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Lowell Brueckner

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Dave’s Old Photos

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Margaret, Sarah, Deborah, Raquel, Leah, Lowell, and Mike






A pictorial story of our family


(Click on any photo for a larger view)



Sam Peterson at work
The Scripture teaches, of course, that God chose us, in Christ, before the world began. That being said and recognized, it is also true that God worked in our personal genealogies and was directly responsible for our nationality, the exact place where we were born, the family into which we were born, the color of our hair and the number of hairs on our head that we now possess.

Our son, Dan, put together a wonderful video for Mother’s Day, honoring his mother and her life. You can see it on his timeline on Facebook and I shared it, so that you can see it on mine, as well... it is also on Dave's.

Our kids with Grandma Peterson
Margaret’s dad, Sam Peterson, learned Swedish at home before he learned English at school. His parents were immigrants. He was Litchfield, MN’s town butcher for at least 50 years. Margaret’s parents taught her the ways of God. Her mother loved her grandkids, of course, and was so patient with them. It was always a fun experience to be in Grandma’s house.

Over Mother’s Day, Dan’s twin brother, Dave, came from Vermont to Spain, via Ireland, for a visit. He brought with him many photos that he had left in Cork years ago and I thought that it would be nice to put together a pictorial, using them. I will add one to this collection, sent by Rachel and Mike. It shows three of the people, who had the greatest influence upon my life… my dad, my mom and Earl Quesnell.

Earl Quesnell, Lowell, Dad and Mom
My dad often went on trips for up to two weeks at a time, but my siblings and I could always count on Mom’s presence. She was there for us, loving us and forgiving our many errors. I think that Dad’s greatest contribution to my life was to show first-hand, what it is to have an intimate relationship with God.

I have recommended to parents that they try to find an older Christian person to befriend their children. Earl Quesnell became my friend, when I was only 10-years-old, although he was 20 years older than I. He was never far away until he went to be with the Lord. He was the one who took me to Mexico to visit in 1961, between my 11th and 12th year of high school. Very few years later, I went to live permanently in Mexico.


Reserve in Wisconsin
Ethel Doxtator and her son, Bill
I was raised near this reservation in Wisconsin. It stands as proof that the fictitious Last of the Mohicans was not the last of the Mohicans! If you read my book, What Our Hands Have Handled, you learned the testimony of Ethel Doxtator. Dave took this photo of her, when she was 90-years-old, not long before she died.

Mrs. Isabel Huber at Kay, nee Shenkus', house
Mrs. Huber is on my left. I was in her Sunday School class at Quinney Chapel, as a boy, from 8 to 10 years old. She prayed regularly for her students and many years later, when we were in Mexico, she told me that she prayed daily for me over the years. At least, two of her own sons were in the Lord’s business. On this occasion, we were invited to the house of a lady, who was a childhood friend of my sister, who died of leukemia at 18. I remember her writing to this friend during her illness and Kay later found the Lord. Her brother was there, as well, my only classmate in a one-room country schoolhouse with students from first to eighth grade.

Bernice Greinert  and Mrs. Beckert
Lois & Leon Jensen (lunch on the patio)
The Greinert family drove 35 miles on Sunday to Quinney Chapel. Bernice Greinert was the daughter of the blacksmith of Greenville, WI, and, as far as I know, still attends the church, which is now situated in Chilton. With Bernice is a lady from Potter. Dad opened up a weekly Bible study in that town on Tuesday nights and this is fruit from that effort. 

Interestingly, we met Leon and Lois Jensen, while he pastored in Elk River, MN. I met to pray with my good friend, while we lived nearby in Big Lake. Their son, Jim, many years ago, became the pastor of the church my dad founded in Quinney. Who figures all these things out and brings them all together? I think you know.

Mrs. Edmunds and her students in Oaxaca, Mexico
From time to time on Facebook, we meet another great friend, Willa Edmunds. One evening in Oaxaca, Mexico, Margaret and I were busily preparing to begin first-grade home schooling for our twins, Dan and Dave, the very next day. There was a knock on the door and there stood a couple we had never met before. It was Vern and Willa Edmunds, who wanted to start a school for missionary kids. Willa was a professional teacher. God not only supplies needs, but supplies with the best! We are forever grateful to this woman of God.


Among Dave’s photos, there were several nice shots,  of our individual children, (unfortunately not all), at a considerably younger age. Dave, a constructor, photographer, and able teacher of the Word of God… Steve, Karyn, and their family have moved from Aniak, AK, to Salem, AR, where, they are sure, that the Holy Spirit has led them... Raquel who, along with her husband, Tom, minister to people in the Finley, ND, area. Youth meet in their home and also adults attend a Sunday afternoon Bible study… Deborah, her husband Lance, and their family live in Pennsylvania, near the NY border… Leah, Phil and their two children live in Little Rock, AR… Mike is pastor of Church of Hope in Elk River, MN. Each one has met the Lord; they know and love Him.



I take you back to our years in Germany, where our girls formed a day care for U.S military children. The girls taught the kids Christian songs and Bible stories. One afternoon, when I opened the door for a lieutenant, who came for his child, he began to sing a little Christian chorus that his daughter learned from our girls. The photo only shows a few of the little ones.  Their parents began to come to our Sunday afternoon Bible studies.

Sheila Rice came and was wonderfully converted. Leaving our Bible study at 8 P.M., she read through the Gospel of John, knelt by her bed and received the Lord. Then her husband, Dave, commander of the Landsberg base, came under a powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit (I often tell the story), and finally surrendered. The transformation in that man set his base abuzz. Soon after their conversion, little Jessie was supernaturally healed of a chronic eczema, baffling her doctor. 

Irma was the wife of a sergeant. I will never forget the meeting, in which Sheila was giving her testimony and Irma suddenly began to weep. Sheila could hardly continue. But Irma's life was transformed. Sergeant Carter came to one meeting and told our son, Dan, afterward that it seemed like every word was spoken especially to him. He said that he looked around the room and everyone seemed relaxed, but he was upset. Carter was a classic sinner. but his mother was a Christian and was praying for him. He never came back to a meeting. We joined his mother and now his wife in prayer for his salvation. Seventeen years later, Margaret received a call from Irma, now living in California. She wanted to share the news with her that Carter had come to the Lord, was attending church with her, and was working with youth. 
 

Here are our four girls and also, we have a photo of our nice, well-behaved boys… who a few minutes later began to lose their composure and shove each other. It must have been caused by our son-in-law, Tom, who was not in the first picture!😀 Some have taught that ministers should put their family before their ministry. I strongly disagree! Ministers should put their family into the ministry. Our kids were always part of our ministry, working with children, playing and singing, and in a very natural way, became personal evangelists. 


 
Shelly, Deborah, and Karyn
Dan, Shelley, Dave and Steve



















While living seven years in Minnesota, we held Sunday meetings in our home. I’m not exaggerating, when I relate that 90 people or more attended those meetings every Sunday. Two wonderful daughters-in-law were part of the fruit from those years... Shelley and Karyn. Along with Deborah, they are waiting for a ferry to cross from Ireland to England.

On the island of Lewis with people, who experienced revival
We traveled together as a family. I wanted all of our family to know about revival, so we took a trip to the Hebrides Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, and talked to people, who experienced first-hand the 1949 Lewis revival.

Leah and Phil
Brendan with Dave


Several of our children’s weddings took place in Europe, as well as in America. Leah and Phil were married in Spain. 
 
Brendan O’Mahoney, from Ireland, became another great friend of our family, to the degree that Steve and Raquel asked him to give a message at their weddings. Twenty years after he came to Germany to speak at Tom and Raquel’s wedding, he flew all the way to America to attend their daughter, Jessica’s, wedding. 

John, Paul and Josh
And then the grandchildren began to be born. It was nice to have some of them nearby us for a while. Before Dan and Shelley began missionary work in Macedonia, they worked with refugees in Germany. It was fun celebrating Christmas with John, Paul and Josh. (Today, Dan is pastor of Swanton Christian Church) 

Margaret holds Josh in our front yard in Germany and our first granddaughter, Jessica, lived in the next town. It was Jessica and Dylan, who gave us our first great-granddaughter and Josh and Adrienne gave us three great-grandsons. Besides these four, we have 31 grandchildren. We are indeed blessed! … And I wanted to share a little of our blessings with you through this pictorial.

















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