Still Alive

Deputation continues, and we are still alive. This tour has been our busiest schedule by far. Our first week out had us in six services in five days, and from this Wednesday until Sunday we will have been in five more services in five days. One answer to prayer on this trip is that we have been able to raise more shares than normal, and God has blessed us with several very good services. Another highlight of this trip has been a chance to spend several days with Missy's brother and wife, Scott and Sarah Susan. Devin has enjoyed playing with his little cousin Ethan.

On Thursday of last week we had the privilege of speaking in a chapel service at Union Bible College. That was the first time for Missy and me to spend time on the campus (I had driven by it when I traveled with a quartet from Penn View). I'm still partial to Penn View, but it was exciting to see how God is working at this sister Bible college.

I went hunting this morning for the first time this season. Actually, Scott went hunting and I took a video camera. Since I do not have an OH hunting license, we were hoping to make millions by my being able to capture Scott shooting a monster buck on video. Unfortunately we were skunked (for you non-hunters, that means that we didn't see any deer, not that we were sprayed by a skunk). It was still fun though, and I know that the deer back in PA are already getting scared over the fact that I will be back in town next weekend.

Well, enough of my rambling. Here are a few pictures in closing. We would appreciate your prayers as we finish the last week of this tour.

Devin's new little girlfriend (and yes, they are holding hands)

Go-carting at the Dotsons

Devin gives Cousin Ethan a kiss

Bedtime

Too many hours on the road

Deputation Continues

Devin and cousin Julissa discuss politics.

We had a beautiful room at the bed and breakfast where we stayed this past weekend.

Do you know anyone else who can do this?

The Adams, McDowells, and Pastor and Mrs. Snyder pose for the camera.

We will be leaving for a three-week trip in about an hour, having services in PA, OH, IN, KY, and TN. Please pray for us as we fulfill a very busy schedule.

The 3-foot Catch

That's right, I had a 3-foot catch out of my pond a couple of days ago. The only problem was that my catch was a snake, not a bass. That's right, I caught this guy (or gal, I haven't figured out how to tell on a snake). It was sticking its head out of the water, so I tried to snag it. And to my surprise, I did snag it with my superior fishing skills. Now, can you tell me what kind it was (was in the past tense since I decapitated it)? We think it might have been a water moccasin, but are not sure.

Politics Anyone?

" First, the ad is dishonest. McCain has been one of the Senate's leading authorities on telecom and the Internet. In 2000, Forbes magazine called him the "Senate's savviest technologist." That same year, Slate's Jacob Weisberg gushed that McCain was the most "cybersavvy" of all the presidential candidates that year, a crop that included none other than Al Gore.

One reason McCain is not versed in the mechanical details of sending e-mail and typing on a keyboard is that the North Vietnamese broke his fingers and shattered both of his arms. As Forbes, Slate and the Boston Globe reported in 2000, McCain's injuries make using a keyboard painfully laborious. He mostly relies on his wife and staff to show him e-mails and websites, though he says he's getting up to speed."It's extraordinary," Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said, "that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail." For the record, President Clinton sent exactly two e-mails while in office, according to the archives in his presidential library.

Besides, by this logic, Obama is even less qualified to be commander in chief because, unlike McCain, Obama has never fired a gun, flown a plane or led men during wartime. And if the Obama campaign did not intend to mock a disabled veteran, what does it say about his supposedly "cybersavvy" campaign that they don't know how to conduct a five-minute Google search to find out these things? "

I really am a political buff, although I have tried not to get too political with my blogging (for those of you who would rather watch your artificial potted plant grow rather than discuss politics). I thought this was pretty good though. It is part of an LA Times article responding to this Obama add.

First-time EFM Missionaries

Yesterday evening we had a service at a small church about an hour from our place. The church was founded in 1951, and its founding pastor had met late EFM president Victor Glenn and encouraged his congregation to start supporting our mission. But although they have been faithfully supporting EFM for several decades, they had never actually had an EFM missionary come to their church! It was a real privilege to be able to have a service with them.

Our Little Booger

Devin loves doing this just to pick (no pun intended) on his mommy. Sometimes he will stand behind one of us with his fingers jammed up his nose, just waiting for us to turn around and see him. As soon as we notice, he will laugh and laugh. We probably should break him of his habit sometime, but for right now it is too funny.

News Flash

I heard on the radio today that according to a Rasmussen poll, 69% of Americans believe that the media is actually trying to sway the election in Barack Obama's direction. This report shocked me; it is absolutely unfounded and ridiculous! Why in the world would anyone think that the media is pro-Obama and pro-liberals?

"Portraits of Costa Rica #3"

One of the obvious needs found in Costa Rica is the large number of homeless people. We don't know how well we have it, do we?

We found this man sleeping against the gate of the church as we were heading out the door to the airport so that could catch my return flight to the US. Br. Orozco had to move his head before we could even open the gate. The man never woke up.

Perhaps this is the the most haunting snapshot that I have ever taken. This man was in the red-light district of San Jose picking a meal out of a garbage bag. I don't like to let people see me taking pictures like this, but thought that I could take one without him seeing me. He turned just as I snapped, and his look still grips me.

A Visit to Our Landlord's Barn

"Life in the City:" Portraits of Costa Rica #2

"Bannnggg!" I was awakened from my Sunday afternoon nap by the sound of metal crashing against metal as two vehicles collided in the intersection right outside my upstair’s window. I pulled the curtain aside just in time to see one of the vehicles come flying around the corner and into the drive of the police station located across from the EFM church in Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose. Cops began yelling and one policeman pulled out his pistol as the car came to a stop. A very agitated driver got out from that car while the other party involved left their SUV in the middle of the intersection and joined in the ruckus. A lot of finger-pointing and accusations followed as the police tried to sort things out. I’m not sure of the outcome, but after a while the two drivers got back into their vehicles and drove away.


That is not my only memory of the police station. The night before I returned from my five-day visit to Costa Rica was neither silent nor holy. It was about 11:00 o’clock, and I was trying to hurry and get to bed so that I would be at least somewhat rested for my long trip back to Pennsylvania the next day. However, once again sleep was made difficult by the happenings across the street. This time the problem involved a domestic dispute. I watched as a police pickup delivered a man and a women to the station. The couple appeared to be either high or drunk, and the woman was screaming and swearing at her partner. She was quickly locked into a cell, but that didn’t last long. It only took a couple of minutes of her yelling and shaking the metal door on her cell until the authorities had enough and just turned her loose! After giving two of the police a piece of her mind, she started walking away, cursing her partner at the top of her lungs. She could still be heard screaming as she walked the whole way around the block and then wandered off into the asphalt jungle. The man stayed at the police station, talking on a pay phone.


This is a very sad but accurate picture of life in the capital of Costa Rica; yet in the midst of great spiritual darkness there is a light shining forth in this city of one million souls. I was able to visit EFM’s church located in the Barrio Mexico district for the first time during the trip which I took to Costa Rica at the end of August. The Orozcos, the Guatemalan missionary couple serving in Costa Rica for the last seven years, have been pouring themselves into this new church that they started a few years ago. And although it has been a very difficult place of ministry, God has been helping and victories are being won.



This is part of an article that I wrote for the "Missionary Herald." Below are some pictures to go along with it.

The gray car sitting at the police station was one of the vehicles involved in the crash.

The church is located by this busy five-way intersection.