ASI Winter Boards

Sometimes I wonder if I am alone so unsure. This weekend, Feb 23-26, Janet and I went to Ontario, CA for ASI's Winter Board. There wasn't anything to worry about except that I am the President, I am the Board Chairman, I was called upon to preach the keynote message and to give a president's report to the board. (There must be something wrong with  my head/heart.)

I've always felt that the sermons I preach at ASI should be spot-on applicable, but the best I could do this time was prepare a sermon for ASI during the very last week before going. For me that is risking too much.  Amazingly, the sermon turned out to be one of God's gifts to me. It seems He took my poor effort and made it resonate within the hearts of those who heard. (Except for Rusty McKee who slept through it all. In Rusty's defense, he had gotten up at 3AM and run seventeen miles that day.) I can't but praise the Lord for His mercy endures forever.

The Missions Inc. board was grueling. This is the body that apportions the offering to chosen projects. You couldn't imagine how agonizing that process is. I would say that 90% of the project proposals are worthy  of the full amount asked, but there isn't that much money. The total amount requested was over 12 million dollars. That, of course, is about double the usual amount wanted. One entity asked for 6 million. Harold called them and told them that wasn't going to happen. He tried to coach them to ask for considerably less, but they said that they had prayed and the Lord had led them to ask for 6 million. Amazing, the Lord led them to ask for 6 million and the Lord led us to say no to their request. Anything wrong with that picture?

This left 6 million to share with the 81 projects remaining. Bear in mind, we only expect to raise a little above 1 million dollars this year. This is where the agonizing begins. We went over the list of projects four times. Each time we either dropped a project altogether, or slashed the amount they asked for. In the end we funded 36 projects of 82 and almost everyone got much less they they deserved. It's hard. It's painful. It is also, providential. I was happy to be a participant. I saw the integrity, the honesty and the sincere desire to do more for more people.

One of the most poignant moments was when Harold, the Chairman, made a heartfelt appeal to the board that we not allow for any favoritism--not even the slightest appearance of it. Frankly, that isn't easy. Some people have invested huge amounts of money in ASI and in the mission projects. With their money they have invested their time, energy, and lives. How deserving they are of pulling stripes  when needed. On the other hand, how necessary that we continually be reminded to play by the rules so that no embarrassment occur to ASI.

I am happy to say that I have perfect confidence in the Missions Inc. process and the integrity of the members that form its board.

The main ASI board happened on Sunday. I was board chairman and needed to give a president's report. All went well. I remained comfortable throughout the whole experience and we finished 50 minutes early.
We aimed to finish at 1PM. At noon we had only gone through 8 of our 14 items on the agenda. By 12:13 PM we were done. Everyone seemed pleased, but none more than I.

God uses fools to confound the wise. He uses the weak to befuddled the mighty. He delights in raising the poor from the dunghill and placing them among princes, and if it ever goes to their heads, He is well able to abase. It's a ride, but I wouldn't get off the roller coaster for anything in the world.

This week, I'm on my way to Texas for the ASI South West Chapter meetings. A whole new round of prayers must storm heaven from my side and yours.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Encouraged

What is it that encourages you?

I've been wonderfully encouraged lately. We've seen more miracles of healing lately than ever I remember. We had a Hindu-become-SDA from Montreal come to us in November with fourth-stage stomach cancer metastasized  into his lungs. I couldn't, looking at him, give him much hope that we could help him, but the Lord is not hampered by my prognoses. Two weeks after returning home they could find no cancer in his lungs and the original tumors were shrinking. I talked to the man on the telephone and he sounded full of energy.

In September, I think, we had a man come to us with stage-four lung cancer. The man couldn't walk any distance. He couldn't breadth. Before he left EVI he was walking 2-4 miles a day. I thought sure he would go home to die. A few weeks ago, I heard that he had suffered three set backs. So I contacted his daughter-in-law and asked about him expecting to hear the worse. I couldn't have been more surprised. The man is cancer free.

We did have a strange tragedy. One of our sweetest guest went home and found out she was cancer free. The problem is, she died of a heart attack. Somethings are not easy to understand.

A 34 year old Vancouver man came to visit EVI. We invited him to come to visit when we saw him at GYC. While he was at EVI he found out, from tests done in Vancouver, that he had a very aggressive form of lymphoma. The doctor said he had as little as eight months to live (or as much as five years.) So being that he was here we gave him some treatments and arranged for him to return for the February session. He is here now. Trouble is, more tests done in Vancouver show that his cancer is totally eradicated. The surgeon in Vancouver is proud of his ability to remove all the cancer. Which is ok with me, but we'd like to give the glory to God. We did anoint Rob and without knowing what in the world happened, the man is perfectly healthy. So now we are giving him a full session that he may or may not need. Praise God.

Right now, we are treating eleven guests. One is deathly ill with terminal fourth-stage pancreatic cancer. He is from Ghana originally. His faith is strong, but humanly speaking, he doesn't stand an ice cube's chance in hell. One day, his eyes were florescent yellow from jaundice. (His liver is where the cancer is.) The doctor decided to give him a coffee enema. His eyes immediately cleared up. Now he takes two enemas a day and he is showing signs of a quick recovery. (Whether there is a recovery at all, I don't know, but he is far improved.)

I'm in the middle of preparing for an ASI board in two weeks in California. There is much I do not know, but to date the Lord is helping me graciously. For the next two months I must bounce from ASI Chapter meeting to Chapter meeting, besides all else. With that, I'm suppose to have something to say. Lord help me.

Blessings to all,

Changes, never easy.

The weeks go by too fast, and the work piles on too quickly. Nevertheless, I know I have a whole crowd of people waiting to here from me. Well, two or three people. Anyway, it's been a good week. We just finished our third LIGHT school. This time, we did it on our own (without Wildwood's help.) We had 10 students. Wonderful people. Some came late, others needed to leave early, but all in all, I think it was a great success.

To add to the enjoyment, a snow storm hit just the night before the graduation. So, only four students were able to attend the graduation. Never mind, we made the best of it. The food was great, the fellowship better. (I'll throw in three pics just for the fun of it.)

A new lifestyle session started last night. I believe we have 11 guests. Cancer is still the prevailing issue. My dear wife, Janet, is the interim Lifestyle Director. Already she is making very important changes. Because we are dealing predominantly with cancer, she decided to change the food menu (I hesitate to say drastic changes, but I'm sure some people think so.) The guests now start with two days of fasting on juice, then they go for five days on raw foods with half juice. Then, they will go to eating super healthy food--no oil, no sugar.

The point is, people come to EVI to find healing. We may want to serve them with our best dishes, but our best dishes isn't what they need first. They need healing and they need it urgently. So we are determined to be more aggressive than we've been in the past. Pray for us.

My Lover has dropped 15 lbs. She isn't the only one. There is actually quite a movement at EVI for juice fasting. Pounds are disappearing everywhere. Donna McNeilus visited with us last week. This week she told me she lost 10lbs. Impressive. She didn't need to lose any, but hey, she's a lady and ladies have this thing about weight. As for me, I've gained three or four pounds. I had lost 7 lbs in Africa. I'm almost back to normal. My wife is overfeeding me. Good wife.

Blessings to all,

The Preacher to his Tribe.

Lite snow, LIGHT school

It's snowing. We are probably having one of the mildest winters ever. Sometimes, we can be outside in tee-shirts, but today it's snowing.

Last weekend, we had an ASI rally in Denver. The ASI chapter president, Jesse Johnson, could not attend because he's had heart surgery. It fell to me to be the master of ceremony. Do you know how nervous that makes me? It's amazing. You'd think that since I preach all the time that I could wrap myself around the little task of introducing someone without too much stress. Not so. All went well anyway. The Lord is having to help me all the time.

This week we finished another lifestyle session. We had at least 15 people. Wonderful. Actually, we didn't have any guests for January. We took risk and offered the session at a drastically reduced rate, and people just came out of the woodwork. We probably lost a bundle. No matter, we think it better to serve someone than to sit around waiting for the next session. The group was special.

I think next month's intake will be normal.

As we are serving in the Lifestyle Center, we also are doing a one-month LIGHT course. Ten students and all day classes. It's a blast. The Lord is sending us really beautiful people, even from as far as Hungary. Imagine that!

While at the GYC meetings a couple of weeks ago, I was greatly inspired by the energy and creativity of the young people. It got my juices running. ASI needs that kind of leadership. (They got me.) Isn't that a corker. Never mind, I'm not the only one on the team. I believe there are great minds among us. So I am calling a meeting of all the past presidents asking them to come up with solutions to our most pressing needs.

1. We have little trouble signing up members, but retention is another story.

2. How do we make our members feel like they belong to an affectionate family?

3. What kind of project can we invest in that will involve the greater number of members?

I've also asked the past presidents to come up with a new idea each as far as a new project is concerned. It will be fun to see what they come up with . . . if anything. Oh, I hope they do.

Blessings to all,

The Preacher to His Tribe.

Down to Earth

I should have written before now, but I've been traveling (really) and I'm always having to struggle with my new computer. Yesterday, I had to call Angie to get help finding how to write a new post. Turns out my internet connection at home is too weak to accommodate what I needed. So, I am sitting in my office to do this and actually found my way through it easily.

Since last writing, Janet and I have been to GYC (Generation of Youth for Christ) in Houston, TX.  It was great. Three of our granddaughters, I should say great-granddaughters, were there with two friends. They camped in our room. It was a riot of giggling and late nights and bathroom delays. The five girls, dressed in red, sang for the Friday night meeting. They sang wonderfully. I couldn't have been prouder.

The preaching was also very good. The young woman from Australia took the prize in my estimation. The others were very good as well. The content of all the sermons was great. I'm a little perplexed with the idea that a preacher needs to bounce all over the stage to make a point. To my "old soul" it seems like a waste of energy and overly theatrical. Perhaps I am too old fashion, but really, didn't the young Australian lady get through to our hearts without bouncing off the walls.  I admit she has adopted the questioning Amen at the end of every sentence. Hey preachers, it's an  unnecessary crutch. Amen?

The big news is that Brianna was asked to be one of the preachers next summer with Youth for Jesus in Dallas, TX. She will do an evangelistic effort. Can you imagine our little Bree doing that? Vanessa is also moving into a new position of responsibility with GYC. Just yesterday they were only little girls. Am I proud or what?

At Eden Valley:
It looked like we wouldn't have any lifestyle guests for the January session. (It's always like that in January.) On an impulse we decided to offer a special price to anyone who needed to come. Because we need to pay our staff regardless, we chose to do an old fashion natural remedies session without the blood draw and the supplements and the inter-venous  vitamin "c" etc. Seventeen people came. Wonderful, needy people. It is better to minister to someone than to sit around waiting for better enrollment. We will lose money for sure, but hey, maybe, just maybe someone will be touched by God's Spirit. So we pray. My Lover is the interim Lifestyle Director. She seems happy to do it and as usual, she is very good at it.

We are also into a one-month Medical Missionary course. I don't know how many students we have, (I think ten), but they are a receptive bunch. It's busy fun.

New Brunswick:
Janet and I went for nine days to New Brunswick. I was asked to speak to my brother's pastors and Bible Workers. We were more than pleasantly surprised. These conference people were very down to earth, common Canadians. I half expected that they, being university educated and all, would be very analytical to the point of being critical. But no, they were genuinely appreciative and wonderfully humble. They were blown away by Janet's African presentation. One pastor is asking about his church supporting her project. I came away from there perfectly burdened for that conference and each person that I met.

The highlight for us, of course, was the time we spent with John and Janice. We had such a good time. They were so hospitable. I'm sure we cost them an arm and a leg. Hope we can do as well when it's our turn. We also learned to play with a WII (wee). It's amazing what technology is producing today. We couldn't have laughed more (mostly at my poor performance) using these toys.

Adventist Camp in Pugwash, NB, on the Atlantic

We did learn about Chiaque. Chiaque is the name for the Acadian language. That is something similar to what we call our Northern Ontario french--jual. Jual is slang for cheval. Chiaque is the funniest language I've ever heard. Even the Acadians are embarrassed by it--to a point. We found New Brunswick to be quaint. Moncton, is mostly French. The people seem to be super friendly and it was like visiting another country altogether--somewhere exotic, but filled with down to earth French Canadians. On top of that, we ate enough to come home well rounded, but as usual, I gained nothing. I don't know if my wife gained anything, but she and Leasa started into a fast today. (Probably no connection.)

Ok, that's it. We have an ASI rally this weekend in Denver and I'm suppose to play a part. I need to get ready for that and an ASI board meeting in February. Got to go. See ya.

Back for Africa and Japan

It's been five weeks. I'm sorry about not writing, but it really was beyond my control.

I spent the first week at Kibidula giving a week of prayer on the Eight Conditions For Overcoming. I preached every morning at 9 AM Then we all went to work demolishing buildings to be replaced by a Kibidula chapel. It was hard work, sometimes dangerous as walls would fall in where some people might be working. I attribute God's generous grace for no one getting hurt. At noon, the cafeteria provided us with wonderful food. I then spoke again every evening. All went well and I believe Kibidula is doing great.

Janet, Deniece, Twalisa, Emily and I went on from there to Mago. My wife's project has really advanced. She has all these beautiful buildings in their proper setting. There are students running around everywhere and lots of work for everyone. Janet gave me the job of dropping (felling) 30 to 40 trees around some of her buildings. It was tricky work. At first I lined myself up determining what I would do with each tree. God had other plans. Janet's workers, with whom I could not communicate had there own plans. It was terribly frustrating for me at first, but in the end it turned out to be a blessing. We managed to fall all the trees without touching one of the buildings. Hard work. I could hardly drag myself around after a couple of days. My wife's container finally showed up while I was there. It took half a day to unload the thing and half a day to cut the welds that held it to the truck platform. All in all, it was a great time. I find that manual labor is far more fulfilling than desk work.

The third week (four days) we spent at Lake Malawi--Matema Beach. Steven Grabiner organized an OCI Retreat for the African projects. Wonderful, and the venue couldn't have been more conducive. We swam, we prayed, we listened to talks, we bonded and we grew in grace.

Going in to Matema, my wife's pick-up blew a tire. Upon inspection, we noticed that the companion tire was in terrible shape. The wires were coming out of its great gashes. So we went to town and paid a fortune for two used, junk tires.

I left Matema on Saturday night, 9 PM, to catch a plane in Dar Es Salaam at 10:10 PM on Sunday. Twenty miles out of camp we shredded another tire. (One of the new old ones.) It was on a prayer that we made it to Mbeya, Tanzania. We manage to find some sleep at 1 AM and at 5 AM we were in town looking for the bus station. From there my wife went looking for new tires and I rode the bus for twelve and one half hours to Dar. Sweat and stink and weariness was all part of the adventure. It was so hot in Dar that I put my jacket in my suit case and boarded the plane without anything warm. Well, only an old sweaty shirt in Zurich in winter is not good. Nor was it good in Washington or Denver. No matter, I survived.

I arrived at home at 9 PM and left for Japan at 6 AM in the morning.

I enjoyed Japan a lot. The people are hospitable, kind, courteous and interested. I preached 13 sermons in the city of Meaboshi??. I believe our project called Mt. Akagi is doing very well. They certainly could use more funding and people, but they are improving their lot every day. The Lord is blessing.

I'm home. Steven Grabiner is here doing a week of prayer on the book of Revelation. Great. I wish I was not so jet-lagged. I think Steven wishes he was not so jet-lagged also. Tomorrow I preach at Copper Mountain to the Veggie Diner group.

As for news: I believe I can announce that my wife is sincerely determined to come home to stay. She must find someone to replace her, and that isn't easy, but if the Lord wants it too, I believe it will happen within the year. (We'll see.)

I was reading in Prophets and Kings about King Hezekiah. It says that the Lord left him to prove him, to show what was in his heart. The Lord did that to me once. Consequently, I made the biggest mess in my life. So did Hezekiah. Only a fool would wish to live independently of the Lord.

So says the Preacher to his Tribe.

Super-r-r Woman

I leave for Africa and Japan in three days. This will probably be my last blog for one month. Sorry, I'll be having too much fun, or there won't be internet where I am going. Actually, I won't have a computer with me, so don't count on hearing anything. Ugh! Sounds so final like I'm entering the twilight zone.

The paragraph that follows this sentence is from a 16 year old girl working with my Lover In Africa:

Mrs. Fournier and her right-hand woman, Deniece, have probably taught me more in these few short weeks than I have learned in years of ordinary life. By normal standards, I’m smart. I have nearly a 4.0 GDA, but here that doesn’t matter. It means absolutely nothing. Practical experience and hard work are all that counts. These women are incredible. They can fix almost anything, run a school, communicate through the language barrier, cook almost any meal, put up with each other, and show Christ through their everyday lives. It’s like living with a super-hero and her side-kick. They are who they are, and they are God’s. I admire that.

There you are, I'm married to a Super Heroin. I've always known, but do you know how hard that is? Like the girl says, I'm smart but around her, that doesn't count. (Kidding, sorta.)

I spent last weekend in Norway.

The institution in Norway, the Heartgood Foundation and the European Bible School lost their leader several years ago. It's been struggling ever since. It was decided by the last board that the board should all resign "en masse" and that a new group of seven should attempt to find a solution. I was elected to the new group with Steven Grabiner, Erik Somme, Knut Guvstavsen, Nila Teale, Nic Dan, and Jamiek (Somebody).

The first two days were very discouraging. It was like we couldn't get anyone to say anything that would give us hope of rescuing this institution. (Now I must tell you: On my way to Norway, I prayed every half hour on the half hour that the Lord would show us what to do. On the last day, we broke through the negativity. I wish I could tell you the whole story, but I can't.) God works in mysterious ways. In the end, we elected Knut to be President. Knut is one of the original founders of Heartgood Foundation. He is choosing to buy the farm. This will provide the school with much needed money while leaving the farm in proximity to by used. Also, we accepted a young couple's proposal to run a school starting in 2013. This young couple has two weeks to make a decision. Pray for them. (I believe they will accept the counter proposal. God led too beautifully not to.)

Tonight, I speak at Larry Romrell's house to a group of SDA's from Franktown. Tomorrow I do vespers at EVI, and on Sabbath I speak in Copper Mountain. Sunday I leave for Africa.

In the meantime, I have nothing to do but run in every direction trying to gather all I must take to Africa. I hope I don't end up with more than I am allowed to carry.

Monday I am reunited with Super-r-r Woman. Hmmm! I feel like Clark Kent kryptonited.