Posts from 2018 (Page 5)
Before I left for Madrid I was asked to submit some inspirational thoughts and encouragement through letters to 2 former students. 1 student has just finished his preparation for a 7-month deployment aboard a carrier. This former student also has just recently got engaged and is planning a wedding for next summer. I was also asked to submit some encouragement for another former student that will be completing his Air Force Boot camp this week. As I sat and thought…
Notes from Mark
Yesterday was fantastic! I was truly overwhelmed by the reponse of our church body to the need of painting our children’s area. These people came determined to do the job and have fun doing so. It was a sweet time of fellowship which made the work seem – fun! My heart was filled to overflowing with gratitude and praise. I cannot say thank you enough. I do thank Karen & Steve Antwine, Robyn, Lance, Ty & Will Antwine, Richard &…
Unity
An old adage says, “United we stand; divided we fall.” That is so true with churches. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul writes “I appeal to you, brothers…that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” In unity, we can accomplish so much for God. The writer of Hebrews said, “We should not cease assembling together…but encourage one another.” We need each…
What can I tell you about Madrid? Well, it’s hot and we are doing a lot of walking so far. We use public transportation to get around the city and have been averaging around 10 miles a day or around 20,000 steps. We have been working in an apartment area with children and have been averaging about 60+ children a day that we continue to build relationships with that will allow our FRIENDS here in Madrid to continue to build…
Notes from Mark
It was a good week at camp. All told we took 79 campers – 68 children and 11 adults. There were some interesting moments as well as funny ones and others that will stay with us forever. New friends were made and old friendships were strengthened. We worshiped together and shared God’s Word with one another. We had many children come forward at the invitation with questions of all kinds. Some renewed their faith, others needed someone to pray with…
Good Decisions
Some of you know that I don’t like corn mazes. I don’t like having to make a decision as to which way to go with little or no information. It is not fun for me! Whenever I am making a decision, I do my homework. I get the information I need to make a decision. Some of that information may be counsel or advice from others. If it is a spiritual decision, I seek the counsel of Christian men and…
I will be traveling to Madrid this Saturday to work with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that for security reason I will not name. We will be working with Muslim Refugees from primarily Morocco. Most missions trips that I go on are either to assist local churches or ministries (much like we are currently doing in Latvia) or to help with a Spiritual Harvest of new believers. In Madrid its a little bit different. You wont see many pictures of us…
Notes from Mark
A huge THANK YOU to each one of our workers in VBS this year. From the help we had in decorating, to our Kitchen Committee and those that helped with our Pool Party, to each one that was available to help in any manner during the week of VBS to those that stayed and helped clean up after Family Night, you did a fantastic job! It is a blessing to see our church working together as one body for the…
Rescue The Perishing
Jesus desires that everyone be saved. It is our job as a believer to share our faith with others. We need to be urgent about it. Years ago, a fire broke out in a hotel in Chicago. Flames and smoke blocked the normal escape routes. Some people went onto a balcony to escape the smoke, but they were trapped there. It looked as if they were doomed. However, one man found an exit to a fire escape. Courageously, he made…
Last Friday as I sat at a restaurant with 7 wonderful leaders from our Youth Ministry, These 7 students had just spent a week at Super Summer Oklahoma. One thing we began doing last year was to take a picture of all of our name tags when we left #SSOK. As we took this picture and posted it on our Youth Ministry Instagram (#EBCUthMin) We began to think about the summer of 2019. The biggest question I had for them…