Ok, ok. For a guy who started out the year resolving to blog every day, I am now officially way behind. So first I'll revise the resolution. I resolve to blog 6 days a week while I'm in PNG, and to blog whenever I feel like it when I'm not in PNG.
There. Satisfied?
Well, today I feel like starting to get caught up. We had a great time touring on the Washington Pacific (often called the "WaPac" district), which is our home district.
We started out at the Living Hope church in Narmandy Park. Pastor Pat Lyons and the congregation welcomed us for the second time. My memories of b
oth this and our previous visit are dominated by food. We had a great pot luck lunch after the service. But I also remember the big mysterious object on the platform covered with a big piece of cloth. All through the service I wondered what it was. At the close of the service Pastor Pat called us up, and asked us to uncover what turned out to be a big stack of boxes of medical supplies that were on their way to Kudjip!
The evening service that Sunday was at Gig Harbor. Our dear friends and missionary mentors, Ted and Mima Hughes are members there, and Ted is NMI president! In addition, the pastor, Steve Gates was our interim pastor at Marysville in the painful months following the death of our long-term pastor, Perry Winkle. Steve's gentle ministry to us was a great help along the road to healing for us all.
On Wednesday of that week we were at the Hillcrest church in Vancouver. Pastor Tim and Pam Westerburg were at NNC (yes, it was still NNC in those days) whe
n we were. They were previously at Mount Vernon, near Marysville during which time Tim conducted most unusual wedding I have ever witnesses (and I was a legal witness, too). But that's a story for another time. We were surprised by a visit from my Aunt Laura McVicker (my dad's youngest sister) and cousin Cindy who attended the service.
Thursday evening was at the Stanwood/Camano church. The pastor of this group is Rev. Dixie Nash, who was part of the staff at Marysville years ago. We had a delightful evening with this group, including some of the best grilled salmon one could ever hope to eat anywhere! Attending was Dr. Jerry Rusher, who has practiced in Arlington, and who has served many years as a missionary in Haiti.
Friday evening we were at the Big Lake church. Oddly enough, it is near a large lake. Pastor Dennis Spinnie was once the youth pastor to Dr. Stephanie Doenges, our colleague in Kudjip.
Sunday morning we spoke at Everett First church. This was our second time here, as well as our second time with pastor Mike Knapp, although that was at a different church. Our presentation was translated into Spanish as we spoke. It was fun to have the bi-cultural touch with the Everett Hispanic congregation joining us. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture!
The following Tuesday found us at Centralia. After a baked potato supper, we spoke to a crowd that included af former PNG missionary (served with Wycliffe many years ago) 2 previous volunteer doctors (Keith and Carl Birchard) and future PNG missionaries Rosie and Dave Kerr. Pator Rick Ryding is a former missionary, and he along with his wife were part of the staff at missionary candidate assessment when we went through.
Wednesday enjoyed fairly clear weather as we drove to Randle, near Mount Raineer, and we got there early enough in the afternoon to have a cup of coffee with Pastor Fred Frisbie, who was Children's Pastor at Marysville during part of our time there, including
when Sam was young enough to be in the children's ministry. The service in Randle set some new records. It was the fourth service for us at Randal, and the fourth service with Pastor Fred, although the first three of those were at Ballard.
I love the sign that can be seen above the door as you leave the Randale church building.
The two-week tour climaxed at Puyallap. (For you non-Washingtonians, this is pronounced "pew-el-ap"--don't try to figure it out, just believe me.) A Work and Witness team from this congregation were with us in Kudjip last year, so it was great to see many of those folks.
The two services were among the largest crowds we have ever spoken to, but they were so friendly and attentive that we weren't intimidated at all. A small group of the people gathered with us after the second service to pray about some of the challenges we are facing with our facilities at Kudjip. Pastor Dave Rodes was most gracious and supportive. The worship with this body was a real blessing. In the photo are Jeff Thompson, who along with his son Zach were on that WW team. They along with the rest of their family are in the photo, as well as Pastor Rodes and my old college friend Randy Hayes.
COMMENTS
We had a brief tour in Alberta, including 3 churches and the district NMI convention. The churches were Fort Saskatewan, Calgary Westview, and Lethbridge. Unfortunately, we didn't take a specific photo at Lethbridge church, but Judy's sister Jacquie is the NMI president, and there is no pastor currently.
A few weeks ago I shared the series issues involing needs for replacement of critical equipment at Kudjip Station, including x-ray equipment. Supporters of the ministry have been coming through in a great way to help with this. World Medical Mission (a division of Samaritan's Purse, the ministry directed by Franklin Graham) had offered to help us in locating a good new machine, and assisting with the process of buying and shipping it.
Well, today I feel like starting to get caught up. We had a great time touring on the Washington Pacific (often called the "WaPac" district), which is our home district.
oth this and our previous visit are dominated by food. We had a great pot luck lunch after the service. But I also remember the big mysterious object on the platform covered with a big piece of cloth. All through the service I wondered what it was. At the close of the service Pastor Pat called us up, and asked us to uncover what turned out to be a big stack of boxes of medical supplies that were on their way to Kudjip!
The evening service that Sunday was at Gig Harbor. Our dear friends and missionary mentors, Ted and Mima Hughes are members there, and Ted is NMI president! In addition, the pastor, Steve Gates was our interim pastor at Marysville in the painful months following the death of our long-term pastor, Perry Winkle. Steve's gentle ministry to us was a great help along the road to healing for us all.
On Wednesday of that week we were at the Hillcrest church in Vancouver. Pastor Tim and Pam Westerburg were at NNC (yes, it was still NNC in those days) whe
n we were. They were previously at Mount Vernon, near Marysville during which time Tim conducted most unusual wedding I have ever witnesses (and I was a legal witness, too). But that's a story for another time. We were surprised by a visit from my Aunt Laura McVicker (my dad's youngest sister) and cousin Cindy who attended the service.
Thursday evening was at the Stanwood/Camano church. The pastor of this group is Rev. Dixie Nash, who was part of the staff at Marysville years ago. We had a delightful evening with this group, including some of the best grilled salmon one could ever hope to eat anywhere! Attending was Dr. Jerry Rusher, who has practiced in Arlington, and who has served many years as a missionary in Haiti.
Friday evening we were at the Big Lake church. Oddly enough, it is near a large lake. Pastor Dennis Spinnie was once the youth pastor to Dr. Stephanie Doenges, our colleague in Kudjip.
The following Tuesday found us at Centralia. After a baked potato supper, we spoke to a crowd that included af former PNG missionary (served with Wycliffe many years ago) 2 previous volunteer doctors (Keith and Carl Birchard) and future PNG missionaries Rosie and Dave Kerr. Pator Rick Ryding is a former missionary, and he along with his wife were part of the staff at missionary candidate assessment when we went through.
Wednesday enjoyed fairly clear weather as we drove to Randle, near Mount Raineer, and we got there early enough in the afternoon to have a cup of coffee with Pastor Fred Frisbie, who was Children's Pastor at Marysville during part of our time there, including 
when Sam was young enough to be in the children's ministry. The service in Randle set some new records. It was the fourth service for us at Randal, and the fourth service with Pastor Fred, although the first three of those were at Ballard.
I love the sign that can be seen above the door as you leave the Randale church building.
The two services were among the largest crowds we have ever spoken to, but they were so friendly and attentive that we weren't intimidated at all. A small group of the people gathered with us after the second service to pray about some of the challenges we are facing with our facilities at Kudjip. Pastor Dave Rodes was most gracious and supportive. The worship with this body was a real blessing. In the photo are Jeff Thompson, who along with his son Zach were on that WW team. They along with the rest of their family are in the photo, as well as Pastor Rodes and my old college friend Randy Hayes.
Yesterday we got to meet Dave and Rosie Kerr, along with their lovely daughters Grace and Anna. The Kerrs have been missionaries for several years, but are being reassigned to PNG! Dave will teach at Melanesia Nazarene Bible College (MNBC) and Rosie, who is a family doc, will help out at the hospital. They are just waiting for their work permits and visas to go through, and they will come. Please pray for that to happen quickly.
hen in the evening we had a great family time. We went with my niece Liz Cushman and her husband Adam to the home of my cousin Elli O'Brien and her husband, Roger, where we met up with my other cousin Mark Maguire and his wife Julie. We had a great evening of laughs and reminiscence.
The updates haven't been as frequent as I'd intended, but I wanted to do a quick update of our speaking on the Indianapolis District.
Thursday evening we spoke at United Community, with Pastor Darwin Pressler and his wife Jean. Linda , a lay member of the church, heard that we needed a car for out time on the district, and offered hers. It was really great to have a car to use as we needed throughout our time there.
Saturday evening we traveled to Stringtown. We spoke at a Faith Promise dinner that evening, and then in both
Sunday School and the church service in the morning. The pastor at Stringtown is Rev. Bill Bean. His wife, Martha is the district NMI president, and arranged this entire tour. Thanks to her for a great job.
Sunday evening we were at Grace Pointe church. The little girl wearing some of our PNG artifacts was a total charmer! Our hosts were Rev. and Mrs. Don Brewer. Rev. Brewer is serving as interim pastor.
Thursday morning found us at Westside Christian School. We spoke in the chapel service of this K-8 school. A great group of kids. We also got to spend some time with Westside Church's preschool.
Helen Philips, the NMI president organized the service some snacks afterward. They also gave us a money tree! We had several requests for cuttings from this tree.
a, and later served as pastors to missionaries through Nazarene World Missions. In this position they cared for missionaries and their families, especially the MKs who were in college in the US. Don had visited us in PNG, and is missed by us and by Nazarene missionaries around the world. We got to spend a few minutes with Barbara, who is still in Mount Vernon. She will be returning to Olatha, Kansas, and will continue her work with World missions. Associate pastor Brian Goode is serving as interim pastor. He, along with NMI president Martha Morgan took good care of us there.
The tour finished Sunday evening with a service at Speedway Church of the Nazarene, which is located in the community of Speedway. You won't be too surprised to know that the community has grown up around the Indianapolis Speedway, and the church is just a few blocks from the world's most famous race track. We could hear the roar of cars doing the time trials for the up-coming Indy 500. We had a good service, hosted by Pastor David Perry and NMI president Lisa Fishburn. There were several people from the Westside Church who came because of a special interest in PNG. The photo is of the foks who stayed around to talk and ask questions.
Karen is the mom of Jill Riggins, our fellow missionary at Kudjip. Jill is in turn the mother of the famous child bloggers, Aden and Wiley.
Mike and Nancy have several bird feeders near their window. I've been sitting there with my camera at the ready. I'll show a sample of my success.
