Another Chapter

Since our last posting several things have changed.  Last year we joined Strait View Baptist Church and had hoped to be an asset to the pastor as well as be involved teaching and assistant pastoral ministry.  As time went on it became quite obvious that we were not really needed there.  I contacted our mission director and asked him to put us back on the "active duty" list.  Then almost immediately two opportunities came our way.  A local church here in Port Angeles (Peninsula Bible Church) has asked me to help out with some pulpit fill until they get a new pastor.  And another church in Sequim has asked me to come and head up their men's discipleship and training ministry.  I will be meeting with the pastor soon to discuss this further.  I am scheduled to preach at PBC on April 30th.

So, just before we took a short two week vacation to be with Stephen, Neeley and the kids in Sacramento, we said our farewells to Strait View Baptist as we embark on yet another new ministry.

We both continue to teach Bible classes in Alethia, (the home school coop run by our daughter-in-law, Shelli and her close friend Kerry).  I also teach a home bible study every Friday night at the home of one of our friend's in town.  Dayle continues to disciple two young moms from Strait View Baptist church.

We both also now volunteer at My Choices, Pregnancy Resources Center which is the local crisis pregnancy center.  Dayle is training to be an advocate or counselor for clients.  I am their handyman and I am now the Director of Community Development Public Relations.  I will be going throughout the communities which we serve and educating the public concerning what we do.  We both have committed to one day a week and other days and times as needed.

Jason finally got his transfer orders to Ilwaco, Washington.  Ilwaco is the extreme south west corner of the state and is a 4 1/2 hour drive from Port Angeles.  So Jason will be living in a camp trailer in an RV park and will come home on weekends.  He plans on doing this until he retires in 2018.  We are all very thankful that he didn't get transferred any further.  This will still be a strain on Shelli and the kids but we will be here to help out.

Softball season is starting again and Asher and I are once again on the US Coast Guard team.  I am the assistant coach.  Speaking of Asher.  Yesterday was a very special day.  Asher was baptized.  He stood up in front of everyone and gave his personal testimony on his journey to true faith in Christ.  Please keep him in your prayers and he grows in the Lord.

Merry Christmas!

A while back I said that we are going to "semi-retire." Well as I have always said there is no such thing as retirement in the Bible and that has proven to be true in our lives.  When I said that we were going to semi-retire I meant that we were not going to be actively seeking a place of ministry away from our new home in Port Angeles.  We found a wonderful little church, Strait View Baptist Church, here in Port Angeles and are  involved in ministry.  I am teaching the adult Sunday school class and Dayle is active in the women's Bible study and we have volunteered to clean the church on a weekly basis.  I have had the opportunity to fill the pulpit once already.  The church is a GARBC church and I graduated from the GARBC flagship Bible college.  So I am quite familiar with their doctrine. Pastor Tim Kluver, is a missionary pastor with CBM (Continental Baptist Missions) and he and I are of one mind doctrinally.  Pastor Tim has had some medical issues this past year and we feel it is such a privilege to be able to come along side of he and his family and give them love, support and to be a back-up for him as needed.  We have already developed a close bond with the Kluver family as well as the entire church family.

Both Dayle and I are teaching Bible classes at Aletheia, which is a one day a week home school co-op led by our Daughter-in-law Shelli and another mom.  I am teaching the junior and senior high grades and Dayle is teaching the younger grades.  Dayle will begin discipling two young moms next week. She also disciples a mom from our previous church in Orovada, NV via phone calls.  In addition, she has an interview with our local Crisis Pregnancy Center to hopefully volunteer on a weekly basis. We also hope to begin a young married Bible study next month.

It is such a joy to be able to serve our great God and Savior in these ways!

All of our kids are doing quite well.  We drove down to Sacramento over Thanksgiving and spent almost a week with Stephen and Neeley and the kids.  We also stopped in Grants Pass and spent a couple of evenings with Mel, Annie and the boys.

Please pray for our son, Jason.  As you know he is a Chief Petty Officer in the Coast Guard and he is due for transfer in June 2017.  He is retiring early 2018 and a transfer far away will create a huge burden on the family especially since they plan to stay in Port Angeles.  We are praying that he will be allowed to stay in the Port Angeles area.

Let us know if you might have any prayer requests.........With much love in Christ, Shelley and Dayle

All Settled In and Getting Very Busy

Our dear family and friends,

We have officially been Washington residents for four months now.  So much has happened.  We had a shed build on the property to house all the rest of our stuff and all of our bicycles.  We also had a huge carport built that covers our trailer.

The first week here I contacted the City recreation director to get on a softball team.  He gave me all the team captain's phone numbers and the first captain that I called was the captain of the Coast Guard team and he was happy to have me.  Both my grandson Asher and myself joined the team.  We had a great time and our team took second place for the whole season.

I began teaching Autumn how to play the guitar and with the help of You Tube she is becoming quite the guitar player.

I also was able to find and train a mountain bicycle riding partner--Aiden, my 13 year old grandson.  He is a natural bike rider.  We are already up to riding the entire Olympic Discovery Adventure Trail.  The ODAT is 25.5 miles of a single track mountain trail which is quite challenging and affords many breath taking views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca and Canada.

Perhaps the most exciting thing was that we found a church that we really love and feel at home in.  Strait View Baptist Church is a fairly new church plant (4 years old) and is going through some growing pains.  We love the pastor and his family as well as all the people there.  As time goes on we hope to be able to teach, disciple, and maybe even pulpit fill once in a while.

We have been asked to teach in the Home School CoOp called "Aletheia."  I will be teaching the Bible class for the junior and senior high students and Dayle will be teaching Bible to the younger students.  This will start the end of September.  I am really excited to be teaching once again.  I truly miss the regular preaching and teaching and this will help with that.

Four weeks ago we drove down to Grants Pass to spend a couple of days with Mel, Annie and the boys and to retrieve the rest of our storage unit.  We took Aiden with us so he could spend some time with his cousins.  We all had a great time and we even took a rafting trip down the Rogue River.  Upon returning to Port Angeles we unloaded the truck and went through the remainder of our stuff.  A few weeks ago we had a yard sale and got rid of the rest of it. So now all we have left in our shed is memorabilia including pictures and a few things that are of a family historical nature.

All in all we are really enjoying living here on the property with Jason, Shelli and the kids.  We have missed so much of their lives and now we are with them every day. What a blessing!

On August 29th we will be driving south to Grants Pass to take Annie and Mel out to dinner to celebrate Annie's 36th birthday and then on Sacramento to spend some time with Stephen,  Neeley and the kids.  Stephen and Neeley will be going away for a few days and then Neeley will be having surgery and will need her mommy to take care of her and the kids for 5 weeks.  I will be driving back towards the end of September, Dayle will stay a couple of weeks longer until Neeley is back to normal.

So now you know what has been going on in our lives as we have settled down a bit. We still look forward to attending the NICE conferences and we remain available for short term pulpit supply.

Please pray that the Lord will continue to use us here in Port Angeles. We don't to ever want to retire from the Lord's work.

Love to all......Shelley and Dayle

Settling Down and semi-Retiring!

The past five years have been a wonderful blessing to travel the west and serve at so many different places and meet so many wonderful people.  We have absolutely loved living in a 5th wheel trailer and being so mobile going wherever we were needed.  However, after much prayer and heart searching we have decided to semi-retire.  So as of May 1st, we are "semi" retired. 

The Bible does not speak of retirement but we are going to slow down a bit and be more stationary. 
We will still be available to the NICE mission for any pulpit supply or even a short term pastoral interim. And we will serve in our local church.  My desire is to be able to regularly teach, lead music, and pulpit fill when asked.

We have decided to make Port Angeles, Washington our home and live in our 5th wheel trailer on our son's property.  Jason and Shelli are going through some trials and they really would like for us to stay.  So, we are going to stay with them and minister to them.  Our first grandson, Asher, turns 18 today and now we realize that we have missed much of his life as well as all of the grand children.

We have ordered a shed to store what is left of our stuff that we want to keep.  We have also ordered a huge carport to totally cover our trailer to keep the rain off of it.  I have also joined the city softball league and I am on the US Coast Guard team.

We will probably head south for the winter and make some short trips to visit our kids and families in Grants Pass, Oregon and Sacramento, California.

So to all of our faithful financial supporters we ask that you now give to other ministries.  Thank you for all your prayer support and financial support over the past five years.

Please continue to pray for Jason and Shelli and they are going through these trials.  Also pray that we will have opportunities to serve here in Port Angeles.

Our New Place of Residence!

Mom's Funeral, and Now Heading North

We left Orovada permanently on March 15th and arrived at my sister's house in Pinon Hills, CA that evening.  We parked the trailer on her property and then in the morning moved into my brother's house in West Hills, to help care for my mom.  Her condition was still terminal and was getting weaker everyday.  Then on Saturday, March 16th, at 10 a.m. she quietly entered eternity with my brother and my niece, Melissa at her side.  (We had just left his house to attend my other niece's horse show but we didn't make it to the show.)  We were told that her breathing became very labored, then she opened her eyes wide, looked at Melissa, smiled, and closed her eyes. 

After she died we cleaned her up a bit, sat with her until the mortuary picked her up a few hours later.  What a joy it is to know my mom, like the thief on the cross,  is now with the Lord.  I admit that I never thought my mother would ever accept the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.  She was so set against Jesus Christ and anything Christian her whole life.  It just goes to show that no one is beyond the reach of God!

The following Thursday we had the funeral at the Mt. Sinai Jewish Cemetery in Simi Valley.  This was a totally Christian service speaking of the hope of Jesus Christ, and we even sang Amazing Grace.  It felt really strange for me as I conducted the funeral, preached Jesus Christ, and led the singing in this Jewish chapel.  After the service our yamaka wearing funeral director told me that it was a wonderful service.  Then he told me that his wife was was a Christian and that he fully understands where we were coming from. My brother, conducted the graveside portion of the service and did an excellent job.  We had about 50 people at the funeral and most were friends of Bob from his church and from the homeless shelter where Bob and mom prepared meals.

We had hoped to go to Lake Havasu for a few days before we headed north to Grants Pass to attend the celebration of our Son-in-law, Mel, passing his Professional Engineer exams and certification.  However, both Dayle and I got really sick with some flu virus and were incapacitated for two weeks.  We are still coughing and our energy is slowly returning.  Needless to say we didn't make it to Lake Havasu.  We were able to make the drive up to Grants Pass and attend the party.  This past Saturday we had a yard sale at Mel and Annie's house and sold EVERYTHING that was left in our storage unit.  The only things left are all my tools which Jason wants, and family memorabilia. It's amazing how God has given us such a peace about letting go of all our earthly accumulation of material stuff.

 As of this writing we are still in Grants Pass and we plan on leaving tomorrow (April 12th) and head north.  We will stop in Portland, Oregon to spend a night next to Duane and Cora Tucker's house, then off to Port Angeles where we will be until the Lord sends us somewhere else.

We are so very much looking forward to spending time with Jason, Shelli, and the grand kids.  This past year and a half has been very stressful and lots of work in the various ministries in which we have served and we need a break and rest. Our daughter-in-law Shelli has always told us that our grandchildren are a ministry too and she is right.

Pray:
Safe travels
Ministry opportunities in Port Angeles
That God would open up opportunities to share Christ along the way


 

Update on Shelley's Mother

Hi everyone,
I have an update for you regarding my mother.  The doctors said that they consider her a hospice patient and she can have another stroke at any time.  They told us that she will never walk again, will never use her right arm again, and cannot swallow.  Mom suffered a severe stroke and there is major brain damage.  She also has a large blood clot in her heart.  She is still somewhat cognizant of what is going on and is able to communicate (barely) and she wanted to go with a feeding tube.  A nasal feeding tube was inserted this evening and we will see if she regains any strength and abilities.  Once the feeding begins she will be place in a nursing facility.  She will require around the clock care from now on.   So we have to figure out which one with the help of a case manager tomorrow.  We will be staying here a few more days and we have canceled our long time planned family vacation at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. 

We hope to return to Orovada by the middle of next week.  Please continue to pray.

PRAYER REQUESTS

This email update is really a request for prayer.

The new pastor arrived on February 11^th and has begun to settle in quite nicely. This last Saturday he had to take his wife (Flora) to the emergency room in Winnemucca. She was admitted and then transferred to Reno, NV with several issues one of which was kidneys not functioning properly. She is on the mend, but we do ask for your prayers for her recovery. We had planned on departing for Lake Havasu City on March 14^th but that is now in question.

Yesterday I got a call from my brother informing us that my mother had a stroke. As of right now she is in Intensive Care. Her entire right side is paralyzed. I did briefly speak with her on the phone and she could barely speak. The prognosis is not good. But the good news is that my brother was able to lead her to the Lord last night. My mother actually made a profession of faith! My brother said, "If it took a stroke to get her to see the light, then so be it!" Amen to that! After she prayed, she fell asleep and was resting peacefully.

As of this writing, there are some other medical complications and we all need to get together to discuss some things. So we will be driving to Los Angeles leaving quite early in the morning (Wednesday). It is a ten hour drive and we will be staying at my brother’s house which is near the hospital. We covet your prayers through all of this.

We also have a Gale Family Vacation planned for next week at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington beginning on Monday. We have not yet canceled the reservations as we are hoping for the best. We will have to decide within the next couple of days.

Thank you for your prayers!

　

Shelley

for the both of us!

We Worked Ourselves Out of Another Job!

We have some very exciting news.  After over five years Orovada Community Church will once again have a full-time live-in pastor. After much searching and reading resumes and discounting most of them we have found the man that we believe has been sent by God to pastor Orovada Community Church.  Pastor Bob Burns and his wife Flora are coming from Amarillo, Texas and will be here before the end of February.  I will be taking him to the Shepherd's Conference.  We will have the official installation service on March 13th and then we will depart Orovada on the 14th.  We plan on heading south to Lake Havasu City for a few weeks to thaw out.  We are looking forward to returning to Bethany Bible Church, where this ministry began for us.  We will also spend a week or so with my sister in Pinon Hills.  She has another "brother do" list for me.  One of those items is to replace the floor in one of the bedrooms.

In the mean time we have much work yet to be done here to make the parsonage ready, and to make a smooth transition.  We are so very excited for this church.  However we will greatly miss these dear  people as well as the area.  But that really is nothing new for us.  Where ever we have served we have developed some wonderful friendships all because we all love and serve the Lord, Jesus Christ!

Please pray for Orovada Community Church as they have called the new pastor "on faith" because finances are very tight.  But there is so much potential here in Orovada and we have seen much fruit in just the few months that we have been here.

Please pray for Bob and Flora as they transition to Nevada from Texas!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone, the ministry continues here in Orovada.  The past two months have been quite busy for us.  Our Awana has increased to 13 children, and we even had a visit from the Awana Missionary.  Church attendance still averages at around 16.  For the month of December I have been preaching a series on the Preparation for Christmas.  We even had a church Christmas party.  We invited all the Awana children and their families and one actually showed up.  All in all it was a pretty good turn out.

The weather has turned very cold but we are doing well. It's been snowing off and on and the trailer is very comfortable and my Dayle is doing just fine. 

We drove to Port Angeles for Christmas and spent 2 1/2 weeks with our son and family.  The trip to Port Angeles while pulling the trailer was quite exciting.  The first day we only went 200 miles due to snow packed roads.  Our average speed was only about 30 mph.  It took us three days to go the 750 miles.  Stephen, Neeley, and the kids flew in and we all had a great time.  Well most of us did. Stephen is also a bike rider so on Christmas eve we decided to go for a bike ride on my favorite mountain trail.  Asher, my 17 year old grandson came along.  The first part of the trail is a 1 1/2 mile moderate down hill run.  One can get going quite fast.  Asher is a novice bike rider and got going at a pretty good pace.  When approaching a turn he couldn't slow enough, he hit the brakes and wiped out doing a pretty good flip and roll.  The only problem was that he broke his collar bone in two places.  We had to walk up hill for almost a mile then he spent four hours in the emergency room.  They gave him a sling and sent him home.  So much for all the fun activities that I had planned with him. He had a great attitude and was even joking about the whole ordeal. God had His own plans for him.

We did have a great time with all the kids.  Annie, Mel and the boys were not able to make the trip and they were greatly missed.  But we will be seeing them at the end of February at our family vacation at the Grey Wolf Lodge.

While we were in Washington we became Washington residents.  We use Jason and Shelli's address as our permanent and legal address.  I obtained a Washington driver's license and transferred the truck and trailer to Washington.  All we have to do now is register the car and get Dayle a driver's license which we will do during our family vacation.  Why change our residency to Washington, you ask?  Since we do not have a permanent place of residence we can establish residency almost anywhere.  And since we are on a fixed and limited income it was wise to establish residency in a state with no income tax.  Oregon takes 10% of our income and now I will not have to be burdened with that tax debt.

Prayer Requests:
1.  Please pray for Jason and Shelli as they have been caring for two foster children ages 2 and 4.  They want to adopt these two adorable children if God opens that opportunity. The courts have to decide after inquiring if any other family members of the children are interested and qualify to adopt them.
2.  Please continue to pray for a full-time pastor for Orovada Community Church
3.  Pray for us as we visit those who attend the church and those who once attended but have stayed home due to no pastor for 5 years.
4.  Pray that we would be faithful in using our time wisely making the most of every opportunity.

Praise:
1.  We praise the Lord that our son-in-law, Mel, Annie's husband, has passed his Professional Engineer exam.  This now makes him an actual full fledged Professional Civil Engineer.  Now he has to jump through a few Oregon state hoops and it will be done.
2.  Praise for the protection that the Lord gave us while traveling.
3.  Praise for our AWANA program and the faithful workers God has provided.
4.  Praise that Shelley's back is doing great.
5.  Praise for wonderful children and grandchildren

Pastor Search has Begun

Since my last update we have begun to actively search for a new pastor.  I have contacted several people and schools.  We are looking for someone who either has some retirement income or someone who is willing to be bi-vocational.  So here is the big hurdle.  Most people want to be fully supported.  We are even looking for someone right out of Bible school.  In anyone knows of someone who might be interested in the pastorate here, please give me their phone number or have them call me. Please be in prayer for God to send us the right man to lead this precious flock.

We started an AWANA program a couple of weeks ago with seven kids and now we are up to ten kids.  The kids seem to love it.  We discovered a couple of boxes of old Awana materials and we were able to obtain additional material on Ebay and Amazon.

Our first AWANA kids

It is my prayer that the Lord will send us a pastor sooner rather than later.  The weather has turned cold.  The mountains all around us are covered with snow. The outside temperatures are in the 30's or lower.  The wind seems to blow constantly creating an even lower wind chill factor. At this present moment there are snow flurries.  We have have pulled out all or our winter clothing.  We put extra insulation on the trailer windows  n times past we loved the cold weather and snow.  But these days Dayle has much difficulty with the cold.  As you may know, she has osteoarthritis in her fingers and the colder it gets the more her hands hurt.  Fortunately, our new 5th wheel trailer is very well insulated and Dayle is very warm and cozy inside.  So Dayle will be remaining indoors most of the time until Spring or until we can get to a warmer climate such as Lake Havasu where right now it is 70 degrees and sunny.   Me? I'm looking forward to the snow.  I love to go hiking and tracking and traipsing through the mountains in the snow.  So, I will enjoy the great outdoors regardless.

The mountains directly west of us

The mountains southwest of us.

Currently, I am preaching through First Peter and I will finish up chapter one this week.  Our average attendance has increased to about 16 and we are continuing to make contacts in the community.  Our pianist has been gone for the last three weeks so I have been doing all the music on my guitar.  Dayle is teaching a junior church for the younger children.  We have also been busy taking care of the grounds as well as the building. Along with Awana, sermon preparation, music planning, and making weekly bulletins. It's all a lot of work, but we love it!

 On November 19th we will be driving 7 hours to Grants Pass where Dayle will receive her third infusion treatment for her osteoporosis.  We will also spend two nights with Mel and Annie and celebrate and early Thanksgiving.  If weather permits we will also drive to Sacramento to spend Thanksgiving with Stephen and Neeley.

Prayer requests:
1.  For a pastor for Orovada Community Church
2.  For Dayle's physical comfort is this cold weather
3.  For safety as we travel to Grants pass
4.  For these Boniva infusions to cure my Dayle of her Osteoporosis

To view more photos click here.

Orovada for a Month

We have been in Orovada for a little over a month and the work continues.  A couple of the young moms approached us about starting up Awana again.  So, a modified Awana program will begin this  week.  We still have only one church service a week which is on Sunday mornings at 10:30.  I hope to add an evening service or a mid-week prayer meeting soon.  A women's Bible study began this past week and a men's Bible study will begin the first week of November.

We are getting quite the education about farmers.  Oh my goodness do they work a lot and long hours.  The harvest is over but they are still working from sun up to sun down six days a week.  But now the days are getting shorter and their work is slowing down. I am looking forward to being able to spend some time with them.  Their work load decreases as the days get shorter and the weather turns.

The week before last we took a couple of days and went to Stephen and Neeley in Sacramento.  We had a great time with them and the grand kids.  It's only a 5 hour drive so whenever we start getting withdrawals form not seeing the kids we just hop in the car and take a drive.  We only wish that the other kids were closer.  We are so looking forward to spending more time with them all.  I am told that the older we get the more we want to be with the kids.  When we first became "empty nesters" at age 45 we were so excited.  Now, 18 years later, we want to be with the kids. Go figure!

One of the men of the church took us on on a driving tour of the mountains to the east of us.  We got quite a thorough education and saw some great sights.  This is sure a beautiful area even though we are 42 miles from the nearest grocery store. Here are a few pictures.

Here is a privately owned cabin open to anyone at anytime.

This week the burn ban was lifted (not that there really is one here) and we burned up all the piles of cuttings that we have been accumulating over the past month.

So this is what a selfie is.

  On Sunday mornings I am now preaching through First Peter.  It sure is good to be preaching regularly again.  Attendance has been from a high of 28 to a low of 8.

Prayer requests:
1.  For us as we minister here in Orovada
2.  For the Lord to grow His church here in Orovada.
3.  For our Awana which starts Wednesday (10/14)

Here is the link to our photo page on Flickr.  We have many more pictures there. Click here for more photos.

Where in the World is Orovada, Nevada?

When we first learned of Orovada we looked it up on the map and discovered that it was in northern Nevada.  We were told it was a remote farming town and there is not much there with a population of about 300 people.  The official census says that there is only 150 people.  Well, this is certainly a remote place.

We actually arrived in Orovada on August 18th.  We dropped off the trailer in front of the parsonage and in the morning we drove to Sacramento, CA to spend two weeks with Stephen, Neeley and the grand kids.  We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect.  I rode my bike for over 160 miles during the two weeks.  As a special bonus our son, Jason, and family took a week vacation and dropped in on us for a couple of days.  But we had to say our good bye's and return to Orovada on September 4th just in time to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary on September 5th.  We celebrated by driving to Winnemucca and went out for a late lunch and then we went shopping.

So now we are in Orovada serving as interim pastor of Orovada Community Church.  Last Sunday was our first service and we had about 15 people and half of them were from out of town.  It was a wonderful time of singing and spending time in the Word of God. I am now busy preparing sermons and bible study lessons as well as outdoor yard maintenance.  The membership does seem to be quite mature in the Word and they are very excited that they have a pastor again.  It's only been five years.

So we will be quite busy doing the work that we love.  I will still find time to go for bike rides.  As a matter of fact the off road opportunities are very exciting as we are situated at the base of Sawtooth Mountain.

There definitely is some adjusting that we will have to do:
    The nearest store is 40 miles away in Winnemucca.
    More expenses due to having to pay sales tax and more fuel expenses
    Now that we are not in Brookings anymore our auto and liability insurance rates increased by nearly 25%. But we just see it as just the cost of ministry and we know that the Lord will provide as He has promised and always had.

Please pray for us as we minister here in Orovada as we try to work ourselves out of a job.  We don't know how long it will take but we are here for the duration.

Please keep in touch.  We are never too busy to receive phone calls, texts, or emails!

    Shelley for the both of us!

Shelley (541) 218-9717
Dayle   (541) 450-5576

Here are some pictures that we took of the church grounds:  You can also click on this link to view more pictures on my Flickr page:  Click here for more pictures

The front of the church building

The front yard and parking lot of the property

My Dayle hard at work pulling weeds

View of Sawtooth Mountain from the back of the church

View southeast from the back of the church.  Pictured is the only gas station in town.

North side of church looking toward the gas station

Sawtooth Mountain from the parking lot

Our trailer nestled under the trees in front of the parsonage.

View out from the back of our trailer window.  Remember, we are in the center of town.

Bike ride destination on 9/8/15

The road to the foothills

Down hill all the way back to the truck.  Now that was fun!

August Update - Going to Orovada

We are winding down at Fir Point Bible Camp.  The four weeks of Fir Point youth camps are over.  This week we are completing a few other projects.  This weekend (August 8 and 9) we will go to Brookings to pack up my office and a few other personal things.  We will say our good-byes on Sunday then return to our storage unit in Grants Pass.  We have to spend a day or two re-organizing our stuff to see what else we want to get rid of, and the stuff we are keeping will be put in new boxes.  We bought a whole bunch of the same size heavy duty boxes.  It only took us a few years to realize that things stack better if all the boxes are the same size. Duh. 

So the last four weeks have been quite busy.  I tended to the youth camps making sure that everything was working properly and if something broke, I would get right on it. I also had several SWAT (servants with a task) team members to work with me around the camp. Together we cut and stacked several cords of firewood, picked up leaves, repaired and painted many things. Such as the flag pole.  Every morning the campers meet by the flag pole for flag raising and morning devotion.  One morning while all the kids were listening to the devotion the wooden flag pole fell over missing everyone. So we made a new flag pole. It was a 24' pole made of metal poles all welded together.  We cemented the base into the ground and several of the young men and I put it up like the marines on Iwo Jima.

Dayle worked in the kitchen as the salad bar queen for the last four weeks.  She was in the kitchen every day from 2 to 8 not only doing the salad bar but also helping out where ever she was needed. She also sewed curtains for some of the cabins and chapel.

Today Dayle was raking up around the wood shed when she disturbed an in ground nest of bees.  Within seconds she was swarmed and stung at least five times.  Dayle has been stung before but never five times. She started swelling up and feeling nauseous.  She took Benadryl and started feeling better. Now she still has some swelling .  If she isn’t any better tomorrow, I’ll take her to the immediate care in Grants Pass. Who would of thought that raking leaves would be so hazardous.

Some of the other projects completed around here the last few weeks included replacing worn out linoleum in the kitchen, cutting and splitting firewood, climbing up light poles and replacing the photo cells, replacing the wood ramp to one of the cabins, and much more.  Needless to say, we have been quite busy.
           
We did take a couple of days off and went to the coast and spentsome time with Stephen and Neeley and the kids as they drove up for a little vacation.  We have a real good time and we got to celebrate Stephen’s 40th birthday with him.

But the highlight of this past month, actually the highlight of the past five years was attending the 100th anniversary of Immanuel Baptist Church in Klamath Falls.  (This is the church where I was the pastor for 9 ½ years.)  The entire weekend was quite an event with a picnic on Saturday and then a wonderful service on Sunday.  I was asked to be one of four speakers. Each one of us was allotted 15 minutes.  During the service the platform was filled with musicians and singers.  Instrumentalists included guitar, violins, cello, piano, trumpet, bass guitar, and drums. The music and the song selection was the best that I have heard in a very long time.  But the best part was when I realized that most of the musicians were kids most of which we watched growing up. Now as if that wasn’t emotional enough, when it was my turn to preach I almost lost my composure as I stood behind the pulpit.  I had preached from this pulpit for 9 ½ years and to be standing there again reminded me of the best 9 ½ years of our life.  We had poured our lives into this church and to see how these kids have grown into fine Christian young men and women and to see how well the church is still doing was overwhelming.

So our plan is to leave Fir Point on the 18th right after Dayle has her second infusion and then drive east to Klammath Falls and then arrive in Orovada, Nevada on the 19th or 20tht.  We are so looking forward to getting back to work in a pastoral role.  It has been way too long.  I hope we don’t have to rake any leaves in Nevada.

We covet your prayers as we tie up things at Fir Point and as we travel to Nevada.  Also please pray for the ministry in Orovada.  Also pray for Fir Point Bible Camp and for additional help to maintain the property.
       


Our next update will be from Orovada.


Please send us an email or even give us a phone call once in a while. We’d love to hear from you.

Shelley for the both of us.
Semper Famulus
(Always Serving)

Working at Fir Point Bible Camp

If you are wondering what happened to the blog entry before this one, well so am I.  Somehow I deleted it and I can't figure out how to get it back.

We arrived at Fir Point on May 31st and after a short meeting to plan the work we we right to work on the chapel.  In the chapel we needed to setup and install the brand new sound system and remove the old sound system and see what was good enough to sell.  I was asked to remodel the storage room and turn it into a nice little meeting room as well as making a portion of it for the secure storage of the sound equipment.  I made a wall, ran electricity for lights and two additional outlets, installed drywall and carpeting and hung a door. After a full week the room was was totally finished.  See pictures below.

The beginning

Finished Product

Just as I finished I had to jump in the car and return to His Place in Brookings to prepare for a wedding which I booked.  I planned on preparing the grounds but much to my delight as I arrived the yard work was being completed by Isaac (the youth pastor).  Thank you, thank you!  The wedding went quite well and the Mothers of the bride and groom complimented me on the facility and said that this is a beautiful place to have a wedding.

After the wedding I drove the 2 1/2 hours back to Fir Point where I was to fill in for Dennis while he was away at a wedding in Portland.  There is much to be done here at Fir Point including re-keying several locks, repairing and painting cabins, and much much more.  The camp season began on Friday with a weekend group.  From now until the end of July it will be non-stop ministry and work (as if there is a difference).

On June 3rd I dropped my Dayle off at the Medford airport to go to my sister for two weeks to give her a break and to help her with mom and the house.  She returns on Wednesday June 17th and I am so excited.  We hate being apart.  I am very glad that telephone calls don't cost extra these days because we were on the phone a lot.

The preceding was written two weeks ago thinking that I completed and posted it. But I just discovered that I didn't.  So let me bring you up to date.  We have been working much here at Fir Point.  Below are pictures of the finished product that Dayle and I did.  We totally rebuilt the child's play area.

My Dayle testing the newly installed slide.

We have also replaced the stairs to the kitchen of the lodge, painted the girl's bathroom in the chapel, made curtains for the upper room in the chapel, replaced rotted floor int he registration cabin, and much more that I can't remember.

Replacing rotted floor in Registration Cabin

Perhaps the best part of working so hard here is that we are working together on every project. Just knowing that it is for the betterment of the camp and making it a beautiful place for campers to hear the Word of God is such a blessing.  I am reminded what James 1:25 says, "the blessing is the doing." Well, we are truly blessed  We have also been able to interact with some of the leadership of some of the rental groups  This is always a treat as we get to hear exchange testimonies and even pray with them.  Several people have been intrigued when they learn that we live in a 5th wheel trailer and travel to ministries that could use some help.

We have been praying for a church in which we can serve and just the other day we received a call from a church in Orovada, Nevada.  We are so very excited to get back to serving in a church with God's people.  Our plan is to arrive no later than September 1st.  This church has been without a pastor for five years and are down to just a few people.  So we have our work cut out for us. It sounds similar to the two previous churches that we served in.  So we are ready to go.  However, we are committed here at Fir Point through July and then we have to return to His Place to finished a few things there. Then off to Orovada, with a brief stay with Stephen, Neeley, Jack, and Pearl in Sacramento.

We have a busy two months ahead of us before we go to Nevada.  Please pray for continued health and safety.  We have had a couple of close calls with potential injuries but we were spared each time.  One was while dismantling the old playground one of the large posts was rotted off at the bottom.  Once I disconnected the supports it fell barely missing my head.  That could have ruined my whole day or worse.

Also pray for the church in Orovada and for our future ministry there. 

Dayle is doing fine and has had no reaction to the Boniva infusion.  Her next infusion is scheduled for August 17th. Please continue to pray that these infusions will correct her osteoporosis.

Two years ago when I had my knee surgery the doctor said that I may have develop some problems as part of  my knee is bone on bone. This, he said, would require a partial knee replacement.  Well, the pain has recently begun.  I am hoping that it is because I have not been on the bicycle very much and I have allowed it to get weak.  The good thing is that it is not a constant pain and it is minor right now.  So I will try to strengthen the knee as I do not want to have a partial knee replacement. 

Thank you all for your prayers and for your continued support.  May the Lord bless you as you continue to serve Him.

Shelley and Dayle
Semper Famulus
(Always Serving)