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April 2010
Issue 27 Visits #109, 110, 111, 112, 113
Dear Teammate, What joy grips this old Preacher’s heart as I reach out to you, my fellow servants. What a mighty God we serve! As we follow hard after Him never doubting, but simply trusting and obeying, He parts the sea of every foe and obstacle that Satan puts before us to hinder or harm.
The Lord doesn’t care about our ABILITY nor does He care about our INABILITY, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness. The Lord is concerned about our AVAILABILITY. And as we prove our DEPENDABILITY, He has promised He will provide the CAPABILITY.
What a glorious privilege for us all to be His servants together in reaching out to the most needy and neglected mission field that we Christian Americans will answer for, the Indian reservations right in our own back yard. After 500 years of the white man and his “Book to Heaven”, less than 5% of these lost souls profess a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Think of it, dear Teammate! Only about five out of every one hundred Indians are ready to meet God. Let’s pray, witness, and win these First Americans to Jesus! Thank you for being on the team. Your old missionary brother, Don Cline
Easter is past and we rejoice and go forward with new strength and assurance, as servants of our Risen Lord! The following article was very interesting to me and brought forth a big smile; I hope you enjoy it. FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and observances of their Holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, “Case dismissed!” The lawyer immediately stood, objecting to the ruling saying, “Your Honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.” The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, “But you do. Your client, Counsel, is woefully ignorant.” The lawyer said, “Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.” The judge replied, “The calendar says April 1st is April Fool’s Day. Psalm 14:1 states, ‘the fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.” You gotta love a judge who knows his scripture!
Dear Teammate, let us pray for the poor souls that do not know the Risen Lord in faith and obedience. Some of our leaders and so many of our countrymen are walking in darkness. Let us pray earnestly for them and in the words of the Sunday School chorus, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…”
MISSION VISIT #109 Early on Thursday morning, March 11th, Les and Jeff Phipps, Bob King and this old missionary climbed aboard the Dodge diesel and loaded Wells Cargo trailer. We headed north for the two hundred mile ride to minister on the Tulalip Reservation north of Seattle. It is always a blessing to us to fellowship with Sister Frances Morden and her people. The Church of God stands through the many years as a witness of “Christians who care” and the Bible message of Jesus and His power to save. It is here that many have found food for their needy souls. The food bank sits in the back yard with food for the bodies of the many needy families.
MISSION VISIT #110 Tuesday, March 30th, Bob King, Les Phipps, and old Don Cline met at Coast Trucking Center where we got into the 1999 Western Star and the 48 foot Fruehauf trailer. By 8:00 AM we were all fueled up and headed east up the beautiful Columbia Gorge on our way to Northwest Indian Bible School at Alberton, Montana. Once again, we had a good supply of #10 cans of vegetables and fruit and over 60 beautiful chairs, along with clothing and useful household items. On the load was a beautiful kitchen stove. When we arrived at the school and opened the trailer doors, the students burst into praise and laughter. They explained, “While we were praying for a stove, you were already on the way with the answer to our prayers.” The stove was needed for one of their buildings. We serve a mighty God!
MISSION VISITS # 111 & 112 We have received many tons of potatoes, apples, and onions in thousand pound bins from the Thirsty Acres Ministries-Agape Food Bank at Othello, Washington. Since we are unable to handle the bins out on the reservations, we take them to NIBS and the Bible School students use their heated buildings for processing and putting them into banana boxes. They then load us up as we come by on the way to Ravalli, St. Ignatius, Elmo, and other outreaches. It is a happy experience to see the excitement and enthusiasm of the students and staff of Northwest Indian Bible School as they “get in on the action, to get in on the blessing”! And what a blessing to those that get these boxes out on the reservations.
MISSION VISIT # 113 Early Wednesday, March 31st, we left the Northwest Indian Bible School and made our way to Ravalli, Montana. Our hearts were saddened as Bro. Lee Wraith shared the problem they face. Though they have used the old school house many years for the church and food bank, they are now to be replaced by a group that will make it a “historical point of interest”. The church has not been able to find another building so are meeting in homes until something opens up to them. Let us all pray for them. Bernie Lovell is most grateful for the use of a Tribal Building at Elmo for the ministry of food and needed household items as well as the Bibles and Christian outreach for these dear people. What a privilege for us to be a part of it all!
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