Cedar Springs Service

Last night we enjoyed being with our friends at Pilgrim Bible Church in Cedar Springs, MI. It was good to be with some old friends that we don't get to see too much. The nerves were a bit better and the kids were given a break from singing, due to time, so they were happy, expecially since their cousin, Alissa came along to keep them company.
I am loving going around to different churches and catching up with people that I have lost touch with. I am reminded of just how much God has blessed my life.
Kent was told he reminded some of Grandpa Derscheid and I received the compliment of being told I reminded some people of my father & others of my mother, I only wish I could be more like her. I was reminded by some of how they admire my parents and I thanked God again for the heritage He has allowed me to have. Both Drew and I are blessed. We can only pray God helps us to pass on a good heritage to our children as well.
Many thanks to Bro. & Sis. Bullock for allowing us to come and share and for haing us into their home for some good fellowship and refreshments.

Our First Deputaion Services

This Sunday, March 21st, was a special day. Not only was it our 12th Anniversary but also our first deputation services. We began the morning out at Pine Grove Tabernacle with our friends and pastor Bro. Darwin Mowat and his wife Joan. What a beautiful way to begin our services. They were so warm and friendly. They even brought us Anniversary cards and Bro. Darwin prayed over us that God would bless our marriage, we felt right at home. They closed the service by having our family come forward and praying over us. We felt so blessed. Mrs. Joan is a wonderful cook and filled us with an awesome chicken dinner and a choice of pies. We appreciated everything. As for our first service there were a few bumps, starting with pictures disappering from our slide show before service but with some quike work Drew was able to correct that before we got started. Thank the Lord!
In the evening we were able to be with the Bible Methodist church family in Rock Lake. It was again nice to be surrounded by friendly, familiar faces. The kids did great but were feeling the long day. The Lord helped though the service and as we closed Bro. Titus blessed us with encouragement and prayer. It was wonderful to be able to talk with some I have know all my life but only get to see a few times a year. The words of encouragement were like gas in the tank-we left there feeling excited to keep going. We thank the Lord for His blessings in allowing us to have such a special start.
Next service is scheduled to be at Cedar Springs Pilgrim Bible Church on Easter Sunday night. We are looking forward to it.

Back in the USA

We have made it back home safely after a day & a half of travel. We left around 11 am Monday, Cameroon time, to head into Douala for some sightseeing, shopping, & then to the airport. Our flight left @ 11:30 pm. Then we went to Brussels, changed to Continental Airlines and unto Newark/ New York. We left Newark around 3:00pm (EST) Tuesday for our final flight to Grand Rapids. We got in at 5 pm where Don (Sheryl's) husband picked us up. We made it back into Evart around 7pm. We are all very tired and are ready for a hot shower & our own beds:) More details of the trip after we are rested up some. Thanks again for all your prayers for this journey.

The "Mane" Attraction

Half way through VBS some of the children noticed that Haley had beautiful hair and wanted to touch it. They were all gathered around her while she was cutting out some of our crafts. Finally one got brave enough and reached out a little hand to touch it really quick then pulled it back. That gave the next one courage so she reached out and felt her hair as well. In another minute Haley's hair had become the main attraction. The little girls started petting her head and soon one decided she wanted to style it so she started twisting it into a bun. Haley was a good sport about having her "bubble" invaded, although she said she might wear it up tomorrow. It made for some great pictures and a lot of smiles.

VBS

Today was the beginning of VBS. What an experience! I have been a part or even headed up other VBS' but I as well as Sheryl and Haley have never felt so unprepared, which is never a good feeling. Some of that came from the fact that they do things completely different here. This is how it went....We were scheduled to begin at 9:00a.m. but it rained very hard all night and into the day that it took longer for the children to get here so they began showing up around 9:20 a.m. and we had enough to get started around 10:00 a.m. Once we were ready to start something else happened to cause a delay so we had one of the teachers start them on singing while that got sorted out. Around 10:30 a.m. we had the Bible story acted out but a drama team (the story of Jonah) then Haley's puppet team put on a show. Next we sent them off to their classrooms where their teachers retold them the story according to their age group then they did coloring and a craft. This was followed by lunch in the classrooms then game time. It was still raining so we brought down big balloons(thank you mom ;)) for them to play games with until they popped :). We ended with assembly and Emanuel doing a recap of what we had learned that day, which was Be Obedient. Then they all headed for the playground or home. Oh, let me mention that the children kept trickling in all day and we ended with over 175 children. Tomorrow we are to expect that number to grow considerably. We will know what to expect at least and really the class teachers have them for most of the time so it is more on them than us. We just have to have the drama, puppets, and crafts ready.
The children are getting used to us more now and only about 3 called us white man today-big improvement.