Gladly Serve God In Sunshine or Storms by Linda L. Linn - HTML preview

Gladly

Serve God

In Sunshine or

Storms

Linda L. Linn

Gladly Serve God In Sunshine or Storms

Linda L. Linn

TheBookPatch

February, 2023

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced or

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and retrieval system, without permission.

Printed by TheBookPatch in the United States of America.

About the Author

 The author, Linda L. Linn, has lived in Colorado all her life.  She has believed in, and loved Jesus since she was a young child.  When not doing housework, cooking or baking, she likes to play the piano, write stories, sew, and read.  She also enjoys travel and photography.  

 Before she retired, she enjoyed teaching first, second, and third graders in the public school system for 27 years.  She and her husband, Richard, have traveled to see much of God’s beautiful creation in the western United States.  They are presently living in Montrose, Colorado.  She hopes you enjoy this novel.

Dedication

This novel is dedicated with gratitude to

the one and only God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

He is the supreme and sovereign ruler,

and He is the only one deserving of our praise and service.

Preview

 Who might be the next to fall in love in Pine City and find a loving spouse so they can be married and serve God together in unity?  Maybe somebody we haven’t met, because the ones we already know aren’t ready to start thinking in that direction yet, but give them time.  As you read this third novel in the Sunshine Series, be looking for clues about the unmarried people in the Character list which is in the Addendum.  Some will get married and some will decide to stay single.

 Either way, how much can the people in Pine City do for Jesus before he returns?  You’ll get to notice how Jesus loves and leads some his followers to love and serve him in new or old ways.  You might also get some ideas of places where you might like to travel.

 Maybe you’ve wondered what happened during the amount of time the author skipped at the end of the second novel in this series.  This book fills in some of that interval.

 If you haven’t read the first two novels in the series, it would be most helpful for you to read “Everywhere There’s a Sunrise, Let’s Tell the Good News, and “Rejoice as the Sun Shines on Restorations,” before your read this one, “Gladly Serve God In Sunshine or Storms.”  All three books are available to buy as printed copies from thebookpatch.com.  Or you could get each of these books as ebooks or PDF files, free of charge from free-ebooks.net and read them in the right order.

Introduction

 This is a work of fiction, except for the Bible Scriptures, which are God's Word and are therefore true.  The State and National Parks and Monuments are real places where some of the people in this novel travel to visit.  No person in this novel exists in real life except for God the Father, God the Son, (also known as Jesus, the Messiah), and God the Holy Spirit.  All the other characters, places and events in this novel are fictitious.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental.  But, many things in the story, and especially the miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit can really happen.  

 This novel is meant for adults, not children, although with parental guidance, it has parts children might learn from or enjoy.

 Scriptures are shown by italics, and are this author's paraphrase of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.  I chose the King James Version because it has no copyright.  Basically, what I do is to change words like "thee" and "ye" to "you", "thy" to "your", take the "eth," etc. off words, and sometimes use synonyms, to make it sound like more modern English.  You can do the same thing as you read the suggested old hymns in a hymnal.

 The author encourages you to look up these scriptures in your preferred Bible translation and read them there also.  The Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs chosen for this novel really do have meaningful words and teachings.  I encourage you to look up each hymn and spiritual song in a hymnal or songbook.

 If you don’t have a hymnal or a songbook, try looking up the title of the song on the web to find the lyrics.  Reading the lyrics for the songs, finding pictures of the real places people travel to, and other things the characters look up on the web could enhance this story if you can take the time to do it.  Just type the song title, name of the national park or any other topic into the search engine for the web and you can find a wealth of information.

 There’s a list of the characters and horses in this story in the addendum at the end of this novel.  It might help you to keep track of who is who as you read.  Maybe you’ve wondered what happened during the amount of time the author skipped at the end of the second novel in this series.  This book fills in some of that interval.  You might also get some ideas of places where you might like to travel.

 If you decide to print the novel from a PDF file, you can use a regular bookmark to keep track of where you stop.  If you are reading it off the computer screen, just write down the page number where you stop reading.  If you are using an ebook viewer for an ebook, it should have an electronic bookmark.

Prologue

1 Corinthians 7:2,8b,26,38b,

Paul was single and advised, to avoid adultery, let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband, but he said to the unmarried and widows,  It is good for them if they abide even as I, … because of the present distress…”  he concluded, “he who gets married does well, and he who doesn’t does better.”  

 Anita was talking to her husband, Don Ross, who pastors Grace ‘n’ Faith Church #4.  Their children Timmy and Mary were asleep.

 Anita shared, “I’ve been wondering who in our congregation might be the next to fall in love and get married.”

 “Yes, I’ve been wondering about it also,” Don agreed. “There is that one couple who have been dating for so many months already, but it’s hard to tell yet where it might lead.”

 Anita remarked, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they do, pretty soon though, because they’ve been dating for so long already.”

 He nodded, “This is one of the good things about this job.  We usually get to know about these things before the rest of our flock learn about them.”

 This prologue contains some of the people in their congregation and what they are thinking or have thought in the past about getting married or not.  In this story, it will be interesting to see what they do.

 Riley was talking to his parents, Patrick and Glenda O’Connor, after Fiona’s wedding.  “I don’t think it’s God’s will for me to get married right away.  As I’ve been praying about it, I think it might be eventually, but right now I have the wrong kind of job.  It would be hard to be a good husband when I’ll be gone so often and for long times as a salesman for my company.”

 His dad, Patrick, nodded, “I’m glad you’ve prayed about this part of your life and are following God’s leading.”

 “Yes,” agreed Glenda, “as your mother I’m especially relieved to hear about your decision and plans.  And since you’ll be traveling so often, what do you think about getting an apartment of your own?”

 He answered, “I’m undecided about it.”

 “Well,” inserted Patrick, “Your room here is always a choice.  It makes more sense than spending a lot of rent money on an apartment that will be empty so much of the time.”

 “But I don’t want to take advantage of my parents and look like I’m not being responsible,” argued Riley.

 “Nonsense!” exclaimed Glenda.  “We’d love to have you here when you aren’t traveling.  And I don’t care what other people might think.  It was so nice to have Fiona living here when she came home from caring for Great Aunt Cara.”

 Riley conceded, “Thank you both, I do enjoy living here, but I would feel much better about it, if I could pay you room and board.”

 Patrick jumped in before Glenda could disagree, “How would it be if you pay us what you think your room and board would cost, and we put it in a special account earning interest to be your nest egg when you get ready to move out on your own and maybe get married?  You could also save some more on your own.”

 “I like the sound of this idea,” concurred Glenda.  “In fact, if you will stay with us when you’re not traveling, I’ll extend my leave of absence permanently from my job and be a homemaker.  Then when you aren’t traveling, I can enjoy some time with you like I did with Fiona.”

 Tony Valdez, who is the assistant manager during the evenings at Fiesta Restaurante had decided to remain single after his one and only date with Esther Beckett.  He realized he couldn’t really consider marriage because he had chosen a simple lifestyle so he could serve his Lord better.  He wanted to be available to do whatever God wanted him to do and not even think about getting married.

 Ben Clay looked up from his project one evening to see his sister, Amelia, who was still a senior in high school, standing there waiting to be noticed.  She asked her brother, “Ben, are you going to get married?”  

 He was a little surprised at her question, but answered, “I’ve decided I need to wait until I get started in my career and know that I have enough money to support a wife and family.  Before that I still need to finish another year in the trade school so I can be a contractor.  Besides, I’m also waiting for an answer from God about whether to stay single or get married.”

 Amelia said, “I think what you just said makes good sense.  I know I’m too young to think about it yet, even though some of the girls at school are planning weddings right after they graduate this year.  I want to go to the trade school and learn all about how to run a business.  Then I’ll start praying for the same guidance you are.”

 “Your thinking is good, Amelia,” agreed Ben.  “I think too many kids get married too young and then regret it.”

 “Right!” exclaimed Amelia.  “It’s a very important decision and if it is God’s will that I do get married, I plan to do just what Fiona did before she married Matt.  She had a whole list of things to find out about him first.  I’m glad they’re very happily married.”

 “I am too,” stated Ben.  “They make a perfect couple.”

 Unice Logan works full time at Mercy Valley Ranch as the veterinarian for all the horses on the ranch and family nurse practitioner for the people who live there.  She has never been married, and since she believes her job is her ministry, she hasn’t even considered getting married.

 Aneko and her brother, Yoshi Suehiro, were remembering back to a time when they were eating supper at a restaurant in the city where they lived for a few years after finishing high school and a year at the trade school.  Their conversation went like this.

 Yoshi asked, “What do you think about this city where we both moved after a year each in the trade school in Pine City?”

 “I don’t like it very well,” answered Aneko.  “It was my idea to move here and see if I could get a good job and meet some other Japanese young people since there weren’t many in Pine City.”

 Yoshi agreed, “I followed your lead for the same reasons, and my job here is just tolerable.  So far I haven’t found any young people who appeal to me.”

 “How do you feel about marriage?” asked Aneko.

 He responded, “I’m not sure if I ever want to get married.  I’ve seen too many unhappy couples and divorces.

 “I agree.”  Then she added, “Mom and Dad have a very good marriage, but I fear those are few and far between.”

 “You’re right,” and then Yoshi stated, “I don’t think our parents would do it, but I know that I don’t like the Japanese custom of the parents arranging their child’s marriage.”

 Aneko exclaimed, “I don’t either!  It would be scary and undesirable to marry a stranger and not know if you could ever love the person.”

 He nodded, “I’d rather never marry than to have to do it that way.  How’s your job here?”

 She replied, “My job is not very good.  It pays enough to support me, but it’s not very fulfilling.  I’ll admit that I’m thinking about moving back to Pine City because it is a nicer city than this one and I miss the mountains and our parents.”

 He admitted, “If you move back there, I would be even more lonely here, so maybe I’ll consider moving back there too.”

 Shortly after that conversation they both did move back, became believers in Jesus, and started working with their parents in the restaurant, which had the name Ami’s Japanese Restaurant.

 During one of the conversations Ruth Beckett, Maria Gomez, and Pam Green had about marriage, Maria had mentioned, “Julie found a real gem for a husband.  There aren’t many like that around.”

 “For sure!” exclaimed Pam, “and that’s one of the reasons I decided to stay single.  I definitely enjoy living in my little walkout basement apartment without another human being to please.  Knowing I can please my Lord is all I need in order to feel content.”

 Ruth added, “Yes, it’s fabulous to be in the center of God’s will.”

 At another time Maria was talking to Ruth, “I'm so glad I decided to remain single.  I was disappointed when Ted and Julie moved to the ranch so they could be foster parents to four girls, and I was no longer part of their small group, but I really like being in the same one you’re in.  And I like our four member ministry group.”

 Ruth responded, “I’m glad, because I like having you in both of them.  It’s another example of how God works things for our good.”

 “Yes,” Maria agreed, “and he also worked it out so I get to see how the plan for the ranch is working, plus I get to continue my friendships with Julie and Esther.  Furthermore, I enjoy doing things with both of their girls.  It’s really like another ministry for me to do for Jesus.”

 Ruth shared, “That’s wonderful, and it’s the same for me, plus I get to go every weekend either to the farm or the ranch and therefore, I get to go horseback riding almost every Saturday or Sunday.  I’m getting acquainted with my four ‘little brothers’ at the farm, and I have four young ‘nieces’ at the ranch.”

  “I’m glad for you, Ruth,” remarked Maria.  “I’m more busy, enriched, and fulfilled now, than when I was wishing for a husband or that Ted and Julie would stay in town.”

 “Indeed, it’s great when we can accept God’s will.”  Then Ruth mentioned, “my brother, Jason, feels the same way we do, since he decided to stay single.  Now he goes to the farm to do things with his ‘little brothers’ every Saturday.”

 Maria responded, “I’m glad.  Thank you, Jesus for working out all the things in our lives according to your will instead of what we thought we wanted in our lives.  Your way is so much better!”

 Beth Davis is the Principal of the Grace ‘n’ Faith Church Christian School.  She isn’t married and feels it’s God’s will for her to remain single.  She knows that if she got married and had babies, she’d have to give up her position at the school.

 Denji told his parents, Afta and Hana Suehiro, “There aren’t very many Japanese young people my age in this city, and especially in the church we attend, so I think I’ll pray and ask God to lead me about what to do as a career and whether he wants me to get married or stay single.”

 “Good thinking, son,” Afta commended.  “It’s very important to have a career started that will give you enough money to support yourself and a wife and family if God wants you to have those.”

 Hana agreed, “Exactly, and since you’re still a junior in high school, you’re young and have plenty of time to make those kinds of decisions.  I often wonder about my sister’s kids, though.  They are old enough that I’d expect them to start thinking about marriage.  Oh well, it’s really none of my business anyway.”

Chapter 1

Mark 16:15, Jesus said, Go into all the world,

and preach the gospel to every creature.

About nine months after the children had been assigned to

Mercy Valley Ranch and Farm

 In early March, on a Saturday evening after supper cleanup Mindy Jones called out, “Hurry, Dad and Mom, it’s time for the TV show, ‘Meet Some of Jesus’ Servants’ to start!  And tonight it’s about our church!”

 They called back, “We’ll be right there!”  They hurried in and all three sat on the couch to watch it together.

 Interviewer: Welcome to this program where you can meet some of Jesus’ servants. Today I’m going to interview the pastor of Grace ‘n’ Faith Church #1.  He’s already told me that he’s single.  Why did you decide to remain single?

 Pastor: First I’d like to say that this interview is not just about me.  I am a spokesman for Jesus and his church.  To answer your question, after a lot of prayer and Bible study, I felt I could serve Jesus more effectively if I would stay single.”

 Interviewer: And why did you start Grace ‘n’ Faith Church?

 Pastor: While I was in seminary, I heard a song called “Go Right Out,” sung by the Cathedrals.  It’s message was that somebody ought to go tell the good news of salvation to the people who are lost in sin, so they can repent, confess their sins, and believe in Jesus to forgive them and give them eternal life.  The tune and lyrics kept running through my mind and I couldn’t get rid of them.  I finally realized I am one of those somebodies, and each believer is also one of those somebodies, and Jesus can work through us to bring the wanderers in.”

 Interviewer: I agree.  Nobody can do it alone.

 Pastor: Exactly!  First, I needed the time to be able to talk to people.  Years ago, I had a dirt bike I really enjoyed, but it was only a one person activity with no chance to talk to others.  So I sold it after taking a picture and enlarging it to poster size to remind me to use the time and money it would take for my selfish enjoyment to tell others the Good News instead.  Second, I needed a church with believers who would let Jesus work through them to continue the work he started when he was on the earth so long ago.

 Interviewer: But you were still just one person.  How did you get the church started?

 Pastor:  For a couple years after I graduated from seminary, I traveled and searched for churches that were like the New Testament church, and were doing Jesus work on earth.  I worked with many good churches and observed their Christian schools.  With all this knowledge, I moved back to Pine City, where I had grown up, because it needed a church and school like those.  I got a job to support myself and pay the rent on a large house where I could start a house church.  I went out and brought in one wanderer.  Together we brought in more until we had enough for a small number of believers to meet on Sundays in the house for a service and on Wednesdays for a small group meeting.  We went out in teams of two or more, and Jesus led us and worked through us to do miracles, or continue telling the Good News.

 Interviewer: How long did it take after you got here?

 Pastor: It took about a year.  Then we started to grow faster because the people caught the vision and ran with it.  When we got too big for the house, I moved out of the big house into a small apartment.  We’d meet in the park when the weather permitted.  We had baptismal services in public swimming pools where we could present a short explanation of the Good News to other people who were there watching.  Many people responded to the invitations.  By wintertime, we found a church that would let us rent their facility on Saturdays.  They even had a baptismal we could use.  We rented from the same church for about two years while we collected money to build our own facilities.

 Interviewer: What was your collection strategy?

 Pastor: At that time, and presently we have a box with a slit cut in the top, at the back of the sanctuary where people donate the amounts God leads them to give, and it’s always enough to do what God tells us to do.  We have never had to get a loan for building projects.  There are no salaries paid to the pastors including myself.  Also the congregations donate enough money to pay for the running of the church and school, insurance, maintenance, and so forth, and any extra money we give to worthy ministries.

 Interviewer: When did you start the Christian school?

 Pastor: We started the second year by having mothers who would do day care for children the same ages as their own.  With the help of teachers in our church and what I learned by visiting those other schools, we developed a curriculum for kindergarten through the third grade.

 Interviewer: So the school has been an important part of your ministry almost since the beginning.

 Pastor: Yes, I yearned for a way to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it, as it says in Proverbs 22:6.  Plus I wanted them to be trained to go into the public schools in fourth grade and on, as missionaries.

 Interviewer: Has it been effective?

 Pastor: Very, although it’s slow, because they understand the importance of making friends before sharing.  Most of them continue being missionaries in middle and high school, and as adults.

 Interviewer: Let's go back and talk about how your church has grown.  What happened after you built your own buildings?

 Pastor: The members of Grace ‘N’ Faith Church continued doing ministries in teams of two or more with Jesus directing their words and actions.  Jesus did many miracles through them and the result was usually that a lot of people believed in Jesus when they saw the miracle and listened to the explanation of the Good News.  So the church numbers have had a steady growth.  we’d start groups for the new believers to teach them how to live their new lives and soon they were out there bringing more lost wanderers to the church. When we started having four services each weekend, I knew I couldn’t be an effective pastor to that many people, so we became twelve churches with the same name plus a number.  Each church has its own pastor who supports himself and his family, if he has one, and is able to effectively pastor his congregation.

 Interviewer: I know that worked well for a number of years and then what happened?

 Pastor: We had a tremendous growth spurt and felt God leading us to build duplicate facilities with enough pastors for twelve more churches and enough teachers for a new school on the other side of town.  The new buildings were also funded by member’s giving and we have no debt.  All the churches continue to grow as God adds new members to his church.

 Interviewer: Do you plan to add more duplicate facilities as needed in the future?

 Pastor: No, that same year, we sent a church planting group of ten couples to a city we knew needed a good church.  They’re doing such a great job that we will send a group from whatever church reaches about 200 members to plant a church wherever it is needed.  This will keep the size manageable without needing to build again.

 Interviewer: I see our time is up.  Thank you for all the information you shared, and God bless you and the church as you all continue to serve him.

 That evening right after the program, Ami Suehiro shared, “This was really a good program.  I’m glad we get to attend this wonderful church.  Also, Aneko and Yoshi, I want to thank you again for the wonderful job you’re doing in the restaurant.”  

 Tomo Suehiro tacked on, “I feel the same way!  Plus it’s so good to have you back home again!  This house was too big for just Mom and me when you were living in the other city.”

 “Thank you for the compliments,”Aneko responded and Yoshi added his thanks also.

 Ami inquired, “What have you two been thinking about marriage lately?  We haven’t had much time to discuss it for a while.”

 “It was fun to go to Sunny and Esther’s double wedding, replied Aneko, “and the skit was hilarious, especially since we knew the story that went with it.  I personally can’t imagine getting married like Sunny did to Felix Lucero on faith that God would fill both of them with love for each other.  But I got to talk to her mother later and she informed me that they’re both very much in love now.”

 Tomo inserted, “I’m glad to hear the good report.  I never have liked the Japanese custom of parents arranging their children’s marriages.  Ami’s parents wanted to do it for her, but she was already in love with me.  I’m sure glad they didn’t push it.”

 “What a relief!” exclaimed, Yoshi.  “It’s great to know that Aneko and I don’t have to worry about it.  I’d rather stay single than do that.”

 Aneko nodded and added, “My brother and I continue to ask God what his will is for us about getting married or staying single.  I hope he makes it very clear!”

 Ami shared, “Oh, I think he will.  He doesn’t want us to be in the dark about his will.”

 When the founding pastor arrived home after the interview, he was tired, but thankful.  He immediately prayed, “God, please help the churches in Pine City, in the USA, and abroad to have even more impact now and until Jesus returns.  Help us to fulfill Jesus great commission to go into the world and tell the Good News, as it says in the last verses of Matthew 28.”

 An idea came to him at the end of his prayer time, “Have all the small groups write things they’ve done and the results, plus other things they’ve desired to do or see done.”

 He would use this idea first with his own small group, which consisted of all the other pastors at his facility.  If it was a useful idea he’d have the rest of the small groups in all twenty-four churches do it.  His own small group yielded many good activities.

 Therefore in the next small group meetings, each facilitator handed out paper to the members and requested, “Please write down some things you’ve done to tell the Good News, or are doing, with God’s leading, and the results you have had.”  He gave them time to get finished and then instructed, “Think of things you would like to do, or you might do later, or will do later, or would like to see somebody else doing.  Write those next.

 When he noticed that most people were finished, he explained, “The founding pastor of Grace ‘n’ Faith Church had all of us pastors and wives do this at the last small group meeting we had.  He was so pleased with the many things we wrote that he asked us to do this with our small groups.  He said he would have the church secretary compile the lists so there would be no duplicates and as soon as it’s ready and printed, we can hand out a copy to you.  You can take a few more minutes to think and write anything else you desire to add to your list.  Just think, even if your idea seems small to you, if you’re willing to share it, maybe somebody else can use it also as a way they can serve Jesus gladly.”

 When everyone was finished writing he went on, “As soon as possible, there will be some of those well known booklets about many of these activities, including how to implement them.  The pastor of Church #1 might be calling some of you to get more information to put into the booklets.  Therefore please put your name and phone number on your paper before you give it to me.”

 The next church services of the twenty-four Grace ‘n’ Faith Churches after those small group meetings, began with a short video by the pastor of church #1.  He stated, “The interview went well and we’ve been doing a very good job so far.  What I’m going to say next is not meant to put anyone on a guilt trip.  You all are doing a great job already.  I just feel an urgency to do more, since the time we have left, might be very short to bring the lost ones into the fold.  We need to continue what we’re already doing, plus enlarge our impact on our worlds by gladly serving God even more now.

 “After Jesus returns, the time to evangelize will be over.  So I share my vision with you because Proverbs 29:18 says, where there is no vision, the people parish.  If each of us would add just one more activity to reach those people, our impact might be doubled or more!  

 “So as soon as the lists are compiled, we’ll give each family or single person a copy and you can look through them and pray for God to lead you to one or more he desires for you to do.  I’m already working on booklets to go with some of the more involved activities.  If you’d like to help with a booklet or more, please let me know.  The people in the church plant who went to the southern city will also receive copies of the list and can request booklets when they’re available.”

 When the short video ended, the service continued with Spiritual Songs and Bible verses and teaching about the need to increase our effectiveness in fulfilling Jesus great commission to go into the world and tell the Good News, now and until Jesus returns.

 The songs included  “Go Right Out and Bring Them In,” and ‘Til He Comes,” and “I Will Serve Thee.”

 The pastor explained, “Today we were told to give you people practice using your concordance.  Think about the words in one of the songs we sang today and find a verse that would go with at least part of the song.”

 As they were looking he wrote the three titles on a chart with space for the verses they would find. He’d have them read the verse into a microphone so all could hear.

 “Go Right Out and Bring Them In:”  Luke 15:4,5, What man of you, if you have a hundred sheep, if you lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine and go after that which was lost and find it.  And when you have found it, you rejoice as you bring it back.

 ‘Til He Comes:”  John 9:4, Jesus said “I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.  The night comes, when no man can work.”

 “I Will Serve Thee:” 1 John 4:19 tells why we serve, We love him, because he first loved us.

 The teaching time was about gladly serving God continually until Jesus returns.  The members looked up synonyms on their cell phones and shared them.  He also wrote those on the chart and instructed the people in the congregation to copy what was on the chart so they could refer to it later.

 Gladly: joyfully, willingly, eagerly, cheerfully, with gratitude,

 Serve: to work for, do a job for, carry out the wishes of someone,

 God: He is the preeminent one in the universe!  He is the LORD, the sovereign One.  He is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, The Supreme Being, the Lord Jesus Christ, plus other names,

 Continually: repeatedly, frequently, regularly,

 Until: up to the time of the event mentioned,

 Jesus returns: our Savior comes back like he said he would.

 When the pastor noticed that most people were finished copying the things on the chart he continued, “Today we’re focusing mostly on the present time and until Jesus returns.  Then we believers will continue to serve God for eternity in ways we cannot even imagine.”

 The people in the congregation nodded and smiled.

 He continued, “The pastor who founded Grace ‘n’ Faith church shared his vision with all of us after praying that we would catch his extended vision by continuing to do the good things we are already doing, plus as he said, ‘enlarge our impact on our worlds by gladly serving God even more now.’  Let’s all be praying in unity for that same desire as we wait to receive the list of ideas.  Now let’s sing the song, ‘Til He Comes’ one more time before we go home.”

 As a result of the pastor’s video and the teaching time at the service, most of the people in the church prayerfully considered the activities on the list they received and asked Jesus to guide them to the one or ones that would be best for them to do. They escalated their ministries to include at least one thing Jesus guided them to do from the list of possible activities.  Some added activities to their jobs or changed to jobs where they would be able to witness better.  Perhaps you’ll notice some new ideas from the list as you read on in this story.  Other people would choose things that had already been done effectively by somebody else.

  One weekend when Ruth was staying with her sister, Esther, and husband, Nathan Mendoza, on Mercy Valley Ranch, Esther shared, “Nathan and I really liked the pastor’s interview and the small group meeting and church service, plus the list of ideas.  We are praying about another ministry we can add to being foster parents to these girls who had been abused.”

 Ruth said, “I liked all those things also, and I’ve been praying about the same thing for myself.  I think God will show all of us when his timing for each of us is right.  Maybe we all need some more time focusing on what we are doing here on the ranch.”

 Esther nodded, “What a good point to keep in mind, especially continuing to teach them about the Bible and how to live for Jesus.”  Then Esther mentioned, “I remember when you asked me if I could have been in that strange situation of dating two men simultaneously, for such a time as this, as it says in Esther 4:14b.  Back then, I didn’t think I could ever be like Esther in the Bible.  But that situation has turned out to be the greatest way for me to serve God that I could ever imagine!”

 “Absolutely!” agreed Ruth.  “Besides, it turned into another way I could serve him also.  I’m so glad I get to spend time with with you now and help you with your four foster girls, Lucia, Val, and the twins, Holly and Willow.  Plus I get to help Dad and Mom on Mercy Valley Farm with their four foster boys who had also been abused.”

 Esther added, “I agree, and it’s hard for me to believe that our girls are seven years old now and already accepted Jesus as their Savior when they were six.  The teachers told Julie and me all our girls had caught up in areas where they were behind.  We’ve been here for almost a year already. It was the most wonderful idea Oscar and Vera could possibly have come up with, to turn their profitable dude ranch into a cluster of ten homes for four abused foster girls each.”

 “Yes,” said Ruth, “I always enjoyed coming here when it was a dude ranch, but it’s even better now.  Every house is always in use, and the horses get more exercise than ever before!  I’m just so thankful that I still get to come here.  Now it’s much more often than it was when we only got to spend an occasional weekend here.”

 Esther exclaimed, “For sure, and I even get to live here all year around and help raise these four precious girls with Nathan!  I also remember telling you at one time that it might be easier for me to remain single than try to choose the best husband, but that there might be a lot I’d miss out on having and doing with the right man.  I can see I would have missed out on this tremendous opportunity.  I’m really happy I stuck with the adventure and God chose the best husband for me, plus the girls he wanted us to raise.  Nathan is truly the best husband!”

 “Indeed he is!” Ruth concurred.  “I couldn't be happier for you, my dear sister.  I enjoy seeing you so happy and fulfilled.”

 Esther replied, “Thank you, Ruth.  I had no idea how marvelous my life could be back when I was hoping to get married.  This is more than I ever could have dreamed up.”

 “I’m sure,” Ruth nodded, “That’s the way God often does things.” She paused and then went on to say,  “I noticed several months ago that you removed all the head and foot boards from the beds here, but I haven’t had a chance to ask you why.  They do look very different from what I was used to seeing.”

 “Yes, I did,” stated Esther.  “When I went to visit Fiona on the Sunday afternoon right after we became reacquainted with Nathan and Felix, she told me that it’s much easier to make and unmake beds without head and foot boards and you don’t get skinned knuckles.  I really like it this way.”

 Ruth declared, “Indeed it would be, I think it’s a great idea and I intend to do the same thing as soon as I get back to my apartment.”

 “I’m glad,” Esther remarked, “but don’t do it by yourself.  Nathan removed all of ours and he’s really good at it. We stored ours in the garage.  So let me ask him when he can do it and we’ll come help you.  I just wish you and I had learned about it sooner.  It would have kept us from so many sore knuckles, and would have saved us so much time and effort dusting.”

 Ruth laughed, “I completely agree.  I can donate mine to a thrift store in the city.  Oh, I forgot to tell you, a month after your wedding, I converted your bedroom into a combination study, library, sewing, and exercise room.  It’s been working very well for me and it helped me to not be so lonely every time I went past your empty room.  Being able to come here to visit you, Nathan, and your girls has been just what I needed.”

 “It’s the same for me,” Esther concurred.  “The extra room in this cabin is just right for you being able to come visit, plus it’s a sewing and music room.  It’s great that Nathan wants you and Maria to come on alternate weekends.  He’s so understanding and supportive, and besides, he also enjoys having both of you come here.”

 One evening a week or two after the pastor’s interview, the supper things were all cleaned up, so Vern, Lora, and Mindy Jones were sitting in the living room.

 Mindy confessed, “Dad and Mom, I have something that’s been bothering me lately.  High school is going fine, except I don’t like having to change into the gym uniform and then shower after gym, because there’s no privacy in the locker room or showers.”

 They were listening politely, so she went on, “It didn’t bother me as much in middle school because there were many other girls who hadn’t developed yet either, but now I seem to be the only one, and several of the mean girls have been making fun of me every chance they get.”

 Lora compassionately said, “Mindy, I’m so glad you told us about this and didn’t keep suffering in silence.”

 “Yes,” agreed her dad, “we want to know about everything that concerns you, Mindy.  I think I lost track of your age and development with all the other things we’ve been doing.  Would you be willing to go see your mom’s doctor, who is a lady, and let her examine you to see if there are any reasons you aren’t developing like the other girls?”

 “Yes I would,” answered Mindy, “if Mom will go with me.  I haven’t gone to see very many doctors, since I’m usually healthy.

 Lora responded, “Of course, Mindy, I’ll be glad to go with you.  It sounds to me like it’s time for you to have a check-up.  I’ll call tomorrow and make an appointment for you on a Saturday afternoon so we can both go see her and not have to take time off from school.  She’s very nice.  I think you’ll like her.”

 “Thank you Dad and Mom!” exclaimed Mindy.  “You’re the best!”

 They both replied, “And you’re the best too!”

 Lora called at noon from the school the next day, and was able to get an appointment for Saturday the same week since someone else had canceled theirs.  So Lora typed up a summary of Mindy’s history and her concern on the computer’s word processor, printed it out, and they took it with them to the appointment.

 On Saturday the nurse came in and took Mindy’s temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, asked questions, and typed things into the computer.  Lora gave her the summary and she typed some more things from it.  Then she took the summary with her so the doctor could read it before coming into the room.

 When the doctor came into the examining room she quickly put Mindy at ease by her friendly manner.  She asked some more questions and then left for a short time while Mindy undressed and put the funny paper gown on with the opening in the back.  She and Lora laughed at how funny it looked and felt.  She was glad the room was warm so she didn’t have to shiver.

 The doctor came back in and examined Mindy thoroughly, saying many things to reassure her.  Then she left again while Mindy got dressed.  In a short time she came back in and sat with them on the chairs in the room so they could talk.

 The doctor said, “Mindy, my examination shows that you are a very healthy teenager, but it is very unusual that you haven't developed in the usual feminine ways yet.  I don’t know for sure, but it could have been caused from the grief you experienced when your birth mother died in childbirth, somehow subconsciously shut down that part of your development so that what happened to her wouldn’t happen to you.  I admit I haven’t ever heard of something like this occurring, but the human body and mind are very complex.  And I can’t think of any other reason.

 Mindy asked, “So from what you said, I understand that I’m healthy, but so far I haven’t developed like the rest of the girls are doing.  Do you think I ever will?”

 The doctor answered, “There is no way any of us can tell, but even if you don’t, it will not have to affect your ability to live a happy life, except for before and after gym classes.  I know how nasty some girls can be and I hope we can find a way to get you away from them.”

 The doctor turned toward Lora and questioned, “Is there any way you could take Mindy out of high school and do home schooling so she doesn’t have to go through the mean teasing?  As a doctor, who has just told you she is healthy, I can’t write a note excusing her from gym classes.”

 Lora replied, “We understand that, and we will figure out a way to do it just as soon as possible.  Thank you for your good advice.  It’s a relief to know that Mindy is healthy.”

 “You’re welcome,” said the doctor.  “Mindy, it would be a good idea for you to start coming here for a yearly checkup plus whenever you have any questions for me to answer.”

 Mindy responded, “I’ll plan to see you again in a year or before if needed, and I also thank you for your help.

 The doctor nodded and waved as she went out the door.

 The Suehiro family was having a discussion after breakfast and

Ami mentioned, “The other day we were discussing marriage.  Do you remember the last time we had a phone visit with your uncle and aunt, Afta and Hana?”

 “Yes I do remember,” answered Aneko.  “Hana said her sister’s son and daughter are our ages, except the boy is the older one.”

 Yoshi inserted, “Yes, they’re our cousins because Dad’s brother married her sister, but they’re still strangers to us.  We don’t even know their names.”

 Tomo shared, “Well, your mom and I have been discussing the pros and cons of traveling.  I’ve always had a desire to travel and see my twin brother and his family who live pretty far east of us, plus any of the scenery along the way there and back.  What if Mom and I could meet your cousins while we are there and evaluate them.  Then if we think they might be possibilities, we could invite them to come visit and help us in the restaurant.  If they come here, you both could evaluate them yourselves.”

 Ami admitted, “I personally have never felt like we could do any traveling because of the restaurant, but now that you two have come home and are working here so well, I think it might work.”

 “Indeed!” exclaimed Aneko.  “I think it would be wonderful for you to be able to go, and I guess it would be okay for you to meet and evaluate our cousins.  Since they’re not blood relatives, they might be possibilities, but Yoshi and I both said not too long ago, that we are not in a hurry to get married.”

 “Right!”  Then Yoshi inquired, “If you go, how will you get there?

 “Well,” replied Tomo, “neither of us wants to fly or go on the bus, or by train.  The last time we talked to Afta I mentioned a motorhome.”

 “I remember,” stated Aneko, “and Mom said something like she doubted it would ever happen.”

 Ami concurred, “Yes I did, but that was when I felt we couldn't travel because we needed to be here for the restaurant.  Actually, I think a motorhome would be the ideal way to travel.”

 “Although,” Yoshi observed, “it would take a lot more time than flying would.”

 Tomo inserted, “True, but we could see so much more scenery along the way.”

 “Plus,” added Ami, “I think we could get the booklet about travel evangelism and have it be another ministry we could do as a couple.”

 Aneko declared, “Since you could minister as you travel, I really hope you’ll go for it, Dad and Mom!  I think Yoshi and I can handle the restaurant for a couple weeks while you’re traveling.  We could hire a waitress for the days you’ll be gone.”

 “I agree,” Yoshi tacked on, “let’s clean up the dishes and go visit an RV lot to see which motorhome you might like to consider.”

 Tomo smiled at his dear children and then responded, “Thank you both for understanding and encouraging us to go ahead with this idea.  We might be able to help bring some more people to Jesus.”

 Ami added, “Yes, and we’d appreciate your prayers for us.”

 Aneko and Yoshi promised they would be sure to pray.

 When they arrived home from the doctor, Lora and Mindy told Vern everything the doctor had said.

 “Mindy, my dear daughter,” Vern shared, “I really am happy and relieved to find out you are healthy.  I’m sorry this has happened to you and caused you to be hurt by the mean girls who made fun of you.”

 “Thank you,” Dad, “I agree, it’s not pleasant to be teased, and since there is no way to tell whether I’ll ever develop and the doctor can’t get me excused from gym class, then I’d rather not have to keep going to public school.”

 Vern nodded, “I agree absolutely.  Lord we pray and ask you for wisdom about what to do in this situation.”

 After a time of silent waiting, Mindy smiled and suggested, “I wonder if we could get Fiona to tutor me by phone during the school days and I could finish high school on line here in our nice home with the computer in the office.  Then it really would be home schooling.

 Lora asked, “You wouldn't mind being here alone all day?”

 “No,” she shook her head.  “I like our home and it would be quiet and easy for me to concentrate.”

 “Vern inquired, “What will you do to take the place of gym classes?  Too much sitting wouldn’t be good for your health.”

 Mindy replied, “Each day I could get plenty of exercise as I help with the children when I go to Fiona's house in the afternoons and maybe I could use the exercise equipment they have in their home.”

 “I like your idea,” Vern declared, “I’ll call Fiona right now and ask her to think and pray and discuss the idea with Matt.  She can let us know what they decide.  We can pay her whatever they think is fair.”

 So he called and talked to her right then.

 Then Lora remarked, “This would be a good plan for these four years of high school and since you’ve already told us you’d rather go right to Fiona's house after school rather than sign up for sports or other clubs or activities, you won’t be missing out on very much at the school.”

 “Exactly,” Mindy concurred, “and the fact that I’m not developing in the normal feminine ways does not have to be a bad thing.  In fact, Dad, I think you will be relieved to know there will probably be no chance for me to have a problem with childbirth.”

 “Absolutely!” he exclaimed, “I couldn’t very well ask your prospective husband to have the operation I had, since I now know it was not even a Biblical thing for me to have done.  But God has forgiven me.”

 Lora commented, “Yes, and if it is God’s will for Mindy to get married, there are other ways for them to obtain children to raise, if God wants them to, like being foster parents or adopting.”

 Mindy laughed, “Marriage or singleness seems a long time away from now, since I still have at least four more years of schooling.  But I know I should start praying and preparing for whatever the Lord wants me to do about it and what career he would choose for me.”

 “Indeed,” agreed Vern, “Lora and I will pray for you also.”

 When the phone rang in the evening after supper, Vern answered with the speaker on so Lora and Mindy could hear.  Fiona had called and said, “Vern, I talked to Matt and we prayed.  I’ll be happy to tutor Mindy on the phone, and if she’d like to come here half an hour early every afternoon, there would be no chance of her running into any of those mean girls on their way home from school.  Then she can use the exercise equipment right when she gets here, so we won’t get busy and forget.”

 Matt added, “And there will be no need to pay us anything.  Mindy won’t take very much for coming to help us, so this can just be a little bit extra we can give her for all she does here.”

 Vern responded, “Thank you both!  Could she begin coming to your house early this coming Monday?  The sooner we can get her out of that situation the better.

 “Of course,” Fiona answered, “this will work out fine.”

 “Very good,” said Vern, “then I’ll go take care of the paper work at the school before I go to work on Monday.  God bless you both!”

 When they finished talking Lora said, “We can spend the rest of the evening and part of tomorrow looking for the best online home school program.”

 After looking and comparing several Christian programs, they chose the one they felt would be best.  So Mindy was ready to start bright and early Monday morning.

  During their Sunday morning horseback ride with Candy and her family, Mindy, Vern, and Lora explained to Candy and her family why Mindy was going to do home schooling.  They understood and were supportive.

 Candy shared, “I know how mean those girls can be.  I'll miss seeing you at school and eating lunch with you.”

 Mindy responded, “I will too, but maybe you and June can continue ministry times together.”

 “We will,” replied Candy, “and I’m glad you get to come ride horses with us every weekend.”

 Mindy declared, “I feel the same way!  It’s something I always look forward to doing.”

 The Jones family had Pastor Ross and family over for supper Tuesday evening.  Vern and Lora explained the situation to Don and Anita while Mindy entertained Timmy and Mary.  Now all the people in their lives who needed to know, had been informed about this big change and would be praying for everything to go well for them.”

  When the church time changed to 6 PM Sunday, on the first weekend in April, it didn’t work as well for the father of the quadruplets, Lily, Violet, Iris, and Rose, who lived at Mercy Valley Ranch with their foster parents, Ted and Julie Blake.  Supper was very late for the girls, and that made it late for them to get back to the ranch and also made it late for them to get to bed.

 That evening when he brought them back to the ranch he mentioned, “Since the time for the service changed to 6 PM this week, it didn’t give us as much time to do things together as a family.  I wonder if there’s some way we could improve this.”

 He and Ted and Julie talked about it for a while and came up with some ideas but they didn’t seem very good, while the quadruplets whispered in the corner.

 Pretty soon the four of them raised their hands like they would in school, and he called on them.

 Lily suggested, “Maybe you could come here after lunch on Sundays and spend the afternoon with us on the ranch.

 Iris added, “We could teach you how to prepare and ride a horse, so we could go horseback riding together.”

 Violet tacked on, “We could show you places we enjoy here on the ranch and we could hike together up to Lavender Falls, and show you the interesting rocks there.”

 Rose went on,  “Then we could help fix supper here, eat it and clean up the kitchen, change our clothes and ride with you to church.  We can all sit together like we always do and then we can come home with Daddy and Mommy.”

 He smiled lovingly at them and replied, “I like your ideas.  If it is all right with your daddy and mommy, let’s try it, starting next week.”

 Ted and Julie nodded, smiled, and agreed to try it.

 “What time should I arrive here?” he asked.

 Julie answered, “We are usually finished with lunch and cleaning up after it by 1:30 PM.”

 Therefore, the next Sunday he got there promptly at 1:30 PM and the girls gave him a complete tour of the ranch.  He watched them help get supper and enjoyed eating with the family.  Then he and his girls cleaned up afterward.  They changed clothes and rode with him to church.  Each girl always remembered whose turn it was to sit next to Father or Daddy or Mommy in church, where they helped hold the hymnal, sang well, “followed” along in the Bible, and listened to the teaching.

 After church he declared, “I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon with all of you today.  Thank you very much.”

 Ted responded, “We enjoyed it also, so can we expect you to come to the ranch next Sunday?”

 “Absolutely!” he answered, “maybe I’ll get to learn how to prepare and ride a horse next time.”

 All the girls smiled, nodded, and gave him hugs before he left.

 The next Sunday afternoon, when he arrived right on time, Ted asked, “Would it be all right with you if we come along on your first horseback ride, just in case there are some problems you might not know how to handle?”

 He exclaimed, “Oh yes!  Please do come for this one and all the time.  I enjoy your company and it will always be safer this way.”

 The quadruplets were dressed for their ride when he got there.  They were so excited, but as usual they used good self control.  They got a helmet for him out of the tack room, plus halters and lead ropes, and then walked to the pasture, where the horses came to greet them.

 He watched as each girl walked up to the horse of her choice talking to it and stroking or rubbing it in places it liked to be rubbed.  Then they put on the halter and attached the lead rope.  Lily chose Princess, the tallest of the small horses.  Violet chose Socks, the next tallest.  Rose picked Rusty, smaller still, and Iris chose Honey, the smallest horse on the ranch.  They had decided beforehand that it would be fun to be on stairstep horses.

 Meanwhile, Ted and Julie had chosen Coco and Dark Coco and suggested that he choose between Coffee and Tea, the other two medium sized horses, so he wouldn’t seem so high up as on some of the taller horses for his first ride.  Julie held their horses while Ted helped the father with the halter and lead rope on Tea, the horse he chose.  Each one of them would be riding on Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horses, which don't trot, so this also would be easier for his first ride.

 They led the horses back to the tack room and the girls showed him how they tied their horses, brushed them smooth, and checked and cleaned their hooves.  Then they watched to see that he did it all correctly and complimented him on a good job.

 Next they showed him how to saddle and bridle a horse by doing it on their own mounts.  Ted and Julie, who were also finished with theirs by now, tightened up the cinches on the girls saddles and then helped him wherever he needed help.  The quadruplets showed him, on their horses, how to mount the horse, how to use the reins to turn or stop the horse, and how to get it to walk or go faster.

 Before he mounted up he remarked, “I never realized there would be so much to learn about horses and riding.  I’m glad I have had such good teachers!”

 The girls beamed with pleasure at the compliment, and they started up the road.  They rode at a walk or the single-foot gait, which is so easy to ride, and stopped after half an hour so their father wouldn’t be so stiff when he got off.  Then they removed the tack and brushed the horses and cleaned their hooves before taking them back to the pasture and leaving them after strokes and thanks for the good ride.  He watched as the girls cleaned up their tack and did the same for his.

 He stressed, “Thank you all for this first lesson and the ride!  I really enjoyed it, although my legs do feel strange now!  I’ll go buy myself a helmet to use when I ride here from now on.”

 In their own words, the girls each told him he was welcome and that they had enjoyed the ride also.  Their experiment had worked well, and the family had many good horseback rides when the weather permitted.  If the weather didn’t cooperate, there were plenty of things to do in the house or in the game rooms of the big house.

 Their father got to enjoy the early part of Resurrection Day, (their preferred name for Easter) on the ranch later in April by coming early for the special sunrise service.  The weather was nice enough that they didn’t have to meet in the big riding building.  Instead they gathered on the lawn of the big house and sang many songs to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.

 Then he went back to their home and had breakfast with the family.  After helping with the cleanup, he took the girls with him to spend the day at his home and to visit their Grandpa and Grandma in Pine City.  He brought them to church for the service at 6 PM and they all especially enjoyed the ending part where Daddy read the scriptures out of the Bible to go with a slide show about the holy day.  The eight teenage girls from the ranch in their costumes came up on the stage to act out finding the empty tomb during the last scene of the slide show and scriptures.

 The already proven idea of two by two ministries continued to be a weekly activity of the members of the Grace ‘n’ Faith churches.  

 Matt and Fiona Anderson were happy they could leave baby Patrick, and toddler Johnny with either set of grandparents, her mom and dad, Patrick and Glenda O’Connor, or Walt and Betty Evans who had adopted them in their hearts.  They had told both sets that they could consider this an additional ministry, since it made it so much easier for Matt and Fiona to go do their two by two ministry.

 So one sunny day, with Patrick and Johnny well cared for, they went with their frisbees to the park to do part of the course and hope to find somebody to talk with about the Good News.

 Before long a young man came up to them and said, “Hey, you’re that couple who was here a few years ago.  I see you have both improved, but you’re still not using the disks that work so well on the course.”

 Fiona replied, “You’re right.  I remember you telling us about those disks, but since we don’t do this very often, we decided to stick with what we had already bought.  You have a very good memory.  It’s been about three years ago, and we were just dating then.  Matt and I are married now and have two little boys.”

 He remarked, “Time sure does fly.  Congratulations.”

 “Thank you.  I remember you also,” added Matt.  “I also thank you for telling us about the disks when we were just learning about this game.  We were watching you just now and you’re very good at it.  How about sitting here in the shade on these benches?  We have some apple juice in those little individual boxes and they’re still nice and cold.”

 He responded, “Great!  It sounds delicious, and I am pretty hot and rather tired right now.”

 “You must practice a lot,” Fiona mentioned, “because you almost always hit the goals.”

 “Yeah,” he agreed, “this is something I really enjoy doing.”

 At this point, Fiona felt it would be best if she would stay quiet and pray for Matt to continue the conversation, turn it to spiritual matters, and pray for the Holy Spirit to draw the young man to Jesus.

 Matt inserted, “I'm sorry we disappointed you by not getting the right kind of disk.  And this reminds me of how often in my life I’ve disappointed God.  Every time I miss the goal, it brings to mind a definition I heard once for ‘sin.’  To sin means to miss the mark.  In other words it means to do the opposite of what God wants us people to do.”

 He asked, “How do you know what God wants you to do?”

 Matt answered, “Sometimes my conscience tells me when I’ve done a wrong.  Other times I remember what I’ve read in the Bible, and know I’ve missed the mark again.

 “Oh, it’s not a very nice feeling,” the young man observed.  “I don’t like it, and I don’t even know very much about the Bible except the Ten Commandments.”

 Matt concurred, “Correct, it’s definitely a terrible feeling and one all humans have, because if we break even one of God’s commands, we’re guilty of breaking them all, as it says in the Bible in James 2:10,11.  The final result of sin is separation from God and heaven and eternity in the other place.”

 “Yuck!” he exclaimed.  “Now I feel even worse!”

 Matt emphasized, “I would also, but I’m very glad we don’t have to continue to have these terrible feelings.”

 “Really?”  he asked, “How do you get rid of them?”

 Matt explained, “God loves the people he created so much that he made a way for them to be forgiven when they sin if they will believe in Jesus, God’s son.  God sent Jesus to earth to live a perfect life in order that he could pay the penalty for people’s sins by dying on the cross and being raised back to life on the third day.”

 “I’ve never heard anything like this before,” said the young man.

 Matt continued, “The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible tell the story of Jesus life, death and resurrection.”

 “I don’t have a Bible,” he admitted.

 “Someday you can buy one,” suggested Matt.  Then he went on, “If we will believe in what God did through Jesus, confess our sins to Jesus, ask him to forgive us and help us to live for him, he will be glad to do it.  When we do it, he saves us and promises us eternal life in heaven when this life is over.”

 What if I sin again?” he asked.

 Matt replied, “I’m glad you asked this question.  You probably won’t sin as often, but none of us will be perfect until we get to heaven.  So when we do miss the mark and sin again, the Bible says in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess it, God is faithful to forgive us and make us clean.”

 The young man thought it through.  “So we don’t have to go around feeling awful about the bad things we do, or go to that horrid place.  I would like to have that good feeling and the promise of eternal life in heaven.  Do I have to go to a church and get down on my knees and have a preacher help me pray?”

 “Not at all,” Matt responded, “you can pray right here on the bench in the park or anywhere else, and God will hear and answer you.”

 “Okay, I’ll do it!” he exclaimed.  “God, I know I sin a lot, and I want to be rid of this awful feeling.  I believe in Jesus, your Son, and what he did by dying on the cross and being raised the third day.  I confess these sins to you.”  He listed quite a few and then went on, “Please forgive me for all my sins and help me to live for you.”

 He sat still for a few moments and then smiled hugely.  “He did it!  I don’t understand it, but I feel good, clean, and forgiven.  I’ll remember to confess quickly every time I goof, and I’ll trust God to help me do better.  Thank you so much for helping me to understand about this.”

 “You’re very welcome,” stated Matt, “and we are rejoicing that you made this very important decision.”

 All at once the young man jumped up and asked, “Would you stay here so I can go get my friends and bring them here to listen to you so they can know the same feeling I have?”

 Matt smiled, “Of course, we’d be glad to.  We’ll see you and them soon right here.”  

 Fiona made a cellphone call to tell the grandparents what was happening, and they’d be later coming to pick up the children.

 He ran to find his friends further down the course and returned with four of them.  They were all a little out of breath from the run, but listened attentively as Matt shared with them what he had just told the young man and asked if they had any questions.

 Nobody did, so the young man declared, “You guys, you better do this so you can get rid of those awful guilt feelings and know you’re going to heaven and never have to fear going to the other horrid place!”

 Meanwhile, Fiona was praying extra hard.

 He tacked on, “I’ll tell you what I prayed if you don’t know what to say.”  They nodded so he told them and explained, “You don’t have to use my exact words though, and you don’t have to be in a church.  I did it right here on this park bench!”

 Pretty soon all four of his friends had prayed their own version of the prayer and were amazed at how great it felt to be forgiven and filled with hope.

 Matt invited, “We’d like to have all five of you come to church and sit with us on Sunday at 6 PM.  Here’s a little booklet you can read before then, which explains more about what we’ve talked about here today.  There’s a little card inside that you can fill out and bring with you tomorrow.  It just asks for your name, address and phone number, and if you would like to join a small group to learn more about living your lives for Jesus now.  We’ll meet you in the entry way and you can sit with us.  Then, at the end of the service, we can take you to meet our pastor, and you can give him this card.”

 The young man stated, “We’ll all be there.  Thank you for caring enough to spend your afternoon explaining this to all of us.  We’ll see you tomorrow at church at 6 PM.”  

 The rest added their thanks and then everyone went their separate ways.

 Matt and Fiona hurried to the grandparents home and they all had a great praise session after hearing about the salvations!

 This would be the second week Vera and Oscar Yardley, Karen Spencer, and all eight foster girls went out to gather wildflowers for the scrapbooks they were going to make.  Karen’s husband, Jeff, was at his job in Pine City, so he couldn’t join them.

 Stella shouted from a distance away from the others, “Here’s a nice group of several different kinds of wildflowers!”

 The others came running, stopping short so they wouldn’t step on any of the flowers.

 Christy suggested, “Let’s identify all of them before we pick any.  We all brought our notebooks like Vera recommended last week, so we can write down their names.”

 “Right,” agreed Emma, “If we pick them first they might wilt before we get them home to press them under the books.”

 So they identified all the flowers they were going to pick and wrote their names and page number of the book they used.

 Karen noted, “Writing these down now will save us time at home.  As soon as we arrange the flowers to be pressed, we can put the book on top of the newsprint covering them and copy their names on the scrapbook pages for each one.”

 “At our house,” stated Lisa, “we are using lots of the encyclopedias to press the flowers.  They make good weights.”

 Nan remarked, “We are learning a lot by doing this project.”

 “Yeah,” admitted Ellie, “I had to relearn one thing the hard way.  I forgot Vera’s warning to not look at how the pressed flowers were doing for four weeks, so I picked up the book off my last set of flowers to look at them and ruined all of them.  I’ll have to do that set over.”

 “Oh no!” exclaimed Liz. “Stella and I will help you do them over, just tell us a couple of names, and we’ll gather some of those today along with our new ones and you can get the rest with your new ones today.”

 Ellie said with relief, “Thank you both for your kind help.  It will make it a lot easier.”

 Hanna commented, “I’ll bet your mistake will help the rest of us remember better so we don’t have to learn the hard way too.”

 Vera commended the girls for the good job they were doing on this interesting project.

 By now they were all finished identifying and writing the names so they went to pick the best specimens they could find for each name they had written.  Then they took them home and pressed them.  After putting them under the heavy books, the girls prepared the pages in their scrapbooks to be ready for these flowers in about a month.

 Walt and Betty Evans prayed a lot about how they might expand their ministry.  Walt mentioned, “I’m not sure what else we could do, beyond the two by two ministry we do once a week.  We were taught how to do it in our small group when we became believers.”

 Betty read the list.  “Right, and it’s a good ministry.  Here’s one on the that list suggests going out more than just once a week, like if we both go together whenever we need to buy something.”

 “It sounds like a good idea,” agreed Walt.  “Since my job as the boss of Evans Construction Company takes so much of the rest of my time, we could add that idea for the two of us.”

 Betty agreed, “And besides we really can consider it another ministry to take care of Johnny and Patrick every other Saturday, so Matt and Fiona can go out unhindered to do their two by two ministry.”

 “Yes, and in addition,” added Walt nodding, “it gives us more time with our ‘grandsons’ plus their parents when they come to drop them off and pick them up.

 Betty concurred, “Yes I like that part too, and they told us last time how much it had helped them.  Also, I’ll continue to read over this list and ask Jesus to guide me to something I can do while you’re at work.”

 Later that day she called her friend Glenda O’Connor to see if she would be interested in praying about working as a team for Wednesday Bible Study and Story groups using the materials they could check out from the church.  Glenda agreed, and they got started right away on an idea they both knew was already being done and was effective even though it took time to see results.

 Several weeks later Glenda suggested, “Our Wednesday groups are going so well and we’ve learned enough so I think we could start to work separately every day doing an After School Place for whatever children need it in our neighborhood.”

 Betty concurred, “Yes, it would multiply our efforts and reach more children for extended times, rather than just once a week in one neighborhood.”

 Glenda continued, “Exactly, so we’d be letting more children come to Jesus as it says in Mark 10:14-16.  We could stop in the church office after church this week and look at the booklet that goes with this activity.”

 “Certainly” said Betty,“and if it looks like something we think we could do, we can each get a booklet to read and get prepared for an even bigger ministry for each of us.”

 They read the booklets separately, discussed the program with their husbands, got their support, and were ready to discuss the booklets after their next Wednesday groups.

 Glenda shared, “The booklets provide training and the church has materials for After School Places to keep the kids off the streets or from being home alone when school lets out.”

 “Right,” said Betty, “and it can include tutoring, or help with homework after they play a few active games to give them a break from school work.”  

 “Yes!”  Then Glenda read from the booklet, “Providers who tutor will need to work with the school teacher on what will help the most. The hours needed are from 3:30 to 5:30 PM for elementary age or 2:30 to 5:30 PM for middle and high school students except for on Wednesdays, each one is an hour earlier because of early release time.  Most families reserve the weekends for their own family time and church.”

 Betty mentioned, “I think I could start with the same children we’ve worked with here at my home as we team taught.  I’ll need to go talk to all their parents and see if they’re interested in a place their children can go each day after school instead of being home alone or wandering around on the streets.”

 “What a good idea for you to do,” Glenda agreed.  “I’ll need to start from scratch in my neighborhood.  I know we did the Wednesday groups for free, but like it says in the booklet, we need to charge the parents something so they buy into the program and their children feel more obligated to come every day.”

 Betty nodded emphatically, “Exactly!  I was considering doing it for free, but I can see how it would be better to charge a weekly fee.  Then it’s up to the parents to insist that their children come daily.  They can check a child’s whereabouts on cell phones, or just call us to check.  We should give them our phone numbers.”

 “Right,” then Glenda suggested, “so let’s take the rest of this week to talk to parents and try to be ready to start by the week after next.”

 Betty responded, “Good idea, then we can tell the children on Wednesday next week about our plan.”

 The same evening after supper dishes were finished Glenda explained, “Betty and I did decide to try the After School Place program separately so our two neighborhoods can be covered.  I’ll need to go door to door and find out who’d be interested in this program.”

 “Good, I’m sure you will both do well.”  Then Patrick prayed, “Father in Heaven we all ask for you to help Glenda as she prepares to start this program.  We’re all in agreement about her doing this ministry.”

 “Yes,” continued Riley, “and when I’m not traveling and get to come home early, please give me the best ways to help Mom with this program.”

 Glenda added, “Thank you for the time I have available right now to implement the After School Place, and that Patrick and Riley are so supportive.  Please show me many ways to make it a fun and useful time for the children who come.”

 So Glenda went door to door, explaining to the parents about the plan to give their children a place to go after school until their parents get home from their jobs.  The ones who wanted to let their children go to her house after school helped her come up with an appropriate price per child per week.  She would have eight children of different age levels to begin the program.  Maybe others would like to join when they heard from their neighbors how much fun they were having.

 Betty would be starting the program with the same ten children who had been coming to the Bible Study and Bible Story times.  Their parents were thrilled that a neighbor cared enough to want to provide a place their children could go to daily after school.

 On the playground at the church school one day Mary said, “I wish you girls could have been in the small group we were in during the church service.  We had fun there.”

 Iris asked, “What did you do there?”

 Timmy answered, “We played fun learning games about how to live for Jesus because we had asked him to be our Savior.”

 The twins, Hope and Joy, both nodded their heads.  They are good friends of Timmy, Mary, and the quadruplets,

 Rose mentioned, “Our daddy and mommy have been teaching us about that at home.”

 “Plus,” Lily went on, “we learn a lot by being in the church service every week.”

 Joy said, “I noticed you were there yesterday.  I didn’t know you girls go to the same church we do.”

 “Me neither,” stated Rose, until we saw you yesterday.  Is your small group over now?”

 Hope replied, “Yes, it ended the Sunday before, and from now on we’ll be sitting with our parents in the regular services.”

 “You’ll like the services,”  Violet informed them.  “Pastor Don is a very good teacher.”

 Mary smiled, “I know.  He’s my daddy and Timmy’s too.”

 “Wow!” the quadruplets all said at the same time, and then remembered that Timmy and Mary's daddy and mama came to ride horses with them every other weekend.  They just had not connected him as being the same person as the teacher in the church.

 Lily declared, “We’ve learned a lot about all our friends today.  Now we know we have even more in common.”

 “Right,” added Violet, “we all attend the same school and church.”

 Iris tacked on, “Plus, we’ve all accepted Jesus as our Savior.”

 “Yep,” continued Rose, “and we’ve all been learning how to live for Jesus.”

 Timmy went on to say, “And along with those things, all seven of you girls are my sisters in God’s forever family.”

 Hope remarked, “So then, you are our brother.”

 “Hey, she’s right!” exclaimed Joy, ‘so let’s join hands and sing the chorus that goes with the song ‘We Will Stand,’ because it talks about us being brother and sister, and working together for Jesus until he comes back again.”

 After reading the list of ideas they got from their churches, some other ranches and farms of various kinds in the Pine City area, and even in other places that just heard about the idea, became groups of Caring Foster homes.  So Oscar and Vera Yardley’s yearning to be able to leave a legacy with their dude ranch was fulfilled for them and then multiplied when others followed suit.  They were glad they could write their idea for the list and then help write the booklet about how to do it for others.

 A dude ranch and a fruit orchard near another city used Oscar and Vera’s idea for Caring Foster Homes.  The dude ranch started with girls who were 14 or 15 years old, and the fruit orchard welcomed families who would care for boys who were 14 or 15 years old, since those ages are harder to place in homes and are harder to reach out to.  They used lesson plans obtained from William Beckett on Mercy Valley Farm and Karen Spencer on Mercy Valley Ranch, and continued with some of their own.  Many more children were reached in a shorter amount of time since new ones came to replace those who were ready to be productive citizens and also spread the Good News when they turned nineteen years old.

 One ranch was a working cattle ranch.  They encouraged their present employees to take care of two or more foster boys each who were 14 or 15 years old since it’s so important to reach them with the Good News.

 It was like a dream come true for many of the boys who were assigned to that ranch.  They got to live in loving, caring homes and also got to learn how to ride horses, round up cattle, rope them, and put tags in their ears instead of branding them, which this ranch didn’t like to do.  They went to Bible Study Groups like William had on Mercy Valley Farm, so they could learn about the Bible and build relationships with other boys their ages.  Some of them accepted Jesus within a few months of living there.  For others it took as much as two years, but the parents and their Bible teacher were persistent and patient.  It paid off in the end.

 Mindy was studying at home with the computer.  She got stuck when she couldn’t figure out the answer to a question about English grammar.  After looking in several different places, she called Fiona with her question.

 “Hi, Fiona.  This is Mindy, and I’m stuck on a question about when to use or and nor in a sentence.

 Fiona advised, “Try looking it up as a question on the web.”

 “Thank you Fiona,” said Mindy.  “I’ll try it and only call back if I'm still stuck.”

 Later she walked to Fiona’s house to exercise and help with Johnny and Patrick.

 Fiona mentioned, “I assume you found the answer to your question, since you didn’t call back again.”

 “Yes,” Mindy smiled, “it worked very well and I found several other answers later in the day, so I thank you for the good advice.  It takes a lot less time to find answers on the web than trying to look in the encyclopedia, or other books we have at home.  In fact I finished that lesson so quickly that I got started on the next one.”

 “Great!” declared Fiona.  “I know you don’t get stuck very often, but it’s nice to have a good way to find answers.”

 “Indeed it is,” then Mindy changed the subject, “plus I enjoy coming here half an hour early to exercise.  Your equipment is nice, and I like doing this a lot better than the gym classes.”

 “I like it also,” agreed Fiona, “especially when the boys stay asleep long enough that I can join you.  I know it’s good for me to exercise, and it’s more fun when I can do it with you.  Matt still goes running on mornings when he knows he won’t get much exercise at work.”

 Mindy stated, “I’m glad to know I can help you also.  This plan is working well for me, and I hope it’s the same for you.  If I call at a bad time please just tell me you’ll call me back when you can.  I understand how it is with two little people needing your attention.”

 “Don’t worry, Mindy,” replied Fiona, “and if I can’t answer the phone right then, just leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

 “Super!” exclaimed Mindy, “I’m relieved we got that worked out.  It’s fun for me to do home schooling, and it’s a relief to not have those mean girls making fun of me.  Oh, now I hear some noises from the nursery.  Our exercise time is finished, so this is perfect timing.”

 The parents on Mercy Valley Ranch and Farm had their small group times on the ranch or farm instead of going to the city, since it was about a twenty minute drive.  Also they needed a place for the children to meet at the same time they did, but in another room in the house with two parents rotating to teach them things more on their age and interest level.  Now that most of the children had accepted Jesus, the facilitators all decided those children in their groups could join them for communion times in the adult small groups.

 They would sing “Come Celebrate Jesus,” and “The Communion Song,” which go with Luke 22:19 below.

 The first time for the girls or boys, the facilitator would explain, “We wanted you to join us for communion, because it is a special time when believers can remember what Jesus did for us and thank him for it.  Jesus established it during the last supper he and the disciples had before Jesus died on the cross.

 “It was a Passover meal like the people of Israel ate just before the last plague in Egypt.  Exodus 12 explains that they were to kill a spotless lamb, and put some of its blood on the doorposts of their homes so the first born in their family would not be killed that night.  The lamb was to be roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  Each year after that, the people were supposed to eat another meal like this to remember that God had passed over their oldest child, so he or she did not die.

 “It was during a meal like that, Jesus instructed his disciples to remember him in a special way.  Everybody please find Luke 22:19,20 and follow along as I read, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it.  He gave it to them saying, ‘this is my body which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.’  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.’  They didn’t understand it at the time, but after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension they did.

 “We don’t eat roast lamb, but we do remember that the lamb was spotless and perfect like Jesus who never sinned.  Jesus died for us so we can be forgiven and live with him eternally.  Leaven in the Bible represents sins so we use unleavened bread which has no yeast or baking powder in it to make it rise, because it’s the kind of bread the Passover meal was supposed to have.  From verse 18, we know that the cup had the fruit of the vine, which is wine or grape juice.  In our group, we like to use grape juice, because none of us want to ever become addicted to alcoholic beverages.

 “The bread and grape juice are to remind us of Jesus body and his blood.  1 Corinthians 10:16 says, The cup of blessing … is the communion or sharing in the blood of Jesus, and the bread we break is the communion or sharing in the body of Jesus.  This is the verse that is used to get the name, ‘communion,’ for this special time.

 “As we take communion together, remember Jesus and thank him for his birth, life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven, where he intercedes for us, and that he will come again.”

 Small pieces of unleavened bread were handed to each person who held it while the facilitator read Luke 22:19 again.  Then they all ate theirs at the same time, remembering what it meant.  Next a very small paper cup of grape juice was given to each person who held it while the facilitator read Luke 22:20 again.  They drank it slowly as they thanked Jesus silently for all he had done and was doing.  The children were glad to be included in this meaningful time.

 One Saturday evening in June, Don and Anita Ross were watching Timmy and Mary swinging on the set in their backyard.

 Anita declared, “What a charming wedding you performed this morning.”

 “It certainly was,” agreed Don, “and you were right about that couple who’d been dating for so long.”

 She continued, “We never did find out why they waited so long, and I know it’s not any of our business.”

 “No,” he admitted, “they didn’t tell me much of anything about themselves, but it’s okay.  We don’t need to know.”

 Right then, Timmy and Mary ran up to the porch and sat on the steps to visit with their parents.

 Mary shared, “I've been in kindergarten already for half a year, and I still like it a lot.”

 “I liked all if it,” commented Timmy, “and I like first grade too.  This year Hope and I are in the same classroom.”

 “Joy says it isn’t fair,” Mary informed them.  “She’d like to be with them.

 Timmy explained, “It would have been very nice, but the school won’t allow twins to be in the same classroom.”

 Mary cheered them up, “Well at least all four of us get to play together at recess times.”

 “Right, Mary,” agreed Timmy, “this year we don’t have to have a special time to play with the twins on Saturdays like we did last year.”

 Their parents smiled and agreed with their beloved children.  When Timmy and Mary went back to the swings their parents continued their earlier conversation.

 Don said, “It’s so interesting to watch the flock God gave us.”

 “It certainly is!” Anita exclaimed.  “I enjoy this place where God put us, and I like to see how he leads and guides some of the people in church #4.”

 Don nodded.  “Right, and we even get to hear about stories, without names of course, from the other pastors when we go to our small group on Mondays.”

 “For sure,” she agreed.  “As usual there were several June weddings this year in the rest of the churches.  It’s a neat tradition.”

 Don concluded, “Yes, and this is indeed a perk we get to enjoy, as we do this ministry for Jesus.”

 Vern, Lora, and Mindy Jones have enjoyed traveling during school vacation weeks in a used motorhome they had bought after a family meeting one Saturday morning last year when Vern had asked Lora and Mindy if they’d like to travel and see what God made in other parts of the United States.  After Vern, Lora, and Mindy returned from their first trip, they were tired, but ecstatic!  The following is part of their conversation when they got back home after their first trip.

 Mindy stated, “I didn’t know traveling could be so much fun!”

 “Nor did I,” her dad responded, “but I’m glad we came home a little early so we can get reorganized and ready to go back to work and school on Monday.”

 Lora agreed, “Yes, it was a very good idea to come home before we got too tired to do anything when we did get home.”

 “I like the way the motorhome worked for us,” Mindy went on to say.  “Like you had said, Dad, there was plenty of room for us in it.  I didn’t feel crowded at all.”

 Lora continued, “Right, Mindy.  It was truly comfortable.  I like having our own place to live and sleep after a busy day of sight seeing.”

 “Yes, Honey,” agreed Vern, “for me it was a lot better than trying to find a motel or hotel every evening.”

 “You’re a hundred percent correct, Dear!” Lora exclaimed.

  Mindy remarked, “We saw so much beautiful, fantastic scenery, and I think we all enjoyed using the new camera you bought for our family, Dad.  I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures we all took.”

 Lora added, “Yes, it was fun to take turns with the camera.”

 “Indeed it was!”  Then Vern suggested, “Shall we get our food and belongings out of the motorhome, and put everything away?  Then after supper, we can download the pictures on the computer and watch a slideshow of our trip.”

 Mindy declared, “Super idea, Dad.  With all of us working together, it won’t take long to unload the motorhome and put our things away.”

 During their next trips, they started to discuss and pray about how they could turn their traveling into a ministry to serve Jesus.  They were glad to find an idea on the list of possible evangelistic activities they received from the church and they made plans to go on the Fourth of July week for their first ministry trip.  The booklet about travel evangelism for sightseers was very helpful.

 “In order for this to work for us” Mindy asked, “should we stay in campgrounds along the way?”

 Vern observed, “Absolutely, and we’ll need to accept the extra stress it will take in order to plan our trip more carefully so we can try to get to a campground in time to get everything set up and ready for right after supper.”

 “Yes, for a ministry like this it will be worth the extra stress,” agreed Lora, “and we’ll need to ask the camp hosts for permission to use the amphitheater for meetings if there is one.”

 Mindy went on, “If there isn't one, we can use the neat little folding chairs that fit into the space under the back bedroom of the motorhome.”

 “Right, Mindy,” agreed Vern, “and we can put up a sign at our campsite about a hymn sing and question/answer session.  I like the idea on the list.  It says, Got???’s about God?  Come to a hymn sing, and get them answered.”

 Lora continued, “Yes, and if the timing seems right, we can then give a gospel presentation.  Since none of us plays the guitar, or keyboard, we can use SD cards in a boombox and hymnals we bring with us just like the small groups do for the singing time.”  

 “Right, and for those who are saved,” exclaimed Mindy, “a church can be planted like the booklet explains!”  She read the following:  “When people visit other places as vacationers or traveling 'missionaries,' sometimes a group of new believers results from their ministry.  If they don't have a good church and small groups to teach new believers how to live their new lives, a pastor from the evangelism classes can quickly be sent to facilitate a small group for them and they can become a church.  Their church can grow and evangelize their city.  If only one or two people become believers, the “parents” should get their names and phone number and keep in touch with them until a church plant group can be sent to start a church in their city.”

 Vern commended her, “Good job of reading about it, Mindy.  It will mean much more work for us and extra planning, but if even only one person accepts Jesus as Savior, it will be well worth the effort.”

 Lora nodded emphatically, “Definitely!  Also, I just noticed it says in the booklet, ‘You will probably need to teach the people who come to your meetings how to use the hymnals since most people these days don’t know how.  Especially show them how each verse starts with it’s number in the first music staff and continues on down the page.  If there’s a refrain, it will be sung, and then they go back to the top for verse two and so on, until the song is finished.  It might be helpful for you to read a song all the way through, and have them follow along, before you add the music.’  It’s a good idea.”

 “Oh my!” admitted Mindy, “I never would have thought about that fact.  I guess we can’t assume the people will know how to use a hymnal, but we can ask them first and then teach them if they don’t. Next we need to decide where to go.  The booklet mentions that it will be best if we travel to state and national parks or monuments.”

 “Yes, here’s the book of maps,” Vern invited, “gather around and we can pick one or two we all are interested in seeing.”

 “Oh, Dad and Mom,” exclaimed Mindy, “this is so exciting!  We have the best family!”

 Lora concurred, “We sure do, and it certainly is exciting to plan to travel and minister!  And since we can use our enjoyment of traveling to tell the Good News it makes it even better.”

 Amelia and Ben were enjoying supper with their parents at home after a day at work.

 “It seems strange,” commented Amelia, “for me to not have any homework.”

 Her mom, Connie, acknowledged, “I imagine it does, since that was a way of life for you all during the years you were in school.”

 “You’re right,” she replied. “It’s been several months since I finished my trade school classes and I like my job with you and Dad at The Garden Shop, but I feel a little lazy about not working on something when I get home.”

 Ernest, her Dad, smiled and teased, “Well, you could bring home some of the bookkeeping if you’d like to have some homework.”

 Liking his humor, they all laughed together and then her brother, Ben, suggested, “Maybe you could use some of that time to do an independent Bible study on a topic of your choice.”

 “Excellent idea, Ben!” responded Amelia.  “I remember wishing I had more time for something like that when I was in school.  Now my lifestyle has changed, and I’ll get started right away after helping with supper cleanup.”

 “Perfect,” then Ernest asked, “Ben, how is your job?”

 He answered, “I think it’s terrific.  I got my desire of being able to work with my friend Matt who taught me so much while I helped him on his house.  He continues to teach me at the job, and on top of that I get paid for it!”

 Amelia clarified, “So you’re still learning about construction and contracting even after two years in the trade school?”

 “Precisely,” he responded, “on the job training is much more effective than book learning.  The trade school did give me good background knowledge, though.”

 She nodded, “I know what you mean.  My year of learning about bookkeeping and small businesses gave me the foundation I needed to build on at The Garden Shop.  I’m still learning how to make the specific details fit.”

 Connie complimented, “I think both of you are making outstanding progress, and I’m so glad you both decided to continue living at home for now.  I get to postpone having an empty nest and instead I can still enjoy having our family together.”

 “Absolutely!” exclaimed Ernest.  “The same for me!  If and when either or both of you decide to get married and move out, we’ll deal with the empty nest then.  In the meantime I’ll enjoy this too.”

 Ben shared, “We have such a nice family.  I thank God for it often.  And I thank you Dad and Mom for wanting Amelia and me to continue living here even though we could be supporting ourselves in apartments.”

 “I agree,” stated Amelia, “and since all you will let us pay is for our food, we can give more to God’s work through the church, and put the rest in savings for the time if and when we get married.”

 Ernest declared, “We’re glad you both agreed to our suggestion.”

   Karen Spencer and William Beckett had similar jobs of teaching foster children, who weren’t in the church school, on Mercy Valley Ranch and on Mercy Valley Farm about the Bible.  The way they taught the Bible Study and Story groups helped the families to do at least part of what it says in Deuteronomy 6:4-7.  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  These words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  When the children were at home the families had other ways and times of teaching them.

 Karen and William sent a few e-mails back and forth and decided it would be good to use verses from Matthew and the other Gospels to teach the girls and boys more about Jesus and the way he desires for people to live.

 Karen started one of her lessons by saying, “Jesus has been called the best teacher of all time.  He was able to make things easy to understand and he taught with authority as it says in Mathew 7:29.  He taught about many different subjects.  Since all you girls now believe in Jesus, it would be an especially good idea for you to learn how Jesus wants people to live.  Please write down all the references we use today, because you’ll need them for your homework.”

 They all nodded, and she continued, “Please find Matthew 5:13-16, and follow along as I read it. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savor how can it be useful.  It is good for nothing, but to be thrown out … You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick so it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

 Sara mentioned, “I’ve tasted the last bit of salt in the bottom of a salt shaker, and it doesn’t have much flavor left.  We usually throw it in the trash and start over with fresh salt, so I can see what he meant about the salt.”

 One of the other girls nodded, “I agree, and I can’t imagine anyone putting a candle under anything!  It could start a fire!”

 “That’s for sure!” Kim concurred.  “I like the idea of a city on a hill.  At night with all the lights on, it would be like a Christmas tree decorated with all clear lights.”

 June added, “Yes, and it could easily help a night traveler know he was going the right direction.”

 Another girl stated, “I’m glad we don’t have to use candles.  Electricity works so much better, but I get the point of these verses.  We believers are suppose to be salt and light to our worlds.”

 “All of you are right,” agreed Karen.  “Now look in the center references and see if you can find a verse or more to go along with any of these.”  She gave them time.

 Candy suggested, “Parts of Philippians 2:14-16a might be good.  I’ll read them.  Do all things without murmurings and disputing, so that you will be blameless and harmless, the children of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, as you shine as lights in the world, holding out the word of life.”  

 A girl giggled, “Good job, Candy, the center reference for your verse 15 goes right back to the Matthew verses.”  The rest of them nodded.

 Then Kim said, “I found a verse about salt in Mark 9:50.  It says, Salt is good, but if it has lost it saltiness, how will it season?  Have salt in yourselves and have peace with each other.  I’m not sure if it means having salt in us will cause peace or maybe the other way around, or both.”

 “I’m not sure either, Kim,” replied Karen, “but it’s a good verse.”

 June remarked, “I just looked up Luke 14:34,35 and it’s much the same as the Matthew verses.  The center references for them go back to the others we’ve already read.”

 “Good job, girls,” Karen commended.  “Now you know how to use the center references in your Bible.  Let’s see if there’s anything different in the concordance.  Try looking up salt first.”

 Candy declared, “I don’t think those are very helpful for this study.  The ones in the Old Testament don’t go with it and the others are the ones we already read, except for the one in James, which is about salt water.”

 A girl agreed, “True, but on my way to find ‘salt’ I noticed ‘seasoned’ in Colossians 4:6, and looked it up.  It says, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.”  

 “It’s a good verse,” Candy responded, “I wonder why it was not included in the verses for ‘salt’?”

 Karen admitted, “I wonder the same thing.  Now let’s look up light as a noun and see if we can find anything helpful.”

 One girl said, “I like the first part of Psalm 27:1, The LORD is my light and my salvation.  But it doesn’t really go with this study.”

 “You’re right,” Karen tacked on, “but I like that verse also.”

 Sara suggested, “Psalm 37:5,6a says, Commit your way to the LORD, trust in him and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light…  Maybe our righteousness from Jesus could be the light we are shining.”

 “I like your idea,” commented Kim.  “Also, John 3:19-21 is very interesting, because it says, this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he who does truth comes to the light, so his deeds may be made manifest, to show they are formed in God.”

 Karen concurred, “Both of those scriptures make good points.  Also, I just looked up John 8:12, where Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world.  He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’  I think he wants us to give the same light to our worlds or the places where we live and have influence.”

 The girls nodded in agreement.

 “Wow!” exclaimed Candy.  “I just read Ephesians 5:8-17 and it’s long but has a lot to say about light and dark and the right way to live.  I’ll read just the first verse.  For you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so walk as children of light.”

 Karen nodded emphatically, “For sure, Candy.  Everybody else please read the rest of the verses to yourselves at home.  And your homework is to study these and all the verses we’ve read today, again at home and think about what was said here today.  Write at least one paragraph about what these scriptures mean for believers.  At our next meeting, bring it and be ready to share it with a girl not in your family.  Then loan it to me because I’d like to read all of them.”

 The girls worked hard on their paragraphs and Karen liked them all.  She commended them for a job well done when she gave the papers back after she had finished reading them.

 Karen continued teaching girls on the ranch using verses from the four gospels and cross references to other books in the Bible.  She also introduced the idea of using the colored pencils she had given them to highlight parts of their Bibles using a color code, like for God use purple for royalty, for Jesus use red for the blood he shed, and so forth.

Chapter 2

Luke 24:47, Jesus said, “repentance and remission of sins

should be preached in my name among all nations…”

 One weekend when Riley was home he reread part of the little booklet he had gotten from the church that was helping him with his ministry.  It was called, “Travel Evangelism for Business Workers.”  The list included sales people, pilots, flight attendants, tour guides, army, navy, air force, and marine chaplains, truck drivers, geologists, and teachers who teach English in foreign countries, plus many others.

 He flipped to the section for sales people and read the ideas for ways to evangelize while he was traveling.  Then he typed them into his laptop computer.  Later, by printing very small, he was able to fit some of them on a business sized card to keep in his billfold.  It would be easy to pull it out and be reminded about things he could be doing when he wasn’t busy with his job.

 When he finished doing those things, he went to join his parents and they all went to visit his sister, Fiona, and her family.  He was glad for every chance he got to see Matt, his sister, and his nephews.  Of course they were all very glad to see him also.

 After the pastor of church #1 encouraged the congregations to keep ministering in the ways they were already doing, and to add at least one idea from the list, Ruth wrote lyrics for a song.  After many revisions and weeks of trying to get it right, she gave a copy to Ted Blake at Mercy Valley Ranch and he wrote music in four part harmony to go with the lyrics.

 “We’ll Gladly Serve God”

We’ll gladly serve God in Sunshine or storm,

Telling the story of his gracious love.

Whether it’s snowy, or it’s nice and warm,

We’ll show them the way to Heaven above.

Thomas said, “We don’t know where you’re going,

so how in the world can we know the way?”

Jesus said to all of them, “You are knowing,

since I’m the way, you know just what to say.”

Psalm 100 says to serve the LORD with gladness.

Sometimes we serve together by singing,

and it’s best if we do it with oneness,

any time of day: morning, noon, or evening.

Together we’ll ask the Lord of the harvest,

To send forth laborers into the field.

And we know he will answer our request,

Because he wants the souls harvest will yield!

Adding new service is priority.

Our united vision is to impact more,

So we’ll use every opportunity,

Gladly serving the God we adore.

 Ruth explained, “Verse 2 goes with John 14:5,6, and the fourth verse goes with Matthew 9:37,38, where Jesus said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest.”

 One Saturday when Ruth was visiting Esther and her family, Ted invited them all to come to his house to listen to a song.  To the accompaniment of his guitar, he, Julie, and the quadruplets sang Ruth’s song lyrics using the melody he had written.  They got a standing ovation and a request for an encore.

 Then Nathan commented, “This is good enough to be sung as one of the songs during a church service.”

 “Indeed it is!” Esther declared, “After Pastor Don and his family rides horses with your family today, Ted, you could sing it for them and see what he thinks.”

 Everyone looked expectantly at Ruth and Ted.  Ruth was blushing in embarrassment, but nodded, and Ted gave a thumbs up.  So they did it, and Don agreed.  They made a recording he could take along with a copy of the music Ted had written to go with it to the pastor of church #1 so he could listen to it and decide.

 He also liked it and consequently in a few weeks, all the people in the congregations of all twenty-four churches had sung the song and treasured the copy of the words each family, couple, or single was given, since it wasn’t a song in the hymnal.  Ruth was totally amazed but also very thankful that God had helped her write the lyrics for this song.

 Tomo and Ami found a nice used travel van that would sleep four people, if two of them were small children, by using the dinette area.  He mentioned, “Since just the two of us will usually go in this van, we’ll be able to keep the dinette set up for eating, relaxing, and studying the Bible.”

  “Certainly,” Ami agreed, “it’s just the right size for the two of us, and it’s easy to drive and park.  I like the roomy bed in the back.”

 Tomo continued, “Yes, and I’m glad we talked to Vern, Lora and Mindy Jones about their motorhome and got some ideas from them.  Their motorhome is larger than I would like to drive, but it’s just right for them.  The booklet from our church about travel evangelism has many good ideas and travel hints.”

 Very soon they had the motorhome set up with bedding, clothes, plastic dishes, cups, silverware, sharp knives, can opener, cooking pans, utensils, paper towels, napkins, food, other essentials, plus hymnals, a boombox, a folding table, small folding chairs, and a sign to put up at their campsite.  They also packed extra Bibles and a book of answers to common questions people could ask so they could refer to it on the spot if they got stuck.  Then they studied maps and planned their route to include scenery on the way there and back.  Next they called Afta and family to find out the best time for a visit.  Finally they were on their way!

 Ami mentioned, “I’m glad we agreed to stop along the way when there are safe places to pull off the highway so we can take pictures of the scenery as we go.”

 “Same here,” Tomo concurred.  “It was also a good idea to give only an approximate arrival date so we don’t have to feel pressured.”

 Since they were traveling east of the mountains, there would be very few national forest type campgrounds along the way.  So their first night was spent in a commercial campground in a small city.  Ami lamented, “We got here too late to get a hymn singing time set up this evening.  Maybe we’ll do better tomorrow.”

 “Yes,” agreed Tomo, “I enjoy not driving on the interstates, but the secondary roads take us longer.  I also like being able to pull off the road to look around and stretch.”

 “Absolutely,” said Ami.  “We aren’t in a race, and I enjoy the slower pace.  We can plan to stop earlier tomorrow evening.”

 They looked at the map and planned to stop at a special insect museum before driving some more to a small city about a hundred miles from there.  They had a chance to plant a few gospel seeds as they looked at the displays and visited with another couple nearby. Then they reached the small city and found a nice commercial campground a little ways on the other side of the city.  

 Ami stated, “This was a fun day.  I really enjoyed the butterflies and moths in the museum.  Now supper is over and we have permission to set up a meeting at our campsite.”

 “Yes it was fun!” agreed Tomo.  “I’ll set up the sign and folding table and chairs while you bring the boombox, SD cards, and hymnals out here.”

 Several people came right away, and a couple more came a little later.  They had a time of visiting and getting acquainted before singing.  As it turned out, this time they were all from a church in another city and welcomed the chance to share in praises to God.

 At the end of the time, they helped put away the table and chairs and thanked Tomo and Ami for the good idea of a way to tell the Good News to others as they traveled.  They’d buy the equipment needed and do the same thing for the rest of their trip.  Tomo showed and explained the travel evangelism booklet to the people, then he gave it to one couple so they could share it with the others and use the ideas.

 Ami commented, “We’ll get another booklet when we get home.”  When the people left, Tomo and Ami thanked God for the unexpected results of their first hymn singing time in a campground.

 The next day they arrived in the city where Afta and his family lived.  After finding a park, they fixed and ate supper to make it easier for their first evening of visiting.  When all was cleaned up and put away, Tomo looked up their address on the computer map on his laptop and was able to drive there easily.

 Afta ran outside to greet them, “Welcome!  It’s so wonderful to see you in person here at our home!  Come right in …  have you eaten supper yet?  We just finished, but could get the leftovers out for you.”

 Tomo hugged him and then answered, “Yes, we already ate supper and we’re looking forward to an evening of visiting with you and your family!  You look great!”

 Afta laughed, “Thanks, that means you look great too, since we’re still identical twins!  Ami, you look wonderful too!  I’m so glad you both were able to come here and see us.”

 Hana joined them in the living room, and when the rest of the greetings and hugs were completed, Denji came in and it all started over again.  Finally they were seated and enjoyed visiting and learning about the details of each other’s lives and their churches.

 The next morning while Denji was at school, they talked some more.  Afta began, “I always felt like our parents gave me a demeaning name.  It always reminded me that I was the younger one, and therefore I was not as good.  That’s the reason I didn’t want to stay in Pine City after high school.”

 Tomo nodded, “I understand.”

 Afta continued, “They made it clear that I would not inherit the family business.”

 “I didn’t know that.  But they’re still alive and well,” inserted Tomo, “and you and I don’t need to inherit anything from them anyway.”

 Afta exclaimed, “Exactly, and the most wonderful part is that when we were all there at Christmas time, they apologized to me after they became believers and I forgave them.”

 Tomo stated.  “How amazing!  I’m so glad they did!  This reminds me a little of Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25-28.  But our story isn’t as bad as theirs was and has a much better ending.”

 “That’s for sure!” emphasized Afta.  “You and I have always been friends, but our parents caused a rift and separation in our lives, and I regret the wasted years of closeness we could have had otherwise.”

 Tomo replied, “I agree, but at least we’ve had more time on the phone and we’re here visiting now, and it’s such a pleasure.”

 “Indeed it is,” agreed Afta, “and I’m thankful for that.  I also felt better because I had forgiven them.  I just wanted you to know how I have felt.”

 “Thank you, Afta.  It does clear up the mystery for me.”  Then Tomo got up and gave his twin a hug.  Later he mentioned, “Hana, we’d like to get to see your sister and her family while we’re here.  It’s been so many years that we need to get acquainted all over again.”

 “I’ll call her right now,” Hana responded, “and see when they can come over.”  She found out they’d be free that evening after supper, so she invited them over for an evening of visiting.

 They had an interesting time of getting to know each other.  Tomo and Ami found out many things about Kosuke and Sakura, including that they both had moved home again after becoming discontent with the life in the other big city.  They seemed very nice and polite.  Everyone enjoyed the fellowship of believers.  It was a nice evening.

 Two mornings later as Tomo and Ami were getting ready to leave so they could drive back home, Afta surprised them!  “Hana and I have been discussing and trying to decide for months about a better place to live than this noisy, big city.  We’re tired of the long cold winters and would really like to move.”

 Hana continued, “My parents and my sister and her family feel the same way, and we’ve searched many possibilities.  We always made the excuse about our jobs, but we finally realized that they are the kind of jobs that can move with us.”

 Tomo asked, “Do you mean …?”

 “Exactly!” responded Afta.  “Just since you came to visit us, Hana and I have decided on Pine City.  Then we won’t have any more wasted years.  I think we’ll be able to convince the rest of the family to choose it also, and each of us will move as soon as we can get our houses sold.”

 Tomo exclaimed, “Oh, WOW!  I’m so happy to hear about your decision and we’ll pray that you can convince them also.”  Then he gave his twin a bear hug.

 Ami hugged Hana and said, “We’ll also pray that your houses sell quickly, and we’ll look forward to you moving to Pine City soon!”

 “Thank you for this great visit,” declared Tomo, “and this news is the icing on the cake.  It isn’t nearly as hard to leave now that we know you will soon be living in Pine City!”

 Afta responded, “You’re welcome.  Thank you for coming!  We’re glad you like our news.  Drive carefully, and we’ll see you as soon as we can get packed and moved.”

 Ami invited, “You three are welcome to stay with us while you look for a house or apartment to live in, since our office has a couch that makes into a bed, and Denji can room with Yoshi.”

 Hana replied, “Thank you.  We’ll take you up on that.  It will make the move so much easier.  We’ll be looking at housing availability on the web while we are still here.”

 They all hugged again and sang “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again.”  Then they left with smiles instead of tears.

 On the farm William began one of the Bible study times for the boys by asking, “How do you react when someone hits you?”

 Pedro answered, “I hit him right back, I don’t want to be called a sissy!”

 “No,” agreed Luis, “but then you both just continue hitting until both of you have bloody noses or black eyes or both, or you end up in the principal’s office in double trouble.”

 Pedro nodded, “Yeah, you’re right.  I’d be better off to be a sissy.”

 William smiled and nodded.  “Please find Matthew 5:38,39, and follow along as I read it.  Jesus said, You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist evil, if someone hits you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  Think about it carefully.  In my opinion, it would take more courage to turn the other cheek than to hit back.”

 Jose shared, “For me, it would be easier to turn and run away.  I can’t imagine offering my other cheek to him.  He’d probably really hit it hard.”

 “He might,” concurred William, “but on the other hand, it might surprise him and diffuse his anger.  I’ve never had the unwelcome opportunity to try it.  Put a bookmark in this Matthew chapter and find Romans 12:19-21 and read it aloud with me.  Dearly beloved, don’t avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the LORD.  Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

  A boy stated, “This would be even harder for me to do!  But I guess Jesus never said that living for him would be easy.”

 “Precisely!” exclaimed William.  “My center reference goes to Proverbs 25:21,22 and they say almost the same thing.  Now let’s go back to Matthew 5 and please read verses 43-46 to yourselves.”

 Hugo declared, “It just gets harder!  I’m supposed to love my enemies and do good to them and pray for them so I can be a child of my Father in heaven.”

 “Good summary of those verses, Hugo,” complimented William.  “The verses we’ve read so far make very good goals for us.  Now let’s look at Matthew 7:12 and read it together.  Therefore, whatever you would like others to do to you, do it to them, for this is the law and the prophets.”

  Another boy mentioned, “Luke 6:31 says almost the same thing.”

 “Yes it does,” William concurred.  “As we end this lesson today, listen to Psalm 103:8,10.  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy.  He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  He definitely treats us the way he desires for us to treat others.”

 The parents of one family in the church is helping their four children who had gone to the church school. They wanted to have a lemonade stand this summer.

 Dad said, “Saturdays from about 10 AM to 3 PM would be a good time to have a lemonade stand.”

 “Why?” asked the younger boy.

 Mom answered, “If you remember the times we’ve gone to garage and yard sales, it’s often on a Saturday.  Between those times it is usually pretty hot, and lemonade would taste really good about then.”

 He said, “For sure!  It’s going to be hot for us, too.  Could we set up an umbrella so we could have some shade?’

 “What a good idea!” replied Mom.  “Yes, we’ll help you do it.”

 “Thank you, Mom.  But five hours is a long time,” his older brother mentioned.

 Dad explained, “That’s the beauty of having all four of you be involved.  You can work in pairs for about an hour and a quarter each and then trade off, and you can eat lunch in shifts.”

 “Good,” the boy responded, “we won’t get as tired that way.”

 “Should we use real lemons or just get a mix.?” the younger sister inquired.

 Little brother exclaimed, “Real lemons would take too much work!”

 “You’re right,” she agreed, “and they’d cost more too.  Besides, we also need to buy paper cups and a bag of ice cubes since our ice maker doesn’t work.”

 “How much should we charge?” he asked next.

 Dad replied, “We’ll need to figure out how much all those things cost and divide the number of cups into that amount and then add any profit you’d like to make.”

 Big sister mentioned, “Since this is going to be a ministry we only need to charge enough to pay our expenses.”  

 “Correct,” agreed Mom.  “and you’ll be ready with tracts, which are little pamphlets that tell the Good News, to give if people want them,  You can answer questions and witness when its appropriate.  You all know how to follow the leading of Jesus’ Spirit who lives in you.”  They all nodded.

 Dad suggested, “If you get stuck on a question or need help of any kind just push the intercom button on the phone you take with you from the house.  We’ll hear it ring and one of us will come right out to help you.”

 Big brother realized, “We’ll need to buy tracts at the Bible book store and add their cost to our expenses to figure out the price of each glass we sell.”

 “This is more complicated than it sounded at first,” said big sister, “but it will be worth it if anyone will accept Jesus as their Savior.”

 Mom added, “This is very true!  And we need to remember we might not ever know the results of this project, but we will be planting seeds.  Some people need a lot of exposure to the Good News before they’re converted.”

 “Yes,” she replied, “but I still think it’s a good idea.”

 Dad tacked on, “It’s even better than going to yard sales and buying more things we don’t need to have!”

 “Absolutely!” declared Mom.  “When you get good enough at running the lemonade stand, Dad and I could consider having a yard sale at the same time.  We picked up a booklet from the church about that idea also.”

 Big brother quipped, “Neat, then we’ll get them with two double barreled shotguns.  The people either of us miss will be covered by the others!”

 They all had fun laughing at this funny sense of humor.  When they got settled down, Dad remarked, “In that case, we better partner with another couple so one couple can oversee the yard sale while their partners are ministering, so we won’t miss anybody.  This would also provide a couple to come help out at the lemonade stand if you need one.  Plus everyone can take a break if needed.”

 Big sister said, “This all sounds like a very good idea.  Little Sis and my closets are overflowing with clothes that don’t fit.  Our bookshelves have games we quit playing, and books we won’t read again, and I hate to imagine what our brothers’ room looks like.”

 “You’re exactly right!” her brothers responded in unison.

 Tomo and Ami drove on the interstate and made it home in just two days because they had such interesting news to share with Aneko and Yoshi.  They drove late in the evening and skipped the hymn singing idea on the way home.

 Aneko exclaimed, “Hey!  You guys are home sooner than we expected you!  We just got home from the restaurant, and you pulled in right behind us!  Welcome home!”

 “Is everything alright?” asked Yoshi.  “It hasn’t been two weeks.”

  “Yes, we’re fine.” Tomo answered.  “We’re just so excited to tell you our news and didn’t want to use the phone, so we just hurried home instead.”

 Ami remarked, “You might not believe this.  We’ve had a hard time believing it ourselves even though we heard it with our own ears!”

 “Please come sit down and tell us all about it,” Aneko requested.

 When everyone was comfortable, Tomo and Ami recounted their trip and visiting time. “We were impressed with your cousins.  They were both very polite and friendly.  Their names are Kosuke and Sakura, charming names for delightful people,  Kosuke’s name means rising sun, and Sakura’s means cherry blossom,” added Ami.

 Tomo continued, “Then just as we were ready to get into the van yesterday and start home, Afta and Hana surprised us by saying that they’ve decided to sell their home there and move to Pine City!”

 Ami admitted, “I invited them to stay with us while they look for a place to live and said Denji could room with you, Yoshi.”

 He nodded his acceptance.

 “Oh my!” declared Aneko.  “The way they talked the last time they were here it sounded like they’d never consider moving.”

 Tomo explained why and went on to say, “And that’s not all.  Hana’s parents and sister and her family want to move also.  Hana is going to try and convince them to choose Pine City too.”

 “So it looks like you might get a chance to evaluate your cousins for yourselves,” finished Ami.

 Tomo suggested, “Let’s pray about all of this and then go to bed.  We can discuss it some more in the morning.”

 After everyone added a sentence or two to the prayer time, they went to bed.  In the morning there was not really much more to discuss about the news, because it was all still up in the air, but Tomo and Ami did tell about the driving part of the trip, their first and only ministry time, and how well the van had worked for them.

 Oscar and Vera were still enjoying the wonder of being able to attend church services together after all the years of running the dude ranch when they had to go separately on different days, so one of them could always be at the ranch.

 They walked in and sat near the center front with their family of four foster girls.  They sat with two girls between them and one on each end, so they could be helped with the hymnal or Bible if needed.  The girls had become much better at finding things on their own, but they also enjoyed being able to sit near one of their foster parents, since this family had bonded so well.  Each Sunday they sat in a different arrangement so they would all have a turn in each place.  They all felt like they were really a special part of the family.

 For this service Nan and Liz were in the middle, Emma sat next to Oscar, and Stella was beside Vera.

 Before service started Emma quietly said to Oscar, “Dad, John 3:16 is one of the verses I memorized and it goes with the first song.”

 He nodded and mentioned, “It’s a very good verse.  I know it too.”

 “Look, Nan,” whispered Liz, “The second song has two Bible verses listed after it.”

 Nan whispered back, “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before.”

 In the meantime Stella observed in a quiet voice, “Mom, the third song has an interesting title.  I’ve heard you say those words before about something that would probably happen.  I’ll try to notice how those words fit in a song when we sing it later.

 “Good idea, Stella,” replied Vera also in a quiet voice.  “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that song before.  It will be interesting to find out what it’s like.”

 The songs this week were “For God So Loved the World,” which goes with John 3:16, “When We See Christ,” Psalm 71:22,23 and Hebrews 12:1,2a, and “Sooner or Later,” John 14:3.

 Pastor Don began the teaching time by having everyone who’d memorized John 3:16 say it out loud together, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

 Then Don continued, “The song we sang that goes with this verse is very short, but it has a great message about how God’s Son died on Calvary to set us free from sin, and that someday Jesus will come back to earth.  We’ll get to see his matchless glory and realize completely how wonderful his love is.  If there’s anyone here who doesn’t know for sure that you are saved and ready for Jesus to return, please come talk to me so I can answer any questions.”

 Next he instructed, “Find Psalm 71:22, 23 and follow along as I read it.  I will praise you with the psaltery.  I will praise your truth O my God, to you will I sing with the harp, O you Holy One of Israel.  My lips and my soul shall greatly rejoice when I sing to you, because you have redeemed me.  You may have noticed the word ‘harp’ in the last verse of the second song we sang, and it’s the only part of the song that really goes with this Bible verse.  Maybe this song is the place many people got the idea that all people will do in heaven is play harps.  I never agreed with that idea but the whole idea of praising God for redeeming us fits well here.”

 Pastor Don had asked a man with a big booming voice to be ready to stand up and read the next verses.  He called on the man who stood and read loudly, “Hebrews 12:1,2a says, Therefore seeing we are surrounded by a large cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily harasses us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

 “Thank you,” stated Don, “the verses are so much more meaningful the way you read them to us.  They might be good ones to memorize and then sing the chorus of this song to remind us to keep running the race when things seem hard like some of the verses say in the song.  When we get to see Jesus in heaven, it will be worth all the hard times.”

 People in the congregation nodded and Don went on, “When I was growing up, I’d go visit my grandparents and they had an old record player.  I often heard them play the song, ‘Sooner or Later,’ written by Lulu Koch with music by Wilbur Nelson.  He sang it on his program, The Morning Chapel Hour, which was on the radio for many years.  there’s actually a YouTube video with one of their record albums, but I’m not sure the song is on it.  Anyway, this song brings back a lot of precious memories of those times.  I was so glad when I found this song in our hymnal.”

 He had the people look up and read John 14:3 aloud, Jesus said, If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, so that you may also be where I am.

 Don explained, “This is a verse and song, which for believers, gives wonderful promises and things to look forward to when God calls them home, sooner or later, in his own timing and way.  Maybe it will be through being absent from the body and being present with the Lord, see 2 Corinthians 5:8.  Or maybe it will be as it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 if we are still alive when Jesus returns, we’ll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.  No matter which way it happens, it will be perfect!  Again, if you’re not sure you are ready, please come talk to me.”

 In closing they sang the song “Sooner or Later” again with an even better understanding and longing than the first time.

 This spring Greg and Oralie Iverson had a surprise for their foster boys on the farm when they got home from school one Friday.

 As usual Oralie reminded, “Please put your things in your rooms and change your clothes.”

 Greg added, “Hurry today, so we can have some extra playtime, but remember to hang up your clothes.”

 They were all good boys and did as they were told, but they caught an undertone of excitement in their parents and wondered what might happen.  So they hurried as fast as they could.

 Oralie explained, “We have a surprise for you in the backyard, but you need to use self control and stay quiet so you don’t scare it.”

 They all nodded solemnly and promised to be quiet.  Their curiosity was growing.

 “Also,” continued Greg, when you get out there, please sit down on the ground in a semi-circle like when we play some of our games.”

 Max was having the hardest time being quiet and patient, since he was the youngest of the boys and loved surprises.  But he clenched his fists and tightened his lips to keep in any sounds.

 Finally Oralie opened the door and they filed out and down the steps so they could sit as Dad had instructed.

 As soon as they were seated they saw it, and each of them covered his mouth to keep in the shouts of joy that wanted so badly to get out.  It was a bundle of golden colored fur that came bounding over the grass toward them.  But then it stopped so quickly that it did a somersault and ended up sitting a few feet away from them to study this collection of small humans.

 Greg walked quietly over and picked him up and he started to wag his tail and tried to lick Greg’s face.  “This puppy is just now old enough to leave his mother and find a new home.  He’s a golden retriever and collie mix.  His mother is a collie and by accident she got out one day and met a golden retriever.  The result was a litter of puppies which were not planned.”

 Oralie went on, “Your dad and I know her owners, and when they told us about these puppies we asked if we could buy one, knowing how much you boys would like to have a dog here on the farm.  They promised us the pick of the litter, so we went today to bring him home.  You can talk quietly now.”

 Hands came down from their mouths and big smiles covered their faces.  Cory expressed what they all felt, “Thank you very much, Dad and Mom.  This is the very best surprise!”

 “His color is so pretty,” Kevin stated,  “it’s just like honey.”

 Jack commented, “His nose looks more like a collie’s than a retriever’s nose.”

 Levi asked, “Does he have a name already, or do we get to name him?

 Max observed,“He looks so happy, I’m sure he will be a jolly good friend to all of us. If we get to name him, I’d like to call him Jolly, because it rhymes with collie and he’s so happy, he makes me feel happy too.”

 The other four boys smiled at Max and nodded their agreement, and Mom and Dad did too, so that was how Jolly got his name.

 Greg set the puppy down on the ground and he went to smell and get acquainted with the five boys who took turns petting and letting Jolly climb over their legs and into their laps.  He was a great addition to this big family and each of them took his turn in taking care of him and cleaning up the yard.

 Greg and Oralie spent some time every day while the boys were at school, training the puppy when he was old enough to learn, then they taught the boys how to continue each thing he was taught, so he became a well-behaved pet and friend who gave them all his love and attention.

 Beth Davis, the principal of Grace ‘n’ Faith Church Christian School had a Jewish friend.  They’ve been partnering in memorizing Old Testament Scriptures for over a month.  It was an idea Beth got from the list the church handed out to them.  Each partner would look up the scripture and follow along to see if it was correctly quoted.

 Beth suggested, “Today, let’s check each other on some more verses in the Psalms.  You be first this time.”

 “Okay,” she responded, “I really like Psalm 4:8, I will lie down in peace and sleep, for only you LORD make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:8. I use this verse many times when I can’t fall right to sleep.”

 Beth replied, “What a good idea.  I’ll try it.  You said it perfectly and remembered to say the reference before and after.  Sometimes I forget to do it.  It’s my turn, Psalm 13:5, O LORD I have trusted in your mercy.  My heart shall rejoice in your salvation Psalm 13:5.”

 “Good job,” said her friend. “why do you like this one?”

 Beth answered, “Because I know the LORD is full of mercy and he made a way for us to have his salvation.”

 “Oh,” she acknowledged.  “Now I’ll say Psalm 18:1-3, I will love you, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3.  I like it because David sang it when the LORD delivered him from all his enemies, especially Saul.

 Beth exclaimed, “You did a very good job on such a long list of the wonderful things the LORD is to people who trust in him!

 Her friend mentioned, “I’ve heard that God works everything together for good.”

 “Indeed, Beth commented, “That’s part of one of my favorite verses.”

 “Oh I didn’t know that was in the Scriptures,” she stated.

 Beth responded, “Yes, there’s a lot of wisdom in the Scriptures of the New Testament also.  That verse is in Romans 8:28, which says, And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to his purpose, Romans 8:28.”

 “Well,” she admitted, “the LORD certainly did that for David, even though it took years before it happened.”

 “Positively,” and Beth continued, “I try to remember that fact and not get discouraged when things take longer than I’d like them to take.  Oh dear!  Our time is already up for today.  I’ll look forward to continuing in the Psalms next week.  Thanks for coming today!”

 She said. “You're welcome.  See you next week at my apartment.”

 Before his twin brother and family sold their home and came to stay with them while they looked for a place to live, Tomo and Ami went for another motorhome ministry time to the west this time to see national parks where they might be able to minister in Japanese to people visiting from Japan or to anyone else in English.  They chose to go to Bryce Canyon National Park because it has many pull-offs with overlooks where they could view and photograph the scenery and have the chance to visit with other people there also.

 When they looked carefully at the map to decide on their route Tomo suggested, “Since we are going to drive so far, we may as well see the other parks that are relatively close to Bryce.”

 He showed Ami the map and she agreed, “Yes, we can see Capitol Reef National Park first then Bryce and last we can go to Zion.  If we plan our route carefully, we might find some national forest campgrounds along the way, and maybe could get reservations in the national park campgrounds.”

 “Right, Dear,” he concurred, “and on the way home we can just go at our own pace and camp wherever we are at the end of the day.”

 They planned deliberately for each day of driving to the parks and where to camp, and even decided to take an interstate part of the way.  The first evening they arrived at a national forest campground in time to set up their site for a time of singing and answering questions.  It went well, and some people had good questions that were answered by Tomo and Ami.  Those people left with a tract about the gospel to read.

 The next day they drove on Interstate 70 through the Colorado mountains and Utah, taking every scenic pull-off so they could enjoy and photograph the most beautiful section of interstate in the country.  Even with all those stops, they made it to their reserved site in Capitol Reef National Park Campground in time to set up their campsite for ministry time.  They’d be here for two nights, so the people who came the first night returned the next evening bringing their friends.  After explaining the Good News and answering questions, they had the joy of praying with those people to accept Jesus as their Savior.

 Before the second meeting, during the day, they had driven to all the scenic areas in the park marveling at the variety and beauty everywhere.  They’d have plenty of photos to show when they got home.  They especially liked all the rock colors and formations along the Scenic Drive.  Later the same day they visited the Historic Gifford Farmhouse Museum and Store where they took pictures of the old- fashioned way of living and bought a little cup of homemade ice cream.  It was delicious and fun to eat it outside at one of the picnic tables.  Then they saw the one-room school house and it was special because they got to go inside and really see things up-close.

 The next day they drove on Highway 12 south to Boulder and then on into Escalante. It’s one of the most spectacular scenic byways in Utah, and it continues all the way to Bryce, going through Red Canyon on the way, so they saw lots of magnificent scenery.

 Tomo remarked, “Even though we took every pull-off so we could sight see and take more pictures we still got to our reserved Bryce campsite in time to have supper and get set up for the singing and question time.  So far this has been a fabulous trip!”

 “Indeed it has been!” exclaimed Ami.  “I didn’t know there was so much varied and colorful scenery in the United States.  We are privileged to get to see so much of it on this trip.”

 Tomo added, “Yes and furthermore, we were able to give answers to the questions the people asked tonight.  Father in Heaven, please give them the desire to return tomorrow evening and give us the right words to say to them.”

 “Yes,” Ami continued, “and also please help us to connect with people who need to hear about you at the viewpoints tomorrow during the day.  Draw people to yourself and use us however you want to use us.”

 The next evening Tomo declared, “It’s like God orchestrated our day for us today.”

 “Indeed,” Ami nodded, “The man at the visitor center gave us a very helpful hint to drive all the way to the other end taking the two pull-offs on our side of the road, and then come back taking all the ones on the other side so we didn’t have to cross traffic each time.”

 He concurred, “Without a doubt, it was much safer that way.  Then we ended up following or being followed by a rental car full of tourists from Japan.  If they left first, we’d pull into the next pull-off behind them.  If we left first they’d pull in behind us.”

 “It was perfect,” agreed Ami.  “Since we met them at Rainbow Point near the end of the scenic drive, and we both stopped at four others, we had enough time for small talk and getting acquainted, before we felt led to tell them the Good News at Sunrise Point back near the start of the scenic drive.”

 Tomo admitted, “It felt good to speak in Japanese to them and between ourselves all day today, plus being able to read to them out of our Japanese Bibles.”

 “I enjoyed it also,” Ami went on, “plus it was good to wait until the last pull-off so they weren’t in a hurry to leave for the next one.”

 Tomo prayed, “Thank you Lord, for being in charge of our day, and for using us to tell them the Good News.”

 Ami added, “And we thank you that all six of them accepted Jesus, and I’m glad one of them already knew of a good church that has small groups for new believers, so they can get connected when they go back to their homes.”

 It was raining after supper that evening, so there was no hymn singing time.  Instead they studied the map and tour book to be ready for Zion National Park tomorrow and the next day.  Then when they were certain Aneko and Yoshi would be home from working at the restaurant, they called them and shared the highlights of their trip so far.  Everyone rejoiced about the ones who’d been saved.

 The next day they continued west on Highway 12 to 89 and then south to Highway 9 and west into Zion seeing more delightful scenery along the way.  Happily their van was small enough that they could go through the amazing, long tunnel without an extra charge for an oversized vehicle, which has to have an escort sent with it while the oncoming traffic is halted until they get through the tunnel.

 The visitor center was still open when they arrived, so they went in and got all their questions answered about the shuttle that goes on the road up Zion Canyon.  They decided to take the shuttle to Weeping Rock and then hike up to Middle Emerald Pool, take pictures along the way and be ready to talk to anybody who was open to listen.

 After the visitor center they went to their reserved campsite in the campground and walked around for half an hour like they usually did to get some exercise after all the driving.  Then it was time for supper and they got set up for a time of singing hymns.  They were thrilled to see the couple from their first night in Bryce, plus they brought the people who had camped next to them.  Both couples had more questions to get answered and then they and Tomo and Ami planned to hike to Middle Emerald Pool together the next day.

 They all got seats together on the shuttle and continued asking questions, which were happily answered by Tomo and Ami.  The hike was easy and delightful.  There had been enough rain that the waterfalls were running larger than usual.  The red rocks and cliffs made a wonderful contrast to the hanging gardens, green ferns, plants and trees.

 After supper the two couples came back for more singing and more answers to questions.  Soon both couples had enough information and were ready to ask Jesus to be their Savior.  Ami found out they knew of good churches in their cities and would attend them and get into small groups.  They all had a wonderful time rejoicing and then planned to go the following day as a caravan on Interstate 15 and take the side trip into Kolob Canyons, which is still in Zion National Park.  

 The next day, taking every pull-off they all got more photos of fantastic red rock scenery.  It was even more fun now that they all were believers and could share the unity of belonging to the forever family of God.  

 After the side trip, they continued north to Highway 14 and then 143 to Cedar Breaks National Monument, which was a lot like Bryce on a smaller scale and a higher elevation.  When finished there, they continued 143 northeast.  It was another delightful scenic byway, after which all of them camped at a commercial campground in the town of Panquitch.

 From there the following day, the caravan drove north through a valley with some more extraordinary scenery to an interesting feature called Big Rock Candy Mountain, just south of Sevier, Utah.  After marveling at one more piece of God’s great creativity and variety, the friends parted ways to either continue their sightseeing or to head back home.  Tomo and Ami decided Interstate 70 was just as pretty going east as it had been as they had gone west so many days ago now, that they had lost count.  They got home to Pine City just after Yoshi and Aneko got home from work at the restaurant, but they waited until the next morning to tell them about the rest of their trip.

 On the playground, a fourth grade boy said, “Cory, yesterday my brother, who’s in fifth grade, told me to watch out for those kids from the church school, but you guys are, well, just good friends.  I’d like to hear what you’d like to say and decide for myself.  I think he just likes to criticize and find fault, and I don’t want to be like that.”

 Cory responded, “Thanks for the compliment.  We’re glad to be friends with you.  We’ll be happy to tell you.  At the church school we learned the truth about the Bible.  It teaches so many good things about how to live.  But the most important of those things for us and all people is about God’s Son, Jesus.

 Cory’s partner continued,  “Yes, you see, he’s important because all the people on the earth have sinned, including Cory, me, and you.

 “How do we sin?” the boy asked.  “The three of us haven’t killed anyone or taken things from a store without paying.”

 He answered, “Those are very bad things, but to sin means more than just breaking the ten commandments listed in the Bible.  Sins are also things like lying, cheating on tests, not obeying our parents, saying mean things, being selfish or proud, plus a lot more.”

 “I get the idea,” said the boy, “but so what?”

 Cory explained, “The Bible says that the end payment for sins is death, but not just our bodies dying someday, but afterward would be eternal separation from God and heaven.”

 “Why?” he questioned.

 Cory’s partner replied, “Because God is holy, and he won’t allow sinful people to be in his presence.  But he made a way for people to be made clean from all their sins so they can live for eternity in heaven with God.”

 Just then the bell rang to end recess, so they agreed to talk some more next recess.  When they met at lunch recess, his next question was, “What did God do?”

 Cory’s partner answered, “To answer your question, I’ll say a verse that you might have heard before.  John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting or eternal life.”

 “Yep, I’ve heard that before,” and the boy nodded.

 Cory added, “Here’s a summary of the next two verses.  God didn’t send his Son, Jesus, to condemn the world, but to save it.  Whoever believes in God’s Son is not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned.”

 The boy inquired, “So how does a person believe in God’s Son?”

 Cory’s partner replied, “It’s more than just saying he exists.  The reason God sent Jesus was to pay for the sins of every person who would acknowledge what Jesus did when HE, who had never sinned even once, died on the cross instead of each sinful person having to die for his own sins.  See right here in this little New Testament it says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us so we could be made the righteousness of God in Jesus.”

He showed the verse to the boy, who nodded.

 Cory agreed, “Yes, a person needs to pray and acknowledge or admit that Jesus died for him and then accept it as payment for his own sins.  When a person believes in what Jesus did for him, he usually says he is sorry for his sins, confesses them, and asks for forgiveness and for God’s help to live for Jesus.  Believing in Jesus includes all those things.”

 The bell rang and they ran to line up, saying they’d finish during the last recess.  It gave the boy a chance to contemplate what had been said, although he didn’t listen very well in class the rest of that day.

 At last recess, the boy stated, “I think I understand what you have said, and I know the Bible is supposed to be true, but I need to know why these important facts aren’t taught here in school!”

 Cory explained, “It’s because some bad people passed some laws forbidding that the Bible be taught or read in schools.  Someday those people will have to pay the penalty of that terrible sin and all the others they did, if they never repented, confessed, asked for forgiveness and believed in Jesus.”

 “Well,” the boy admitted, “I don’t want to ever have to pay for my sins, so can I pray right now?”  When both of his friends nodded and smiled, the boy prayed using his own words and included everything he had been told that day.  When he finished, he looked surprised and happy.  “I’m clean and peaceful inside, and I don’t fear what comes after my body dies, because I know what Jesus did for me.”

 His two friends rejoiced with him and one of them gave him a little booklet about what he had done and what to do next.  Then they invited him to go to church with them on Sunday.

 Cory promised, “We’ll meet you in the church entryway and you can sit with us.”

 The boy was there Sunday, along with his family, including his older brother.  Cory had gotten a quick note to Pastor Don alerting him of unbelievers in the service, so a teaching about the gospel was included in the teaching time.  The rest of the boy’s family accepted Jesus and they all went up to meet the pastor, with the boy’s two friends to introduce them.  What a happy day!

 Beth Davis was at her friend’s home and they were listening to each other say memory verses again.  Her friend said, “I’ll start with Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork, Psalm 19:1.  I like it because it’s another verse that proves to me that God is the creator, not evolution.”

 “Positively!” exclaimed Beth.  “I like it for the same reason.  Here’s Psalm 19:14, May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer, Psalm 19:14.  This verse reminds me to be careful what I think and what I say.”

 The woman said, I’m working on Psalm 23 until I get good enough

to say all six verses.  So next I’ll say Psalm 27:14, Wait on the LORD.  Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart.  Wait, I say, on the LORD, Psalm 27:14.  This verse helps me to be patient.”

 “Yes, it’s a good one,” agreed Beth.  “I also like verse one in the same Psalm, The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1.  I think the answer is understood to not fear anyone.”

 They spent the rest of their time this day, visiting and getting to know more about each other.  It helped them to become even better friends.

 One evening during suppertime Mary commented, “I’m glad Kindergarten and 1st grade get to have recess at the same time.”

 “Why is that, Honey?” Anita asked as she smiled at her sweet daughter.

 Mary explained, “Because I get to play with my brother and my friends Hope and Joy and some of my classroom friends.”

 Timmy continued, “I like it also, Mary, and many times my friend Max, who lives on the farm, and all four of the quadruplets, who live on the ranch, join in our fun times.”

 “Yeah, that’s nice too.  And after eating lunch,” Mary went on, “the parent volunteer for the day gets our class together to play a group game, and it’s fun too.”

 Anita agreed, “Yes, and you’re learning good skills like different ways to move your bodies, like bending, twisting, stretching, turning, balancing on one foot, hopping, skipping, and pretending to walk a tightrope.”

 “It sounds like a lot of fun,” quipped Don, “I wish I could come and join you some days, but they don’t give me recesses at the Local Grocery where I work.”

 Timmy laughed, “Nope, poor Daddy, grownups don’t get to have recesses.”  

 Don laughed with him and Mary remembered, “We get to do a lot of fun things after supper and on weekends with you, Daddy.”

 “Yes we sure do!” he exclaimed, “and I really enjoy it!”

 Timmy asked, “Daddy, could we pray as a family that Joy will get to be in my class next year, so it will be more fair to her?”

 “Of course, Son,” he answered, “as long as we add if it’s God’s will.  Would you like to start?”

 Timmy nodded and began, “Father in heaven, if it would be your will, please have the school leaders put Joy in the same classroom as I will be in next year, thank you in advance.”

  “Yes, Father,” Don continued, “I agree with Timmy.  It would be nice for her to have the same enjoyment as Hope has had this year.”

 Mary added, “I agree, I’d like for Joy to enjoy being in Timmy's class.  Please.  Thank you.”

 Anita closed the prayer time, “I agree too.  Thank you, Father, for the privilege of asking you for things we desire.  May your will be done.  We pray in Jesus name.”  Then they all said Amen.

 Special Baptismal services were scheduled for all the Grace ‘n’ Faith Churches in Pine City.  They would be held on evenings during the week in the church sanctuary.  From two to four churches could meet on the same evening depending on how many new believers each one had to baptize.

 New believers groups had been started for these believers to teach them how to live for Jesus.  The first meeting helped them get acquainted with the Bible and the hymnal.  They could also ask questions and get answers about the little booklet they had been given. The second meeting was about water baptism and why it was important.  They had read Romans 6:4-6, we are buried with him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we are like him in his death, then we shall also be raised like his resurrection.  We know that our old man is crucified with him … so we no longer serve sin.

 Cory, his partner, and their families attended the one where their friend and his family were being baptized.  They wanted to show support and rejoice with them.

 Matt and Fiona attended the same one for the same reason, because the young man and his friends from the disk golf section of the park were there being baptized.

 The congregation sang two songs that were good testimonies of what Jesus had done for each believer.  The first one was “Now I Belong to Jesus,” and the second was, “My Redeemer.”

 Each new believer walked down the steps into the warm water and over to where the pastor of their church waited for them.  Each one had a little time for a short testimony before the pastor said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Then he would immerse the person in the water, bring him or her back up, and give help back over to the steps.

 The fifth grade brother of Cory’s friend gave a longer testimony than most.  “Last year, I stayed far away from those kids from the church school, because I had heard they were just full of baloney.  I even warned my younger brother about them.  But they made friends with him and he asked them to tell him what they wanted to tell.  When he understood it was all the truth, he accepted Jesus as his Savior, told us about it, and talked the rest of us into going to the church.  When we heard it from the pastor we also believed.  I’m so glad my brother wasn’t as closed off as I had been.”

 The young man from the park said, “I’m truly glad Matt came to the park that day and took the time to tell me how to get rid of the guilt of my sin and know I’ll go to heaven.  Now I desire to live for Jesus and tell others about him also.”  Then his friends gave similar testimonies.

 Next a man stepped into the water and gave his testimony.  “I need to tell you people my story so all of you will know why they didn’t put me in prison with the rest of the gang you heard about on the news.  I stole a big suitcase from a police woman because it contained information the gang needed.  She chased and caught me and I put the suit case down.  She could smell my imminent death because of the disease I had, and told me she’d pray for my healing if I would promise not to run away again.  So I promised.  As she was praying for me an accomplice from the gang shot her in the back.  But her vest stopped the bullet and she whirled around and told him to drop the gun or she’d have to ruin the hand holding it.  He dropped it and then the others in the police unit came and took him and the rest of the gang to jail.  She turned back to me and finished her prayer, and I was healed.  Then she explained the Good News to me and I repented and asked Jesus to forgive and save me.  I’m very grateful for the mercy she showed to me in Jesus name.  She paid my bail and found me a home and job.  Now I’m free from my disease and my sinful past and I’ll live for Jesus the rest of my life!”

 When all the new believers had been baptized, one of the pastors gave a short sermon which included the Good News and a prayer for those who desired to accept Jesus as their Savior to pray with him.  Since many people had invited their unbelieving friends to come with them to the service, some of them did accept Jesus and went up front to receive the little booklet that would tell them more about what they had done, and how to live for Jesus.  They could fill out the little card inside it, and take it to the pastor of the church they would attend next Sunday.

 Vern, Lora and Mindy went on their first RV ministry trip to Rocky Mountain National Park during the Fourth of July week when the schools were on vacation.  They had reserved a space in the Moraine Park Campground for five days, beginning Sunday.

 They arrived in the early afternoon, got settled and then talked to the campground host couple.  They found out that the ranger would be giving a talk in the amphitheater most of the evenings that week.  So they got permission to set up a time of hymn singing at their campsite before suppertime so they and the other people could eat afterward, and also go to the ranger talks if they wanted to go.

 This evening four people came to their campsite for the singing and question time.  Vern thought it was pretty good considering they had just arrived and had time to set out the chairs and be ready.  It was a family with two girls in their early teens.  They asked a lot of questions and Mindy did a great job answering them.  Vern answered the man’s questions, and Lora answered the woman’s, who took a gospel tract with her and promised to read it and come back the next evening.

 Since Vern, Lora, and Mindy enjoyed horseback riding, and they were so close to Moraine Park Stables, they decided it would be a fun outing to go with a tour group to see a part of the park where just the horses usually go.  This would give them all a chance to adjust to the higher elevation at the park before going on hikes.

 When they got back from their ride, Mindy observed,”It was a different ride, but fun.  Different because we went so slow.  We didn’t even have to use what we know about posting the trot, because they just walked.  We didn’t even have to guide the horses.  They just followed one behind the other.  But that made it possible for us to observe the scenery and even take pictures with the camera.  Then the was ride more fun.  I’m glad I asked for permission, and they said yes.”

 “You’re right,” agreed her dad, Vern,  “it was nothing like our rides with Candy and her family at Mercy Valley Ranch.  I missed brushing the horse, saddling and bridling it and getting acquainted with it before the ride.”

 “Yeah,” added Mindy, “and it was hard for me to just dismount and walk away from the horse with only a pat for thank you, and know that the horse had to just stand there with its tack on waiting for the next rider and the next, for the rest of the day, every day.”

 Lora went on to say, “This will make me appreciate our weekend rides with the Hopkins family even more.  We’ve learned so much there, and the ranch horses are each so special and are well cared for every time they’re ridden.”

 The same family came back to the hymn singing time, bringing another family with them.  They had all read the tract and had some good questions.

 On Tuesday, Vern and family drove their RV from the campground to Bear Lake parking lot.  It was full of course, but they were just sightseeing this day.  On the way back they stopped at Sprague Lake, and did find a place to park, so they walked on the easy trail all the way around the lake, stopping often to gaze at the scenery and take turns with the camera for lots of pictures.

 Lora exclaimed, “Look at the ducks with their ducklings swimming in a line!  I enjoy seeing the wildlife in it’s natural habitat.”

 “Yes,” agreed Vern, “and people have obeyed the sign to not feed them, so they aren’t coming over to us to beg.”

 Mindy agreed and added, “I like seeing all the wildflowers that are in bloom here, and the mountains are in view just across the lake.”

 “Right, Mindy,” concurred Lora, “if the breeze wasn’t blowing, they’d probably make a good reflection in the water.  Plus, I like this trail for our first hike at this elevation.  So far it’s been very level.”

 Vern nodded, “Indeed, it’s just right.  Oh look, there’s a Steller’s Jay hopping on the ground.”

 Lora added, “I like his dark blue color with a black head and tail and gray breast and his saucy crest that is usually standing up.”

 “I do also,” said Mindy, “and now he has flown up into the tree and is looking at us.”

 Pretty soon they saw several Magpies, a Clark's Nutcracker, and a Gray Jay.  There were also chipmunks and ground squirrels running here and there along the trail.

 As they looked down from the trail in one place, Mindy exclaimed, “Look at the roots of that tree!  Many of them are above the ground and one is even twisted around a rock next to it.  The other rocks around there are black and have light colored stripes.  Then there’s one that is a light rusty brown and it looks like a bed with a messed up pillow on it.”

 “Yes, this is an interesting scene,” Lora agreed.  “I’ll take several pictures from different angles and include some close-ups also.”

 On the way back to the campground they stopped at a visitor center with a viewpoint of the mountains in Moraine Valley.  They spent some time looking at the mountains and the plaques that had photographs of the mountains with lines going up to their names.  Vern took pictures of the plaques and then the mountains.

 That evening, the two families returned to sing and ask more questions.  Near the end, Lora asked them, “Is there any reason any of you can think of to keep you from asking this wonderful Jesus to forgive your sins and give you his promise of eternal life with him?”

 It was quiet for a few moments and then most of them shook their heads.  But the oldest boy in the second family got up and stomped angrily to the back of the group where he turned around and retorted, “Yeah, my reason is that I don’t want to change the way I’m living!”  Then he ran back to his camp site.  His mother started to go after him, but his dad restrained her saying, “Leave him be for now, and let’s take care of this important matter for ourselves first.”

 She nodded and sat down again.

 Vern encouraged, “We can all pray together for him when you finish.”  Then he led them orally in the following prayer.  “God in heaven, I admit that I’m a sinner …  I know I can do nothing to save myself. …  I confess my sins to you.  Silently list the ones you can think of right now. …  Please forgive me. …  Thank you that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, …  because he paid for my sins by dying on the cross, …  and being raised from the dead. …  I believe in you, Jesus, and ask you to be my Savior. …  Please help me live the way you want me to live. … Thank you, Jesus.”