June 24, 2007

Ester is a daughter of God

God is good!

This morning we celebrated the baptism of Ester Robert, infant daughter of Helve and Millianard ("Tabitha") Robert.

"You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ....If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." -- Galatians 3:26-29

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

June 23, 2007

On a personal note...

I just returned from a one week vacation in Arizona to celebrate my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary. God is good!

The whole family was able to get together in Camp Verde, AZ (between Prescott and Flagstaff) where there were plenty of mountains to climb, Native American ruins to hike to, and swimming holes to cool off in.

I thank God for 40 joy-filled years of marriage for my parents, and for their fine example of Christian love and parenting for my two brothers and me. God is good!

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

June 14, 2007

In their own words...

Before we said farewell and Godspeed to the young men and women of Project Timothy 2007, I asked them two questions:

“What was your biggest surprise about the Dominican Republic?”

  • The garbage
  • The living conditions weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be
  • How friendly everyone was
  • How open / welcoming everyone was – even complete strangers

“What was your favorite part of the trip?”

  • Teaching the Bible stories
  • Teaching the children
  • All of it

On an island where the great majority of visitors go straight from the airport to the endless number of all-inclusive beach front resorts to be pampered and served, how refreshing that these young Christians found their joy in serving others. Motivated by Christ’s love for them, their delight was to share the story of Jesus and his love with little children.

Join us in thanking God for their service!

Now as the missionaries and Dominican members’ work continues, pray for the Lord’s blessings as we try to follow-up on the contacts that were made so that we can *CONTINUE* to share the life-saving gospel with many more souls.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

June 11, 2007

Project Timothy update

After another set of technical problems last week that prevented me from updating, here is a quick note on the blessings the Lord granted our mission field through Emily, Emily, Hannah, Kathy, Chris and Levi -- students from Luther Prep School (www.lps.wels.net) in Watertown, WI who were part of Project Timothy 2007.

They came prepared with two Bible stories -- the prophet Jonah and Jesus calming the storm. To reach more children, we schedule one story in the morning and one in the afternoon in a different area each day of the week. We still have to finalize our stats, but we estimate having taught over 400 different children.

We thank God for this opportunity to present the message of Jesus' love and forgiveness to so many children. We thank God for both Emilys, Hannah, Kathy, Chris and Levi -- together with their chaperons Matt and Erin Nottling -- and their service. May the Lord grant them safe travels home and many blessings during the summer!

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW

June 1, 2007

Project Timothy / Hurricane Season

Today we welcome a group of six students from Luther Prep School (www.lps.wels.net) and their chaperons to the island of Hispaniola. They are here through Project Timothy, a program of our synod prep schools to expose high school students who have already expressed interest in entering the public ministry to ministry opportunities in home and world missions.

They will be conducting VBS style classes in a number of different areas, helping our local congregations make contact with children and parents in their area. Classes start next week, so I should have plenty of pictures for the updates next week! We pray for the Lord's blessings on their efforts to share the saving gospel with Jesus' little lambs.

On a side note: Today is also the official beginning of hurricane season in the Caribbean, which goes until November 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.noaa.gov) predicts 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 *major* hurricanes this year. Two years ago, their predictions were low, last year they were high, but usually they are pretty close.

Please join us in asking the Lord for favorable weather and his protection this hurricane season.

The Lord bless you with his Peace,
NW