrive about 1:00 a.m. and called the Gills about 10:00 to tell them. We also called Peter and told him where we were and such.

 

We got off the interstate near Staunton, VA, about 10:35p.m. to get gas and had to make a left turn across a divided highway. I put my shoes back on. Upon making the turn, we got rear ended and Peter's car is a mess; possibly totaled.

I got a nasty goose egg upon hitting the door window. I was taken to
the hospital in an ambulance, my first, and hopefully only, experience.
All the emergency room folks were great; it was not a busy night and I
was released about midnight. No one else was injured; the other driver
was OK, but her car front end is smashed also. It is a 2001 Audi.

Meanwhile, at the scene, Henry's brief case was thrown from the trunk, but a family from NY in a big truck found it and brought it to the scene. Nothing was missing from the briefcase, even the passports. Praise the Lord. Henry's Japanese computer screen is cracked, but still works. The guy, named Brad, took Henry and Sara to the hospital to get me. He was our angel unawares for the evening.

Please pray this event will not hinder us from returning to Japan. We
leave DC Wednesday afternoon to LA, then fly out on Thursday next
week. Also pray that Henry will not beat himself up over this; he is
saying it is all his fault, we cheated Peter out of his car, etc. Henry was charged with not yielding the right of way. However, it was allowed by God for a reason. It could have been much worse

Thanks for your prayers and we will be in touch once we know more of what's going with the car, insurance and all of that. Peter will probably get another car out of this.

God is still good, even in Staunton, VA

Thursday, July 29, 2010

In the afternoon we went on a riverboat cruise. We met the Nichols who are friends of ours from Independent who now pastor over in Leesburg, VA. They were visiting one of their sons in Chattanooga. It was a surprise to say the least.

 
We got to talk to some fellow veteran missionaries today and found out what it is like to minister in India and Burma. There should be a book compiled sometime by those of us foreign missionaries who can really tell what it is like. It would be a fascinating read.

 
Our car got worked on some more again and hopefully the EGR light is fixed by now.


 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Today's meetings were of the information/financial nature so we did not go anywhere. Some men who worked on the retirement plan came in to explain the new stuff and to talk to each couple individually on what to do with their current retirement options. The teens went to a mountain place to do hiking and such. I am catching up on the blog and this evening we will attend church where we are staying in the prophets chamber.

 

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Today the teens went white water rafting someplace and got back about 9:00 p.m. After the morning service and lunch, several adults went bowling and five of us had our nails done. We were taken to a small shop. Three ladies opted for pedicures and we set in comfy chairs and their feet placed in warm, churning water. Since I do not wear sandals, I had the manicure and chose a pink polish to match the outfit. The last time I had this done was about 35 years ago. It looks nice and my nails are currently of a decent length to make the hands look pretty. It was nice to be pampered.

 

Monday, July 26, 2010

We drove from someplace in Virginia to Harrison, TN, where BIMI is located, the same place we were June 5-8, only this time we are staying in a Prophet's Chamber at a local church. We arrived at 4:30 p.m., just in time for dinner. After we ate dinner with the other 12 missionary families there and staff members, the teens were taken out for bowling. We were told we would not see the teens for the rest of the week.

Sara met up with Amanda Leonard again; they are sharing a room with four other teens on the campus here. The staff has this group of 25 kids all tied up this week with day-long activities. There will be some tired puppies at the end of the day.

Monday evening we all met for a service and introduced ourselves stating what field we are on and for how long. One couple has been on the field for 30 plus years, another for three with the rest of us in between. It was 19 years ago this week that we landed in Japan.

The purpose for this week is a time of relaxation for us, out from the hustle and bustle of reporting to churches. It will be a fun time.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

We went to church at Independent today and did not have to do anything!! We got to enjoy the service. Pastor Pat Creed and June were there, as well as Mrs. Dove whom we did not see in June.

Pastor Mike's message this morning was on the individuals who will be in hell.

Hell is a place of separation from God; torment, suffering.

1. Satan. Isaiah 14:12.
   
2. Fallen angels
   
3. Satan's Trinity Rev. 19:20— including the beast and the false prophet
   
4. Mark of the beast Rev. 14:9-11
   
5. Wicked of all ages. Matthew 13:49. Fearful, atheist and abominable
6. Those not written in the Lamb's book of life
   

It was a powerful message. There were three that got baptized and one lady joined the church. 

This is Trinity, a real charmer.






After church, w told Pastor that Peter had sent a text message saying that we could do what we felt best with the car. So we will return to Clinton after going to BIMI this week, then fly out on Wednesday, August 4, to LA, stay in a hotel and catch the flight out to Japan on Thursday next week. We will buy Peter a ticket to DC and ship his stuff for him. He said he will finish there about August 24-26. It might be that Teresa will be able to see him before she returns to college. We got her a ticket back to LA on August 23^rd. 


We then went home, packed our stuff for the week at BIMI and took two suitcases and our computers. It was a light load, considering. 

We traveled down to the Patuxent Baptist Church in Southern Maryland for the evening service arriving about 5:30 p.m.

During the service the teens gave testimonies about their week at Youth Conference in Hammond, Indiana. They all said they would pray an hour a week for America, one of the challenges received at the conferences. It was a fine group of young people. One of the young ladies took first place in the piano competition and she played her winning piece before Henry preached.


The sermon tonight was a new one for me to hear. Many people responded and one man got saved tonight.

Pastor Connor and Lori started the church years ago. Henry taught Lori in high school. Rick got saved about 1980-81 or so. I remember seeing him on a Sunday morning making a public profession. He had this wide Afro-style hair. That evening he came back and he had his hair cut. You could tell he had a life-changing experience. From there he dated Lori and they married in 1985. They have been faithful to serve and have built a fantastic, diverse church where they are. It is so good to see people stay by the stuff.

 
After the service we went out to eat then we had to leave to drive a couple of hours to Chattanooga. We stopped about midnight at a Howard Johnson's.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Henry visited the bus route with Matthew then he went to work at noon. Henry took the computer and did some more upgrading at the library then at Starbucks. The music was terrible, he said, and when it closed at nine p.m., he came home.

I spent the day packing and repacking suitcases. Most of the heavier stuff will fit in the wheeled duffle bag which will make it easier to carry. My clothes will fit in the large regular duffle and will be easier to carry. Still need to hear from Peter about driving the car to LA.


 

 

Friday, July 23, 2010

Henry worked on Matthew's computer getting it updated while at the Library. It took several hours to do and Henry upgraded his virus software and some other stuff. Neither of us rode the bus for VBT tonight; I was plumb tired and had to do some packing. It is still up in the air about our return to California as we did not hear from Peter yet.

  While I was at the library at a table, there was a young black teen sitting at the next table. His tutor comes in, an older black lady, to help him with some project. After a few minutes a young black boy, probably about 12, comes up to them and asks if he could have a dollar to get something to eat from the vending machine. The other teen starts to pull out his wallet. Then the teachers says, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Do you know him? Do you know me? How can you ask a stranger for money? Don't you feel ashamed?" I worked hard for my dollar. Why should I give it to you?" This was all said in a low whisper, she was not loudly chewing him out. The boy just mumbled something, said sorry, and moved on. I was going to commend the teacher later, but some friends came in and she left with them. I wanted to applaud her for telling the kid it was wrong to panhandle. More than once one our trip we have had people ask us for money so they could get something to eat. Adults. We would take them to a place and buy them something, but not give them money. They did not want that; just the money. No wonder kids are not ashamed to do just as their parents. 


  At VBT tonight I talked with one young girl and she prayed to ask Jesus in her heart. I told her aunt later and she said the girl had been asking questions. Pray for Laniyah, 6, to grow in her Christian life.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

We had follow-up doctor appointments today and were told our blood test results which were pretty good for Henry; I had high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which is nothing new, so we got prescriptions for those problems.

The Long family invited us over for lunch of turkey, potatoes and carrots; really good, too. We then talked for a time exchanging missionfield stories. The Longs were in Nigeria for several years and are about ready to go to Trinidad in a few weeks; They need their house to sell as quickly as possible

 

We rode the bus for VBT again tonight and got back early. However, I did have a coughing fit/asthma attack after I swallowed a mouthful of water. I turned all red, tried not to make a scene, so most people did not know I was having a problem.
There were 16 on the bus tonight plus workers, the total number of kids attending was down.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

We went to Woodlawn Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland.
http://www.wbcbowie.org/index.html


 Pastor Tyson is a former student of Henry's when he taught high school. They exchanged some stories; it was funny. One of the questions Henry was always asked at school was, "May I go to the restroom?" Henry would reply, "Let me think about that for a second. No!" Pastor said he has used that line on his kids and could not remember from where it came. Now he knows. Mrs. Tyson was happy to finally meet Henry since her husband talks a lot about him.

Henry preached another message on A Cup of Cold Water and this night three people came forward to get saved. That was worth the late service. The people of Woodlawn are active, dynamic, diverse and growing. One of the families was on The Extreme Makeover program this year. 


http://www.gazette.net/stories/09032009/landnew192310_32522.shtml


It was a blessing to see this church and its people actively serving God and getting rewarded for it in this life. It is also good to see former students still serving God and enjoying it.


 

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Vacation Bible Time again was in the evening; this time I rode the bus with Henry on Matthew's route. We made some song charts that can be used more on Sunday than this week. Matthew was a baby when he rode on the bus years ago; now he is a Captain of his own route.

There were 18 kids on the bus plus the workers and we got back 10 minutes late. Tomorrow Matt will have to leave earlier. Anyway, after the games, story and preaching, I was able to lead a young 12 year-old girl to the Lord. Her name is Kim and she rode Matt's bus. Please pray for her spiritual growth and that her parents would let her get baptized. She has been coming on the bus for some time.


 

Monday, July 19, 2010

Today Jackie went to work about 6:30 a.m. and we said our goodbyes. They were really a blessing to us. We got everything together and packed and left about 8:30 a.m. Joe got a hug out of Sara and a "Bye". Amazing how she does not say much at all to anyone. 

We opted to drive around New York City and took Western routes through Jersey and Pennsylvania. Beautiful country.  There was a storm brewing in New York; the skies were amazing.

We were going slowly through one town because of traffic and I noticed a quilt shop, so we had to stop. The Quilted Cat sold Webkins stuffed animals that Sara collects, and she bought one of the cats. I found some floral fabrics and one with little ladybugs on white, as well as some pre-printed Bible verses that I can turn into wall hangings and quilts. It helped that there was a 20% sale, also.


We got back to Clinton about 5:30 p.m., just in time for Vacation Bible School at 7:00 p.m. Henry joined Matthew on his bus route to help him. He could use some dependable workers. There were bunches of kids at VBS, about 80 plus the workers and counselors. I was asked to be a counselor and at that time I talked to two young girls about their salvation. They did not seem to grasp that they were sinners, so I did not asked them to pray but gave them a tract to take home. Perhaps later this week they will fully understand.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Church today was at the River Valley Baptist Church in Ansonia, about 5 minutes from where we stayed. They had purchased a former bank building and renovated it and you would not know it used to be a bank. There are several classrooms and a large auditorium and baptistery.

Henry taught the adult Sunday School lesson then Pastor Camp preached the morning service. The people were really friendly and some had told us they were praying for us for many years. About seven years ago this church bought each of us Wards a new Bible. They have been a blessing to us through the 20 years they have faithfully supported us in Japan. One of the kids' classes had been collecting pennies and offerings for us and praying for us every week. It is really encouraging to see and hear this.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

We drove from Cambridge, Mass., to Mystic, Connecticut, to see the Aquarium there. It proved to be a rather hot day and over half the place was outdoors. We first saw the beluga whales swimming with their sweet smiles in the huge tank. We also saw the penguins from Africa being fed. They are a small one compared to others we have seen. The indoor aquariums were OK; there were lots of different fishes and a couple of touch pools and plenty of kids that did not want to be there with their parents (tired and grumpy little ones). We left there about 2:30 pm. 

We drove onto Derby where we went to the home of Joe and Jackie Horesco. They live in a spiffy 1930's house with hardwood floors and radiator heaters and a walk-up attic which is really a third floor. Joe is a cop of 30 plus years and currently is assigned to an elementary school. Can you imagine the necessity of having a cop on-site in an elementary school? He said the gangs are starting there, but he does not take anything from those who try to usurp his authority. The fact that he is about 6'3" is enough to intimidate anyone, let alone a 10 year-old. He teaches a D.A.R.E class attempting to discourage the kids in getting involved in drugs and such.


 

Friday, July 16, 2010

Freedom Trail day and also our 27^th Anniversary. We boarded the Boston subway and rode to Boston Commons, 44 acres of original land from 1775 much as it was then. It is a beautiful place. We opted to take a self-guided tour instead of a guided one because I wanted to stop and get plenty of photos to peruse later. It is a 2.5 mile trail marked with red lines or a line of two red bricks winding through Boston.

We walked through Quincy Market and came upon this noodle. Spiffy, huh?


Several of the buildings we passed were from that time period. We saw the graves of Sam Adams and John Hancock and the house of Paul Revere, one of the still-standing original buildings in Boston.

 We started about 10:00 am and ended about 4:00 pm, walking and taking in everything of history. The statue of Paul Revere in front of the North Church was inspiring. We wanted to go see the USS Constitution, but you had to go through a security check like at the airports and the line was rather long and it was late in the day. Photos will have to do. 

We took a cab ride to Bunker Hill, our last stop on the Freedom Trail. Normally you could ride to the top and see the scenic view, but the monument was under renovation for a few months. It is a smaller version of the Washington Monument in DC, but was built first. I collected all sorts of info for future history lessons this fall. Sara was mostly bored after an hour, but was a real trooper and walked with us all the way.


We rode the train back to our hotel, changed and went to dinner at Bertlucci's Italian Restaurant. Tomorrow we get to take Sara to an aquarium and do something she wants to do.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Sara wanted to go to the VBS at Victory BC, so we took her over there in the morning. She has not experienced an English one yet. There were about 40 kids attending plus the teen helpers and adults. It was a lively group. Pastor got into it also leading singing and Bible verse memory. The kids were in three teams, Sara was on the blue team. They first broke up into grades and did a craft. Next was a short snack time and then outside to the field where they played some games and threw raw eggs and water balloons. Sara got smacked with an egg on her shirt. I had to get her a change of clothes from the car and wash out her messy stuff. She enjoyed it, though.

Henry and I ended up staying the morning while he resized our prayer card for their display and I helped in the kitchen and where I could.

When we were done, we left Londonderry and rode to Lexington where we finished our tour of three key taverns in the Battle of Lexington. We did not get to see the archeological dig behind the Munroe Tavern as we got out after 4:00 pm. Our guide for that tour of the British point of view, was a young college student from Colby College in Maine, where Mrs. Tiner works. Found out he was born in Chile and adopted by Americans and is Catholic. After the tour I gave him a gospel tract to read and told him of my salvation experience. Please pray that Andrew J. will get saved.

After our tour we drove through the Minute Man park and stopped at the Old North Bridge where there is a famous statue of a Minuteman; took some pictures of the area, then went on toward Cambridge where we found a hotel. Tomorrow we are going to walk the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston.


 

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

We left Maine after going to the bank and the shoe store. I found a pair of good dress Docker sandals that feel good on the feet as well as a pair of Stretcher running shoes which will help on the long walk we will take when we go to Boston.

We arrived at Victory Baptist Church in Londonderry about 4:30 pm and the Pastor Messer led us to his house for dinner. Their two teenage sons are really sharp looking and talented musically. They both played either the piano and organ in the evening service.
 Mrs. Messer is a quilter as well as her mom, Mrs. Fuller. She showed me a paper pieced Mariner's Compass and a Bear Claw quilt she did. We got along famously.

At church that evening we set up the display and I gave the young kids a Japanese nickel if they asked me for it. Henry showed the presentation and preached the message on A Cup of Cold Water. Several people came forward at the invitation and later said it was a good message as it touched their hearts.
 We met many people who have been praying for us for years and that is always good to know. I probably won't remember names, but they have remembered ours. We stayed with a newlywed couple in their townhome. Chrissy and David were married the end of May. His parents are missionaries in the Czech Republic.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Today we stayed home and I caught up on some writing; Henry did the prayer letter then Sara and I did a project for Mrs. LaBelle. It was a cute pig design in a modified "quilting" technique. Just a matter of pushing the cloth into slits in the Styrofoam with a dull knife. It did turn out really cute. It was really nice not to have to go somewhere today; I even got a short nap.

We ate fresh lobster for dinner; that was an experience and a very delicious one. Sara did not care for them so she ate mac and cheese. We had soft-shell one probably a couple of pounds each. Yummy.


 

Monday, July 12, 2010

Today Jackie went to work and Terry took us up north toward Jackman, ME, near the Canadian border to go moose watching. He took Muffin along and she hung her head out the window a lot. It took a couple hours to get up there at least and we saw two moose in the woods; I did manage to get a close up of one. About 5:00 pm, Sara was asking if we could return home. It was really about as exciting as the whale watching.

 
On the way back we stopped at a marshy area and recorded some bull frogs croaking an odd sound they made. We returned home after 10:00 pm.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Church this morning was right across the street, so we just walked over. While the adults had Sunday School, I went downstairs with Jackie and taught the four kids that came. This was mostly me explaining what Japan is like and answering some questions. Henry preached in the morning service, but, honestly, I do not remember what he preached about. It was a new sermon, though.
 

For the evening service Henry showed the DVD and then fielded questions. We were invited out for ice cream by an elderly couple who have been in the church for many years. The LaBelles treated us to some of the best ice cream and sandwiches. They are in their 80's and very faithful Christians. 

Lord's Prayer carved from one piece of wood.