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Just a couple of weeks ago Wednesday night a lady walked up to me at prayer meeting and said something like "My [husband] is going to KILL me. I need to go and get the letter that he wanted me to give to you!" and off she went in a hurry. I was talking to a friend when she came back and thrust an envelope into my hand. Examining the envelope and the writing on it I was a bit confused. It didn't look like the penmanship of an adult. As I looked at the lady I suddenly realized my error. I had confused names. I was thinking "husband" when I should have been thinking "son". I opened the envelope and was shocked with it's contents. Inside was a neatly written note, on a Christmas card, which read as follows: "Please use this money to help build your new church in Brazil. From: I.C.B." Inside the card was a $10 bill. As I stood there speechless a tear crept into my eye and a knot into my throat. Here was ten hard earned dollars from an eleven-y...

"Hard times" is a phrase we've heard much lately and seemingly rightly so. But, imagine being born in a stable, being destined to live in poverty and rejection, and then dying a criminal's death for crimes never committed. And then imagine the most wonderful Christmas gift in History wrapped up in this seemingly twisted scenario. Eternal Salvation is possible because of God's will demonstrated in the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ; hard and seemingly tragic times that purchased our liberty. We who have experienced this inestimable gift remember with joy the first time that we understood the significance of our need and His redeeming sacrifice. In these difficult days let us not forget to whom we belong, the price of ownership, and the security and joy we experience because of Jesus' hard times. We thank you for upholding our family in prayer and contributing financially so that we might be able to share this Good News in Brazil. Because of you ...

I hope that this day finds you giving thanks, as you do every day of the year, to the Father of lights (Js 1.17) who always gives good gifts. Isn't it wonderful that every day, for the child of God, is Thanksgiving... or at least should be. As we spend time with our loved ones today we will be reflecting on God's blessings during this difficult year. That sounds funny... blessings during a difficult year. But, it has been a difficult year and there have been innumerable blessings. One of our neatest blessings is that we will be together as a family for the first time since our family has grown to include two sons-in-law and three grandchildren. Fun stuff! And a real blessing with our international family. I pray that as you reflect on God's blessings that you too will be able to rejoice with us in what God is doing in your lives. -- Mike

National Assistance, this seems to be the catch phrase of the year. Every news cast talks about "bailouts". Leaving us wondering about where all of the money will come from. We have been hearing the "Trillion" word a lot lately. So much so that we barely blink anymore. But how much is a trillion dollars? I found this information by doing a Google search and clicked on the first entry on the list: "What's a trillion dollars? A trillion dollars = $1,000,000,000,000.That's 12 zeroes to the left of the decimal point. A trillion is a million million dollars. The U.S. government spends more than the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Australia, China and Spain combined. If you laid one dollar bills end to end, you could make a chain that stretches from earth to the moon and back again 200 times before you ran out of dollar bills! One trillion dollars would stretch nearly from the earth to the sun. It would take a military jet flying at the speed of so...

We don't get as many updates from missionaries in the States. Why? Do they share the Gospel while they are on "Home Assignment?" Good questions and for me the answer is yes. However, the updates might not seem as plentiful as when I am on the field. Why? The answer to this question might seem a bit trite but it is reality. When I'm in Brazil I write my updates without a care in the world. By that I mean that I write rarely thinking about whether or not I am going to put a persons name in the update. I know that there will be few that you will be able to pronounce and the ones that you can pronounce you'll probably never see this side of glory! Now comes the dilemma, while in the States I feel that I need to protect peoples names. To me it seems a bit impersonal but definitely necessary. With this thought in mind I'd like to relate an incident that happened just last week. During an eye exam the optometrist, in casual conversation, asked me if in our line of w...

Do the letters SNR mean anything to you? They didn't to me until Saturday night! We were on our way to visit the good folks at Ambassador Baptist Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. It is one of our supporting churches. Dawn and I had arrived a bit early and so had decided to stop and get a coffee at a nearby McDonald's. We were in Royal Oak for Ambassador's mission conference so we were dressed up in our Sunday duds. In fact I had commented as I left the car, "Ma and Pa Kettle go out for a date!" We entered the restaurant and I asked for a small coffee. Dawn did the same and the young lady at the counter rang up our orders and we sat down to enjoy the few minutes before the evening service. It was then that I noticed our receipt. There were two listings which read: 1SNR coffee.......$.60 Stunned I ask Dawn if she knew what SNR meant? She didn't. I said, "I think that it means 'Senior'". I then asked her how much a "normal" small coffee ...

Do you think that we in the States are putting too much emphasis on Halloween? I couldn't believe this year. Everywhere we went we were being stared at by skulls, ghosts, witches, mummies, and demonic looking creatures of every sort. It was ridiculous and enough to make a child have nightmares for months. Did the scariness of the times warranted such an emphasis? I don't think so. In Brazil there is no Halloween because they still practice the Day of the Dead on November 1 (thus October 31 is all hallow eve). That sad practice has blinded generations to the true fear that they should have towards a Christless eternity. With the godly moorings of our country fading further and further from our perspective we can be assured that the coming Halloweens will be even more strange However, a lot of seemingly scary stuff has happened recently. With the crash of the stock market, the floundering auto industry, and the political climate, it is enough to make the bravest soul tremble. Th...