USA, Romania and Greece
Labels:
personal testimonies
August 27 through October 8
(click for larger photos)
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| Volunteers' camp at Lepsa, Romania |
Several months ago, I made a commitment to speak at a
weekend retreat for summer volunteer workers at Teen Ranch in the mountains
near Lepsa, Romania. According to camp director, Ionut Lerca, these young
people had dedicated time, throughout the camp season, not only to help with
the many chores on the campsite, but also to reach out a helping hand and a
caring heart to the campers.
The week following the retreat, families would come
from various areas of Romania to gather around the Word of God, as well as to
enjoy a time of fellowship. I requested that these dates would be placed, as
late as possible in September, so that there would be a little distance between
them and our granddaughter, Jessica’s, wedding on September 12.
Margaret and I planned to leave Spain on August 27, in
order to spend as much time as possible with different members of our family
before the wedding. Because of a legal stipulation, I thought it would be
necessary to return home shortly afterwards. Upon further thought and
investigation, I saw that this condition would not apply to our trip.
Therefore, in order to make the most of it, we extended our time in the States
to September 22.
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| Great-grandkids in Swanton, VT |
We landed in Montreal, Canada, and shortly after we
stepped out of the terminal, Dan, Shelley, Anna and Ruth drove by to pick us
up. They live about 15 minutes on the other side of the Canadian border in
Vermont. We had a short visit with them and with Dave and boys. On Sunday
morning, August 30, Dan asked me to speak to the adult Sunday School class and
then in the morning service, after which we started the 24-hour drive from
Vermont to Minnesota.
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| Herman & Zane Williams - Mokahum 1956 |
We were with Sam and Sarah for a few day at Mokahum,
where my dad was director from 1955-57. I had a nice visit with Zane Williams,
whose dad, Herman, was a student while we lived there, and is the Navajo, whose
stories I recount often. Mike came to Cass Lake to pick us up and drove us to
his home in Elk River, where we arrived in time to watch Emily play volleyball.
A sophomore, she plays on both the JV and varsity teams. We had a great time
and I spoke at the church where Mike and Bert Sepulveda pastor.
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| Irish friend & Dave at wedding |
We were lent a brand-new Ford van for the trip to
North Dakota. I have already told the story of Jessica and Dylan’s wedding in
another article, so I won’t add much here. Raquel tells us that many people,
who are not Christians, mention that it was the nicest wedding that they had
ever attended, a testimony to the presence of God. Grandson Andy took me
horseback riding one afternoon close to Mayville, where he works on a horse
farm.
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| Steve, Karyn & family |
Then, we flew to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Phil,
Leah, Lisa and Jason took us on to northern Arkansas, where Steve and Karyn
bought a home on 20 acres of land. Only God knows what is in store for them,
because they sought carefully His will in their move from Alaska. The kids are
enrolled in school now. We had a really good visit together and later had a
meeting with the boys from RETO in Little Rock.
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| Debbie, Lance & family |
From Little Rock, we flew to upstate New York to spend
a couple days with Lance, Deborah and family, another short, but great, visit.
Dan and family picked us up and we spent the last few days of our trip with
them and Dave. We watched Ethan play soccer and on Sunday, I again spoke at
church.
We arrived home on September 23 in the late afternoon
and the next morning, I boarded a plane for Bucharest. Ionut came to take me to
the campsite, a trip of several hours and the volunteer camp started the next
day. Throughout this trip, from the USA to Greece, I ministered on the need to
feed the Lord’s flock and precisely that is what I tried to do. I spoke on Christ’s extreme, perfect, eternal love for His flock and His intense desire to
come in and sup with them. To the families at camp, I went on to talk about the
organic church. You can read all the messages on this blog.
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| Athens from the Acropolis |
After the last day of camp, I went with Ionut and his
family to Bucharest and the next day flew to Athens, the last leg of an
exhausting trip. Until the eighth, I was with Roberto and Lola, who lead the drug
rehab work there and enjoyed good fellowship with them. I spoke several times
in two days and was treated to an excursion up to the Acropolis, where Paul
presented the true and living God, unknown to the citizens of Athens.
Margaret met me at the Vigo airport and I arrived home
at night on the eighth and immediately had to record two radio
programs for the
weekend. Yesterday, I went with my friend, Melo, to do a broadcast in Santiago.
Next week, as you can imagine, will be a time to try to catch up on work at
home, including recording more broadcasts and a lot of writing. Then on October
22, I will leave for Romania again, where I will have the privilege of speaking
at another wedding in Suceava – the 15th or 16th to which
I have been invited in that country. Afterwards, there will be meetings in the
area. I covet your prayers for the power of the Holy Spirit upon the Word, so
that it will penetrate and do its supernatural work in the heart. I depend on
Him.
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| Atop the Acropolis |
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