THE CANNY CHRONICLES

Sullivan, IN It is a rare occasion that we are able to spend a full week in any one spot, but that is exactly the blessing we were given in Sullivan, Indiana by the Wabash Valley Community Church (WVCC). The church has a nice apartment just a few yards away from the parsonage on the church grounds and Molly and I made that home for the time we were there. Our “neighbors”, Pastor John & Bev Moyer were wonderful hosts. Bev, a great cook, made sure we were well fed. John, the master craftsman, showed us some of his hand made furniture around the house. Next time through we’ll have to have a woodworking seminar so Bryan can build some things in Santa Cruz. We had fun playing games like Farkel and watching O’Reilly factor a few nights. Being able to stay in Sullivan for that full week gave us several chances to connect with the people of WVCC. 1)     Saturday morning breakfast with the Men’s group. Bryan brought the devotional and there was some great discussion. 2) ...

I mentioned in the previous post about how God has been working on our hearts to keep our eyes open for all the ministry opportunities He is putting before us. We are anxious to get to Bolivia, but are very much enjoying our time connecting with the ministry happening all across the Evangelical denomination state side. Each Sunday we are blessed to share with a new congregation about God’s vision for our future and occasionally we get an added blessing to share in a mid-week service as well. One of these mid-week blessings was in Everson, Pennsylvania. We were most graciously hosted by Neil and Vera Stevens and had a wonderful time getting to know them and their son Scott. Scott is in his sophomore year as a history major at California University in California, Pennsylvania. Don’t worry. It took me a second to wrap my brain around the geographical oddity. We caught up with Kara, Neil and Vera’s youngest daughter, over lunch one day and it was a good time swapping exciting traveling st...

Some of you avid blog readers may have noticed that our share count changed dramatically within the last couple weeks. The share count is displayed in the right margin of this blog. I had forgotten to update the count since before December, yet God has continued to bless us at each church we’ve been to. Our service at New Beginnings Evangelical Church (N.B.E.C.) in Youngwood, Pennsylvania was no exception to this continual blessing. We knew going into the Sunday morning service that spirits would be high because of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens the night before. However the service was far more than just a lot of people in a good mood because of a football game. The presence of the Holy Spirit was really evident in the worship that morning. It is an absolute privilege, as we are on deputation, to be able to share the prayer concerns of each congregation that we visit. During the prayer time that Sunday morning we lifted many prayer concerns, but some of us...

Christmas break is over. A new year has begun. And we are back on the road for deputation. The next few months we will be out east in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Our first stop out east was at the Kilgore Evangelical Church in Kilgore, Ohio. Pastor Terry Will and his wife, Alice, hosted us and we felt very blessed in the days we shared with them. We shared with the congregation in a couple different services. Sunday evening was a bit more informal with some interactive powerpoint games and a Q&A time. A couple of younger boys asked some questions that I had not heard before. One boy asked, “Do they have fire fighters in Bolivia? Are there policemen”? I honestly couldn’t recall seeing a fire-truck during the 2 weeks we spent down there in April and I saw some traffic police no squad cars like you would think of here in the states. I looked toward Molly for some help and then another question rose from the boys, “Do they play baseball”? I explained that the favor...

We hope this Christmas season was joyful for everyone. This was our first Christmas as a married couple and this extended the celebrations for both us. We spent a week in Oskaloosa celebrating with Bryan's family. We also took gifts to Bryan's mom, Brenda, as she is currently in a care facility in Seymour, Iowa (about an hour and half from Oskaloosa). She has struggled with depression for many years and this past year has been a trying time, but God continues to show Himself faithful in everything. Please be in prayer for healing and to be able to move Brenda closer to Oskaloosa and near her loving husband.  We were also able to spend some time in Moville to celebrate with all of Molly's extended family. There was a lot of good food, laughs, and many games. We came out with a new favorite board game called "Dice-capades". If you're up for fun and using every part of your brain then check it out. It can be purchased at Target.  In other family health news...

I realize it has been over a month since we posted an update on the blog. The last post promised a recap of our stay in Wadena, Minnesota with the Ellingson family. That story is still to come, but I felt it necessary to at least touch base and let you know a little bit of what has gone on recently in our lives on the "road back to Bolivia".  December is commonly a time when deputation slows down a little bit. Many churches have Christmas programs and many things going on. We did visit one church in December and, as usual, met smiling faces and welcoming arms.  December 5 - Fairfield Bay, Arkansas - Cornerstone Evangelical Church Molly and I have been checking off states together as we have been traveling. Arkansas was a new state for both of us. We arrived Saturday night, December 4th,  at the house of the people that were hosting us only to find out that they were native Iowans. In fact several people from the congregation had some connection with Iowa. God seems...