Well I know America in general has had a very hot summer so thought I would update you from our last newsletter when I shared we had 13 days of early 100-degree plus temperatures. When reading the below excerpt from the Lawton Constitution keep in mind many of those 100-degree plus days were 109,110, 111. Crazy summer time heat . As of today August 30th were are still in the 100's today's high 108 degree. I know you are all saying yea but it is dry heat, well let me say dry heat or not, it is unbelievably HOT! We have not had any rain to speak of either so we need rain, expect cotton prices to go up because Oklahoma grows allot of it and the crop is not going to be a good this year.
(8/23/2011 2:05:00 AM in the Lawton Constitution)
Lawton, meanwhile, was enjoying its 75th 100-degree-plus day on Monday. And although the string of 50 consecutive days above 100 here ended Aug. 11, it has put together a string of eight consecutive 100-plus days since then. On top of that, Lawton has set 22 daily high temperature records this summer and tied eight.
During the month of June, for the third year in a row we welcomed a group from the Dunedin Baptist Church in Florida to join Cedar Creek Church in Carnegie to provide a fun and faith filled Vacation Bible School for the kids in the community. In spite of many challenges the group did an excellent job of showing the kids as well as the adults the love and servant hood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are so thankful to them for their faithful witness and the desire to come back each year to serve the people of Carnegie in such an important way. They all were "The Master's Chef" cooking up godly recipes for Life! We are already looking forward to what's cooking for next year.
During the month of July we welcomed Hebron United Presbyterian Church form Penn Hills Pa. A group of 31 teens and adults. Hebron is a church we have been in relationship with for nineteen years. They faithfully bring a team of young people every four years to serve as a work team. They have accomplished a tremendous amount of work over the years. They are no doubt the most hard working, dedicated, spiritually grounded group of young people that come our way. We can never commend them enough for their service.
This year in 100-degree plus temperatures they built a 20ft X 24ft garage that is used for storage. They built it from start to finish in five days. In addition to the building they painted the outside trim on the dinning hall, painted the front porch, the two cement floors and last but not least they painted the entire outside of the youth building. I hope the pictures capture the beauty of this team.
Now as if that were not enough to say about these folks they did something very personal for us that blessed us beyond words. Because of the size of the group they traveled here on a bus and they had some extra seats. Howard asked if they could bring our grandson with them and they readily agreed. Tyler was able to hop on the bus with a group of great Christian young people and travel from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma with them. They were wonderful to him and he made some great friends. Thank you Hebron for all of your selfless acts of kindness! We love and appreciate you so much.
In August we welcomed four adults who traveled from Virginia to serve at the 80th annual Indian Exposition in Anadarko. We connected with these folks via our web site, so this was their first year to bring a team to Oklahoma. The focus was to set up a place to do crafts with the young people, have a diaper changing station, and a prayer station. We were set up outside and we were working in 100 degree plus temperature. In fact we experienced some of the hottest days of the summer during that time.
We were a little discouraged by the heat thinking that the kids were not going to come out, in fact the carnival chose to open later than normal because of the heat. But we were pleasantly surprised, although the numbers in general were very low in attendance as compared to past years, the kids did come and had opportunity to make many different crafts. |
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The diaper changing station was not used but a few times, but the diapers that had been purchased were donated to the Pregnancy Resource Center in Anadarko. The donation was a significant blessing to them. The prayer station was not used as in the past either, but the group did visit with the indoor vendors and were able to start some lasting relationships.
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One of the young girls from our church captured their hearts so much that they decide to stay an extra day so they could attend church and fellowship dinner at Cedar Creek. They blessed the church by donating most of their leftover craft supplies. Thank you Virginia folks you have been a blessing.
The Craft Table
During the second week in August Howard received some information from a friend that he could attend a Christian Media Conference and Film Festival free of charge if he could travel to it. The location of the event was in Tempe Arizona. It certainly was something that would be very beneficial for Howard as far as the media end of the ministry, but the expense to get there was creating anxiety. We prayed about it and Howard decided to see if he had enough points to get a free airline ticket to AZ and he did. So we decided that he should definitely go even though we knew there would be other expenses. Once he decided to register (it was on the day of the deadline), we received a check from a supporter the next day that more than covered the extra expense. Sometimes we have to take the step in faith and watch Him work miracles.
Howard shares about his time:
It was five jam-packed days with an intense schedule of powerful workshops and networking sessions. Our schedule started at 8:30 am each morning and didn't end until after 10:00pm, with a 30 minute break for lunch and supper. I took advantage of every workshop I could and sometimes wished I could split myself in two directions. The workshop titles included On-Camera Technique, Leveraging Media to Reach your Audience, Social Media Parts 1 &2, Studio & Field Lighting, video Editing, Goal Setting, Music Producing, Music & Media for the Harvest, The New Face of Distribution, Directing for Film, Kingdom Screen writing, Media in the Church, Co-Creating with God, and many more. I absorbed all that I could. Now I pray that I can remember it all and pass it on to my students.
The networking sessions were great too, I didn't make it to every one of them (sometimes had to choose between networking, or workshop) but I did get to most. We had a chance to meet with some of the leaders in the Christian Film industry, ask questions, and glean from their experiences. We were able to exchange contact information with many of them. I had a few that showed interest in helping with my dream media project for Native American people. And during the sessions we also got to meet with peers that are working in different aspects of Christian Media such as screen writers, directors, actors, producers, and technicians, to name a few. Again we had the opportunity to exchange contact information, pray for each other, and trust God to network however He wants to. I believe the Lord will spark some relationships through the networking sessions that will form a strong Kingdom focused alliance in the years to come.
Each morning started with corporate prayer time, followed with praise and worship. After that would be a message that most often was great encouragement to us as the army of God, specifically the media army of God. For many years the question was, "How will the gospel ever be preached to the whole world?" The answer is here now. God is not afraid of media, on the contrary, He is using it to reach the masses. As His church we need to get on board with what He is doing and stop kicking against the goads.
The morning worship time was 2 hours, often the prayer time just drifted into praise and worship seamlessly (almost every morning), and a couple of the mornings the message really just became a part of the worship as well. The message came as a prayer or a prophetic song. Those of you who know me know that I am often put-off with what I view as hype, or emotionalism, but this was different and I was truly ministered to, refreshed, and blessed.
Thank you Lord for taking me there! My vision is refreshed, and my passion renewed.
Needless to say in spite of all the record temperatures we were blessed beyond measure to spend time with our grandson Tyler . His curiosity into the things of God thrill me. He doesn't just observe he questions and he ponders spiritual matters. Some may see him as just another intelligent twelve year old but I see him as a mighty young man of God. I have no doubt he will lead many to Christ it is in his being to do so.
I want to share the following with you from Praying the Names of God, journal by Ann Spangler.
The Lord will Provide – Yahweh Yireh.
Promises associated with Yahweh Yireh, Scripture is full of the promises of God. When we respond to Him faithfully, nothing can prevent their fulfillment, regardless of circumstances. Think about Abraham's circumstances. God had promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. But how could that be fulfilled if Isaac himself were destroyed? Ironically, its realization was precisely because Abraham was willing to act in a way that seemed contrary to its fulfillment. Had Abraham refused to obey God, he might well have forfeited the incredible blessings that followed. The principle is the same for us. When it comes to the things God has promised us, our obedience is key. No matter what the circumstances, there is no limit to God's power to do what he says if we believe and obey.
For in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. Deuteronomy 15:4-5
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