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What a wonderful sight that was!! We returned home to find this welcome sign out in front of our church and that just reinforces the fact that it is one intent on building Relationships That Last. Sometimes when we are serving in other areas in the mission field we wonder if those back home are aware we are not there but the hugs and smiles when we are home reassure us the love is still there. We had to have a prescription filled while we were home and the young lady who gave Butch the prescription said “Oh, you are the ones whose name was on the sign at Westwood” so at least we know the sign works!! Thanks again for making our return so memorable.
We had a fantastic summer with our Yellowstone Innovators. We were a bit unsure of ourselves when we began, almost fearful of being “houseparents” to 25 college students for the ten weeks they were employed at Yellowstone. God was so awesome in allowing us to serve in that ministry. We were able to share in their excitement and watch them as they grew in their faith and learned to share with their fellow employees from all different areas and walks of life. There were many internationals employed there and we were so proud of our “children” as they made friends and established relationships which allowed them to share Christ in many ways. Some of their Bible Studies were not as successful as they had hoped but many were able to reach out through hiking and inviting them to their picnics. We had the responsibility of preparing the food for those picnics in the five different locations in which the Innovators were employed and believe me, college students all have one thing in common – They Like To Eat!! Some of the internationals would question what the food was and then come back for more, several times if there was enough. It was humorous to watch them explain to each other what they were eating and talk about how good it was. Of course that made us feel good too! Butch never knew he could cook so well until this summer but he makes a mean batch of pancakes, egg mcmuffins, grilled cheese, hamburgers, hotdogs, bacon, etc. One girl said “Mr. Butch you make better egg mcmuffins than McDonalds!!” He got so good he almost let me sleep later on Sunday mornings!!
Now we are at Camp Baldwin in Elberta, AL and that is quite a change. First, the weather is back to the heat and humidity we didn’t miss at all in Montana. The black flies have almost made mincemeat out of me. I have confined myself to stay inside until the bites clear up. I spent the first week here working in the office to relieve the directors assistant so she could work on the paperwork for a grant. This is a beautiful camp, www.campbaldwin.org which did suffer some damage from Hurricane Ivan. Most of the buildings survived well but there were so many trees down that it is a day by day process in getting it all cleaned up. There have been many volunteers coming in to help which has been great and there are still many coming trying to help get the grounds all cleaned up. Butch has been busy outside every day cutting wood, hauling debris, helping with the new building, repairing the sign which was busted up, etc. Whatever it takes is what you do. There are a group of college students here today raking and cleaning and there is a church group from Birmingham coming in tomorrow to work Monday. It’s like that each day or two. There are a group of Campers on Mission from Alabama and a couple from Florida who will work for 2-3 weeks building the new motel rooms and completing the conference center for Magnolia Lodge. It’s a great place for groups . Our son’s Sunday school class from Mobile has plans for the last weekend in October . They will have the opportunity to be away from home (not too far), have a nice motel room which they can afford, have quiet time with the Lord in a beautiful setting, and although it isn’t the Ocean, Wolfe Bay is nice.
We have made a couple of trips to Gulf Shores and to Pensacola and the damage there is really bad. We are supposed to move to Gulf Shores State Park in December but we don’t know yet if that will be possible. There is so much to do before it will be ready. At least one of the parks the Snow Birds stay in is open and is already booked solid so we may be in that area. We will know more on that later. We will try to get some pictures and send them to our website this next week but will share the few we have for now. We just want to say thank you to all for your prayers and support of our ministry. As Mission Service Corps Missionaries we are sort of the “unheard of” ones but if you would like to know more go to NAMB.NET on your computer and check out volunteer missions.
Again, thank you and may God bless each of you in a mighty way.
In His Service,
Butch and Vi
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1
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