Farnsworth Forum

We spent a delightful week at the Exeter Bible Church World Missions Conference. The theme, taken from John 4:35, "Lift up your eyes and look at the fields," challenged all of us to join in the task of sharing the gospel with all the nations. Our family shared the ministry of PIU in Guam through pictures and stories in the classes of Berks Christian School by day. Joel and Amelia helped with the Power Point presentations. Marisol had the idea of using the seven days of creations and pictures from Guam for our time with the elementary school students. The first grade class sang a creation song for us. For the elementary chapel we showed the ministry in Guam through the eyes of Joel and Amelia as missionary kids. They sang a lovely rendition of "The Guam Hymn." We attended the secondary chapel complete with a visit from Aaron the High Priest. Afterwards we couldn't resist asking for a picture with him. How often does an opportunity like that present itself? Ever...

Pepe the Clown made a special appearance at the Fall Fun Day at Heritage Baptist Church at Clarks Summit, PA. He took a hayride with Joel and Amelia and helped with the bean bag toss. Joel and Amelia enjoyed the carnival rides.

The resident dog at Missionary Retreat Fellowship is a pug named Oscar. Only this Oscar is not a grouch and loves children. Joel and Amelia love to throw acorns for him to fetch. Fun to watch.

We had a wonderful time with the pastor from our church in Reading, Tony, and his family on Monday. Of course, Joel and Amelia enjoyed having friends to play with and it felt like "old times" to have friends from Reading here. Thanks to Tony, Jessica, Lisette, Cristina and Jared. Hopefully Manny can come next time. Notice the bare trees. The cold weather outside reminds us that winter is on the way!

Yesterday our boss Bill brought a very special guest to our house. Edgar Luz, the Liebenzell field leader in Ecuador, came to the USA to visit churches who have sent missions teams to Ecuador in the past. It was great to visit with him and to hear his vision for the team's work. We also discussed our future work there. It certainly gives us something to hold on to and to look forward to during this year of home ministry assignment in PA. It would have been nice to have Ede's family here, too. We will see them next year. We sat down for the picture so that he was not towering over all of us. Thanks for the great visit, Bill and Edgar.

A couple weeks ago my mom called me with some very sad news. My friend, Steve Johnson, died when the modified bicycle he was driving collided with a local ambulance. It is hard for me to describe the empty feeling that overcame me at that moment. I met Steve in the early 1990s when both of us were working at the Olivet Boys and Girls Club in Glenside, Reading, and his zest for life and love for people made a deep impression on me. He always sported an infectious smile. Over ten years ago Steve had a bike accident in which he lost the use of his legs. I remember how upbeat he was when I visited him in the hospital in Allentown. He certainly didn't complain about his circumstances. When I decided to go to Ecuador as a missionary in 2001 Steve and his wife Kate invited me to their house to find out more about my plans. Since then he and his family have been good friends and supporters. Especially this summer during our difficult transition back to life in the States they invited us ...

We are enjoying our new place. This fall Joel and Amelia like to play in the leaves and at the playground. Other than the shock of the cold after being in Guam for four years, we are doing well. There are hard days, when we shed a few nostalgic tears, but we thank God for what He is teaching us and preparing us to do when we return to Ecuador next year. We will try to post more pictures soon, as long as I don't forget how to operate our new computer. I'm trying to be diligent to learn. I'm not a technical type of person. I'm not good at it, nor do I particularly enjoy it.