3ABN and the Philippines

It seems like the only time I have to write is when I am sitting in an airport. Well, I am sitting in an airport in Washington DC. I"m on my way to Africa to visit my wife for one month. Usually, at this time my wife is with me in Colorado, but this time she couldn't come. So, I am going to her, but one month in exchange for four is not a good deal.

What follows is a rundown of my trip to 3ABN: 

 As far as I can tell, the Lord blessed the sermons I preached at 3ABN. I only preached 4 instead of 5 sermons, plus an hour and one half interview. I was supposed to be met at the St. Louis airport on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, somebody forgot. I had the number of one person at 3ABN and I called her. She put me in touch with Dee Hildebrandt who was mortified for having forgotten to send someone to pick me up. No problem. Dee got me a rental car and I arrived at 10:45 PM Tuesday evening. 

On Wednesday, I preached my first sermon at 7PM--"Thou Knowest Not".  Everyonel knew that a winter storm was blowing in and they were nervous about it. I knew it might jeopardize something. The next day, Jim Gilley called me and said that because of the storm people would not be able to come to work, so we should tape all the meetings that day and we should start in 30 minutes. Ya right--four sermons and an interview. I have to admit I was stressed to death. I really didn't know how I was suppose to wrap my brain around four sermons in a row. Have you ever prayed with a sense of terrible despair. Well, long story short, the Lord didn't let me down. I didn't preach 4 sermons, but I did preach 3 and they carried well. The interview caused the phone to ring off the hook at our EVI office. Dr. Clark was with me and a lady who had four weeks to live one year ago. 

I decided to leave the next morning at 7AM. I had a flight at 1:15 PM. The ride from the airport to 3ABN took two hours, the ride back took four hours. It took me half an hour to get out of my driveway. There was six inches of snow on top of wet ice. The Nissan I had was outfitted with summer tires only. It wasn't good in the snow, but I decided to try anyway. On the way, I helped a lady with a big SUV to get unstuck. There were cars and trucks and semis in the ditch everywhere, but praise God I made it all the way without incident. 

Now, on to the Philippines.  

I got to spend 23 hours on the Waikiki beach in Honolulu. That was fun in spite of being alone. I ran on the beach for four miles and got soaked in sweat. It was good. Running in Colorado is more difficult for the elevation. 

I arrived in Manila at 9 PM. A group picked me up and we drove all night to a jungle, OCI-L.I.G.H.T school. I had a wonderful time with super dedicated young students and 170 camp meeting attendees. I was scheduled to preach three times. I ended up preaching six times. 

When it was all over, we drove all night to Manila. Actually, I was up three nights in a row before arriving in Denver. 

 It is so-o-o hot here. Yuk! On the other hand, it reminds me of Madagascar.

Now, I have to make my way home to trouble. Someone dumped a crazy woman on EVI a few weeks earlier and she was giving everyone fits. The police couldn't do anything except to advise us to go to court and to give her an eviction notice. I helped Leasa and Leonard pack her stuffed and load it into the Pastor's car. We called the police. They probably wouldn't have come except they found that they had a warrant for her arrest. She left in handcuffs. Wish we could have helped her, but she was altogether defiant.

Now, I'm on my way to Africa. Till next time.

LIfe Moves On

Life moves on, sometimes very busy, sometimes not as busy. I am impressed that however harried I might be. God sees me through it intact and on time. I often wish I could slow things down a bit. (After all, I am pretty ripe.) But no, I will work while the day lasts. I will be happy to lie down when I’m too old to move.

At home, I’ve been teaching the students and the Lifestyle guests. I don’t know If I will ever reach John Wesley’s record number of sermons, but I am quite sure I preach quite a bit more than most people.

I preach at the Franktown Church two Sabbaths ago. Tom and Michelle Walters with their teens came with me. We had very good day. Larry and Cheryl Romrell invited us to have lunch with them and the Bond family. It was great.

Half of our campus has the flu. So far, the Lord is sparing me that experience.  

We are offering a 30% discount on the Lifestyle sessions for the winter months. Trying to keep our numbers up.

I did a series of meetings at 3ABN. When Dee Hildebrandt first asked me to come preach at 3ABN, she promised to send someone to pick me up at the airport in St. Louis. She forgot. I was stranded for a while then I managed to find a phone number of someone I know there. She contacted Dee, and mortified, Dee called me. She rented me a car and I got to my destination at 10:45 PM. All was well. It actually was a good thing they didn't pick me up that the airport. This way, I had a rental car for the week. It's a blessing because I had only one invite to eat and being on foot might have been a big matata. There isn’t anything near food-wise.

Deb Hogfeldt was in a car accident. She broadsided a car that ran a red light. She is ok with a sprained thumb. (No kids with her.)

As usual, I'm sitting in the Denver airport on my way to somewhere. This time, I’m on my way to Honolulu, Hawaii. I'll be in Hawaii for 23 hours, then on thru' Guam to Manila, Philippines.  

It's been an extra cold week in Loveland, below zero every day since Wednesday. Should warm up by next Wed.

As far as I can tell, the Lord blessed the sermons I preached at 3ABN. I preached 4 instead of 5 sermons, plus an hour-and-one- half interview. On Wednesday, I preached my first sermon at 7PM--Thou Knowest Not.  The folks at 3ABN all knew that a winter storm was blowing in and they were nervous about it. I knew it might jeopardize something. The next day, Jim Gilley called me and said that because of the storm people would not be able to come to work, so we should tape all the meetings that day and we should start in 30 minutes. Ya right--four sermons and an interview. I was stressed to death. I really didn't know how I was supposed to wrap my brain around four sermons in a row. Have you ever prayed with a sense of terrible despair? Well, long story short, the Lord didn't let me down. I didn't preach 4 sermons, but I did preach 3 and they carried well. The interview caused the phone to ring off the hook at the office. Dr. Clark was with me and so was a lady who had four weeks to live one year ago. I believe she made a great impact on anyone who heard the interview.  

I decided to leave the next morning at 7AM. I had a flight at 1:15 PM. The ride from the airport to 3ABN had taken two hours; the ride back took four hours. It took me half an hour just to get out of the driveway. There was six inches of snow on top of wet ice. The Nissan I had was outfitted with summer tires only. It wasn't good in the snow, but I decided to try anyway. On the way, I helped a lady with a big SUV to get unstuck. There were cars and trucks and semis in the ditch everywhere, but praise God I made it all the way without incident.

Now, on to the next adventure.

Snow everywhere and cold, but Honolulu promises to be 82 degrees and Philippines really hot and muggy.

Wish you all could come with me.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.