Dear friends and family,
As we are writing this, we are on our 6th week of our "Across the USA Adventure", towing our house behind us. At every step of the way, we are constantly reminded of the awesome power and love and mercy that God has and continues to shower upon His creation. We have seen many wonderful sights that we have never seen before. We took the northern route, I-90 across the USA. Then in Sioux Falls, SD, we went south to the I-80 until we arrived at Clarks Summit University (Baptist Bible College) where we attended Bible college. The president of CSU, Dr. Jim Lyle and his wife Diane, were neighbors in the trailer park where we all lived during college days and they gave us the "red carpet treatment". We actually parked on the campus for the week we were there. Just walking the beautiful campus brought back such fond memories. From CSU we went south along the coast, stopping at many historical places of the early days of our country, as well as Civil War locations. We went south all the way to Beaufort, South Carolina.
But the most exciting part of this trip has been reconnecting with friends and many "long lost" friends. The first three days of the trip was spent in Yakima, Washington for the NICE 60th Anniversary Regional Conference. There we saw many friends and met some new ones. In Montana we stayed with our good friends from LAPD and Grace Community church, Dave and Lisa Roward. In Indiana we spent time with Dean and Pat Shroud that we met while serving in Lake Havasu, AZ. And then came the long-lost friends! We reconnected with Cappy and Herb Parsons, friends from our Coast Guard days when we were first married (1971--that was 47 years ago). One couple that we last saw in 1979 when stationed at Air Station Cape May, NJ, was Dan and Debbie Scoggins. Dan got me started playing guitar and was also one of the few Coast Guard couples who were believers. We also saw many friends from Bible college days, Dar and Jim Sikorsky, Evelyn Davis, and Jim and Diane Lytle. In Beaufort, SC we parked in the drive way of our Bible college neighbors, John and Janie Chitester. It was only 29 years since we last saw them. With all of these dear friends, it is very encouraging to see their faith and how the Lord continues to work in the lives of His children.
After Beaufort we then turned west, officially marking the beginning of the return leg of our trip. In a few days, I am very excited to be seeing my best friend and next-door neighbor while growing up and his family in Tipton, Missouri. As I write this letter, we are at Big Bone Lick State Park in Union, Kentucky because it is right between the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, which we will see in the next two days.
When we return to Port Angeles around December 1st, we will begin a new ministry at Sequim Bible Church. For the past 2½ years we have been on a leave of absence from "active duty" with NICE while our son, Jason, was completing his Coast Guard career at a unit on the other side of the state. We were there, at first, to take care of the family and things around the house. Well, now he is retired from the US Coast Guard which freed us up to return to active service with NICE. But there is just one little problem. We absolutely love being there with the kids and we made their home our home. We still live in our 40 foot 5th wheel trailer, which we park under a huge carport. I also built an office/music room on the property.
During the past 2 ½ years we were serving in two different local churches. In the last church I was preaching regularly for over a year, but now that they have a new pastor it was time for us to return to NICE. It just so happens that Sequim Bible Church (SBC) is in desperate need of help. SBC is just 25 miles from our house so we will not have to leave the kids. The church recently went through a major internal problem with an elder and because the church leadership did what was Biblically right, a large number of people left the church. This created a huge financial shortfall and the senior pastor decided to retire six months early. The church, then, wisely asked the assistant pastor to be the new senior pastor. The new senior pastor, Shane McCrossen, has asked us to come onboard and we are excited to do so. Pastor Shane has asked me to head up a men’s discipleship ministry, teach a theology class and also lead a home bible study. Dayle will be involved in women’s ministry and discipleship. We also talked about starting a Biblical counseling ministry and other things. Obviously, this will be a long-term ministry.
Because of the church’s financial situation, they will not be able to cover our expenses, which will primarily be office and travel expenses. My mission agency, (N.I.C.E.) has approved this ministry and has required that we raise some financial support as well as prayer support. SBC cannot afford to offer financial assistance at this time. But serving in churches that need help and can’t pay for it has been our ministry for these past 8 years.
We do believe that the Lord will provide all our needs and we also know that He uses us to accomplish His will. Therefore, if you feel the leading of the Lord to partner with us in prayer support and/or financial, we would be very grateful. Any support sent through NICE is tax deductible and when sending to NICE be sure note our name on your check.
Northwest Independent Church Extension
P.O. Box 2225, Sumner WA 98390
Phone (253) 826-7881
Our permanent mailing address is:
300 Dan Kelly Rd
Port Angeles, WA 98363
Cell phones: Shelley (541) 218-9717
Dayle (541) 450-5576
Prayer Requests:
1. For continued safety and vehicle health as we travel
2. Pastor Shane McCrossen and Sequim Bible Church
3. For our future ministry at Sequim Bible Church
Sincerely in Christ,
Shelley and Dayle Gale
Special Missionaries
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